There is something in the air.

I think it is something big.

An under current.

Everything looks one way, but there is something moving underneath. We have to let it move us. We have to stop fighting it. We have to feel it, give into it and move with it. I just pray that when I release myself to it - it will move faster than ever and engulf me.

God, please don't let me continue to move in my own direction. Pull me under and take me to a place with this church that we have never dreamed about before. We are begging for your miraculous appearance. Show yourself through this staff and through this church.

In Jesus name,
Amen

I'm Back in the Posting World

So, it has been a while since I last posted. Things have been going great and God has been blessing us like crazy. Everything from sound systems to groceries. We are going to have a week off and then come back to finish Jesus Top 4 Highlights with His death and resurrection. Then we are going to start heading into the book of Genesis. We have shown the kids Jesus and His teachings. Now we want to show how the entire Old Testament leads to Jesus. It ought to be interesting.

Grace and Peace....and Merry Christmas!
Brantley

The following video I created to outline our next 4 week series. The video is a countdown until service and then my version of Jesus Top 4 Highlights. It is going to be a Sportscenter kind of feel for the series and we are going to be doing Jesus highlights. It ought to be a lot of fun.

This first Sunday we are going to be talking about sin and how to avoid it. Our key verse will be James 4:7: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Have a great week end.

Grace and Peace,
Brantley

Your Day

I am interested. I am interested to see what a typical day looks like for you. If you wouldn't mind, send me an e-mail outlining your typical day. Whatever your job is - let me know. If you want to remain anonymous, I believe there is a way to leave a comment without your name. Otherwise, shoot me an e-mail at . It should not take more than two minutes. Thanks.

Time and Understanding,
Brantley

I need your prayer. No one else can pray your prayer. God will not hear your voice through someone else. I need you and your voice before the Lord.

I am over my head in stress. I love pressure, but this is ridiculous. I am trying to get done with school and the work is piling up. For those of you who do not know, I am a husband full-time, I work full-time, I am a children's minister and I am taking three classes through Liberty University when most people working full-time jobs only take one class.

Needless to say at this point - I need all the prayer I can get. Thank you.

Love and Blessings,
Brantley

The Apple

So, I just had an awesome conversation with my brother-in-law about preaching vs. teaching. I have discovered that I really want to become a teacher on stage more than a preacher on stage. It is cool to be honest with yourself and have someone who can bring that out.

This Sunday, we will be covering John 10:30: "I (Jesus) and the Father are one." Wow, do you think your kids are ready for this? I don't think I am ready, but I know God is. I think the sermon will involve an apple getting cut into three pieces. Each piece is all apple, but each piece is not the whole apple. Does that make sense? In the same way, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all God, but they individually are not our whole God.

Time for feedback. If you would rather not leave a comment, you can feel free to e-mail me.

Grace and Peace,
Brantley

I'm Preaching

Man, I am jacked for Sunday! I get to preach this Sunday in the main service and God has definitely delivered an awesome message to me. I am just praying that God moves through the crowd and touches people's hearts. For those of you who want to start praying over the sermon for your own lives, read James 2:14 through the end of the chapter. Also pray that God would speak through me in an powerful way.

This Sunday Mrs. Barbara will be teaching your kids on "I AM the light" from the book of John. Mrs Barbara is amazing and your kids will have a great time.

Peace and Love,
Brantley

Sunday Recap

This morning we covered John 10:9. Jesus says "I am the door." He was referring to Himself being a shepherd. When the sheep were in their pin at night, there was one entrance. There was no gate in and out so the shepherd would lie in the opening - preventing any wolves or robbers from coming in. While this was great for the sheep (the people who believed in Jesus), it was also a warning for those who did not believe in Him as Lord. Only His sheep were allowed in the sheep pin (Heaven), everyone else would be turned away.

Grace and Peace,
Brantley

Sunday recap

We had a lot of fun at the Pirate party and watching the Veggie Tales movie. It isn't too often I have a legitimate week off from teaching the kids so it was a much needed break. We also had 7 new kids this week!

Next week we are going to start teaching about Jesus' teachings and the following week I am preaching in big church!

Grace and Peace,
Brantley

Pictures from Sunday

Sunday was awesome. Almost all of the kids brought their tithe, which was cool that they remembered. We are going to do that every week.

This Sunday we will be watching the Veggie tales pirate movie to conclude the pirate series. Everybody be safe tonight with your children.

Fun and Much Chocolate,
Brantley

Man can I feel Satan attacking! It is either him or God testing us. In either case, I believe if we and the church unite and take a stand with our finances, this church is in for a ridiculous outpouring of God's magnificence. Things have gotten thrown our way that do not seem to add up, but they are going to cost us a good chunk of change. For a moment the question popped into mind, "can we even give our tithe?" You know what though? We are going to remember that our tithe is at the top of our budget and not at the bottom. Out of faith we will give whatever we can to shut down this challenge!

I expect that others from our church will experience the same testing of faith and I expect us to stand up in the face of trials and fire back. Together we will grow stronger in the name of the Lord Yahweh - in the name of the Lord Jesus. "Rejoice my brethren when you encounter various trials and know that the testing of your faith produces endurance." I think it would be okay to substitute the word "Momentum" for "endurance."

Therefore, you followers of Christ - may you be tested and found producing Momentum.

Peace and Divine Understanding,
Brantley

Half Way

Well, we are half way through the week and your little pirates should be serving your drinks to you every night. We are having the kids do this to teach them about following Christ. As Christ-Followers we have to follow Him in a way that glorifies God. Since Jesus is not a person that we can visibly see we have to follow Him by following His words. He commanded us to serve, so one of the easiest ways we can start learning to serve is by serving our family.

This coming Sunday, the kids will be learning about tithing and giving to others. With that said, if you can give your kids a dollar or two or even some change we will start tithing in kids church this coming Sunday. It will be an every week thing. Exodus 23:15 tells us we should never show up before the Lord empty handed. We want to be able to teach this into your kids' lives as one of the fundamentals of being a Christ-Follower.

Grace and Peace,
Brantley

Really A Pirate?

Wow! So, the more we look at being Pirates, the more we realize the only attribute that we can really relate to is treasure. However, we are not stealing our treasure - instead we are giving to others and God stores up our treasure in Heaven.

1 Timothy 6:18 says: "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."

We are going to break this verse down over the next couple of weeks and teach the children about doing good things for other people. Being a Christ-Follower is motion. You cannot be a Christ-Follower and be stagnant because that would defeat the very meaning of the name. One cannot "Follow" if they do nothing. This series is really going to focus on following Christ into the realm of the community and the people who are in need of help.

James 1:27 says: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

We need to help people because this is what we were called to do. These acts lead to verse 19 of 1 timothy 6: "In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

Grace and Peace,
Brantley

3 things

I find it interesting to know what makes people who they are. If you could sum up the three most important events that shaped who you are - why you are the way you are, what would they be? I am not looking for church answers. Send me an e-mail or post a comment on the blog. Brantley@momentumchurch.tv

My three would be: being picked on in middle school, my parents raising me to be competitive, God telling me He trusts me.

Leviticus

In reading through the book of Leviticus, I have found some parts to be dramatically boring. Why did Moses need to write this book? More specifically, why did Yahweh (that is God's real name) feel the need to have Moses write down all of these regulations?

At first glance one might be able to pull out a list from a God who obviously is very demanding. However, when we analyze the true nature of this work, the circumstances of the people and the wording that is so completely repetitive - we find something different. To this point in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), there has been a somewhat innate sense of moral right and wrong. The Hebrews knew that they were not being treated correctly by the Egyptians, but they had not yet developed a microscope or biology classes.

When we read through Leviticus, the Hebrews have been led out of Egypt into a desert with no idea about how to prevent sickness or disease from happening and spreading. They also were not one hundred percent sure of why they were even in the desert, except that they were saved from Egypt.

So, we begin to look at this ridiculous book of rules and regulations with a slightly different understanding of why it was written. All of a sudden, these rules about cleaning oneself and what one is allowed to eat aligns with more of a paternal safeguard over an ignorant child. They are not allowed to eat certain things because of the germs, bacteria or disease in them. They need to clean themselves after certain circumstances so they do not spread germs to others. But why are they in the desert having to learn these things?

"I am the Lord."

You would think that if Yahweh said that once, they would just shut up and listen to the rest of what He had to say, but He repeats Himself over and over. Why? It almost seems as though the Hebrews keep questioning why they have to follow these rules and very gently Yahweh responds with, "Because I am your Dad and I want to keep you safe."

So many times in our own lives we can classify Yahweh as this mean God who wants to put His foot down and proclaim His deity and power. However, if we can manage to take a closer look at everything that He actually does for us, He is more of our ultimate protector. We may not like some of the things that happen to us, but maybe we acquire a cut to avoid a broken bone (metaphorically).

Sometimes we need to stop looking for the good in things and start looking for the God in things.

Peace and Rest,
Brantley

This first Sunday of October Pirates will just be a simple introduction to treasure. Matthew 6:21 says, "Wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also." As we Jump Start your kids into a pattern of continually building momentum towards Christ, one of the main ideas behind Christ-Following is knowing Jesus as our Treasure.

How do we identify Jesus as our Treasure?

How do we position Jesus as our Treasure?

We glorify Him. "Glorify" is a unique church word that does not mean a whole lot to people when we talk about "glorifying Christ." I find it most interesting that in the verse above, the Greek word used for "Heart" is "Kardia," which means "Attention." Remember, if you will, someone you dated that you could not stop thinking about. (fill in the blank with his or her name) When talking to friends your conversation may have looked something like this:
"________ is so great. I cannot wait be with ________ again! Did I tell you what ________ did for me the other night? _________ hung out with my parents, made me dinner and held my hand the entire evening. You should really try to hang out with ______ and me sometime soon."

Glorify

That is what glorifying someone is. That is also how we can glorify Jesus in our lives. The more we talk about Him and the things that we have seen Him doing in our lives, the more glory He gets. He also begins to move more and more into the center of our thought process, becoming more of the treasure we desire.

The kids will probably be able to relate more to a toy that they really want so after Sunday try to talk to them to see if they understand what "glorifying" means. This will be good for them and your family as well.



October 26 all of the kids will be dressed up in their Halloween outfits. I am also making a not-so-scary scary movie for them. It will be really funny and the kids will love it! Here is the trailer if it loads properly.

Grace and Peace,
Brantley

Our series on finding real treasure begins this Sunday. Your kids will not want to miss it!