It's all about people.

It's all about people. Right? Isn't that why Jesus came, born of a virgin, died and rose again? I believe it was. It's all about people. 

I had the privilege of attending a graduation ceremony today for WorkExpress graduates. I won't get to detailed regarding WorkExpress, (what it is) but next to the LORD directing my steps into Father Bills and MainSpring, it was WorkExpress that intrigued me, that excited me. It is a social program with the express intent of equipping those that society deems "undesirable" with the skills to turn their lives around. It is impressive, it is innovative, and it is, as far as I can tell something that scripture mandates we do as Christians. I could spend the rest of this post detailing scripture after scripture from both the old and new testaments about why this is so, maybe soon, but not tonight.

I will give you this one: 

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them,‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,6 you did it to me.’-Matthew 25:31-40

and one more:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.-James 1:27

It is amazing to me that there are those in the Christian community that would try and say that engaging people in this context is something that some are called to and not others. Wrong. There is no option given in scripture regarding that directive. You either do it, or you don't. Does it mean you're not "saved" if you don't volunteer at a shelter or pass out winter coats to men and women living in the woods of Plymouth? No, I wouldn't say that. I would say that if you or I don't in some way shape or form help those that are less fortunate, those that have been cast aside by the vast majority of the population, we need to check ourselves. Check to see if you're really in the Spirit, check to see if you're truly abiding in the True Vine. If you are, you should be producing those spiritual fruits that are evidence of the new birth.

Please don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that everyone needs to work in this environment as a full time job. I am fortunate enough to have been blessed by the LORD to get to do this full time and collect a pay check for it. You may not "be called" to do what my co-workers and I do, but you have been "called" to do something. Pray about what it is specifically and do it!

As the grads received their certificates today it was impressed upon me like never before the reason Christ has told us to go to the people like the widows and orphans, like the prisoners and the poor and it is all about image.

Imago Dei- the image of God. We are all created in the image of God and because of this we have worth and significance. Our worth and significance is not wrapped up in our accomplishments, our families, our status, our education or anything else, it is tied solely to Christ. This is why we serve others, because they bear the image of our LORD, the greatest servant of all. The one who came not be served, but to serve. The one that wrapped a towel around his waist and washed the filthy feet of his motley crew of disciples. The one that willingly laid down his life for you and me and the poor, the homeless, the addict, the prostitute, the homosexual, the heterosexual, the...you get the idea. We're worth something because Christ created us in His image and then died for us when we were His enemies, not because we deserved it, but because that is His nature then and now, and this is why we must serve others.

"But worth, value, and beauty is not determined by some innate quality
But by the length for which the owner would go to possess them
And broken and ugly things just like us are stamped Excellent"-propaganda

Grace and Peace,
Chris and Kelley

from death comes life.

             

I've always been a fan of Matt Maher's "Christ is Risen". We sang it yesterday in church, and as we did the painting you see above came to mind. I purchased this piece from an artist on the left coast named Chase Tafoya. I've been impressed with his work for a few years now and presented with an opportunity to buy an original piece, I bought. 

As I sang the chorus of Maher's song, which is taken from 1 corinthians 15:55, it hit me how perfectly the painting represents the biblical principal of life from death. While we were never programmed to taste death in the physical, we are all born spiritually dead. Psalm 51:5, Romans 5:12, Ephesians 2:1 all speak to this truth. 

When Paul penned these words he was explaining the resurrection of the body from death to the Corinthian church, a church known well for their debauchery. Read the letters to the Corinthians and see for yourself the things that were going on, yet Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:2 that he desires to present this sinful church to Christ as a "pure virgin". 

How does that happen? 

It's actually quite simple. Death, and from death comes life. The Corinthian church would have to "put to death the deeds of the flesh", and just like the Corinthian church we are to do the very same thing. We are called explicitly to "deny ourselves, take up our cross" and follow Jesus. Take up your cross an instrument of death, that in the economy of God, brings life, and follow Him.

We are sinful people. We need a savior. Period. People tend to think that they're inherently "good". People would like to think that in the end there is some sort of cosmic scale that measures the good and bad done in life, hoping that the good outweighs the bad, and that whatever higher being there is would accept them based on their merits. This is not how it works. There is a God in Heaven who is righteous and just and loves unconditionally, and because He is all these things He must judge sin. 

God "desires that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance", to be aware of their need for the redemptive work of Christ on the cross and to receive the free gift of salvation through grace by faith! This is the good news of the gospel. Jesus loves you, there is no way to escape this fact. He sent his only Son to die for you, so that you might live.

From death comes life.

When I first saw Chase painting this piece it immediately resonated with me. I don't know what Chase's motivation or inspiration for this piece was, but to me it spoke volumes about the scriptural principle of life and death. I hope as you read this you will consider the reality of sin, judgement, redemption, life, love and death. It is appointed for man to die, then the judgement, . We will all meet God one day, whether you meet Him in your own righteousness, of which apart from Christ you do not have, or clothed in the righteousness of His Son, is up to you.

Grace and Peace

Chris

Begin with love.

The Bridge has officially begun . We have met for our very first, of what we pray to be many, gatherings. We hope you all were blessed as we were. Kelley and I are looking ahead to our next meeting which will be held Saturday October 12th at the church at 6:30. Like we spoke about Saturday we will be starting in with Greg Lauries "Essentials Volume 1". If you haven't yet ordered yourself a copy please do so as soon as possible. If for some reason you are unable to order a copy please see either Kelley or myself and we will try and figure something out. I'll post some links to the books again at the bottom of the page. Also we would like to buy tickets by the end of the week for the Friday 11/15 Hillsong United show in Boston. If you are interested in going please contact either of us in person, text, or email at ccbthebridge@gmail.com. 

Like we spoke about Saturday we want you all to be involved in this group, we want you all, as Ryan put it, to be active participants as opposed to passive. Engage one another, challenge one another, pray for each other...love one another.

Christ has told us very plainly in Matthew 22:36-40 that out of the whole of the Law the greatest commandment is to love. To love the LORD with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. John 13:35 tells us that people will know we are Christians by our love for one another. Throughout the whole of scripture those who followed Christ never referred to themselves as Christians and only three times in scripture is the word actually used and twice it is used by others in characterization of the followers of Christ. (Acts 11:26 and 26:28)This is important because it proves out exactly what Christ spoke in John 13. They will know us by our love. 

Our life in Christ should look like something. If you are born of the Spirit of God as believers we should exemplify that birth, we should be bearing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). If we were born as a kangaroo we would exemplify the characteristics of the pouch-ed marsupial.

Holiness. We are to be holy because He is holy (1 Peter 1:13-16 & Leviticus 20:26). This isn't some self righteous call to legalism, rather it is a challenge to repudiate the beck and call of this world and its trappings. The call of God for holiness isn't an issue of being separated from things so much as it is being separated unto Christ. Think back to your first boyfriend or girlfriend. Got it, good. Now think about how long it took you to essentially neglect all you other friends and loved ones to spend tie with this particular person. It wasn't that you were distancing yourself from your brother and best friends, but you were so immersed in who this love interest was that that was all consuming. This is the idea of our call to holiness. Not separated from, separated unto.

Don't waste your time with the temporal things of this earth. Invest in things eternal: the Word of God and the souls of people, these are what truly matter. By doing this you will display the love of Christ and naturally be fulfill our directive as followers of Christ.

Grace and Peace,
Chris & Kelley



Harvest Ministries Essentials bundle

Essentials Volume 1

Essentials Bible study

Hello and Welcome to The Bridge

Hey everybody,

First things first, this group is to serve two purposes. To know Christ and make Him known. Simple. Our first meeting will be September 28th, 6:30 at the church. 

We figured a blog would be the easiest way to keep everyone updated to the goings-on of The Bridge. Yes, that is currently what we are calling it unless someone comes up with a better name. 

We will be posting schedules, questions, thoughts, updates, book reviews and recommendations, music and the like from time to time. Subscribe to it so you are all alerted when something gets posted. 

This first post is simply informative. Please pass this along to those that you think may benefit from this group. Keep it to those that have graduated high school and are not over 30ish.

One of the things we will be going over in the group is basic Christian Theology, or the essentials if you will. I picked up "Essentials" by Greg Laurie, so far so good. We're going to try and tear through a good portion of it before the 28th. Along with the book he has put together a study guide which looks pretty good. We've posted links below to each of them. Pick them up if you can before the 28th. 

I know Kelley and I are really looking forward too this and we have been praying for all of you. We are trusting God to build this group as He sees fit. Please be praying for us, for the group- The Bridge (I think I like that.)

Grace and Peace,
Chris and Kelley

Essentials by Greg Laurie

Essentials Bible Study by Greg Laurie