The Olive Branch Markham • Audio Podcast The Olive Branch Church

This message is part of our series, "Higher Ground". 

Our world system makes it pretty clear that joy is something that happens to you if you can just click in all the right things–kind of a roll of the dice.  The implication is that it is clearly related to our circumstances.  The amazing, counter-intuitive teaching of the Bible is that joy is a choice, largely unrelated to circumstances; that joy is available to everyone, not just the lucky.  In fact, joy is listed as one of the tell-tale evidences that the Spirit of God is active in your heart. It is a radical decision everyone has to make:  Will I choose joy? Will you?

This message is part of our series, "Higher Ground".  

We westerners are obsessed with doing.  We think sweat, energy, productivity--and endless doing is the key to everything. When we think of God's will, we often think, "What does He want me to do?"--as if that's the ultimate goal.  When we follow God's direction, we look for a completed, packaged product--something.  But God's completed product is us.  Our hearts.  Who we become--who we are.  Who we become lasts for all eternity. That's why God doesn't get flustered by hindrances, tragedies, incomplete programs and failures. He has started a work in your heart that He is determined to complete--but He needs and wants your cooperation.  The question is--will you FINISH well?

This is the first message of our series, "Higher Ground" (July 2020). 

Jesus talked A LOT about the Kingdom of God. He literally meant, the span of God’s reign and leadership. The word ‘KINGDOM’, for us, immediately brings to mind a lot of stuff from the Middle Ages: knights, castles, princesses... stuff that has no real place in what Jesus meant. The word ‘country’ or ‘nation’ is where the basic constitution is about loving God and loving others. There’s a kind of BILL OF RIGHTS. But the WAY of this nation is the way of HIGHER GROUND; the kind Jesus talked about in labeling the roads, the narrow path which leads to life, and the broad road which leads to death. In the book of Philippians, Paul talks about what has been called the principle of the path: direction–not your intentions–determine your destination.

This message is the second message in our two-part series from "The Letter of James".

Doing what God says to do. Why is that so much harder than we'd like? We definitely WANT TO, in theory... but when it comes to truly acting, we often can stall.

This is part one of two from The Letter of James.

Blair shares with us some timely truths about the role of trials in the Christian's life. They have an important role to play. 

This message is part of our series, "THE SIGNMAKER".

Jesus made an extraordinary claim for Himself which either reveals Who He really is –– or makes him crazy and off the wall! He claimed, at the end of this astounding message on how to live well, that He would be the Judge at the end of time. Imagine if you or I made this kind of claim? Jesus’ words are shocking! The bottom line is that there is a day when all of the fakes get called out. And according to Jesus, the good things we do in this life—even in Jesus’ Name— don’t matter, unless we actually know Him.