I AM
I Am the True Vine
June 11, 2017 • Gary Brandenburg
The parable of the vine and the branches is a promise with a warning. The warning is that it is possible to be marginally connected to the vine but to have no ability to sustain life and bear fruit. No doubt Jesus was grieved by the loss of Judas. Could it be that Judas was the branch that was thrown away, cast into the fire and burned? This is a strong warning to all of us. Submit to the sovereign work of the vinedresser, stay connected to the vine or be tossed aside like a fruitless branch.
I Am the Door
May 14, 2017 • Gary Brandenburg
When Jesus says, "I am the door," He is simply putting a choice before His hearers - come through Me or be left out in the cold. There is no more important decision in all of life. There is no more important door. It is the door to life. The door excludes all those who bypass the shepherd. The Pharisees were spiritually blind even though they claimed to have deep spiritual insight. They were false shepherds. They wanted to enter God's sheepfold a different way rather than to trust in Jesus.
The Light of the World
May 7, 2017 • Gary Brandenburg
When you walk in the light nothing will be the same again. When you have Him as your light everything looks different even suffering and death. The light of Christ will be a soft glow to comfort you in your lonely room after a devastating loss. It will be a lamp on your troubled path. It will reveal the wise and loving face of God behind every frowning setback.
The Bread of Life
April 30, 2017 • Gary Brandenburg
The first step in the Christian experience is a profound dissatisfaction with this life and a longing for a higher kind of life, a chronic hunger. The bread of life is the only solution to that hunger. Just as a sign points beyond itself Jesus used these “signs” to point men beyond themselves. Do you have the bread of life?
I Am Who I Am
April 23, 2017 • Kurt Pressler
"But who do you say I am?" It was a question God would ultimately answer himself through the empty tomb and Resurrected King we celebrated last Sunday. But today, even though it was originally asked 2,000 years ago, it is a question that still demands an answer. It is still a question of identity and purpose, and it’s one that you and I must answer. Who do you say that Jesus is?