It's a simple name: "Bridge Community Church."
But when you think about each word individually, our name says a lot about who we are, and what God has called us to do.
Let's begin with the last word first: CHURCH. We are a church. That's a no brainer, right? Other descriptions might be: a church family, a local church body, a congregation, or a fellowship of believers. Whatever it's called, I think we all get the idea...
Next, the first word in our name: BRIDGE. Let's take a little time with this one. Perhaps you've seen an illustration of something like this: Imagine a great chasm (like the Grand Canyon) between Holy GOD and Fallen MAN. This great divide is caused by SIN, and the only thing that connects the two sides is the CROSS. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). In a sense, through the cross, Jesus “bridged the gap,” making a way for man to come to God, or be reconciled to Him (2 Corinthians 5).
Simply put, our church wants to "bridge the gap" between God and the world He loves, by sharing the love of Jesus Christ in a tangible way. We do this through servanthood, acts of kindness, compassion, outreach, etc.
Notice the urgency in this quote from The Church of Irrestible Influence, by Robert Lewis:
As the church engages in a third millennium, it looks across a terrifying, and ever-widening, chasm between itself and the world it is trying to reach. Six out of ten Americans believe the church is irrelevant. As it stares across that chasm, much of the church no longer believes it can influence the world. The question is simple: What impact is the church having on the community?
And another one:
Without its own bridges to the world, church life—in time—fades into isolation, self-congratulation, and finally, irrelevance.
Ouch! With God's help, we must guard our purpose with diligence. We cannot afford to turn inward, and neglect the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. We must "build a bridge" to a lost and hurting world, both around the world...and around the corner.
That brings us to the middle word in our name: COMMUNITY.
I'll discuss that more in the next blog posting...
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Welcome back to the fight Pastor David,we missed your post.
ReplyDeleteI'm ashamed to say. I haven't posted to my companies blog since last year. This has inspired me to generate a new post.
Great breakdown of BCC's core values, I hope I didn't put words in your blog. Anyway, I have witnessed the impact the church has had on the surrounding communities. However wide or narrow the reaching community needs gap my be, The Bridge Community Church is living up to its name. I look forward to reading and commenting on more engaging post.
Again, welcome back to the fight - your blog post will continue to impact lives in 2010.