We will be holding Good Friday and Easter Sunday services! Find out more here

Building Bridges

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a bridge is:

a: a structure carrying a pathway or roadway over a depression or obstacle (such as a river) as in, bridge connecting the island to the mainland.

b: a time, place, or means of connection or transition, as in building a bridge between two cultures.

Bridges are required because barriers exist. If there were no barriers, there would be no need for bridges.

In the short film Le Gouffre (The Gulf), two adventurers set about the arduous task of building a bridge across a great chasm. People from the neighbouring farms began to watch, first with curiosity and then with genuine interest. They had existed, perhaps for generations without any sense that a bridge needed to be built across that gorge. But these two adventurers, by working together with ingenuity and effort, eventually succeeded in spanning the gap and ultimately, by great sacrifice, one man managed to cross over. And the entire community celebrated!

It is very clear to me, that there are barriers that exist between us and our neighbours and barriers require bridges. And if God is going to use us to reach our neighbours, then we too need to build some bridges.

As we prepare to experience the blessing of a newly reconstructed church building, my hope is that each of us will consider how God might use us to support ministries that intentionally serve as bridges to the hearts of our neighbours. This Sunday we will have an opportunity to hear of one such ministry: our Tuition Ministry. My prayer is that we will come with hearts prepared to build!

We will also have the blessing of hearing from Sydney Witbooi, who serves as International Director of OMF for Southeast Asia. For 150 years, OMF has been building bridges to the hearts of some of Asia’s most unreached people groups and I know you will be blessed hearing what God has laid on Sydney’s heart.

The two adventurers in Le Gouffre had no great or noble cause that would be better served by their bridge. They simply wanted to get to the other side. Surely our bridges would serve a much nobler cause than that! Surely the gospel deserves our unity, our efforts and even our sacrifice! Surely there are those who would cross over to the Kingdom of Life and Light… if we would only direct them to the Bridge!

Looking forward to a great Sunday!