Overcoming Worry

All of us struggle with worry at some time in our life, and yet Jesus taught that not only does worry accomplish nothing; worry is a clear indication of our lack of trust in God.  Sunday we'll see how not only is it possible to live a worry-free life, but doable!

Women's Conference -- October 24-25

This year's Women's Conference at The Bridge will feature pastor and author, Dr. Sue Curran. Along with her husband John, Dr. Curran is the founder and pastor of Shekinah Church in Blountville, Tennessee.

Dr. Curran recently authored Define Your Destiny through Prayer followed by Spiritual Breakthrough.  She is an effective minister in areas of prayer, freedom and revival.  From the outset of her teaching ministry, revival has accompanied her presentation of the gospel in its simplicity.  Dr. Curran's ministry has extended to all continents and crossed many cultural and ethnic boundaries with the same revival impact.

You won't want to miss the rich teaching of Dr. Curran and be refreshed in the presence of the Lord through worship led by Natalie Runion.

Cost is $40.00 (due at time of registration) All ladies must be pre-registered.

Conference Schedule

Friday, October 24
6:00pm - 7:00pm Registration
7:00pm - 9:00pm Session 1

Saturday, October 25
10:00am - Session 2
12:00 - Lunch (lunch provided)
1:30pm - 3:30pm Session 3

Weinel House Fire

This past week the home of Christina Weinel, a member of The Bridge, suffered significant fire damage.  Christina is grateful (as are we!) that smoke alarms alerted her to the fire and her and her family (including her newborn baby) was able to escape without injury.

Christina will be out of her home for a couple of months but we can help with some immediate needs by providing the following:

Grocery Store Gift Cards

Food Gift Cards

Deodorant, Shampoo, Soap

Conditioner, razors

2 child's backpacks (boy)

1 backpack for a teen boy

Gift Cards for apparel

Laundry Soap

Paper Plates, cups, plastic ware

If you would like to help with any of these items please bring them to church on Sunday and drop them off at the Welcome Center.

On behalf of Christina and her family I thank you!

With much love!

Bo

Father/Son Red's Game Outing

He Dad's, the Band of Brothers is sponsoring a Father/Son Red's game outing on Sunday, August 10^th. The cost is $16.95 per ticket. Please pay when you sign-up at the Welcome Center at church.

If you have any questions, please see or talk to Steve Dalton.

Special Golf Benefit

I just became aware of a benefit golf outing for Eve Murphy, a Christian woman of two young children who is battling Leukemia.

This event is scheduled for Saturday, August 2 at Robin's Nest Golf Course located at 8300 Dry Fork Road in Cleves, Ohio. Tee off is at 5 PM but you are asked to be at the course at 4:30.

This is a Glo Ball Night Golf event and should be a lot of fun. (Yes, I know it's still light out at 5 PM, but I guess this is an especially slow group of golfers).

This is great event for a very special person (Eve's Mom and Step-Dad are Ruth and Larry Peeno, longtime members of The Bridge). I hope you can participate.

For more info contact Debbie Schalk at (513) 519-4788

Bo

If God, Why Evil?

This weekend we close our current sermon series, Answers, by discussing the most often cited reason people struggle with belief in God – the existence of evil. Everyone experiences the reality of evil, but does evil deny the existence of God? Eighteenth century, atheistic philosopher David Hume argued that exact point when he paraphrased Epicurus, a Greek philosopher who lived 300 years before the birth of Christ.

"Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?"

Hume’s questions, and many similar arguments, have come to be known as The Problem of Evil. The argument says the God of the Bible, revealed as all knowing, all powerful, and all good, must not exist if evil is present. It is a powerful argument. And one that every Christian must contend with in his or her own heart in the midst of suffering, if not publicly in the face of a skeptic.

Join us on Sunday, when we will explore a few bad responses to the Problem of Evil and then spend a few minutes going over the Biblical response to the evil both in our hearts and in our world.

See you then,

Whitney 

How Can A Loving God Send People To Hell?

This was the question a friend and I considered when I was nineteen years old.  After much discussion we agreed that the idea of hell was inconsistent with a loving God and therefore concluded that hell, if it did exist, was for the really bad people of the world and should not concern a couple of "better than most" types like the two of us.

About a year later I actually began to read the Bible! Boy, was I surprised by how much Jesus had to say about hell!  In fact, no one spoke more about hell in the Bible than did Jesus.

I have long since revived my beliefs about hell since that conversation with my friend so many years ago. Unfortunately, many still hold to their beliefs about the afterlife without regard to what the Bible plainly teaches.

Admittedly, hell is a tough topic to discuss.

Peter Kreeft, a Catholic theologian from Boston College, puts it this way:  "Of all the doctrines of Christianity, hell is the most difficult to defend, the most burdensome to bear, and the first to be abandoned."

Whether you are just exploring Christianity or are a long-time follower of Christ, we all struggle with the doctrine of hell.  We struggle with the notion of fellow human beings suffering for all eternity.  We struggle with believing that a God of love could create and sustain a place of eternal torment.  We struggle with whether it's fair that people go there who don't seem to deserve it—good people, religious people.

Check out the message at https://vimeo.com/99493655

Bo

Is Jesus the Only Way to God?

Of all the statements Jesus made, none rankles the non-Christian more than this exclusive claim of Christ. To the post-modern mind this statement seems both arrogant and intolerant.  But is Christianity intolerant? Is it wrong to assert that we, believers in Jesus, have the truth and that other religions are wrong?

After all, aren't all religions basically the same?  Don't all religions have as a foundation a message of love and good will toward one's fellow man?  Don't all religions point to God, if only from different perspectives with slightly different paths?

As you can see, we have a lot to explore on this important topic.

Blessing to you!

Bo

Is it reasonable to believe in God?

This is the question we will seek to answer this Sunday in our Answers series.Whitney, who will be handling this all-important topic, provides this brief intro.

When I was a child I remember playing a game called Domino Rally.  The whole object of the game was build an elaborate line of dominoes traversing stairs and slides, going up and down, snaking back and forth across the board.

After laboring for an hour to set it up the player gently taps the first domino, knocking it into the second, which falls into the third, and continues until the climax where one of the dominoes falls into a ball which rolls down a long ramp and into the mouth of a small plastic alligator.  Victory!

It was a great game.  And a great example of the evidence we see that God exists.  You see, our world is governed by an ongoing chain of cause and effect we get to discover through scientific inquiry.  We are watching dominoes fall all around us, and we discover more about our world every day by studying those cause and effect chains. But our world, just like those dominoes bears two important features:  impetus and design.

By watching the falling dominoes, there is no doubt that someone put them there to accomplish a particular goal.

There is also the inescapable fact that someone started this whole chain of events at some point in the past.  These ideas, impetus and design, are some of the evidence we will analyze on Sunday to answer the question, "Does God exist?"

Spoiler Alert: He does!

Band of Brothers this Saturday at 9

Band of Brothers is a men's group that gathers on the second Saturday of every month at the church to eat breakfast and hear an inspiring message on biblical manhood.  All men are welcome to join us.

Blessings,

Bo

D-Day

As I typed today's date I couldn't help but be reminded of what took place on this date 70 years ago.  June 6, 1944 was the day the Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy to begin the invasion of German occupied France.  Establishing a beachhead on the continent of Europe was an essential step in the defeat of Nazism during WW II.

In this, the largest amphibious assault in history, at least 12,000 soldiers lost their lives in this epic battle in order to help free a continent held in the grip of tyranny.  Let us never forget their sacrifice, or the freedom it secured.

In the same way, we must never forget those who gave their lives to ensure the gospel of Jesus Christ was taken to the ends of the earth.  Of the original apostles of our Lord, only John died of natural causes.  All the others died as martyrs.  Peter, tradition tell us, was crucified head downward.  James was killed with the sword, probably by beheading.  Thomas was run through with a spear while taking the gospel to India.

I used to wonder why it was necessary for the disciples to die such horrific deaths.  But then it occurred to me that by dying for their beliefs the disciples were communicating to all succeeding generations that the things they had heard and seen regarding the person and ministry of Jesus were really true.  As it has been noted, people don't die for a fable.

The Bible we possess contains the record of the life, death and resurrection of the One to whom these disciples bore witness with their lives.  And yet this Bible which has been treasured by followers of Christ for two thousand years is under attack.  This is nothing new.  The Bible has always been attacked, vilified, outlawed and even burned by those who reject its message. 

But today the attacks are more subtle, more sophisticated.  So-called biblical scholars in search of the "historical Jesus" claim that the Christ of Scripture bears little resemblance to the Jesus who actually walked the earth.  Some claim the Bible has been corrupted in transmission, or that the Gospels were written so long after the events they describe that they are nothing more than myths and legends put forth by those intent on deifying a mere man, a man they say never claimed to be the Son of God.

Can the Bible be trusted?

I'm sure that you, like me, believe the Bible to be the Word of God.  But can you tell people who question the truthfulness of Bible why you believe the Bible is the Word of God?  This Sunday at The Bridge we will be answering the question; can the Bible be trusted?  In this message we will provide solid, empirical evidence that Bible we possess is indeed trustworthy.

I don't believe it is hyperbole to say that the battle raging over the trustworthiness of the Bible is even more critical than the battle that commenced on the beaches of Normandy 70 years ago today.  On this battle for the Bible rests not merely the temporal lives of men, but eternal souls.

Be sure to be with us Sunday at The Bridge at either our 9:30 or our 11:30 A.M. service.

Blessings,

Bo