The Branch

In our last episode of this series, we look at the film "Secretariat." We consider what it takes to persist even when things are difficult, when the odds seem to be against us, and when we feel like our faith is waning.

We look at the film "The Peanut Butter Falcon" and see how the Gospel offers hope during the everyday struggles of life. We look at the themes of family, community, and identity.

As followers of Jesus, we don't always understand what it costs and means to follow Jesus. We experience difficult things and we don't see how they all connect. We look at the difficult journey of following Jesus through The Karate Kid and take away some of the spiritual lessons that we see there.

In this new series, we take a look at movies through the lens of Scripture and see what kind of insights we find. In this episode, we look at Disney Pixar's "Inside Out" and consider our own emotional health, spiritual maturity, and the role of emotions in our lives.

In this episode, we conclude our look at the fivefold gifting that Paul outlines in Ephesians 4. We look at the Sermon on the Mount as a reference to how those with the gift of Teaching ought to orient themselves as teachers, like Christ.

Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd and he shows us the example of the shepherding gifting. We look at his words in John 10 and the characteristics of the shepherd in this episode.

Focusing on the gifting of the evangelist, in this episode we look at Jesus displaying the characteristics of an evangelist in Luke ⁠4:16⁠-19.

In this episode, we look at the role of the Prophet that Paul lists in Ephesians 4. We see Jesus embody this role in Matthew 23 when speaking with the Pharisees. What are the characteristics of a prophet? How do we lean into those gifted as prophets within the body of Christ?

In this episode, we look at the role of the Apostle that Paul lists in Ephesians 4. How does Jesus embody the role? What are the characteristics of an apostle? How do we lean into those gifted as apostles?

In 1 Peter 5, Peter encourages believers to lead like Jesus by demonstrating countercultural characteristics.