The Bridge Church Sermons

God loves everyone, even his enemies. We are called as the body of Christ to represent Him, so we need to learn to love like Him. Maybe we are most like God when we love our enemies. We are taught in Jonah 3:1-10 that God's love is forgiving, patient, and compassionate. There are no exceptions. To support this ministry and help us continue our God given mission, click here: http://bit.ly/2NZkdrC Support the show

When Jonah was in the belly of the fish, he was in the in-between, a frustrating spot called restlessness. Restlessness is the unsettled, irritated seasons where we are stuck in the present tense. These times are hard to be in, but often, they are where we are transformed! It is in the belly where we become the people God made us to be. If you are in the belly right now, don’t run, but instead ask God to meet you where you are and bring new life. “… I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10To support this ministry and help us continue our God given mission, click here: http://bit.ly/2NZkdrC Support the show

There is NO ONE beyond the bounds of God's grace. In the book of Jonah, we see that Jonah believed the people of Nineveh did not deserve God's grace. He let the hope for sinners to be punished surpass the joy over the sinners redeemed. This is NOT the heart of God. Sometimes the path away from God is often the path into a storm. Jonah is the story in which we all find ourselves: we are stuck in a storm of our own making, unable to stop the waves or swim to safety. We need help. We need rescue. Support the show

Do you ever fall into the trap of gazing at Heaven so long that you forget that you’ve been called to bring Heaven to Earth? Or looking to wherever you “saw Jesus” last but not seeing where he is leading you next? In Matthew 28, Jesus calls us to go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Take a moment to reflect on how the wind of the Holy Spirit filled, empowered, and enabled the disciples to fulfill the Lord’s commission. As we move into this coming week, let us think on how we too can imitate the actions of these first followers. Let us listen, wait, and deliberately choose to be still before God. Support the show

Is desire for comfort getting in the way of your calling? Comfort can be good, but it can become dangerous when gets in the way of the mission. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” - Matthew 16:24 What would your life look like if you decided to step out of your comfort and into your calling? Support the show

“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” – John 20:21We’ve been sent to love the people in the places we inhabit, and we all long for connection and belonging—two needs that we, as Christ followers, are uniquely wired to meet. We are made in the image of a God of community; therefore, we’re designed for community built on the foundation of His love. What would change in our world if we didn’t settle for isolation and instead strove for deep, meaningful connection? Picture what it would be like for someone to not just “fall on hard times,” but fall on a community ready to rally around them? How might living “sent” in this way actually lead to change? Support the show

Is it truly better to give than to receive?Consumerism is at the very core of our nature as human beings. Many of us approach the church as consumers as well, when God intends for us to be contributors.We can all grow our capacity to contribute by looking for opportunities to “do good” every day. What if we began to view our cities, neighborhoods, and communities not just as places to live, but as places where we have been sent?______________________________________________________________________________________________To support this ministry and help us continue our God given mission, click here: http://bit.ly/2NZkdrC Support the show

If you put your hand over your heart, you feel your heart beating, and that means something powerful. It means that God still has a purpose for your life. But that doesn't mean we won't experience the darkness of our world in ways that affect us physically, spiritually, and mentally. The statistics around Americans struggling with suicidal thoughts are staggering, and they're more than numbers—they're people. Maybe even people we know. But mental illness is a comment on your chemicals, not your Christianity. God has the power to make something beautiful out of brokenness. Scripture shows us that we don't have to hide from our struggles or pretend they aren't there. We can face them head on because we have a God who loves us, who understands us, and who has the power to bring hope and healing. May we, Church, be a safe community to dive into the tough topics and walk alongside each other in the burdens. It's a lighter weight when carried together. Support the show

Feeling depressed doesn’t mean you lack faith any more than being happy means you have it. Mental illness is not a sin, it’s an illness. It’s time we started talking about it as such.The Apostle Paul tells us that we are a body, and that “when one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If you broke your arm, you would never cut it off just because it was broken or say, “That’s not my problem, that’s the arm’s problem.” Of course not. You would splint it and take care of it until it is healed.As the body of Christ, we are to care for the parts that are hurting, regardless of the pain they’re walking through. We are to be a safe place when others speak up about their pain and struggles. We will all go through hard times. But we know this to be true: you are never alone. We belong to each other, and we belong to the one who has promised: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” - Hebrews 13:5Support the show

Our minds are as much a part of our spiritual life as much as anything, but if there's one conversation we find confusing or overwhelming, it's the one about mental health. Let's talk about anxiety. If we struggle with it, we often don't know how to talk about it; if we don't struggle with it, we often don't know how to help those who do. First, we must understand that anxiety is not a sin, it’s a signal—like a check engine light that something around us is a threat and we are trying to ready ourselves. But the truth is... no one has ever worried their way to peace. So what do we do when anxiety strikes? We study Scripture to train our minds to tell us truth and to combat the lies our minds sometimes tell us. Dive into this conversation on anxiety with us.Support the show