I am so excited about our Antioch Church Urban Blend relaunch...!

A Special Word From A Special Place...

How to Be Used in the Gifts of the Spirit, Interview with Missionary Gail Stathis

Each Wednesday night at Antioch Church following our midweek prayer meeting, we offer classes including one I teach called, "The School of the Spirit." On Wednesday, September 4th, I was privileged to interview Missionary Gail Stathis, an outstanding woman of God who has served in Greece and throughout the surrounding regions for more than thirty years. 

During our chat, Gail tells the story of her own journey into the ministry of the Gifts of the Spirit which began while she was a child living in very difficult circumstances. She also gives some very practical, biblically balanced counsel regarding how to take your first steps in this area and how to avoid some common mistakes. If you are interested in learning more about how you can experience the activation of spiritual gifts in your own life, I encourage you to watch this video.

For more information about Gail Stathis, click on this link: tinyurl.com/GailStathis or emeministries.org. For more information about Antioch Church, visit: teamantioch.com.


PLEASE NOTE: The first one minute, twenty seconds of the video, you will hear audio only, then the video image will appear.

Let's give thanks to God for His supernatural protection last Thursday...!

Dear Antioch Church Family,

The Dallas Morning News has released a definitive timeline of the events last Thursday night. Of special note, when the media has spoken in recent days of the shooter's location in a "parking lot," they were actually talking about El Centro College's loading dock, which is immediately across the street from our property. 

This makes Agustin and Yajaira Penales's testimony all the more amazing. They had just finished witnessing on the DART platform with their two little girls when they heard the first shots fIred. In response, they unwittingly ran into our small lot directly TOWARDS the gunman and then crouched between parked cars while the bullets whizzed over their heads, emerging later without a scratch. 

Please join me in lifting up your voices in praise to God for His supernatural protection upon them...!!!!

Click here to read the Dallas Morning News article.

Update and testimony from Thursday night's gun battle on our property

I am deeply moved by what happened in our church parking lot this week during the ambush of our city's law enforcement officers. Let's be sure to remember to pray for them and for their families...

I am deeply moved by what happened here... from Team Antioch on Vimeo.

People of the Presence IV, Mark Brand, Antioch Church, February 8, 2014

I am so very, very thankful for the special move of God's Spirit in our service at Antioch Church this morning! As my father used to say, "We were under the spout where the glory comes out!" 

Following a spontaneous time of prayer for people to be filled with the Holy Spirit, I shared some thoughts from my ongoing series on the manifest presence of God entitled, "People of the Presence," dealing with how as we walk in God’s manifest presence, He provides everything we need as He leads us into the fulfillment of His purposes for our lives. 

To view the sermon only, click on the window above. If you would like to view the entire service, including our worship and prayer times, click here instead.

Why would Jesus put His fingers in a man's ears and spit on His tongue in order to heal him? I give the answer to that question during the message I preached yesterday about the creative ministry of Jesus Christ from Mark 7:31-37.

Special Guest - Philip Murdoch from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this Sunday, October 26th...!

Pastor Philip Murdoch from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will be preaching in our Sunday morning service this Sunday, October 26th. Pastor Philip's wife, Renee, recently shared her incredible testimony of divine healing from the severe brain trauma she suffered while jogging and it is going to be a special privilege to welcome Pastor Philip to our pulpit. You won't want to miss it!

Our heart toward the LGBT community...

In light of the sweeping changes taking place regarding the legal definition of marriage in the United States, I would like to share the answer I recently gave to a person who visited our services and then asked via email, “What is your church’s stance regarding LGBT Christians?”

In answer to your question, at Antioch Church we believe that homosexual activity is sinful, but not homosexual orientation. In other words, we believe that individual Christians may struggle with all kinds of temptations to act in ways that are contrary to God's plan for humanity as revealed in the Bible, but that His will for each of us is that we reach out to Him in faith for the forgiveness and grace that we all need in order to live the way He has called us to live. We believe every individual (me included!) needs God’s mercy and strength in order to walk in fellowship with Him and in order to walk through the process of ever-greater conformity to His will. 

We believe this is true for every one of us, no matter the particular issue or issues that we are struggling with in our lives, whether it is a matter of sexuality or anything else. We also believe Jesus has called us to love everyone regardless of where they are on their journey and to welcome every person who feels called to walk with us toward wholeness and holiness, regardless of the specific issues they struggle with. We believe we are called to help them in every way that we can as we look together to Jesus for our salvation, redemption, and transformation.

Here is the “bottom-line” of what that all means for our congregational life and ministry: If someone with same-sex orientation is looking for a church family where they will be loved, welcomed, and encouraged as they pursue an ever-deeper relationship with Jesus in conformance with Scripture in every area of life including their sexuality, they will happily find Antioch Church to be a place filled with grace, mercy, patience, and redemption instead of judgment or rejection! This includes a person who has not yet made a commitment to follow Jesus or who is not yet sure of what they believe about Him, about the authority of Scripture, or about the validity of the Gospel. We don’t just welcome believers…we also welcome seekers. We stand ready to serve everyone we can by helping them discover the truth and reality of who Jesus is and what He does as we open our hearts to Him and to the truths of God’s Word. 

On the other hand, if someone with same-sex attraction is looking for a church that is prepared to back away from the perspective of the Scriptures regarding this issue or any other, perhaps because of evolving societal norms or prevailing public opinion, then they will be disappointed with who we are. In the final analysis, we will always seek to stand with historic Christianity in this essential way regarding the Bible: We consider the Scriptures to be the only infallible rule of faith and conduct for all humanity. When we are confronted with a dichotomy between what society says and what the Bible says, we will always side with Scripture. To put it another way, if we are forced to choose between following our own feelings or thoughts or wishes regarding an issue as opposed to seeking to follow clear biblical principles, at Antioch Church we will always seek to conform to God’s Word.

I trust these few words on what is obviously a vast subject, with very far-reaching implications for our personal lives and for society as a whole, and which can give rise to intense emotion in light of some of the "culture wars" that are going on in the public square, not to mention the wounds of heart and mind that people with same-sex orientation have sadly received at the hands of some who purported to act in the name of God and church, have helped to answer your question about who we are. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions you may have on this or any other subject. Teresa and I would be more than happy to meet with you sometime over a cup of coffee or a meal if you would like to discuss this or anything else. We love you and we are glad you are at Antioch Church!

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

Jesus Cares About Me (Mark 7:24-30), Mark Brand, Antioch Church, October 19, 2014

I preached yesterday from the story of the Syrophoenician woman about how Jesus wants to heal us from the pain and prejudice that binds us. If you would like to watch the entire service, including our time of worship, click on the following link instead: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/54210008.

Jesus Walks On the Water (Mark 6:45-53), Pastor Mark Brand, Antioch Church, October 12, 2014

After Jesus speaks a word to you, has it ever felt like He was far away from you? That's what happened to the disciples in Mark chapter six. What they experienced teaches us three very important things that we can apply to our own lives. Watch my message online by clicking on the link below or view the entire service, including our prayer against the Ebola panic by clicking on this link instead: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/53871677.

The Miracle of Multiplication - Mark 6

Last Sunday, I preached about one of my favorite miracles in the Bible and shared the single, most profound insight God has ever given me concerning His supernatural ability to provide for our needs. 

To view only my message, watch the video above. To watch a recording of the service in its entirety, including our time of worship and prayer, click on the following link: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/53608508.

God's Word Is Going to Iran!

Teresa and I and all the Antioch Church family join in celebration with Elam Ministries as they dedicate the new Farsi translation of the entire Bible for the people of Iran! What a momentous occasion with far-reaching consequences for the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom. 

We are so thankful and honored for our congregation to have partnered with this outstanding ministry for many years. If you do not know about them and what they are doing, I encourage you to check out their website: www.elam.com. Teresa and I know many wonderful missionary ministries around the world, but Elam is right up there at the very top of our list. We know the leaders of this ministry personally and we recommend them wholeheartedly!

The new translation of the Bible has been dedicated

The Healing of Jairus' Daughter (Mark 5) : Jesus Is Everything You Need Series, Antioch Church, September 28, 2014

Our first-ever Antioch Church Midweek Prayer Service is tonight at 6pm...!

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Dear Antioch Church Family,

Tonight at 6pm, we are going to have our first-ever Midweek Prayer Service at our West End DART Rail station campus...! Click here or on the video above to hear me share a message from my heart about why we are taking this step.

This service will be the single most important event in the life of our congregation each week. The effectiveness of everything we do as a church will be determined by how we call upon the name of the Lord.

The Holy Spirit dropped a Scripture into my heart as a promise to every one of us who gather together to pray in this way,

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. (Jeremiah 33:3 KJV)

I love the way this verse is paraphrased in The Message translation,

Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own. (Jeremiah 33:3 The Message)

As you come to our prayer service this evening, I encourage you to fold this promise into the depths of your heart by faith. As you call upon the name of the Lord, He will give you greater understanding of His purposes for your life and ministry. As you call upon the name of the Lord, He will open the doorway for you to access all of His powerful promises for any area of need you may have. As you call upon the name of the Lord, your character will be transformed as He molds you more and more into the image of Jesus. Here's the "bottom-line": Prayer is important because prayer changes THINGS...and because prayer changes US...!

Our doors will open at 5:00PM for a time of food and fellowship in our artrium and on our front porch. Two food trucks will be outside for your convenience or you can bring something from home or from one of the many restaurants nearby. The service itself will begin at 6:00PM with an extended time of worship led by Simon Dunn and a full band. Our focus will be on prayer, not on preaching or teaching. We plan to wrap things up by 7:30PM so you can return home in time to get a good night's sleep before whatever is on your schedule for tomorrow. If you missed seeing the video announcement in our service last Sunday, you can also view it online by clicking here. If you are unable to attend, but have something you would like us to pray about, please email it to Shaun Estrada at: shaun.estrada@teamantioch.com.

THIS IS A FAMILY-FRIENDLY SERVICE SO I ENCOURAGE YOU TO BRING YOUR KIDS!!!We will have some crayons and coloring papers for the little ones and our playland will be open throughout the service time for their enjoyment, provided they are accompanied by an adult of your designation.

Teresa and I look forward to seeing you there...!

Pastor Mark

P.S. If you would like to view the menus for the two food trucks that will be serving us this evening, you can do so by clicking on the following links: Flatlanders Tacos and No Whey Smoothies and Salads.

Good News From A Far Country - Batik Boutique

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Dear Antioch Church Family,

While reading a biography of David Wilkerson recently, I was struck by a comment made by his son:

When my father saw evil in the world, he never questioned why it existed. Instead, he did something about it. (Gary Wilkerson)

Here's a great article from Yahoo about a member of Antioch Church whose husband's career took them to a far country where she encountered a very real and specific need. What has happened since she decided to do something about it is truly amazing!

It's a great read and an inspiration for each one of us to ask ourselves how we, in turn, can reach out to people around us who need love and help. After you have read it, I encourage you to stop for a moment and pray for Amy's project, asking God to show you what you can do to help her, and then ask the Lord to show you what you can do to help others around you.

Together, we can take God's love to a hurting world!

Pastor Mark 

	Pastor Mark Brand
	Antioch Church
	Dallas, Texas
	www.teamantioch.com
	twitter.com/mwbrand

Batik Boutique - Where the art’s got heart

By Jessica Lim | Yahoo Newsroom – Tue, Sep 16, 2014

In a tiny one-bedroom flat in Kuala Lumpur, Noor cranked up an ancient sewing machine, lent to her by a neighbour. Her two youngest children were asleep, her five older ones at school - so she seized the opportunity to work. Silky batik fabric slid rapidly beneath her fingers, emerging as lovely scarves. While she sewed, she allowed herself to dream. She dreamt of buying a new sewing machine. Of creating beautiful baju kurung  in the latest styles. Maybe even opening her own shop.

“Azam saya untuk ubah cara hidup keluarga saya,” (my dream is to change my family’s lifestyle) she says shyly.

It is thanks to the broadly smiling American lady sitting across her that Noor even dares to  dream. Amy Blair founded and runs The Batik Boutique - a company that employs women like Noor to create beautiful handmade and hand-dyed batik products. The products, which include stylish totes, clutches, scarves and aprons, are sold to an expanding global community of people who appreciate both the heart and art behind the range.

Noor’s husband, Nazri, supports his large family by driving a van. Income is erratic, especially during school holidays. If he’s lucky, he gets to help at a friend’s burger stall, or deliver goods. The family often goes hungry. Since Noor started sewing, however, they’ve enjoyed balanced meals and have started saving. It also allowed the family to balik kampung during the recent Raya holidays - a thought that makes her smile.

Through The Batik Boutique, more than 20 women - of which half are single mums and low income earners - have gained a marketable skill and a means to earn extra money. The women are paid per piece at a rate they set themselves. Thereafter, a further 20% is given to charities which focus on health care and education.

The story begins in 2009, two years after Amy moved to Malaysia with her husband Ryan, and shortly after their first son Jackson was born. The family had hired a local cleaning lady, Ana, and two women struck up a friendship. Amy learnt that Ana was a recently divorced single mum with two teenage kids, and often struggled to make ends meet.  

“We began to brainstorm what we could do to help her earn some extra money. Make kueh? Nasi lemak? Cookies, maybe? Then, I found out she had a sewing machine,” said Amy.

They bought a few sarongs and made a bunch of aprons and  coaster sets, which Amy brought back to America as gifts. The Americans went crazy for them, and demanded more. She enlisted more women, fine-tuned the product, and bumped up the marketing. Word spread, and soon clothes and accessory stores came knocking. Then corporations showed up, requesting bulk corporate gifts. Every Christmas, excited American ladies begged to include her stuff in their girly ‘Shopping with a purpose’ parties. Most recently, Amy was asked to design collections for several Fairtrade companies - though she can’t reveal which ones yet.

Amy’s devotion to the project is certainly inspiring, but also kind of insane. She’s running the show almost single-handedly, negotiating deals in a language she’s not familiar with, and perhaps most amazingly, navigating an alien culture that’s loosely guided by unspoken (and notoriously complicated) etiquette. On any given day, she’s whizzing up the coast to meet the batik artists, trekking into remote villages to drop off cloth to her seamstresses, arguing with officials who think this orang puteh is trying to exploit Malaysia’s poor and soothing irate American buyers who don’t really care that batik production depends on the whims of the weather. And all that while being soccer mom to two adorable munchkins.  

The biggest challenge, ironically, sometimes comes from the very people she’s trying to help.

On the particular day she met us, she had just driven for the better part of an hour to a village in Kundang to get some simple zippered pouches sewn, only to have the tailors say they didn’t want to do it. Why? Because the job was too hard. But didn’t they need the money? We’re okay for now. What about earning more for savings? Shrug.

Amy took a deep breath. A frown puckered her forehead as she tried to work out her alternatives.

“This kind of thing happens all the time. It’s one of the hardest things about the work. I really want to help people, who obviously need the help, but sometimes they don’t seem to want to be helped,” she said with a wry smile.  

She confesses that this nonchalant attitude is something she doesn’t quite understand - especially coming from corporate America - but she now accepts it as part of working with the poor.

Getting business off the ground has been an uphill slog, and Amy continues to battle daily setbacks. But she’s not giving up. She’s in it for the long haul.

“A part of me is now Malaysian. I love her people, I love her culture,” she beamed. When Amy and her husband Ryan moved to Malaysia seven years ago, they thought it was going to be a short stopover for Ryan to complete his studies. They ended up falling in love with Malaysia, and now can’t imagine leaving.  

“Batik is beautiful. The rest of the world needs to see it. And there are so many women like Noor out there, who need an opportunity like this to turn their lives around.”

She told of how Noor, armed with her newly acquired sewing skills, made some pencil cases for her daughter, who sold them in school.

“I loved that. I loved it that she’s been empowered through the skills she learnt from us. This is why I’ll keep doing what I do. It’s seeing the small differences it makes in people’s lives that keeps me going.” 

More pictures HERE.

The Call of God (Jesus: He Is Everything You Need, The Gospel of Mark), Pastor Mark Brand, Antioch Church, Sunday, July 13, 2014

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

An amazing praise report...and a special prayer request...

A link worth looking at...

Dear Antioch Church Family,

I trust you have enjoyed a blessed holiday season!

I am really looking forward to our annual 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting beginning January 1st. God always meets with us as we set aside this time to seek His face, but I feel an extra sense of urgency regarding it this year, poised as we are on the beginning of an entirely new season of ministry in our new church campus in the heart of downtown. 

The cry of my heart is that God will help us raise up a truly Gospel-preaching, Christ-exalting church that is filled with His manifest presence, characterized by the working of His Holy Spirit power, and always faithful to His infallible Word! In that vein, while I don't recall ever forwarding an article to our entire church mailing list, when I came across one this morning by Steve Hill entitled, "7 Great Lies in the Church Today," I wanted to bring it to your attention. It made me think of the words the Apostle Paul wrote to young pastor Timothy,

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4 NIV)

I found it very stirring and thought-provoking. I encourage you to take the time to read it and reflect on it by clicking here.

Teresa and I love you and look forward to all that God has in store for us all at Antioch Church. The best is yet to come...!

Pastor Mark

P.S. According to the latest word from our General Contractor, we expect to be able to hold our first service in our new church home on the West End DART Rail station on Sunday, February 16th, with our formal Dedication Service during the month of March! Be sure to mark your calendar!