Bridgeway Church

Our desire is to cultivate a sacred space for you to connect with God and give voice to your emotions through the Psalms of the Old Testament. God is inviting you to be real, raw, and honest with Him, so open up your hearts and minds to these ancient songs and prayers today. PSALM 143 LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Do not...

In our confusion, we should go to God, but so often we push him away when we’re confused. God promises to shape us from the inside out. Our job is to open ourselves to him and be vulnerable with our emotions. 

As Christ followers, we aren’t called to defend God but to represent him. When we remember that, it’s easier to love those who disagree with our beliefs. Jesus was someone who asked questions and was curious. We should be the same and asking questions and get to know people who we don’t agree with instead of trying to preach at them.

It’s sadly very common to be angry at other Christians who have different views and opinions than you. Everyone has opinions of what a Christian should look like. We’re not called to look uniform, but instead we’re called to have unity as Christians. 

Anger is something everyone has experienced. But we often don't stop to think about things we get mad at ourselves about. God can use you in your shame and guilt. It's just a matter of bringing it to him.

Forgiving is a process. As much as we want to say we can just "forgive and forget", it's not that easy. Joel talks this week on how to forgive and answers some difficult questions about forgiving people that seem unforgivable.

Joel describes Christian forgiveness in this message as "a conscious decision to release the desire for repayment and feelings of resentment towards someone who caused you harm." Forgiveness isn't just saying "I forgive you" and secretly resenting that person still. It's a difficult process to make peace with others and let go.

We should be people that forgive because God forgave us. Now that's much easier said than done. Forgiveness is not only good for the person you need to forgive, but it's good for you too.

Shame can be a painful burden we carry around. When Jesus died, he took our shame with him. The Bible says we are all justified freely by his grace because of the sacrifice he made.

Maybe you've questioned the Bible and wondered how we can believe this ancient book. This Easter Sunday, we take a look into why we can believe the accounts that were written down thousands of years ago and it's so fascinating!

As a church, we're committed to giving back to the community – both with our time and resources. We want everyone around us to know that we love them and we are for them. As christians, we're called to be generous because Jesus was generous towards us.

We were made for relationships and for loving others. As Christians we should be seeking out friendships and looking for ways we can be friends to others. Inviting people to our tables can be such a God honoring thing.

To get dusty means following Jesus so closely that we become like him and look like him in our every day life. It's something we have to work on constantly. Can you imagine how amazing it would be if Christians resembled Jesus in everything?

We often say at Bridgeway, doubts and questions aren't the enemy of your faith but silence can be. It is so honoring to bring your doubts and questions to God and to talk about them with people you can trust. God is loving and desires our honesty with him.

Everyone is loved by Jesus. Here at Bridgeway, we say that there are no perfect people allowed. We want to be like Jesus and welcome everyone no matter what your past looked like or what mistakes you may have made – you are loved and welcome here. Everyone is in process and none of us will ever be perfect, but we can find joy in the fact that Jesus will love us no matter what.

We typically view justice as people getting arrested for their crimes or receiving "karma" for bad things they've done. But the book of Leviticus tells us that it looks much more like standing up for others and showing God's love to everyone. Justice can be a beautiful thing when we treat it like God does.

Did you know it's holy to party? God gave commands in Leviticus to celebrate and enjoy holidays. He also gave commands to rest. Although we want to work hard and impress others, it's so holy to take time for yourself and just relax.

Living like a priest means standing up for the marginalized and serving others with a grateful heart. It means putting God on display so everyone can see Him in you. It's so much more than just being perceived as a holy person. It's an entire life change.

The book of Leviticus is more than just a book of outdated rules. It shows us things about our God that we may have never noticed before. It shows that he has always met us where we are and pulled us forward and closer to him. In this journey, we'll be learning a lot about God through a book that is often pushed aside when talking about the Bible.

It's so easy to focus on all the bad in our lives and in the world around us. But doing so can make us look at our world as a negative place. Focusing on what is good and praise worthy can improve our view on life and living life as Christ lived.

As Christians, we are citizens of heaven, but as citizens of heaven, we can't just sit back and wait until we go to heaven. We are called to live like Christ and partner with him always. We should be putting our trust and identity in him.

As Christians, we should strive to shine with the love and kindness of Jesus. It's not natural to think of others first, but that's exactly how Jesus calls us to live. Let's live and love like Jesus did.

Pledging allegiance to Jesus is more than just saying we'll follow him, but it's striving to be like him and follow in his footsteps every day. Every action and decision should be evaluated on if it lines up with how Jesus has invited us to live.

Jesus restores and redeems us no matter where we are. We just have to come to him with our messy selves and not wait until we have everything together. He's ready to welcome us where we're at.

God wants to help you belong to his family. No matter how distant you may be from church or faith, God is ready to welcome you in. And for those who already are a part of God's family, let's be welcoming to those who are lonely and unsure about Church. Let's give them a place where they feel belonging.