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Winter Membership Day

Looking forward to our winter Membership Day this coming up this Saturday. We are changing up the membership process a bit to make it a little more convenient for people who are interested/ready to join the Bridgeway family.

After this Sunday all 6 messages in our Foundations series (the basic membership curriculum) can be obtained and listened to at your convenience. The membership day is one 3-hour class that will cover our church’s history, vision, values, & opportunities for ministry involvement. There is still time to add your name to the list if you would like to attend this Saturday. Email us here to RSVP.

Lunch will be provided! When: Sat. Feb. 6 | Time: 10am-1pm | Location: 424 Duss Ave.

Posted by mike | February 3, 2010 | Categories: events | Leave A Comment »

The Value of Studying the OT

On Tuesday night, I enjoyed the privilege of speaking at the APEX young adult service at Allison Park Church. My incredible bro Dave, the young adult pastor, invited me to conclude their series on studying the Bible with a message about the Old Testament.

The OT can be tough. I think there are 2 main reasons why we find the OT difficult. 1) It’s really long and there are very few pictures (unless you refer to one of those amazing illustrated kid’s Bibles), and 2) the immense cultural gap. It can be difficult to see how sacrifices, ceremonies, blood, guts, floods, etc. from thousands of years ago can mean anything to us today.

Its important to realize however that as Christians, the OT is an indispensible part of a vibrant Christian life. In fact, we can’t understand the depth of the New Testament without a basic understanding of the Old. Conversely we can’t understand the correct interpretation of the OT without the NT. We need both.

I think most Christians agree in theory with Paul in 2 Tim. 3:16 that “All Scripture [OT included] is breathed out by God.” I think we have a bit of a harder time believing that it is “profitable” as Paul says. In my talk I shared from the NT 3 ways the OT is spiritually profitable for us. These are:

1. The OT leads us to Jesus- Luke 24:27; 44-45.

It’s easy to think that just the NT is about Jesus, but Jesus himself said that Moses and the Prophets foretold of him. All the OT Scriptures point to Christ and find their ultimate fulfillment in him. Furthermore, they cannot be fully or rightly understood apart from Jesus. The OT enriches our understanding of Jesus, the nature of his sacrifice, and the power of our salvation in him.

2. The OT instructs us in righteous living- 1 Cor. 10:6-12

Paul said that the experiences and events of the OT were, “written down for our instruction on whom the ends of the ages have come.” This means that we are to learn from the experiences of God’s people throughought history so that we will not be doomed to repeat their mistakes.

3. The OT challenges us to persevere in faith- Heb. 11-12:1-2

In a messed up world it is easy to get discouraged. When we read the OT stories of faith we are encourged because we realize that we are not the first to live by faith, or fail miserably, or experience persecution. We can draw strength by knowing that we are surrounded by great men and women of faith who have gone before us and encourage us to persevere by their example.

Posted by mike | January 28, 2010 | Categories: messages | 1 Comment »

Haiti

On Sunday I was so proud of our church family as we collected $495.25 to be sent directly for immediate relief in Haiti. Praise God for that!

We will be sending the money through Convoy of Hope, an organization associated with our fellowship, the Assemblies of God. The following is an excerpt from our national Superintendent George Wood sent to all AG pastors regarding the situation in Haiti:

“I want to highlight again the dire need for relief assistance in Haiti. Numbers are still inconclusive on the deaths but we know they are staggering. Over 3 million people in Port-Au-Prince have been adversely affected by the tragic earthquake that hit this island on Tuesday evening. Already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, Port-au-Prince has for all practical purposes been left in ruins.

AG in Haiti: The Assemblies of God has two missionary families on the ground there, and reports are that they are safe. But we have 273 churches and more than 66,000 members and we do not know the fate of most of them, including their superintendent, Rev. Calixte Fleuridor.

Convoy of Hope has had an ongoing ministry in Haiti where they feed 7,000 children every day. So their warehouse there was full of food, water, and other supplies in order to meet that huge daily demand. Amazingly, the warehouse had just been restocked.

Donations: With needs so great, we cannot possibly meet them without the help of churches and members here in the United States. So I am appealing to our churches and leaders to give sacrificially for relief efforts in Haiti. I am especially appealing to our 12,400 churches to take an offering this Sunday for Haiti relief and send these funds to us so we can immediately respond with help. You can donate money online by clicking “Help for Haiti” button on the www.ag.org homepage or by sending donations to 1445 N. Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65802 marked Haiti Relief.”

Posted by mike | January 19, 2010 | Categories: uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Week of Prayer

Our annual Week of Prayer and Fasting is currently underway. Just a reminder about our 2 special prayer meetings this week. These special prayer times are all about calling on God to do what only he can do. Apart from his power we can accomplish nothing.

Posted by mike | January 12, 2010 | Categories: events, uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

New Series: Foundations

This Sunday we kicked off a new 5-week series on our core doctrines.

It seems popular today to pit things like “doctrine and theology” against “following Jesus” as if doctrine somehow hinders our walk with God. Such a dichotomy however, is unnecessary. In fact, if we fail to say we know anything about God for certain, how can we be sure we are really following him? If I don’t know anything definite about a person, can I really know them? In the same way, the purpose of doctrine and theology is to enrich and empower our experience of following Jesus by helping us to know him as he is according to his self-revelation in Scripture.

The words of Paul to Timothy are just as piercing in our day (perhaps more) as they were in the 1st Century:

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Tim. 4:4).”

So, in the spirit of avoiding the error to “not endure sound doctrine,” this series is about reaffirming the foundations of our faith and helping us stay on track in our pursuit of God. As in all things, balance is needed. Orthodox theology without a passionate, living relationship with Jesus leaves us empty just as passion for God without any grounding in truth leads to chaos and heresy. As we study our core doctrines, let’s add the flame of passion to the study of truth.

Here’s the rundown:

Jan. 3: Scripture
Jan 10: God, Man, & Salvation
Jan. 17: The Holy Spirit
Jan. 24: The Church
Jan. 31: The End Times

On a related note, many people have recently expressed interest in becoming members of the church. This sermon series will serve as the required course. After listening to these teachings, anyone interested in membership is invited to join us on Sat. Feb. 6 from 10am-2pm for our next membership day.

Posted by mike | January 5, 2010 | Categories: messages, preaching, Theology | Leave A Comment »

Primal: A Quest For The Lost Soul Of Christianity

I have really enjoyed reading Mark Batterson‘s newest book Primal. In the book Mark takes us on a quest to rediscover some of the “primal” essence of Christianity. He uses the Great Commandment, to love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength, as a grid to explain how each of these facets is basic to the Christian faith.

According to Mark, these aspects of loving God lead us to rediscover compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy in our relationship with God. Mark’s writing style is creative, interesting, and thought-provoking. “Primal” is a very enjoyable read. I would recommend it for your 2010 reading list! Click here to get your copy in time for Christmas.

Thanks to Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers for the free review copy.

Posted by mike | December 22, 2009 | Categories: books | Leave A Comment »

Annual Candlelight Service

Make sure to join us this Thursday for our annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. Its at our ministry center facility at 6:00 PM. In this one-hour service we will worship together with some traditional Christmas songs, hear from our Kid’s choir, and finish our “Do You Hear?” sermon series.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name ‘Immanuel’ which means, God with us.” Matt. 1:23

Posted by mike | December 22, 2009 | Categories: events | Leave A Comment »

Preaching Paradoxes

I’m currently reading through John Stott’s book “The Living Church.” In the chapter on preaching, he shares five preaching paradoxes that are helpful for any pastor or student. These are:

1. Biblical and Contemporary

This means that preaching is an exposition of Scripture which is related to the world in which we live. Authentic preaching must be faithful to the Biblical text and the modern context. He says, “In our resolve to be biblical, we refuse to lapse into irrelevance. Instead we seek to relate the ancient text to the modern context (99).”

2. Authoritative and Tentative

By this he means that preachers should declare with authority “what the Bible says” provided they have done their hermeneutical homework and applied proper interpretive principles to the text. While we believe that Word of God is infallible, we humbly recognize that we as human interpreters are fallible. While preaching should be dogmatic about the things that are plainly revealed, it should be tentative regarding the things God has kept secret (Deut. 29:29).

3. Prophetic and Pastoral

“Prophetic” refers to the ability to declare the truth and call people to it. “Pastoral” refers to the ability to gently deal with those who are slow to believe biblical truth and/or fail to attain biblical standards. Stott writes, “It is not easy to combine prophetic witness and pastoral care, firmness and gentleness, discipline and compassion (104).” Balanced preaching involves “disturbing the comfortable and comforting the disturbed.”

4. Gifted and Studied

This paradox acknowledges that God is the one who calls, anoints, and appoints preachers. On the other hand, this calling does not excuse the preacher from rigorous and disciplined study of the Scriptures. He quotes Billy Graham who announced what he would change about his ministry if he could do it over again. Graham said that first he would study three times as much. “I’ve preached too much, ” he said, “and studied too little (107).”

5. Thoughtful and Passionate

This paradox highlights the truth that in all authentic preaching, both “the mind and the emotions are engaged; clear thinking and deep feeling are combined (108).” Some preachers tend toward the thoughtful side while others toward the emotional side. There is a danger in only leaning in one direction. Balanced preaching will engage both the mind and the heart of the preacher.

Posted by mike | December 15, 2009 | Categories: books, preaching | Leave A Comment »

Slickery Sunday

This past Sunday was cool in more than one way. Temperature wise it was actually freezing. So freezing that our gracious hosts at Ambridge High School unable to get the parking lot de-iced in time for our service at 10:30. But Sunday was also cool in a sense other than temperature. Rather than cancel our worship service, we decided to on-the-spot move it to 11:00 at our Ministry Center facility down the street for anybody who was able to make it.

To be honest, I was not expecting much of a turnout on a day when they closed some of the parkways in Pittsburgh. To my pleasant surprise we nearly packed the place out with people eager to worship God together. Makes me proud to be part of such passionate, amazing church.

I love being part of a church that is that is willing to roll with the punches (or the ice) and find a way to worship together in inconvenient conditions. That being said, I’m also happy for the rest of our church family that either couldn’t make it out of their driveway or didn’t want to risk dying on the way. We are so glad that you are alive and safe! You were with us in spirit

I guess I’m saying all this to say I had a lot of fun Sunday. Yeah it was different, yeah it was cold, but we made it work and God’s presence was with us. I love my church family and can’t wait until next Sunday when we can all gather again at the school to raise our praise together and receive the Word of God. ‘Till then, stay warm!

Posted by mike | December 14, 2009 | Categories: reflections | Leave A Comment »

Matt Chandler Before Going Into Surgery

Check out this video from Pastor Matt Chandler of The Village Church just before he went into surgery. Matt suffered from a seizure a week and a half ago and recently had a successful surgery removing a tumor from his frontal lobe. I love his faith and passion!

Posted by mike | December 8, 2009 | Categories: videos | Leave A Comment »