The book of Luke opens with two angelic birth announcements. One is Jesus. The other is John. John was born to a priestly family. All of his parents' friends and family were expecting that Zechariah and Elizabeth, an older childless couple, would name their son Zechariah to carry on the namesake of his father. Zechariah means, "Yahweh remembers." This would have been a fit...

At Wells Branch Community Church, one of our core values is "Reproducing Disciples". We want to make disciples who make disciples. That sounds pretty awesome and I think everyone is on board with that, but the question of, "How do we do that?" can be hard to answer sometimes. Hopefully this post will help bring some clarity to that! If we think of discipleship as our own...

Over and over inPsalm 119, the Psalmist pleads with God to give him life according to his word and his promise (v.25,107,154,156). In his moment of trouble, it is the word of God and the promises of God that bring him life and sustain him in it. He says that he has stored up the word of God in his heart so that he would not sin (v.11), and that he meditates on it (v.15) an...

As we have set out to plant a new church in East Austin, we have been able to have a lot of conversations with others about why we are doing what we're doing. Our vision is to see our city transformed by giving every man, woman, and child in Austin repeated opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that the way this vision will becom...

As Christians, most of us know that reading the Bible is an important thing to do, even if we don't exactly know why. But what are we supposed to do when we read the Bible and nothing seems to happen? We don't learn anything new, we don't find a Tweet-worthy line, we don't get anything out of it, and it doesn't seem like it's really doing that much for our lives. What's ...

The primary way that young adults can walk in purity and holiness before God in the midst of a sex-obsessed, corrupt, idolatrous world is by guarding our lives with his word; by storing up Scripture in our hearts. Hear what the Psalmist says: "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander fro...

I am the foster mom of 3 boys. I am the daughter of someone who is terminally ill. I am single and (this week) I am not content. I am losing my job in 30 days. As all of these facts flood my head, I acknowledged that by all logic, I should have been at home this weekend curled up in the fetal position eating ice cream pints and watching reruns of Grey's Anatomy. But ...

This post is adapted from a paper I wrote for my Systematic Theology class at Redeemer Seminary, and posted during our #LightToMyPath series atThe Well. What is Scripture? Scripture is the God-breathed revelation of the identity and will of God, centered on the person and work of Jesus, through which he exercises his authority to form, shape, and equip his covenant peopl...

The Wellis on break until Tuesday, January 26th, 2016! This is the only break we take all year, to give all of our leaders and volunteers time to rest, spend time with family over the holidays, and plan for next year. STAY CONNECTED While we are on break, here are some other ways to stay connected over the winter: Check out anypodcastsyou missed here Join us forChris...

Is it wrong to buy Christmas gifts? No. Is it wrong to desire material things? Not necessarily. At any rate, these are surface level questions that I intend to bypass for the more important questions of the heart in these matters. Please resist the urge to assume that these questions are the meat of the following thoughts. Be sure to get me a list of what you want for...