In Eph. 2 Paul speaks of people's hopeless condition of living without a relationship with God.
Before Jesus, Gentiles were in a desperate place. They had no hope because they were without God.
But once Christ died on the cross for the whole world – ALL people could have a relationship with God through Him.
In other words, no longer was heaven only available to a single group of people
– it was open to ALL who accepted Jesus as the bridge to heaven, and walked across.
You know, there are many who see the church as an exclusive group who think they are special and chosen.
They look at Christians today and see a “religious” group who view the world as “outsiders”.
And the world doesn’t want to join a group like that.
It’s time we clearly declared:
• It’s not anything to do with religion
• It’s not about being in a chosen group
• It’s NOTHING to do with being good!
And it’s ALL to do with a person, a relationship, a bridge – between us and God.
It’s ALL about God’s Son, who called Himself “the way”.
On the cross, He died for US! ALL of us.
He became a bridge.
So it’s not about church, or religion or being good!
It’s about the PERSON of Jesus Christ – the bridge to God.
It’s about FINDING THE WAY through life… finding the bridge to our Creator
He has a plan for each of us
He can give peace inside where there is turmoil outside
He can lead us to Place where there is . . . .
no more pain, tears, death.
THAT’s what Christianity is about!
There is no Us and Them!
We are all messed up humans who are looking for
Peace and purpose and place of rest.
We have found the bridge that get’s us all of that ….
And more!
We are (I hope) excited about it,
and want to lead others there . . . .
because the Bridge – Jesus Christ is here for EVERYONE.
There are no barriers anymore!
Through Jesus Christ, we all have access to God.
Our mission statement is all about being a bridge, right?
What’s our mission statement?
The bring people together, and to Jesus”
Leading people to The Bridge – that unites us!
Let’s talk about how we build bridges to those who, at the moment haven’t discovered the Bridge yet.
• They don’t know where they are going
• They don’t know God’s plan for them
• They don’t enjoy a relationship with God
Have you locked eyes on someone recently and started to well up, because, as far you can decern, this person is missing out on life – NOW and for eternity?
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NIV)
"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."
We are not talking about a physical bridge, like the Golden Gate, but the spiritual Bridge we are called to build in a world that is broken, lost, and in desperate need of a Saviour.
As ones who have discovered “The Bridge”, we rejoice in finding it, but we are called to lead others to it.
We are called to reach out our hands in love to those around us and lead them to “The Bridge” between the love of God and the hearts of those who are far from Him.
There are a lot of hurting people who are
searching for meaning, and
longing for love.
They are like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36).
Do we see them?
Do we feel their pain?
As followers of Christ, we are called to open our eyes and have the compassion of Christ.
Let us be attentive to the silent cries of those around us.
• Religion is NOT the answer.
• Being good isn’t a ticket to heaven or God’s approval
Many are looking in the wrong places for answers to a fulfilled life.
And some of us Christians are not helping in making the message clear.
• The way to LIFE IN ALL IT’s FULNESS
• The way to peace in our souls
• The way to having direction, and
Is in discovering the Bridge!
And walking across it.
Jesus Christ
Doesn’t want our religious ways
Or our attempt to lead a good life
He just wants us to come to Him - FULL STOP
Once we lead people to Jesus Christ, we can help them to follow Him, understand Him, and accept Him as Lord and Saviour.
Yes, it’s intentional effort to lead people to the bridge,
But it’s whole lot easier than trying to get people to jump through religious hoops and
giving up certain things;
like it’s some spiritual diet.
Listen – CHRIST IS THE ANSWER. That’s it!
SO:
Ask people what they think Christianity is all about
Ask people what they think they have to do in order to be a Christian
Then you can simply explain –
It’s actually about a person – Jesus Christ – who is a bridge to cross.
He is The Way
The way to LIFE – real meaningful life.
Yes there are barriers between us and God! and
there is nothing we can do to dismantle all those barriers.
But Jesus Christ became our Bridge to overcome all the barriers, and give us access all areas.
Here is a link to a song which you can freely use: https://youtu.be/jXnmQuq3r0g?si=g4gF8KQpCKEQFKl2
