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12/30/2025 Jesus is powerful... and He gives us powerHello, Bridge Family! I hope you had a joyful Christmas. I can’t believe this is the last week of 2025. Looking at a picture of a kid dressed as a superhero on our Digin@home handout reminded me of wrestling with my three-year-old granddaughter, Kenna, during Thanksgiving. She loves the Disney show Spidey and His Amazing Friends, a Grade-school version of Spider-Man. When she wrestles, she flings her wrist, shoots her web, and makes sound effects, pretending to triumph as I struggle to break free of her web.
Our kids are fascinated by the idea of having superpowers. Don’t believe it? Look at the shows they enjoy most. However, I don’t think we adults are all that different. Just look at the most popular movies. Very few of them aren’t associated with X-Men, Marvel, DC Comics, or something in that genre. I believe these things are so popular regardless of age because we all long to have superpowers, or at least are, to some extent, fascinated by the possibility. We need to capture that fascination and use it. Not only to strengthen our children’s walk, but also to strengthen our own. As adults, how many of us understand what Christ bestowed upon us to live as children of the Most High until His return? For each of us in Christ, receive(s) power when the Holy Spirit comes upon (us). So that we will be witnesses…to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8 NLT). Jesus gave us this incredible power, not to fly or spin webs, but to live out the will of the Father, not in our own strength but through His strength—the Power of the Holy Spirit. Here are key points to share with your kids about the Holy Spirit. First, He is God, the third person of the Trinity, who fully dwells in each believer. No matter how lonely we feel, we are never alone because He is always with us. He knows our thoughts, so we can always come to Him. He helps us walk through our struggles, prays when we don’t know what to say, and prays for us and others. He helps us understand what is true, both from the Bible and in life’s situations. He will lead us as we grow to become what God has in store for us. I think many people give up on God because they feel they never measure up to God’s will. They would be correct if they were trying in their own strength. This is true for our kids as well. Sadly, as they become adults, many will leave the church because they find it too hard to measure up. The sooner we can teach them about the Holy Spirit, about this incredible power that God has given them, the greater the chance they will walk in the Lord all the days of their lives. I pray you all have a Happy New Year! Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a great chance to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discussing how they apply to daily life, and fostering 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 12/23/2025 Jesus is humble... so we show humilityHello, Bridge Family! I hope you are doing well this Christmas season! This week, we read the Christmas story as told by Luke. What I found interesting was the perspective our outline took. We focused not on the manger scene, the shepherds tending their flock, or the multitude of angels praising God in the highest. No, we looked at how Jesus Christ, the creator of heaven and earth, chose to humble himself because of his love for us. We did this with the kids by comparing what we believe heaven is like, in all its awesomeness, to what we know the world we live in is like. Ask them about the balloon and see if they can explain it to you (hint: inflated balloon heaven, deflated balloon here and now).
In his letter to the church in Philippi, the apostle Paul wrote about Jesus’ humble act: Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God… (Phil 2:6-8 NLT). Let this sink in. Jesus gave up His divine status, lowering Himself to the position of a slave because He loved the Father and loved you and me. I don’t know about you, but there are times when I don’t want to give up one car length to let some yahoo cut in front of me because they waited until the lane ran out. I don’t want to give up 10 feet, yet Christ gave up the glory of heaven. Maybe you can relate. If so, it’s pretty humbling to consider. I believe that true understanding of humility and humble service only comes when we recognize how we compare to God. Once we grasp this, we will naturally feel humbled and awe-inspired by Him, enabling us to walk humbly in His presence. As parents, we should aim for this attitude in our lives and demonstrate it to our children so they can emulate our example. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a great chance to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discussing how they apply to daily life, and fostering 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 well. This week’s message follows last week’s, which discussed the challenge of loving others, especially the unlovable. Here, we learn that living in Christ’s light involves forgiving others, regardless of their actions. While forgiving can seem impossible, we all understand hurt. Yet, nothing compares to what Jesus endured when He said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing (Luke 23:34 NLT),” highlighting that our offenses are minor compared to His sacrifice.
Forgiveness is essential for building a strong relationship with our Heavenly Father. Christ highlights this in Matthew 6: ‘If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins’ (Matt 6:14-15 NLT). Therefore, we are called to forgive just as we have been forgiven. It’s common to think, ‘but you don’t understand what so-and-so did,’ and while that might be acceptable in worldly disputes, it falls short in a heavenly context. Teaching forgiveness begins with the gospel. The Heidelberg Catechism explains that, because of Christ’s satisfaction, God no longer remembers our sins or sinful nature, which we struggle against throughout life. Instead, by grace, God grants us Christ’s righteousness, preventing judgment. Our Father shows forgiveness through Christ’s work on the cross. Now that we have established the root for our forgiveness, we must model it for our children. Here are three points from the answer above to guide us as we guide our families. 1. We forgive because of Christ. Since he has forgiven us, we are called to forgive others. Forgiveness alone doesn’t get anyone into heaven; being forgiven through faith in Christ does. 2. Forgiveness should be forgetful. When we stand before God, He is not going to say, “Remember when you did that?” As parents, we sometimes dwell on the past with our children. In doing so, we have to ask ourselves, if we keep bringing something up, have we really forgiven? If you have ever experienced that, as I have, then it certainly doesn’t seem like true forgiveness. 3. Grace defines true forgiveness. In forgiveness, there are no strings attached, no demands. Whether someone ever acknowledges that they have wronged us, we are to forgive them. Remember, it is by God’s grace that we have been granted Christ’s righteousness. Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a great chance to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discussing how they apply to daily life, and fostering 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 this message finds you and your loved ones well. This week, we had a fun challenge for the kids. Out of 10 challenges, they were to choose three they would be willing to do. I’ll admit, some of them were quite funny, but not the best choices. In fact, no one in their right mind would want to do any of them. I encourage you to ask your child which of the ten they chose. Also, they were asked: “What is something that you hope you never have to do?” The point of all this was to show that sometimes in life, there are things we don’t want to do, and this even happened in the life of Jesus, too.
That brings us to the Garden of Gethsemane, where we can truly see Jesus struggling with a difficult choice, just like you, me, and our children sometimes do. I believe that in the garden, the Father showed Jesus the full picture of what was to come. In that moment, in His humanity, He recoiled at the prospect and prayed for deliverance. Can you relate? I can, of course, not to the same scale, but with the idea that God, there has to be another way. However, there wasn’t, and even though Jesus could have said no, He didn’t. Think about it, no one forced Him to say yes. He did it because He knew it was what His Father wanted. He did the hard thing because God planned to save us. In Gethsemane, we see our Lord, living out His love for God and for His neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39), and it was tough. But if we are willing to do hard things and desire our children to do the same, then I believe no greater act reveals our love for God than loving others. I don’t know if there is a more challenging task set before us as Christians. Be honest, loving others is difficult. So let me suggest this as a starting point. First, think about someone you are struggling to love as God commanded and share that with your children. You can leave out the details, but ask them to help you love that person by praying for them and asking the Holy Spirit to give you the ability to do this hard thing and love them as God desires. Over time, get to know the people your children are having a hard time loving, and pray together similarly. Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a great chance to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discussing how they apply to daily life, and fostering 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 had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This past week, we explored Jesus’ teaching in the book of John, where He describes Himself as “the true grapevine.” Not only is this the final “I am” statement in John, but it also serves as an ideal example of how we should live out our faith (of course, it’s perfect—because it’s from Jesus).
Jesus says in John 15:5: “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” We understand that we are called to obey God, but Jesus shows that it’s impossible without Him. One definition of ‘Remain’ is to “live in one place day by day.” I find that meaningful, don’t you? But how can we do that? How do we bear “good fruit?” Remember and share this with your kids: Jesus sent a helper, an advocate, and a counselor—His Spirit, the Holy Spirit! Our reliance on remaining in Christ depends entirely on the Holy Spirit, who alone can produce good fruit. It is His work, not ours. The more you talk about what the Holy Spirit does for them and how He changes them, the more they will believe in His sufficiency. As they rely on the Holy Spirit and grow in their love for Him, the fruit of the Spirit will become more evident in their lives. Here are three things I have found that teach about the Holy Spirit, which you could share with your kids to strengthen their walk. 1. The Holy Spirit helps us to trust in God. God doesn’t change and always loves us. He keeps His promises to be with us, empowering us to obey, and bringing us to His perfect home. The Holy Spirit reminds us to trust God in everything. 2. The Holy Spirit helps us to grow closer in our friendship with God. Remaining in Jesus helps our friendship with God grow. We learn about friends by spending time with them; we do the same with God by reading the Bible and praying. The Bible teaches about God and how He wants us to live. The Holy Spirit gives us the desire to learn from the Bible and pray. When talking to God, remember we can share anything; He is ready to help. 3. The Holy Spirit helps us change so that we are more like Jesus. Because the Holy Spirit is in us, we have new life in Christ, which means we start to live differently and grow good fruit for God. He will help us to obey and be kind. We can’t forgive others, speak God’s truth, or take care of other people by just trying harder on our own. Instead, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us live God’s way out of love for God. Remember, as long as your child is at home, you have a great chance to share the Bible. Together, explore its stories, discussing how they apply to daily life, and fostering 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 |
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