A Loving God or Judging God?
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

A Loving God or Judging God?

Text: Joel 2:18-32 (NLT)

How do we make sense of a loving God who also judges and seems to punish people? The prophet Joel helps us reimagine all the contours and nuances of this great and terrible day of judgement known as “The Day of the Lord.”

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Your biggest assumption aboutGod is wrong.
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

Your biggest assumption aboutGod is wrong.

Text: Hosea 1:10–2:23

One of our foundational ideas about God is that He is a reciprocating God, a God of karma. Yet the Book of The Twelve leads with Hosea's depiction of a God who stops at nothing to be with us.

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A God Who Sees Me
Todd Parish Todd Parish

A God Who Sees Me

The often-overlooked story of Hagar is a shocking revelation of God. He finds the social outcast in the wilderness and identifies himself with her—transforming her status to become the woman who named God. Whoever and wherever you are, God sees you and comes to find you.

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This Present Darkness
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

This Present Darkness

The love of God offered to the world in Jesus will mean nothing short of dismantling the powers of darkness. What that looks like may surprise us.

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Should Wives Submit to Husbands?
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

Should Wives Submit to Husbands?

Does a Jesus centered life mean that wives should submit to their husbands? The answer is surprisingly political, subversive, and down right punk.

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Pentacost
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

Pentacost

After a weekend of chaos, we are reminded of our great hope. The Spirit of the living God is here, even in the darkness renewing all things.

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Living in the Worst Timeline
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

Living in the Worst Timeline

Jesus' resurrection does not magically whisk us away to a better place, nor does it magically transform this world. Jesus' invitation into His radically different story might just mean this is the worst timeline.

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Reimagining Love
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

Reimagining Love

How does Jesus resurrect our ideas of what it means to be human? It starts and ends with love.

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How can we change the world?
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

How can we change the world?

A Jesus centered life is far more than morality. Jesus invites us to join in His redemptive work in the ways we physically and bodily show up in the world. And this makes all the difference

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What does God want me to do with my life?
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

What does God want me to do with my life?

You have an important job to do. Being a church goer with church going friends is fine. But what difference does that make to you or to the world? Jesus invitation is an invitation into a risky, exciting and deeply meaningful way of life. Jesus has given you a vocation.

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Inclusion is the fruit of the Spirit | Ephesians 2:11-18
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

Inclusion is the fruit of the Spirit | Ephesians 2:11-18

Inclusion is the fruit of the Spirit | Ephesians 2:11-18

God’s divine embrace extends to the far off, yes even you. Once we realize this, we also realize that we are called to be an active part of that embrace, seeing, including, and loving the ‘other

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The Antidote to Shame | Ephesians 2:4-7
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

The Antidote to Shame | Ephesians 2:4-7

The Antidote to Shame | Ephesians 2:4-7

Many of us have come to understand that we need to be saved from God's wrath. But Ephesians tells a starkly different story, one that will deeply transform our sense of self if we will let it be our story.

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Is God In Control | Ephesians 2:1-3
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

Is God In Control | Ephesians 2:1-3

Is God in Control? | Ephesians 2:1-3

Ephesians lays out a dynamic picture of a cosmos in need of God’s re-ordering. This complicates overly simplistic clichés about what Jesus is up to among us. And leaves us with a much richer story to make sense of our lives.

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Are we predestined by God? | Ephesians 1:1-6
Brandon Alred Brandon Alred

Are we predestined by God? | Ephesians 1:1-6

Are we predestined by God? /|Ephesians 1:1-6

Has God predestined us? The confounding opening of Ephesians does not attempt to pose an interesting theological question. Rather, it makes a striking claim, redefining the very core of your existence.

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The Gift of Lament | Psalm 13:1-6
Todd Parish Todd Parish

The Gift of Lament | Psalm 13:1-6

The Gift of Lament | Psalm 13:1-6

We don’t need 2024 to go a certain way for us to be okay. We can experience God’s goodness right where we are. Through the practice of lament, even our deepest pains and doubts can be transformed into resilient joy.

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