Alliance Church

Alliance Church is a Bible-based church in Wisconsin. What is this church all about? It's simple - our vision is to connect the world with God and one another. We're ordinary people who get to be part of the extraordinary work of connecting the world with Jesus. You matter to Him and because of that, you matter to us. This podcast includes Sunday messages from our campus in Appleton, WI. Our primary teachers are Rev. Brian Episcopo, Rev. Brandon Hilstad, and Dr. Dennis Espiscopo.

Alliance Church is a religion podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 377 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Alliance Church, a religion show with 377 episodes published.

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  Alliance Church

  How Much Should a Christian Actually Give to Church?

  Sep 20, 202627 min

  How much should a Christian actually give? It is one of the most quietly awkward questions in Christian life, and Dr. Dennis Episcopo answers it with a framework that will keep you thinking all week. There are four levels of giving in the Bible. Most Christians never make it past level one. This sermon continues an Alliance Church teaching series on money and generosity. Dr. Episcopo opens with a story from Game 7 of the 1991 World Series, when Twins manager Tom Kelly walked out to the mound and left a tired veteran in with the words, Jack, it is just a game. Then he makes the turn. What we do at church is not a game. The stakes are eternal. Made even more real by the fact that his own mother went to be with the Lord this week at 97 years old. Everything gets real at a funeral. And that changes how a person handles everything, including their wallet. Then he anchors the message in 2 Corinthians 5:16 through 20. Christians are ambassadors of reconciliation. Nothing in the life of a Christian is superficial. Everything is strategic. How you parent, how you work, how you spend your free time, and yes, how you handle your money. Then Dr. Episcopo walks through the four levels. One. Duty giving. 2 Corinthians 9:7. This is the plate passing, guilt driven, I have to put something in reflex. It is the lowest floor. It is not what God wants, because he loves a cheerful giver, not a reluctant one. Two. Thanksgiving giving. Psalm 107 and 116. Giving because you are stunned by what God has done in your life. You saw the cross. You saw the answered prayer. You cannot help but respond. Three. Tithing. Percentage giving. Ten percent off the gross, not the net. Not a law, but a biblical pattern that levels the field between the wealthy and the working class. Leviticus 27. And notably, Jesus himself endorsed it in Luke 11 when he told the Pharisees to keep tithing without neglecting justice and the love of God. Four. Sacrificial giving. Luke 21, the widow's two coins. He says this rarely happens, but when the Holy Spirit taps a believer's shoulder and says, give it all, and they obey, the whole room feels it. This is the highest level. Then Dr. Episcopo lands the whole sermon in one sentence. There are people in the world who think, I own my money. And there are people who understand, I own nothing. I am a manager. God owns it all. Which one are you? If you have ever felt guilty, confused, or numb about giving, this teaching is one of the clearest starting points you will find.

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  Alliance Church

  The Real Reason God Hasn't Given You More Money Yet

  Sep 14, 202633 min

  What does the Bible actually say about money? It is one of the most searched, most anxiously carried topics in modern life, and Pastor Brian steps into it with unusual honesty. 63% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Money is the number two reason for divorce. And Jesus talked about it more than almost anything else.This sermon kicks off a new teaching series at Alliance Church on what Scripture teaches about money. Pastor Brian opens with 1 Timothy 6:10, carefully. The Bible does not say money is the root of all evil. It says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Greed is a heart problem, not a bank account problem. Some of the most generous people he knows are wealthy, and some of the most consumed people he knows are broke. Greed is agnostic to your net worth.Then he walks through Jesus's parable of the shrewd manager in Luke 16:1 through 13. The whole thing hinges on one truth most Americans have never fully absorbed. You do not own your money. God does. You are the manager. He is the rich man. That is not a metaphor. It is the setup of the entire parable.The uncomfortable downstream is honest. If God owns the money and we manage it by our own priorities instead of his, that is not just poor stewardship. It is stealing. He uses the picture of a money manager who takes your account and buys himself a Ferrari with it. That is exactly how it lands with God when we ignore his priorities with what he has entrusted to us.Then he goes to the heart of it. What does God actually want your money invested in? People. Eternal treasures. Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves (Luke 16:9). Christians should on paper be some of the wisest stewards of wealth on the planet, because we know the Owner and what he cares about.Here is the sentence that reframes the whole conversation. Money does not change you. Money reveals you. Luke 16:10 and 11. Whoever can be trusted with little can be trusted with much. If you cannot steward the little you have right now, why would God give you more?Pastor Brian closes at the cross with 2 Corinthians 8:9. Jesus was rich, but for our sake he became poor, so that through his poverty we might become rich. That is the deepest motivator to actually open your budget with your spouse this week and ask, God, how am I managing your money?If you have been anxious about money, ashamed of your finances, or unsure what the Bible actually teaches on this, this teaching from Pastor Brian is one of the most freeing places to start.

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  Alliance Church

  How to Actually Discipline Your Kids Without Yelling

  Sep 6, 202633 min

  How do you actually discipline your kids without yelling? It is one of the most exhausting, quietly discouraging challenges of parenting, and Pastor Brandon says almost every Christian parent lands in one of two ditches. He walks the church through the third way that Scripture actually teaches, and it will change how you show up in your own home this week. This sermon comes from a Broadcast Sunday at Alliance Church, joining all three campuses (Appleton, Hortonville, and Neenah) around Ephesians 6:1 through 4. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. And then Paul turns straight to the dads. Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Pastor Brandon opens by pointing out that the gospel is the great equalizer. Every believer has equal standing before God, regardless of age, status, income, or role. In Christ, father and son are actually brothers. But that gospel equality does not erase household authority. Kids still need mom and dad to be the parents. Kids need to hear you say the word no and stick to it. Then Pastor Brandon narrows in on why God specifically addresses fathers here. Dads have their hand on the thermostat of the household. Dads set the spiritual and emotional temperature of the home. And dads tend to blow this one of two ways. They abdicate their authority (checked out, disengaged, absent even when they are physically home) or they abuse their authority (harsh, cold, explosive, controlling). Both are sin. The gospel offers a third way. Authority exercised with love. He calls this firm but warm. Firm without warm exasperates kids. Warm without firm turns them into a train with no tracks. Firm and warm together is exactly how the Father parents us. Exodus 34:6 says God is gracious and merciful, abounding in steadfast love, and slow to anger. He also names the honest struggle. Godly parenting takes discipline of the parent, not just the child. If you let your emotions drive your discipline, you will exasperate your child. If you never admit when you are wrong, you will end up with bitter kids. Most discipleship is caught, not taught. You cannot give your kids what you are not getting from God. Pastor Brandon closes with a painting called The Banjo Lesson by Henry Ossawa Tanner. A tired dad, home from an honest day's work, patiently teaching his son. The kid does not have much, but he has everything that matters. That is what Jesus opened up for us. He gave up his own seat with the Father so that we could climb into the Father's lap and receive the firm but warm love that reshapes everything. If you are a parent tired of losing it, or an adult still processing your own upbringing, or someone learning what God as Father is actually like, this teaching is worth every minute.

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  Alliance Church

  What Do You Actually Have to Believe to Be Saved by God?

  Aug 30, 202633 min

  What do you actually have to believe to be saved by God? It is one of the most anxious questions a Christian can quietly carry, and Pastor Brian gives one of the clearest answers we have ever heard him offer. The bar is small enough for a child. And a dying criminal on a cross next to Jesus already cleared it.This sermon wraps up an August teaching series at Alliance Church on how to read the Bible well. Pastor Brian's final rule is deceptively simple. Interpret Scripture with the bride of Christ. In other words, do not read your Bible in isolation. The Holy Spirit lives in every believer, and 2,000 years of the church has been listening to him. Church history is not authoritative, but it matters. As Charles Spurgeon put it, it is odd that some Christians who talk so much about what the Holy Spirit reveals to them think so little of what he has revealed to others.The heart of this teaching is a framework you will not forget. Three buckets.Bucket one is what you must believe to be saved. He points to Luke 23 and the thief on the cross. That criminal believed three things. Jesus is King of the afterlife, so God. I deserve death for my sins. And Jesus is the innocent one I am staking my whole eternity on. Jesus told him, today you will be with me in paradise. Whatever fits in bucket one has to be small enough for a child to grasp.Bucket two is core doctrine. Big impact on how you see God, yourself, and others. The Trinity. The person and power of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification. Traditional marriage. Gender. How you gather with other believers. Not required for the moment of salvation, but if a sheep does not know the Shepherd's voice on the things 2,000 years of the church has clearly landed on, at best it is ignorance and at worst it is pride. That is John 10 language.Bucket three is what Paul in Romans 14 calls disputable matters. End times specifics. Certain spiritual gifts debates. Chick fil A versus Popeyes. Important, yes. But not first tier. Paul's rule for these is not to prove you are right or pretend everyone is right. It is to accept the one whose faith is weaker without quarreling, and to aim for harmony and building each other up (Romans 14:17).Pastor Brian closes with a story about a Wesleyan friend who believed drinking alcohol was always sin. Brian disagreed theologically, but pulling that man into his life made his own faith stronger, not weaker.If you have ever felt anxious about salvation, frustrated by Christian infighting, or unsure how to sort the essential from the debatable, this teaching from Pastor Brian will settle a lot of things.

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  Alliance Church

  What to Do When You Feel Bitter and Forgotten by God

  Aug 24, 202634 min

  What does the book of Ruth actually mean? For centuries it has been read as a beautiful love story, and it is one, but Pastor Brian says almost every Christian misses that Ruth is really a story about Jesus hiding in plain sight. If you have ever felt bitter, forgotten, or written off by God, this teaching will meet you exactly where you are. This sermon continues an August teaching series at Alliance Church on how to read the Bible well. Pastor Brian focuses on two big rules for interpreting Scripture. The bridge of background (the history, the language, the culture of the original moment) and the bridge of the book (the genre, the whole passage, the flow of the argument). He reminds the church of something a lot of us need to hear. The Holy Spirit wrote this book, and the Holy Spirit lives in every Christian. You do not need a stack of commentaries to open the Bible. But when you bring the background to a passage, you give the Holy Spirit more to work with. Then Pastor Brian walks through the book of Ruth as a live demonstration. Ruth chapter 1 opens with a famine in the land during the days of the judges. Judges 21:25 tells us everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Elimelech and Naomi flee to Moab, the arch enemy of Israel, in direct disobedience to Deuteronomy 12. Elimelech dies. Their two sons die. Naomi is left as a widow in enemy territory, and she renames herself Mara, which means bitter, because she has done what a lot of us do. She has looked at her circumstances and drawn conclusions about her identity and about God's character. But into her bitterness walks Ruth, a Moabite widow who says one of the most stunning lines in the entire Bible. Do not urge me to leave you. Where you go, I will go. Your people will be my people, and your God my God (Ruth 1:16 and 17). Then enters Boaz, a kinsman redeemer, a goel in Hebrew, someone in the extended family with the money, the generosity, and the willingness to sacrifice his own honor and family lineage to pay off a stranger's past and finance her future. And here is where Pastor Brian lands the sermon. The book of Ruth is not really about Ruth. It is about the third and hidden immigrant. Jesus. The one who left heaven for nothing to gain, linked his wagon to bitter and broken and forgotten people, took our name, paid our debt, and gave us his legacy. If you walked into today feeling like Mara, this teaching from Pastor Brian is for you. You do not have to earn a place in this story. You just have to be there.

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