Our past wounds can continue to damage our relationships in the present. Jesus shows us how we can do the work recovery and healing so we can strengthen our relationships and families.
Relationships are at the core of what it means to be human, but they’re are also really hard. In his life, Jesus prioritized relationships over efficiency, and he shows us how we can become better in person with others.
Though the decorations may come down, Christmas doesn’t have to give way to the same kind of new year.
We all want a perfect Christmas, but what if our quest for perfection is getting in the way of something better? Pastor Brandon explores the first Christmas and what is possible when we give up on perfect.
Forgiveness does not come easily, but if we don’t learn to forgive, we will never be free. Fortunately, Jesus gives us an example and instruction for how to forgive and experience the freedom and reconciliation that forgiveness brings.
“I’m sorry.” It’s nice to hear, but hard to say. Yet these words are crucial if we’re to experience healing and reconciliation in our most important relationships. Rev. Brandon Blacksten shares how we can apologize well and be reconciled to God and others.
You may not be able to ensure that your circumstances are joyful, but you can choose joy even in difficult circumstances. Rev. Brandon Blacksten shares how we can experience God's joy in any circumstances.
Anyone feeling anxious these days? When fear, anxiety, and worry get the best of us, we can find ourselves immobilized and unable to act. We might even behave in ways that are immoral. But fear doesn't have to control us. In this message, Rev. Brandon Blacksten explores how Jesus' disciples responded to fear and what we can learn from their example.
When we go through events like a global pandemic, we desperately want things to be different than they are. Yet if we don’t learn to take life as it comes, we will always be waiting for our real lives to begin, and God’s desires for the world through us will go unrealized. In the stories of the Babylonian Exile and the early church, the Bible teaches us how to take life as it comes so that we can experience the abundant life that Jesus offers to all.
Americans are fond of the Bible, but most rarely read it. We lead busy lives, and the Bible can be a difficult book to understand. But when we read the Bible, we encounter the living Word of God--Jesus Christ--and we learn to walk with him. In this sermon, Rev. Brandon Blacksten shares practical ways you can approach the Bible to encounter God in its pages.
