Posts by Josh
The Bridge Bowl: BCS Championship Predictions
UPDATE: And the winner is….. AARON JOHNSON!
We went first by margin of victory and second by proximity to point totals. Aaron won it by being closest to the Bama’ Elephant’s margin of victory. Leave your Spring Hill restaurant of choice in the comment section and we’ll have it for you at the Connections Center on Sunday. Congrats, Aaron!
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After two INCREDIBLE WG’s yesterday (you guys packed out the 2nd, by the way), today is an official holiday in the south: THE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME between the mighty LSU Mad-Hatters and the Fighting Nick Sabans of Alabama!
Let’s have a little fun with this. Post your game predictions in the comment section before 7:00pm CST and I’ll give the winner a $20 gift certificate to the restaurant of their choice in Spring Hill (has to be in Spring Hill – love our city!). Include the following…
- Winner (LSU or Alabama)
- Score prediction
- Tiebreaker (in case we need it): number of turnovers committed in the game
Any Spring Hill, Thompson Station, Franklin, or Columbia residents can enter. Good luck and enjoy the 6th consecutive SEC national championship ;)
Read MoreA glance back. A look ahead. Where The Bridge is headed in 2012…
A GLANCE BACK…
Bridge Family, before we talk about the future at all, we need to pause and stand in awe of the TIDAL WAVE of grace that God poured out on our church body this year. I hope I type this with due humility and awe in God, but many (most?) churches will go their entire lives without seeing a year like we just got to experience.
In one year we…
- Grew from about 280 to about 400 in worship gathering (WG) attendance
- Had 580 people at our Christmas Eve Eve services to hear the gospel and worship Jesus
- Hired our first two full-time staff members to lead and equip the body for multiplied ministry
- Baptized almost 20 people
- Saw our church body genuinely REVOLUTIONIZED by grace as we preached through Galatians (no series since I’ve been here has been as revolutionary and freeing for the church as that one)
- Got clarity from God on our “Gospel > Church > Mission” vision for that will shape our future
- Rebuilt the HG Network from the ground-up, launching 12 new HG’s this summer
- Redesigned our foreign mission strategy toward church planting and unreached people groups, establishing future partnerships in India, Turkey, Haiti, and Wisconsin
- Sent over 50 people out on mission to Haiti, Guatemala, Jackson, and disaster relief in Alabama
- Raised up and equipped significant leaders in our worship team, Kids’ Ministry, Student Ministry, and Connections.
“And this is all – ALL of it – just the beginning of what God is going to do with us. Make no mistake: we’re still just in the infancy stages of The Bridge and the best is (by far) yet to come…”
A LOOK AHEAD…
All that being said, as crazy as it sounds, 2012 is poised to be a more significant year for our church body than 2011 was. To keep us clear and unified in where we’re headed as a body, I’ll be taking four days next week to write about each of the four major initiatives our elders have identified for us in 2012. Here they are…
- Position ourselves to relocate to a long-term launchpad for church-planting and ministry
- Begin to become a training ground for world-class, gospel-centered church leaders
- Establish a deacon body of godly men and women for care and deed ministry
- Develop gender-specific ministry and training for Bridge women
Read More“Stay humble with me. Stay overwhelmed by God with me. Come die with me in 2012.”
Christmas Eve Eve services: WOW
I’m still buzzing from last night’s INCREDIBLE Christmas Eve Eve services and what God did…
- Total attendance 579 (apologies to anyone trying to park as the 1st service let out!)
- 8 people had a personal Christmas, trusting Jesus for salvation
- 500 balloons covered the lobby ceiling, celebrating Jesus’ incarnation/birthday… which was AWESOME
But even though the audio below isn’t great, the highlight of the night for most people was this…
Some pics…
What does the X mean when it replaces “Christ” in Christmas?
This is an issue that I’ve seen many Christians get really worked up over. There’s even a Facebook Page devoted to this with almost 400,000 well-meaning people who have liked it. In the midst of the season and all of us desiring to engage both people and our culture with the gospel, I thought this would be helpful to post.
Here’s a brief, informative few paragraphs on where the abbreviation “Xmas” came from…
What does the X mean when it replaces Christ in Christmas?
Read More
Top 11 most requested Bridge sermons
Over the last few months the number of emails we’ve gotten requesting direction to a specific sermon or preaching on a specific issue has DRAMATICALLY increased. I don’t know if that’s as a result of our podcast growing, the church’s growth, or if – by God’s incredible grace – there’s a growing love for The Word and preaching in our church body. I’m crossing my fingers for the last one!
Whatever the reason, here are “The Greatest Hits” – some of the “most requested” sermons I’ve preached in the last couple years.
- The Gospel and Homosexuality: From our 1 Spring-Hillians series, this sermon deals with the emotionally sensitive and culturally complex issue of Christianity and homosexuality.
- Does God predestine some people to heaven and not others?: As entitled, this sermon answers the question, “Does God predestine some people to heaven and not others?” and in doing so reveals the invincible nature of God’s love for his children.
- Citizenship: The Authentic Christian: A stand-alone sermon I preached last year. For everyone who’s asked “How can I know if I’ve truly been born again?”, this sermon is for you. It’s from Jesus’ teaching at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.
- Navigating moral grey areas: This sermon has become known around The Bridge as “The Beer Sermon”. From our “Following Jesus in a Jacked Up Church” series through 1 Corinthians, this sermon deals with Paul’s teaching from 1 Corinthians 8 about how Christians should navigate moral grey areas.
- The Gospel and race relations: From the “24K Gospel” series we preached through Galatians, this sermon addresses exactly what it says – how does the gospel shape how we view and relate to people from different cultures and of different races?
- Darkness: hurting from depression: From our “Hurt” series, this is probably the most requested sermon I’ve ever preached. Looking at David’s depression in the Psalms, this sermon deals with the present reality of depression and the hope the depressed have in Jesus.
- 2011: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden: Preached just a few weeks ago, this sermon kicked off our “2011″ series and looked back at the killing of Osama bin Laden. How should Christians think about and feel toward extreme injustice and terrorism?
- Gifts that freak people out: Also from our “Following Jesus in a Jacked Up Church” series, this sermon is from 1 Corinthians 14. It deals with the controversial and very practical questions surrounding gifts of the Spirit such as “speaking in tongues”.
- Idolatry: money as security: You might be surprised to find a “money sermon” on this list, but this one is a front-runner for “most requested sermon”. This sermon examines Jesus’ teaching about money and offers true hope for people who are financially stressed and worried.
- Doubting your Doubts: there can’t be just one true religion: From the “Doubting your Doubts” series a couple years ago, this sermon addresses the increasing objection to the gospel, “There can’t be just one true religion!”. What does the Bible have to say about religious pluralism?
- Valuing Correction: Of all the sermons on this list, this one shocks me the most. This was a stand-alone sermon I preached as the Holy Spirit burdened me with a weakness I saw in our church body earlier this year. From Proverbs 9, it looks at one of THE characteristics of true spiritual maturity: the ability to value correction instead of hating it.
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