Bridge Community Church Leeds

Pastor Jacqui Richmond takes us into the crowds on Palm Sunday as we walk with Jesus into Jerusalem. We see Jesus fulfil the prophecy of Zechariah Chapter 9, riding on a donkey, symbolising the nature of his kingship demonstrated by humility and service. We hear the praise of the disciples and the crowds - praise that cannot be silenced even though it offended the sensibilities of the Pharisees. I...

Where would we have been in the crowds when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on donkey for the last week of his life? Would we, like many of them, have thrown at his feet the cloaks that were the signs of our identity, importance, and our place in society? What would we have been thinking when we shouted out "Hosanna!"  Pastor Bawa takes us into the crowd on this momentous day to show us the signifi...

What makes God's love so different from other kinds of love? What does Scripture say about this love? What happens when we embrace it? In this episode Vincent, one our BCC members and welcomers, shares his experience of how God's love brought him to faith and shaped his lifestyle choices, how through the community of faith he found his wife, how by God's mercy he survived a stabbing attack, and ho...

What made Good Friday good? The apostles proclaimed a message of good news. So did the angels at Christmas. But how can it be that Jesus being crucified is good news? With illustrations from his life experience as a parent, chaplain to Leeds UTD football club, pastor, and golf-club member, Pastor Steve Riley explains what makes the good news good. It's good because God loves you, Jesus died for yo...

James, an Elder and the BCC Volunteer Co-ordinator shares a word of exhortation for our Volunteer Sunday. Around 80% of BCC's activities are run by volunteers in areas as diverse as the church cafe, welcome, ushering, car park attending, prayer ministry, children's ministry and leadership. James points us to Jesus, our example of service, and the example of believers in the churches in northern Gr...

In this inspiring message Diego, who leads the Spanish-speaking church in BCC, shares his testimony of his journey to faith and the part others played in his story of salvation. He encourages us to see how we can play our part in evangelism, even if we don't see ourselves as evangelists. Our motivation is gratitude - to Jesus who paid such a high price for our freedom, and love for those around us...

Pastor Dave Green shares how his testimony, and his wife Karen's testimony, has been part of people's journey to faith in Christ. His encouragement to us is to be more pro-active rather than passive. We can do more than just wait for people to ask us about Jesus, and take natural opportunities to talk about Him and why we believe. Personal invites to times and places where people can hear the Gosp...

What straightforward, easy to remember outline of our faith can we have to hand to share with our friends, colleagues, and others who we meet and who ask us to explain what we believe? In particular, how do we explain to someone how to start their journey to faith in Jesus? Pastor Steve shares a four point outline we can use. People attending the service were also given an illustrated booklet with...

At the end of Luke's gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that they are his witnesses. At the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, he tells them that they will be his witnesses when the Spirit comes on them? What was the difference between the witnesses that they were and the witnesses they were to become? What does this tell us about how we share our experience of Jesus, and how we need the power...

Pastor Jacqui Redmond leads us together as we pray the Lord's Prayer. We pray: starting in relationship with our Father in heaven; in worship as we recognise who God is and hallow and honour His name; aligning ourselves to His justice and judgement as pray for His kingdom to come; in surrender, as we submit to His will; recognising our dependence as we ask for daily bread - all we need for life, w...

How, as a church, do we prepare ourselves for what God is doing in our land? Pastor Bawa explains the difference between revival (re-awakening life), conversion (new life through being born again) reformation (which follows from revival - recovery of what the church has lost and correcting what has been distorted) and renewal (God's continuous refreshing which sustains what has been restored, thro...

How do we find faith to pray with confidence in troubled times? Pastor Steve shares from Habakkuk. The prophet was writing in a time when Israel had been reduced to two tribes - Judah and Benjamin (collectively known as "Judah" for short). Judah wasn't wholeheartedly following the Lord, and was about to be threatened with invasion and deportation from the great regional power of the day - Babylon....

What is the Quiet Revival? Good news. There is increasing evidence of a growing interests in spirituality in the UK, especially with young adults from what social researchers call Gen z (Zoomers) born 1997 - 2012 . Some call this "A Quiet Revival", and some an "awakening." Whatever we call it, a growing number of young adults are engaging with faith in a way that previous generations did not. Rese...

For all its joys this tine of Christmas is, for some, a challenging time which brings back sad memories of difficult moments in our personal histories.. Pastor Andy takes us to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 9, - given 700 years before Jesus is born - to encourage us with the truth of who Jesus is, and who He can be to us this Christmas time. Jesus is the light shining in a dark place, the wonderf...

Joe Barnes brings a word of encouragement as he exposits the prophecy from Isaiah chapter 9. Isaiah was writing in a time of fear for Israel with national rulers failing to stand up for justice, and the Babylonian empire becoming increasingly threatening. Throughout history, powerful rulers have abused their powers which can make us nervous about surrendering to God. But we are reassured that God...

As we countdown to Christmas, Pastor Jacqui invites us to pause from the business of our preparations. From the account of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, Pastor Jacqui uses illustrations to ask us what room we are preparing for Jesus. Just as we de-clutter our garages to make room to store precious items, we need regularly to de-clutter our own hearts to make space for the Holy Spirit's inspiring and...

What does it mean to seek the Lord with all our hearts? In our youth-led service, Melissa shares how God is our sustainer, satisfying our deepest desires. Above all, we seek God not because of what He gives us, but simply because He is God. Melissa reminds us of the experience of the woman from Samaria in John 4 - she had sought to satisfy a deep thirst through multiple relationships that repeated...

What "disputable matters" have you come across among Christian believers? Have you heard discussions about what's OK to do on a Sunday, or whether Christians can drink alcohol or have a tattoo? In this final part of our Romans series, Pastor Steve shares how we can distinguish between a question that's disputable and a question of discipleship. He gives six principles to guide how we respond to ea...

What does it mean to say that God is sovereign? Does he meticulously organise everything that happens, or does He choose to limit His power to allow a measure of free will? And what does that mean for our response to rulers and governments? Are they all appointed by God or allowed by God? Can Christians rebel against a human authority that God has put in place? In week 6 of our series on Romans, P...

In part 5 of our series on Romans, Pastor Steve explores how we work our salvation - freedom from the penalty and power of sin. Our transformed life is worked out in relationship with God (our priority from which all else flows) with the world (transformation from it, not conformation to it) and with people where there is no room for comparison or jealousy since all we - and all they - have is by...

How does God rule the world? What was His plan for Israel as part of His wider plan for humanity? Has that plan failed with the widespread rejection by the Jews of Jesus their Messiah? In chs 9-11 Pastor Steve shows how the Gentile mission fulfils God's covenant with Abraham. We discover tat just as the hardening of Pharoah's heart become part of God's plan to deliver Israel, so the current partia...

In the third of our Romans series, Pastor Steve Riley guides us through chapters 5-8. Ch 5 celebrates the work of Jesus and Ch 8 the work of the Spirit. In Chs 6-7 Paul answers questions from his critics on his view of the law and sin. The law is good in that it exposes and restrains sin, but doesn't give us the power to live in victory over it. That power comes through the death and resurrection...

Pastor Manisha Batra shares testimony and vision from the history of revivals in the UK, from the history of BCC, and the story of her own ministry in India. Pastor Manisha inspires us with teaching from Leviticus. As the altar had a fire that was never to go out, so we too carry a fire from God that will never burn out. It speaks of continuity with past UK revivals, and with Elim, birthed in...

Continuing our series on Romans, Pastor Steve explains the bad news that's the basis of the Gospel's good news. The apostle Paul says it's no use comparing yourself to others when asking who the worse sinner is - we have all sinned! Our foundational sin is idolatry - putting something other than God at the centre of our lives. Pastor Steve explains that the "wrath of God" is God's right anger agai...

Pastor Steve Riley begins a seven week series on Paul'e letter to the Romans. Pastor Steve introduces us to the main themes that Paul deals with. What place does the Old Testament law still have now that grace has come through Jesus? What is the Christian's relationship to sin? What place does Israel have in God's unfolding purposes for the world? How do Christians relate to society's rulers - do...