Happy 2018!
What an exciting year we have in store for you at The Bridge. Over the next few weeks I hope to highlight some of the things that I am excited for as your pastor and to give you a glimpse of where I hope that God will take us in the year to come.
One of the things that we have been talking about at The Bridge for a number of years now is understanding what it means to be led, and guided by the Holy Spirit. How do we take that crucial doctrine of his abiding and guiding and live it out in a way that does more than simply pay lip-service to it? Well I'm happy to announce that after almost a year of trying to get the stars to align for scheduling - The Bridge Church will be hosting a very special weekend conference in 2018 that we call the Holy Spirit Encounter Weekend. From March 2-4 we will have facilitators and leaders from our district church family come and lead our people through a journey toward a deeper understanding and relationship with God the Spirit. I would encourage you to mark this weekend off in your calendars right away so that you can make being with us a priority. There is no cost to the weekend, and we will be providing concurrent children's programming throughout the weekend for a "Kids Encounter"on site while the main sessions are going on (more details will be coming on that in future weeks). Here is a bit of what you can expect when you join us that first weekend in March. This is an invitation from our facilitator, Rev. Robin Hansel:
As we have moved forward under the guidance of our President, Rev. David Hearn, we have been challenged to be Christ-centred, Spirit-empowered and Mission-focused. Our recent history suggests that we are most comfortable in our practice of being Christ-centred and Mission-focused. We have emphasized the message of Christ in a clear and compelling way from our pulpits; we have called our people to be about the mission of Christ, but have we drifted away from the necessity of Spirit-empowerment? We speak about sanctification and have been praying for transformation since Assembly 2000 through our Vision Prayer. Are we simply paying lip service to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Or can we actually give testimony of the ability to consistently hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us, as Jesus promised He would in John 16:13, 14?
In His messages to the seven churches, Revelation 2, 3, Jesus challenges each church by saying, “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Have we developed “ears to hear the Spirit?”
We would like to extend this special invitation for you to come and join with us at The Bridge Church – March 2 - 4 for a time of equipping, and experiencing what a Spirit-empowered posture might involve. Our ultimate desire is for each one of us to present ourselves to God as, “a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14
Please pray about what you will need to do to make sure you are here for the weekend, and then pray for God to prepare your heart to receive His Holy Spirit in a new and fresh way. You'll be hearing more soon.
Chris
