Join us on Easter

Are you considering going to church on Easter? Take a drone tour of our weird building! Then, come and join us Apirl 5th at 8:00, 9:30, or 11:00 AM.

Thinking of joining us on Easter? Take a Drone tour!
Posted by The Bridge Community Church on Thursday, April 2, 2015

Reset

Do you remember the RESET button on the Nintendo Entertainment System? It used to drive me crazy when my sisters would hit it because I was so engrossed in a game that I was not doing what I was supposed to be doing. Did that ever happen to anyone else?

“But I was on level 15!!!“

Here is another question:

Have you ever thought about hitting the RESET button on your life? 

On July 27th we are going to take four weeks to hit the RESET button on our hearts, attitudes and minds. If the Holy Spirit hit reset in your life, what would you do different? What would you do again? What changes would be made?

Join us for a new four week series, RESET!

•  July 27th – Begin Again 
• The beauty and call of the gospel. 
•  August 3rd – Drudgery or Delight 
•  The motivation for gospel living 
• August 10th – Abide and Thrive 
• The path and results of gospel living 
• August 17th – Remember, Rejoice, Respond 
•  The sustaining power of the gospel for life 

You are invited to join us at The Bridge Community Church at 9:00 or 10:45!
-pastor Ben

 Watch the trailer and share it with your friends!
"RESET" Sermon Series Trailer from Roger Durbin on Vimeo.

For His Name's Sake

Last week's special celebration, "For His Name's Sake" is now online. You can watch the entire celebration as well as listen to the conviction behind the transition of the Arnold campus into a local autonomous church. You can also read about the campus transition at this link. 

For His Name's Sake 07-20-14 from Roger Durbin on Vimeo.

Dear Bridge Family: Arnold Campus Transition

Dear Bridge Family,

In Matthew 28:19-20 we were commissioned as disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Our mission as a local church expression has been birthed out of this assignment from Christ himself.

We exist as a local expression of the church to be disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus for His fame.

In March of 2006 we held our first worship gathering and have been blessed to baptize hundreds of new disciples since that time. We are actively pursuing to teach these new disciples to obey the commands of Christ through our corporate gathering and scattering (missional cell families) in the power of the Holy Spirit. In March of 2012, we sent a team of disciples to Arnold to begin a new movement of gospel ministry. Then, in the summer of 2013 we sent our first long-term missionaries to Bangkok to begin another work of gospel ministry.

The gospel is bearing fruit and growing! There has been healthy multiplication as an outgrowth of the mission empowered by the Holy Spirit.

This Sunday we celebrated the progress of ministry in Arnold. They are quickly growing from infancy to adulthood as a local expression of the church. In light of this, we are moving towards a HEALTHY transition of the Arnold campus to a local autonomous church.  

Here are three things you need to know.

1. This will involve a name change from The Bridge Arnold to something new on September 7th.  The local Arnold elders are currently seeking to register City on a Hill with the state of Missouri.  This name change is essential due to the fact that another large church has moved into Arnold with a very similar name.
2. Eventually, Arnold will move to full autonomy as they become more financially stable, develop a full plurality of elders, and have a complete staff. 
3. This compels the formation of The Bridge Network of churches. This will keep our family together with Arnold, Bangkok, and other churches that we have helped to plant or will plant. A strong relationship among local autonomous churches will remain through the sharing of ideas, resources, and ministry opportunities.

This is the fruit of healthy gospel multiplication. There is no conflict. There is only a desire for disciples to be made for the glory of His name. These developments increase Arnold’s ability to bring the mission of God into their specific cultural context. Yes, our name will be dropped but His name will be proclaimed. His name will be lifted high and that is what matters. Why? We were never commissioned to make disciples of our name but His. Additionally, we were never commissioned to spread our brand, but we have been commissioned to spread the news that Jesus Christ saves sinners.

So let’s go. Let’s keep making disciples who make disciples for His fame.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the 

name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

For His Name’s Sake,

Ben Durbin

Lead Pastor, The Bridge Community Church

Galatians

I taught the book of Galatians beginning January 2014 at The Bridge Community Church. Below you will find eleven teaching outlines from my sermons. These are what I walk on stage with. Note: Perfectionists beware that you may find incomplete sentences or typos. There were a few additional sermons in this series from other teachers at our fellowship not included here.

1. No Other Gospel - Galatians 1:1-10
2. A Gospel Driven Life - Galatians 1:11-24
3. Freed Through Faith - Galatians 2
4. Living by Faith - Galatians 2:20 - 3:14
5. Living by Promise - Galatians 3:15-25 
6. Adopted by God - Galatians 3:26-4:7
7. Breaking Free (aka Grace to the Barren) - Galatians 4:21-31
8. Free from Self-Righteousness - Galatians 5:1-15
9. Free from Self-Effort - Galatians 5:16-24
10. Free from Self-Centeredness - Galatians 5:25-6:6
11. Free from the World - Galatians 6:11-18

To listen to these sermons go to our podcast or video site.

"Here it is Lord, my shell collection."

Bridge Family, 

This Sunday we end our time in the book of Galatians together by wrestling with the question, "What do you boast in?" This will be the fourteenth and final sermon from the book.  Please gather with us this Sunday as we close out our series, "Living Free!"

Why? 

This section of scripture contains one of the most important messages that a Christian can ever hear on daily living. Paul shows us how to live free from the trappings of this present world. We will see that the Christian's life is to be driven by one thing; the cross of Christ.

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14 ESV)

So, what's with the title of this blog you may ask? As I study for this passage, I can still hear the words of John Piper ringing in my ears from a sermon he delivered at a Passion One Day Conference in Memphis, TN in the year 2000 for college students. The title of the message was "Boasting Only in the Cross." It later became fleshed out in one of his books, "Don't Waste Your Life." A few years later, a friend gave me this message and it challenged me to question the validity of the dreams that I had for my life and submit them to God.

I am sharing with you a section of this sermon today for you to view before coming to our gathering this Sunday. You can watch the clip below. I also wanted to challenge you to just listen to the message without pressing back. I know some may say, I don't like Piper because he has said this or that or the way he talks about _____ (insert whatever you want here). But, let's be honest...I don't even like some of the things that come out of my own mouth sometimes. Simply check this out and let it check you before coming. It is about eight minutes long.

I hope to see you this Sunday. 

What do we boast in? May it be said of us that we boast only in the cross of Christ!

"Here it is Lord, my shell collection." - John Piper

I Don't Know Why

Last November I shared with some friends that I had a few songs that I still wanted to get out. You can read about my current music project here. Then, this past Sunday Becky and I decided to share a simple preview of one of these songs on social media. It was three years ago this past Sunday that we lost a baby. Honestly, this time was a tough season in our lives. We trusted Jesus, but we found that this sort of thing was something that Christians rarely talk openly about or process. How do you talk about miscarriage? I honestly still do not know all of those answers, and that's OK. We don't need every answer. But, we also don't need to walk through these times alone.

I am sharing a preview of this tune now on my blog to let others out there know that they are not alone. The pain you feel is real. There is a whole community of Christians that hurt every time Mother's Day or Father's Day rolls around. You are not alone and Jesus has not abandoned you. There is good news. Jesus has risen. His tomb is empty.

You can listen to an acoustic preview of this song by clicking the link below.

https://app.box.com/s/xwqnbhljxl5jktn5zfkk

Song Preview: I Don't Know Why

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. - 1 Peter 5:7