Hello, Bridge family. I hope you're doing well this week. This week, we shared with the kids that they are deeply loved. Our story this week was from the book of Luke. I’m sure you’ve read it before; it’s the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). It’s always good to refresh your memory on the story, so let me encourage you to read it. There are many takeaways from this story, but the greatest, I believe, is the Father’s love for his children. His love was unconditional. My hope is that, though my parenting skills are riddled with error, I mirrored that same love for my family to the best of my abilities.


As parents, we have the opportunity to share God’s unconditional love, recognizing that our human love can serve as a bridge to His perfect love. Here are three key lessons from the story that can help us model such love: (1) Separate behavior from identity—The son thought his actions made him unworthy of his father’s love, but the father’s response showed how much he valued his son. No matter the behavior, parents should affirm their children's worth. (2) Practice grace and forgiveness—Do it promptly. I mentioned this a few weeks ago. Don’t hold a child’s misbehavior over their heads. If God did that to us, we couldn't handle it. The father doesn't even mention the son’s mistake beyond acknowledging he was lost. (3) Eliminate the “ifs”—Forgiveness shouldn’t be conditional. While discipline is necessary, it should not be a prerequisite for forgiveness. The story shows conditional love in the older brother, leading to anger not only with the younger brother but also at their father. Conditional love is not Godly love.


The Apostle Paul stated that nothing can separate us from God’s love (Rom 8:38). I’ve encountered individuals who believe God could never love them due to their actions. Their lives often reflect feelings of unworthiness, similar to the younger son. By consistently demonstrating God's unconditional love despite our human flaws, we increase the likelihood that our children will embrace our Father’s gift of unconditional love when He calls them to His Son. Which, of course, is at the heart of each disciple.


Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a wonderful opportunity to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discuss how they relate to daily life, and encourage deeper family conversations. This makes faith an exciting and meaningful journey. God bless. I look forward to seeing your family on Sunday.


Pastor Bob

Hello, Bridge family. I hope you're doing well this week. Is everyone ready for the start of school? On Sunday, we discussed what it means to follow Jesus. Our story was from Luke 5 and featured one of the most well-known verses from the gospels. From now on, you’ll be fishing for people (v. 10 NLT)! The main idea is that Peter, James, and John saw what was happening and decided to follow Jesus, leaving everything behind to become his disciples.


It's easy to overlook what these men did, as we tend to think of them simply as fishermen. It might seem they didn't sacrifice much since they didn’t carry the responsibilities we have today. However, that's far from the truth. Fishing was not only their profession but also their family's main source of income. James and John abandoned their father on the boat to follow Jesus. They sacrificed everything because they recognized that following Jesus offered something far greater than any other pursuit.


I’m not implying that parents should abandon their jobs for missionary work. I firmly believe that our workplaces and homes are our primary mission fields. However, from experience, I know there are personal struggles that make it hard to fully follow Jesus. Don’t believe me? Dads, try starting a small group on Sunday evenings during football season. I’m not judging, but I want to highlight that we often approach following Jesus with conditions or rationalizations, sometimes thinking it would have been easier for the disciples. My suggestion is to ask each day: Lord, what must I give up today to follow you?


I believe this reflects one of Jesus' teachings when he told his followers, "If any of you wants to be my disciple, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me" (Matt 16:24). If we see Jesus as the better way, like the disciples did, we must allow the Spirit of Christ to reveal that path to us. Likewise, if we want our children to recognize Jesus as the better way, they need to see in us a willingness to deny ourselves so the Holy Spirit can transform us. Otherwise, our message will seem empty. Following Jesus promises a better life, but achieving that requires dropping our nets and following him. In turn, we teach our children to do the same.


Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a wonderful opportunity to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discuss how they relate to daily life, and encourage deeper family conversations. This makes faith an exciting and meaningful journey. God bless. I look forward to seeing your family on Sunday.


Pastor Bob

Hello, Bridge family. Hope all is well with you this week. This Sunday, we learned more about God from another Psalm by King David. David reveals that we are known by God. No matter where we go or what we do or think, God knows everything about us. Our lesson comes from Psalm 139:1-4. Let me encourage you to read it this week and discuss it further with your family, possibly as you work through the DigIN@home with them.


I don’t know about you, but as I was growing up, I often heard that God is watching. The implication was that I had better be good. While that is true, I don’t believe it was at the heart of David’s message. David was rejoicing that God knew everything about him, not fearing that He did, because David knew that God loved him deeply! Surely verse 17 reveals David’s understanding of God’s love for him and for us: How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered (139:17 NLT). Trusting that God knows everything about us, as David reveals, should be a comfort to our ever-present desire to be seen and known.


This week, one of my granddaughters texted us, asking us to watch and like a video she and my younger cousin made together and posted on her younger cousin’s YouTube site (don’t judge; it’s parent-controlled). Her desire was to make her younger cousin feel special because of the likes. As I reflected on David’s words and my granddaughter’s heart for her cousin’s happiness, I thought what a great reflection of God’s love.


As parents, we sometimes get so wrapped up in caring for, feeding, and guiding our children that we miss the chance to show them how precious they are to us and how much we love them. We assume it’s obvious, but it really isn’t to our kids. We get so busy with life that we don’t stop to truly know our families. Let me encourage you to take time during the week (I think dinnertime is best) with your family, set the phones aside, turn off the TV, and sit and talk to each other, seeking to understand what is on their minds. Do so in the hope that your love for them becomes a reflection of God’s love for us, so they too may rejoice in Him.


Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a wonderful opportunity to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discuss how they relate to daily life, and encourage deeper family conversations. This makes faith an exciting and meaningful journey. God bless. I look forward to seeing your family on Sunday.


Pastor Bob

Hello, Bridge family. This week, we learned that God is willing to forgive us and give us a new start when we have done wrong. We studied this through King David's story, especially his repentance after stealing Uriah’s wife Bathsheba and having Uriah killed, as seen in 2 Samuel 11. Our message came from Psalm 51, where David asks for God's mercy. This Psalm shows trusting in God’s grace to forgive, no matter what we've done.


Face it, we live in a society where failure seems final. As the saying goes, failure is not an option. But the reality is we do fail. Quite a bit, actually, especially when it comes to obedience to God. Or, in the case of our children, their failure to obey us. As parents, we need to reinforce for our children that failing to be obedient and doing wrong is not the end-all and should not define who they are; we need to be models of God’s grace and mercy in our homes. This is not to suggest we shouldn’t punish our kids when they do wrong, but we must be able to move on once the punishment has been enforced. When we fail to move on, when we keep reminding our kids of what they have done, we allow that to define who they are.


Can you imagine if God did that to us? If we are honest, most of us probably wouldn’t even want to get out of bed in the morning. So why would we do that to our kids? Their lives are hard enough outside the home; shouldn’t our homes be a source of love and forgiveness? There is a verse in Isaiah that I’ve always liked, but those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint (40:31 NLT).


God’s promise is that, in Christ, we are forgiven, and in the Holy Spirit we will find new strength to do better. Failure to always do good is not the end but a chance to do better as parents. If we model this for our children, we can let the light of Christ shine in us and help them understand what it means to be defined by God’s love rather than by their failures.


Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a wonderful opportunity to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discuss how they relate to daily life, and encourage deeper family conversations. This makes faith an exciting and meaningful journey. God bless. I look forward to seeing your family on Sunday.


Pastor Bob

Hello, Bridge family. I hope you all are doing well and holding up through this heat wave! This week in the Bridge, the kids learned that We Each Have a Purpose. As parents and caregivers, we need to be careful not to go down rabbit holes and confuse one’s purpose with life choices. Our life choices are ever-changing as we grow and experience new things. But if we are followers of Christ, our purpose never changes. No matter what we do in life, our purpose is to glorify God! To live for Jesus and allow His light to shine through us!


Think about our Bible verse for this month: For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Eph 2:10). If we are not careful, we can put a lot of pressure on ourselves as we try to live up to this verse. Many have walked away from the church because they find it too much work to do as many “good things” as possible. They miss the point. If we narrow our focus and ambition to loving God with all our heart, mind, and soul, and loving each other as we love ourselves, no matter what we do in life or how young or old we are, we can be assured that we are doing “good things.”


There is a song that the kids really seem to enjoy. It’s called Shine. Without sharing the whole song, I’ve selected a couple of verses, “Cause Jesus is the light of the world… I want the universe to see me… bein’ more like him daily.”


Our purpose, the way we can glorify God, is to live so that the light of Christ shines through us, whether we are six or sixty. If we love as Jesus said, his light will shine. No matter the vocation our kids choose, they will do the good things God planned for them. I’m not saying it’s simple, but it’s much easier than jumping from what we believe is one good thing to another, trying to find a purpose. The best thing is that in each of us who believe, we have the living Spirit of Christ, who fulfills that purpose in us as long as we desire to do our best to love God and others.


From time to time, ask your family at the dinner table how they “Shined” for God that day and how God helped them. Be sure to share your own experience as well.


Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a wonderful opportunity to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discuss how they relate to daily life, and encourage deeper family conversations. This makes faith an exciting and meaningful journey. God bless. I look forward to seeing your family on Sunday.


Pastor Bob

Hello, Bridge family. I hope you all are doing well and having a wonderful summer! This week in the Bridge, the kids learned that we are strong with God. If we are all honest, it is a complex message to grasp, especially for a child. If not taught correctly, it can lead to disappointment and regret, and that disappointment may be projected onto God. So let’s look at two points to guide the discussion, hopefully helping our children understand what it means to be strong with God.


First, our ability to be strong with God hinges on understanding that God’s strength comes when we do what God has called us to do. Take a look at this week’s story. It’s about Gideon in Judges chapter 6. God has called Gideon, who considers himself the lowest of the low, to lead the nation of Israel out of bondage to the Midianites. When Gideon questions God about whether God has the right guy, the Lord responds, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man (v. 6:16).” God doesn’t give us anything He can’t handle. That will probably raise the question of what has called me to do, which leads to my second point.


The Apostle Paul writes that we are to put on the whole armor of God (Eph 6). If you take a look at them, you will notice that most are defensive. That is not to say they don’t provide God’s strength to endure, but most children, and indeed most adults, associate strength with the ability to take the offensive. Let’s just look at one component of the armor that is an offensive weapon, “take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (v. 6:17).” Now, to be clear, you need the whole armor of God. No one piece is more significant than the other, but if we want our children to hear from God and be strong in God’s power, then we must allow the Spirit of God to reveal the Godhead to our children through the word of God. When we do, we are providing our children with God’s strength to hear and the courage to step out when called by God, and to ward off the temptations of this world, whether seen or unseen.


Bottom line: Read the Bible with your children and share with each other what you observe from what you have read, asking what God is doing in the story. How does God do the same thing for us, only better in Jesus? How does this good news change how we live?*


Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a wonderful opportunity to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discuss how they relate to daily life, and encourage deeper family conversations. This makes faith an exciting and meaningful journey. God bless. I look forward to seeing your family on Sunday.


Pastor Bob


· From the book “Show Them Jesus” by Jack Klumpenhower.

Hello, Bridge family. I hope you're all doing well. This week, we shared that God is our provider. To reveal this truth, we shared the story of the feeding of 5000 from the book of Matthew, chapter 14. Let me encourage you to check it out this week. I think the most interesting verse in this passage is verse 16. After the disciples approached him to send the people away so they could get something to eat, Jesus responded, "That isn’t necessary—you feed them." Can you just picture the disciples' faces as they look at the two fish and five loaves of bread, then lift their heads to see more than 5000 people spread out across the countryside? That verse is a good reminder to each of us of God’s ability to provide for us even when it seems impossible, as well as the fact that God will use us at times to supply that provision.


An important lesson to share with your children is that God provides what we need, not necessarily what we want. I believe that because we easily confuse those two, we often take God’s provision for granted. Our nature is to desire more, the finer things in life, if you will. So, because we tend to look at all that glitters, we miss what God has done or is doing. Take time to reflect on God’s provision in your life and how those things have met your needs. Also, reflect on those God has placed in your life and how they have been placed there at a particular time to meet a need. Once you’ve taken some time to do that, sit down as a family and share what you have discovered, and help your children realize how God has provided for them in certain times and situations as well.


Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a wonderful opportunity to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discuss how they relate to daily life, and encourage deeper family conversations. This makes faith an exciting and meaningful journey. God bless. I look forward to seeing your family on Sunday.


Pastor Bob

Hello, Bridge family. I hope you're all doing well. This week, we discussed the story of Jonah, in which God told him to go one way, but he chose to go the opposite way. Of course, you know the story. God knew what Jonah was up to all the time, and Jonah ended up in the belly of a really big fish, who spits him out on a beach, surprisingly enough, in the direction Jonah was supposed to be heading in the first place. This story is a great example of what King David expresses about God in Psalm 139, O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me (v. 1 NLT).


As always, the DigIN@home material is a great way to help us all understand and reinforce the Bible Points we teach each week. I hope you can find time to go through it with your family. We feel it will go a long way in helping you. Direct your children onto the right path (Prov 22.6 NLT). I can’t stress this enough: you all have a greater influence over your children than we ever will. Our hope is that you build on the small foundation we lay out each week. I think you will find this week’s take-home very helpful in helping your children understand what it means for God to be all-knowing.


It is mind-boggling to consider what it means for God to know everything about us, every thought and every action, even before we take them, let alone after they are said or done. He knows. It is an uncomfortable fact of life, don’t you think? For many of us, if we are honest, it can be a dreadful thought. Yet it should be a comforting one. That is the point we, as parents, need to make to our kids. Don’t be fearful; be comfortable with God’s omniscience. Here’s a way to present the concept of an all-knowing God that I hope will help.


In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes, "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead" (v. 2:4 NLT). We can rejoice because, even though God knows everything about us, Christ still came and died for us when he really could have punished us. Jesus took that punishment instead of us. See, God is all-knowing, and he is rich in grace and mercy, so even though he really knows us better than we know ourselves, he still wants us to be part of his family. That is truly comforting, don’t you think?


Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a wonderful opportunity to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, talk about how they relate to daily life, and encourage deeper family conversations. This makes faith an exciting and meaningful journey. God bless, and I look forward to seeing your family on Sunday.


Pastor Bob

Hello, Bridge family. I hope you're all doing well. This week, we shared that God is our Friend. I have to tell you, while I wholeheartedly believe that God is our friend, we must understand that it’s not at all like our earthly friendships. So how can we help our kids understand this unique and special friendship with God?


First, as always, the DigIN@home material is a great way to help us all understand and reinforce the Bible Points we teach each week. I hope you can find time to go through it with your family. We feel it will go a long way in helping you. Direct your children onto the right path (Prov 22.6 NLT). I can’t stress this enough: you all have a greater influence over your children than we ever will. Our hope is that you build on the small foundation we lay out each week. I think you will find this week’s take-home very helpful in helping your children understand what having God as a friend is all about.


Secondly, we all need to understand the unique meaning of saying that God is our Friend. In the book of John, Jesus says, "You didn’t choose me. I chose you" (15:16). We need to understand and be able to share with our children that our desire to be friends with Jesus is because He first came to us; we are simply responding to His calling.


I understand that having God as a friend can seem abstract, probably more so for adults than for children. Because a child’s mind is full of wonder and amazement, I doubt it is really a stretch of the imagination for them, especially for those who are of Bridge age. Let me then encourage you to encourage them to write to God. Or, for our really younger kids, draw God a picture. Not every day, but from time to time, encourage them to sit down and get with their special friend, Jesus. Encourage them to tell their friend how their day went, or what is happening to them that is making them happy or possibly sad. Teach them to share with their friend. I think that could plant a seed that could grow for eternity. How about you?


Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a wonderful opportunity to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, talk about how they relate to daily life, and encourage deeper family conversations. This makes faith an exciting and meaningful journey. God bless, and I look forward to seeing your family on Sunday.


Pastor Bob