People Matter. Truth Matters.
The Gospel is our Only Hope

In everything we do, we strive to show:

Jesus teaches that instead of straining and spending energy to advance ourselves, those who are greatest in His kingdom will strain and spend energy to elevate others. As Jesus did not come to be served, but instead came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for others, so His followers will sacrifice their own success, status, comfort, opportunities, etc. for the advancement of those around them. Why? Because people matter and true greatness comes from making much of them rather than making much of ourselves.

At Bridges, we emphasize that people matter through:

  • Compassionately serving one another and the world
  • Rising to volunteer whenever there is a need
  • Prioritizing gathering together in smaller groups and sharing of burdens
  • Knowing what is happening in the lives of others, caring about them, and remembering to check in.
  • Being more interested in people than in topics, technology, or achievement.

God explains to us how He ordered the world, what has gone wrong, and who will ultimately set it right throughout the pages of Scripture. As the story unfolds, we learn that we, tragically, are the ones who are responsible for the corruption and brokenness in God’s creation. Rather than listen to God, we decided to define truth for ourselves, and as a result, we have polluted what could be harmonious relationships with each other and with Him.

But God, in His great love for us, chose to intervene in our mess to restore us and restore the world. Rather than giving us the penalty that justice would demand, Christ bore the weight of that penalty Himself on the cross. He then rose to life in victory over our sin, corruption, and brokenness–leaving those behind, powerless in the grave.

Therefore, through faith in Christ, we are now free from both the penalty and power of sin that has ruined so much of our world, and we can live in accordance with God’s truth and original designs for us. Rather than wanting to dive into corruption all over again, we delight in the joy of God’s plan for us and God’s plan for the world.

As a result, we take very seriously what God says in Scripture. We’ve learned from personal experience, world history, and even the Bible itself that following God’s Word leads to the fullest possible life while defying God’s Word always leads to peril and harm–for both ourselves and others. In other words, truth matters.

our statement of beliefs church covenant

At Bridges, we emphasize that truth matters through:

  • Faithfully teaching from God’s Word through biblical preaching (usually expositional) and Life Group curriculums/conversations
  • Selecting our elders and other leaders by adhering to biblical qualifications (1 Timothy 3:2-12, Titus 1:6-9, 1 Peter 5:2-3)
  • Vetting mission partners to discover common convictional commitments
  • Maintaining biblical faithfulness on: Marriage and Human Sexuality, Justice, and Life in the Womb

The Gospel is a declaration or announcement of what Christ has done on our behalf. On the cross, Jesus substituted Himself in our place, taking our sin and giving us His infinite worth, acceptance, status, and inheritance. He then rose to life again in victory over our sin, its penalty, and the grave–freeing us from any accusation, guilty verdict, or fear that previously held us captive.

However, rather than being a set of beliefs that are only important at the onset of following Christ, the Gospel is how Christians continue to grow deeper in their faith even after decades of walking with Jesus.

For instance, the more the Gospel is believed, the more worth, acceptance, value, forgiveness, confidence, and security we will experience. Similarly, the more the Gospel takes root in our hearts, the more charitable, forgiving, patient, generous, and gracious we will be. When we see that we were given everything (His status, His worth, His acceptance, His value), even when we deserved to have everything taken from us–we, then, leverage ourselves for others as He did for us. The Gospel turns enemies into friends, outcasts into family, and traitors into heirs. It isn’t simply our only hope, it’s the only hope of the world.

At Bridges, we emphasize that the Gospel is our only hope by:

  • Threading the Gospel through every biblical story because it is what every biblical story is ultimately about
  • Clear presentation of our insufficiency substituted for Christ’s sufficiency in every message
  • Intentional song selection to reinforce (never confuse) the biblical witness of grace
  • Tying our compassion efforts to what Christ has done for us rather than what we must do to earn credit or favor with Him
  • Reminding each other of the worth, status, and acceptance we have in Christ
  • Celebrating repentance more than perfection
  • Freely confessing sin and forgiving one another
  • Expressing our confidence and security in Christ to friends, family, and co-workers who do not know Him
  • Rooting ourselves in what Christ has provided for us rather than rooting ourselves in gaining approval, success, fame, recognition, or relationships

People Matter. Truth Matters.
The Gospel is our Only Hope

In everything we do, we strive to show:

Jesus teaches that instead of straining and spending energy to advance ourselves, those who are great in His kingdom will strain and spend energy to elevate others. As Jesus did not come to be served, but instead came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for others, so His followers will sacrifice their own success, status, comfort, opportunities, etc. for the advancement of those around them. Why? Because people matter and true greatness comes from making much of them rather than making much of ourselves. 

At Bridges, we emphasize that people matter through: 

  • Community: life groups, ManGroups, basketball 
  • Compassion
  • Grief Share
  • Divorce Care
  • Missions 

Success looks like: 

  • Embracing the “other.” 
  • Knowing what is happening in the lives of others, caring about them, and remembering to check-in. 
  • Being more interested in people than topics, technology, or achievement. 
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  • Intentionally gathering
  • Increasing frequency of serving
  • Every volunteer need is met
  • Listening and asking questions before talking about yourself

God explains to us how He ordered the world, what has gone wrong, and who will ultimately set it right throughout the pages of Scripture. As the story unfolds, we learn that we, tragically, are the ones who are responsible for the corruption and brokenness in God’s creation. Rather than listen to God, we decided to define truth for ourselves, and as a result, we have corrupted what could be harmonious relationships with each other and with Him. While this can be difficult to hear, it is not the end of the story. God, in His great love for us, chose to intervene in our mess by Jesus substituting Himself in our place, taking the pain and penalty of all that we have caused on the cross, and trading us—exchanging with us—our sin for His perfect righteousness. In other words, Scripture tells us that we are so corrupt that only the death of the Son of God can set us right. But it also tells us that we are so loved that Jesus wanted to give up everything He had, on our behalf, for us. Therefore, Scripture simultaneously confronts us with the enormous depth of our sin and–at the same time–the enormous height of God’s love for us. Both of these, together, are the truth revealed in Scripture. Our aim is always to present both as boldly and as clearly as possible, because if either is missing or diminished, truth is lost. 

At Bridges, we emphasize that truth matters through: 

  • Biblical preaching (usually expositional)
  • Clear presentation of our insufficiency substituted for Christ’s sufficiency in every message
  • Intentional song selection to reinforce (never confuse) the biblical witness of grace
  • Selecting our elders and other leaders by adhering to biblical qualifications
  • Vetting mission partners to discover common convictional commitments 

Steve: Life group curriculum?

Success looks like: 

  • Faithfully teaching from God’s Word. 
  • Neglecting neither our corruption nor God’s love for us.
  • Being formed by Scripture rather than culture (steve–is there a way to measure this??)
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The Gospel is Our Only Hope

Rather than being a set of beliefs that are only important at the onset of following Christ, the Gospel is how Christians continue to grow deeper in their faith even after decades of walking with Jesus. The Gospel is a declaration or announcement of what Christ has done on our behalf. On the cross, Jesus substituted Himself in our place, taking our sin and giving us His infinite worth, acceptance, status, and inheritance. He then rose to life again in victory over our sin, its penalty, and the grave–freeing us from any accusation, guilty verdict, or fear that previously held us captive. Therefore, the more the Gospel is believed, the more worthy, accepted, valued, forgiven, confident, and secure we will feel. Similarly, the more the Gospel takes root in our hearts, the more charitable, forgiving, patient, generous, and gracious we will be. When we see that we were given everything (His status, His worth, His acceptance, His value), even when we deserved to have everything taken from us–we, then, leverage ourselves for others as He did for us. The Gospel turns enemies into friends, outcasts into family, and traitors into heirs. It isn’t simply our only hope, it’s the only hope of the world. 

At Bridges, we emphasize that the Gospel is our only hope by:

  • Choosing curriculum that teaches our obedience to Christ is the fruit of what He has done for us rather than the cause
  • Threading the Gospel through every biblical story because it is what every biblical story is ultimately about
  • Singing about Christ’s finished work on our behalf 
  • ?
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Success looks like:

  • Tying compassion efforts to what Christ has done for us
  • Reminding each other of the worth, status, and acceptance we have in Christ
  • Celebrating repentance more than perfection 
  • Freely confessing sin and forgiving one another 
  • Expressing our confidence and security in Christ to friends, family, and co-workers who do not know Him
  • Rooting ourselves in what Christ has provided for us rather than rooting ourselves in gaining approval, success, fame, recognition, or relationships 
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Doctrinal Statement (click here)

Church Covenant

I promise by the aid of my Savior:
  1. To walk lovingly and humbly with my brethren, to pray for them, to separate myself from worldliness and unchristian practices and to walk in a manner so as not to offend my brother;
  2. To pray for the advancement of this church in knowledge, spirituality and fruitfulness, to uphold its program of worship, training and teaching, to observe its ordinances and to affirm its doctrines;
  3. To give regularly and cheerfully as God prospers, for the support of an evangelical ministry among us, for the relief of the needy and for the spread of the Gospel;
  4. To serve faithfully in some activity of the church, taking care to assume only such duties as can be effectively performed and to improve my abilities in service by prayerful study of God’s Word;
  5. To maintain family worship, encourage family prayer, Bible study and Christian nurture of any under my care, “that we may grow in the image of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord”;
  6. To endeavor by example and effort to win souls to Christ and to enlist unchurched believers for membership in the church;
  7. To follow the New Testament as my rule of faith and practice.

Jesus teaches that instead of straining and spending energy to advance ourselves, those who are great in His kingdom will strain and spend energy to elevate others. As Jesus did not come to be served, but instead came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for others, so His followers will sacrifice their own success, status, comfort, opportunities, etc. for the advancement of those around them. Why? Because people matter and true greatness comes from making much of them rather than making much of ourselves.