Holy Spirit Midweeks
What’s the deal with spiritual gifts? Manifestations that seem a little strange? And how do I relate to a ghost, even one that is holy?
Most people look at the Holy Spirit as the least understood member of the Trinity. We have a concept of a Father, and we know what a Son is....but a Spirit? How do we relate to Him and what's His role?
In this four week series we'll talk about His purpose in our lives as we work to stand our ground on the radical middle that draws from the word and the Spirit.
Beginning Wednesday, November 4, 2020 at 7pm.
Sunday, Oct 25, 2020
Randy shares the second in a series of messages from 1 John 4, focusing on the nature of Christ as fully God and fully man.
Who He Really Is
I’m always amused when secular writers - most often magazine journalists - write articles or books about discovering the real Jesus.
In the last few years, National Geographic, Time, Smithsonian Magazine and, most recently, Popular Mechanics have all done major stories promising to reveal the real Jesus. Ironically, most of them started by throwing out scripture completely or holding it in highest suspicion, even though it’s the most thorough account of the life of Christ.
This would be like someone wanting to write your life story but refusing to speak to your family or friends because they’re so close to you that they can’t possibly be trusted to speak the truth.
The Bible is the most authoritative picture of Jesus that we have, and it paints a picture that we will ponder for eternity - one of God who became a man in order that all men and women could know God. Throughout history, the church has wrestled with this idea of Jesus being fully God and fully man. It’s an important concept and without embracing it, we never begin to appreciate Him.
If I can ask you to resist turning to Popular Mechanics for questions regarding the nature of Jesus for a few days, this Sunday we’re going to talk about why it is important in relation to testing the spirits around us. Hope to see you on Zoom!
Randy
Sunday, Oct 18, 2020
Randy teaches part one of a two part series base in the early portion of 1 John 4 regarding testing the spirits.
Update from Kristen Hickey
Kristen updates the church on their trip across Canada to their new home in Alaska.
Interview with Lou Engle
Randy has recently started a podcast series with Modern Day Missions on the Charisma Podcast Network.
This episode contains some great thoughts about a godly heritage from Lou Engle.
You can listen here or subscribe to the podcast on Spotify or Apple Music.
Sunday, October 4, 2020
This week, Randy shared a message titled “Lies About Our Neighbors” as he taught through the story of the Good Samaritan.
Testing…
Most of us have a bad taste in our mouth when it comes to the idea of testing.
Who can forget the standardized tests back in school, when you were told that anything other than a Number 2 lead pencil would disqualify you and marking outside of the oval would not only cause you to flunk but to be sent back two grades and bring shame on your family?
There is a passage of scripture that talks about testing, however, but we aren’t the ones being tested. In fact, we are administering the test.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
This Sunday we’re going to talk about this very passage - the importance of testing the spirit of things - spiritual phenomenon, spiritual experiences, even spiritual teaching. Not everything that moves our hearts or minds is of God, so how do we discern what is and what is not without becoming critical and missing God completely?
We want everything God has for us, and the only way to lay hold of it is to be able to separate the true message of Jesus with the false representation of Him that will be presented as history marches forward.
Join us at The Barn at RiverBend this Sunday morning, October 11 at 10:30am for worship and teaching.
Fighting for our inner man
This week’s message was not recorded live, so Randy included it as part of his podcast this week, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or right here.
Abiding
The past few months have been hard on some sectors of the economy, but a boon to others.
With social distancing and the cancellation of so many events, people have spent a fortune on home gyms, home offices, and subscriptions for all sorts of things that improve their life at home. Online grocery ordering app, Alibaba, was seeing 100,000 downloads each day, compared to 29,000 per day in 2019. Peloton - a company that builds high end spin bikes and provides in-home programming, grew by 178% this year.
Yet even with homes full of goods and more arriving on the porch every day, many are experiencing increased vacancy of the soul.
We find ourselves surrounded by stuff and empty on the inside. We are learning that life at home, even surrounded by the best we can afford, is not fulfilling. The arrival of the next package, the next online experience, the next piece of marketed self-care fails us.
We have enhanced our abode and failed to abide.
1 John describes a way of life where we abide, or are in alignment, with God and He, with His infinite power and wisdom, aligns with us. It is a source of strength that possessions cannot provide.
Join us LIVE, OUTDOORS and IN PERSON on Sunday the 27th of September as we worship together and hear a message of hope about abiding in Christ no matter what comes our way.
Maps and more details here.
Sunday, September 13, 2020
The writer of Hebrews told us we would need endurance. How does this work when many confuse faith in God with faith that things are just going to get easier over time?
The worth of work.
It’s Monday, September 7, 2020, which means that today is Labor Day. For most, it’s a day off work that signifies the end of summer.
In our house, this last part is very true. Tomorrow morning, all of our children will officially be in school, even if “in school” in 2020 means gathered around the kitchen island on school-issued computers, straining to hear a teacher communicate through a video link.
Labor Day has not always been about the end of summer, however. At it’s inception in 1894, it was intended to celebrate to working man and woman who kept the nation running.
Yesterday morning, I taught on the nature of giving, and mentioned that even work itself is a gift from God. His admonition to Adam and Eve that they inhabit the garden and subdue the earth indicates that the Garden of Eden was not some all-inclusive resort experience that would cause people to grow lazy and ungrateful, but a partnership with God Himself, where men and women would be allowed the dignity of work and be rewarded for their efforts.
Here are a few things to ponder on this Labor Day.
Your work is not a curse.
The curse in the garden came much later in the story. Work was offered to Adam and Eve at the very outset when the Lord told them to subdue the earth.
Work itself is a gift. If you don’t believe that, have a cup of coffee with someone who is looking for work. They would be glad to have the gift of work right now..
Your work is a unique opportunity.
In working with and for others, you are afforded a way to display the character of Christ to people who may never hear a sermon or read a scripture. A small percentage of people attend church, but the vast majority of people get up and go to work.
Your faithful service and kind demeanor will reach more people than your pastor’s teaching ever will.
Your work is not always your calling.
Some years ago, I was interviewing for a job and the interviewer, looking for a certain spark in my heart for what was a very mundane job, asked me, “What’s your passion?” Before I thought it through, I replied, “Feeding my family.”
There are people who know from a young age what they want to do and pursue it with a passion. Those people get up every day with a sense of purpose that they are walking out their destiny. They say “Find your passion and make it your job.”
This is great when it’s possible, but many people never get that chance. Their work is still valuable, but it isn’t their calling. Their calling lies in other areas, but they still serve the Lord in their work.
The highest calling of a believer is to serve the Lord in all they do, whether it’s a world changing role or simply a job that allows them to pay the bills so they can go home and be godly parents.
We all get a chance to affect the future through our character and gifting. Some do through their vocation, others do through serving in other ways.
Take a moment today and thank Him for work. If you are looking for work, we want to join you in prayer - email me at randy@thebridgekc.church and we will stand with you!
We love you all -
Randy & Kelsey
Sunday, Sept 2, 2020
Randy speaks about the fear that stops us from living generous lives as he teaches through 2 Corinthians 9.
Support the Hickeys
Steve and Kristen Hickey are headed to Alaska! The Bridge is honored to send these two along with their son, Thomas, daughter in law, Melody and grand daughter, Eowyn near the end of September. Their daughter, Kaitlyn, is already there.
They hope to spend part of each year with us here in Kansas CIty.
Most of the Hickey family will play some role at Alaskan Christian College, a community of 125 native students, faculty and staff. Steve will spend the first year encouraging native pastors and doing a deep dive into the topic of ethics for post-colonial indigenous missions on behalf of missions agencies already there. His 25 years of love and ministry toward native people will be of significant help.
They are also believing for a discipleship school and church planting movement in the region that The Bridge will be eager to participate in.
By using our donate button and adding the word MISSIONS to the last name field, you can donate to their mission and help them get to Alaska! If you’d rather send a check, write it to The Zoe Foundation and mail it to attn Hickey/Missions, 8672 West 102nd Terrace, Overland Park, KS 66211.
The need is immediate.
Sunday, August 30, 2020
How do you keep your wits about you when you’ve been betrayed? Randy unpacks David’s story from Psalm 52.
Future > Past
September 2, 2000 - twenty years ago this week - Kelsey and I had an experience that charted the course for almost every major event of our lives since.
On that Saturday morning, we gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC to fast and pray with 450,000 people - mostly young adults - at an event billed as The Call DC.
I was 33 at the time.
Since then, so much has happened in our lives that I trace back to that day.
Our YES to whatever He called us to do was put before us over and over again. Our move to Kansas City, much of our writing and teaching, even our life in adoption has roots in The Call DC. Eventually, the Lord would even grant us the honor of helping coordinate The Call events across the nation - even back on the National Mall!
The Call DC in 2007
This morning I read this passage and was stirred to revisit that day in my mind. As I drove the kids to school, I thought to reach and listen to some of the music that came out of that movement. I knew it would encourage me and help me remember….but then almost as a warning, I had the thought “Don’t let this drift into nostalgia.”
To wage war with the prophecies of our youth is not to look back and pine for the days of old. It is to look forward and believe that there is more - more fulfillment, more presence, and more vision.
I tell you all this because this is a part of your story too.
The Bridge has roots in The Call.
Our hearts were stirred on that day twenty years ago, and I’m asking God to stir us all just as deeply once again for the next twenty years.
God is inviting us to put our hands and resources to building a community that will shape our families and prepare us for the days to come…that as we seek Him in a rhythm of prayer, worship and fasting, that He would write our story. This is an invitation before us and there is a yes in my heart as I believe there is in many of yours.
The future is forward. Let’s dream together.
much love -
Randy & Kelsey
Why The Bridge?
There are a myriad of things that we long to be as a church.
We long to see transformation in peoples’ lives and in the very fabric of our city, we desire to display the depth of community that can develop among those of like mind and faith, we look forward to the fullness of the kingdom and the age to come, and we want to reach the world with the same gospel that made the world of difference in our lives.
We’ll also be the first to tell you we’re not there yet.
We think you understand. You’re not quite where you want to be yet either. There are gaps between your desire and your present reality. In some cases, you know what to do, but you struggle to do it. You try to cross over to the land of promise but it just seems to be so far from where you are.
When the gaps between where you are and where you want to go are too great, you need a bridge. We want to build those bridges with you.
Please join us in prayer - that The Bridge would be a place where people could cross over to all that God has called them to be.
We’ll meet you at The Bridge!
Sunday, August 23, 2020
This week, Randy concludes our series “Little, Rough and Ugly”, talking about the things that we aspire to deliver to our community and the bridges we will build together to do so. Also, at the 33:30 mark, Steve & Kristen Hickey share about the opportunity before them as missionaries in Alaska.
Nearness
Masks.
Distance.
Working and shopping from home.
So many things have become a part of our current life that it’s easy to extend that sort of thinking further than is really helpful, forgetting that nearness to one another is an essential part of being human.
When prisoners are difficult to control, they’re often put in solitary confinement as punishment. It solves a short term problem but often causes a long term problem. The American Psychological Association says that one of the biggest effects of solitary confinement among prisoners is that it renders them unable to live in any other setting.
What if the necessary distancing that we are undergoing right now is making it harder for us to actually connect once it’s possible? There is a very real danger that we could emerge from this necessary season of isolation only to tragically discover that we have lost the appetite to live any other way.
While social distancing is a matter of safety right now, we were not meant to live without interaction. Repeatedly, scripture talks of the value of connection between human beings.
It is not good for man to be alone.
A cord of three strands is not easily broken.
Iron sharpens iron.
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.
In this season of distance, for the sake of others, for the sake of the church, and for your own good, make the extra effort to draw near to people.
Send that second text message. Make that call and ask “How are you doing?”. Invite someone to enjoy church with in your home or on your patio if you feel comfortable with that. Not only will it mean something to them, the discipline of doing it will remind you that you were meant to connect. We were made to look after one another.
One day soon, we will all be together again. When that happens, we don’t want to be building those connections from scratch.
Join us for prayer and teaching opportunities through the week. If you’re looking for friends to study and grow with, feel free to jump in on one of our zoom meetings! Detail are sent in an email each week.