Happy New Year.
Hey. Give God a hand, would you?
Wow. It's going to be a good year. It's going to be a great year, even.
Welcome to the Bridge Community Church. We're glad you started your new year here.
Turn to your neighbor and say, "I started my new year here."
I started my new year here.
Hey, quick update on the switchover. The proofing is almost complete on the website, even though we have only about two weeks until the grand opening.
According to the state of Texas and according to Frost Bank, we are officially the Bridge Community Church. So, yeah, yeah.
So, you'll be seeing some things over the next couple of weeks, and then we'll make the switch on the website pretty soon.
Just a note, if you're wondering, "Gee, Carl, where do I tithe? Can I tithe on the old website?" Yes, you can. It's going to all go to the same place once we move it. So, we're not changing any kind of carrier or anything like that.
So, go ahead and go on the old website, CBC Northwest, and you can tithe there.
The Bridge Community Church, and we are finding redemption and restoration in Jesus Christ.
Say that: redemption and restoration in Jesus Christ.
If you have found redemption in Jesus Christ, raise your hand.
If you have had or found restoration in Jesus Christ, raise your hand.
All right, redemption and restoration. Remember that. In fact, let's say it together.
We are the Bridge Community Church, finding redemption and restoration in Jesus Christ. Amen.
I want to start the new year out with a question.
Is it more or less difficult to follow Jesus while everything seems to be pulling us away from Jesus in our culture?
How do you honor marriage when our world kind of devalues it?
How do you live with sexual purity in a world that's filled with erotical darkness?
How do you raise your kids when your kids' friends see no need for God?
How do you love your neighbor when they constantly park in front of your house?
I've got one of those, and I hope they're listening. I doubt it, but if you are, please just move your car a little forward, and we can actually see the front of our house again. God bless you.
When it comes to living for God, when you look at our culture today, it seems like people are becoming more and more hostile towards God's values, and especially towards people that respect and honor God's values and follow Him.
But how do we stand strong in the midst of these two extremes?
Do we dig our feet in and say, "Hey, this is the truth, and that's it," and jeopardize losing relationships?
Or do we compromise a little bit here and there? Ah, maybe roll over on some convictions. You know, I'll just do a little bit, or I'll just move a little bit on this conviction, make this little compromise.
I love this, and I want you to write it down. It's by Craig Groeschel, and he says, "If we trade our convictions for convenience, we risk losing our footing on the foundation of who we are in Christ."
Let's leave that up there for a few minutes so people can write that down.
Let me say it again. If we trade our convictions for convenience, we risk losing our footing on the foundation of who we are in Christ.
Do you believe that?
When we get in the drift of compromise, and we kind of conform to the image of this world, we become less like God who has purposed us to be, and we become more like the world.
But Scripture says that we are to be in the world, but not what? Not of the world.
And if we love the world, then the love of the Father, the Bible says, is not in us.
So what do we do? How do we stand strong for our faith and still show God's love for people who don't share our convictions?
Boy, that's a million-dollar question, isn't it?
And I'm sure that's a question that people who don't know the Lord would want to ask us because they've seen the opposite.
They've seen the people who dig their feet in and say, "That's the truth, that's it. If you don't like it, I don't want to be your friend anymore."
But unfortunately, a lot of them haven't seen the Christian who will have a conversation with them and get in their lives and care for them and pray for them.
I want to go back to the book of Daniel for a few weeks, and I want to look at Daniel and his friends.
We were in Daniel not too awful long ago, but I want to kind of zero in on some details.
So you can go ahead and turn there to the book of Daniel, chapter 1.
We're going to look at Daniel and his friends, and we're going to let his story tell us a little bit about what he did.
And I want to look at Daniel and his friends, and I want to look at Daniel and his friends, and I want to look at Daniel and his friends.
So you can read this story, teach us how to live with conviction in a culture of compromise.
The first guy we're going to talk about is King Nebuchadnezzar, and he was a very evil king.
So for a few minutes, whenever I say his name, whenever I say Nebuchadnezzar, I want you to go, "Boo."
All right, let's practice. Nebuchadnezzar.
All right, okay, just practice.
All right, Daniel chapter one, let's meet the cast of Daniel.
Number one is evil King Nebuchadnezzar.
Yeah, good. He was a really evil king, and we see this in chapter one, verse one.
During the third year of King Jehoiakim's reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
Real quick, Babylon was a superpower back then. Not only a superpower, but they were big bullies.
In 605 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem, tore down the walls that they used for protection, and basically demolished the city of Jerusalem.
It was the most humiliating and brutal attack, and perhaps the hardest thing for them to see torn down was Solomon's temple where they worshiped because they went in and they took all their tools for worship, all the things that they kind of based their faith on.
And back then, it wasn't necessarily idolatry at all, but they used certain things and rituals for their worship of the one true God.
They did all that to mock the Jews' faith in God.
So there's King Nebuchadnezzar, but he's not the main character. God is the main character.
Daniel's not the main character. Daniel's on center stage, but the main character is God because He's behind the scenes orchestrating everything that happens that we'll talk about.
So Daniel's our example, but God's the main character.
So here we have a culture that's evil, chaos everywhere, people are afraid, and many scholars say that the key verse in all of the book of Daniel is Daniel 2:28.
Write this down: Daniel 2:28.
And it's just, I'll say 2:28a, it's just a small portion of that, but there is a God in heaven.
But there is a God in heaven.
If you're in the middle of a hopeless situation today and you feel like there is nowhere to turn, I want you to remember something: there is a God in heaven.
Turn to your neighbor and tell them, "There is a God in heaven."
Now turn to your other neighbor, your second choice, and say, "There is a God in heaven."
Whatever you're going through, be assured that God is on His throne, and no matter what happens in the next two weeks, few weeks, the King is on His throne, and He is in complete control of everything.
We're kingdom people, and we're kingdom people in the kingdom of God, and our King sets up kings, and our King can tear down kings whenever He wants.
So every king is in God's hands, evil or good.
So no matter what you're going through, remember this: there is a God in heaven.
Daniel and people were in a bad place, and verse 3 tells us this:
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of staff, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah's royal family and the other noble families who had been brought to Babylon as captives.
So what they're doing, they're going in and they're taking the Jewish people, and who are they looking for?
First, four tells us they're looking for the select, only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men.
He said, "Make sure they are well-versed in every branch of learning, they're gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal palace. Train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon."
Look at your neighbor and say, "It sounds like they're talking about you."
Are they talking about you?
Well, tell them we're going to find them.
So we're going to find the best and the brightest, and we're going to steal them from you. That's exactly what they did.
Verse 5: The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchen.
So they took all the best and brightest, brought them back to Babylon.
Verse 5: The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchen.
They were to be trained for three years, and then they would enter the royal service.
So after the king destroyed the city, the king took the most talented, and Daniel was one of them, along with his three friends, who scholars say were probably only teenagers.
So imagine 14-year-olds being taken from their home. Their parents were probably killed, and they were being taken and indoctrinated in the Babylonian culture.
14-year-olds.
The king's goal was to take away a few things. Number one: to take away their identity.
To take away their heritage.
And to take away their faith in God.
And his strategy first was to change their name.
Verse 6 says this: Daniel, whose name means "God is my judge." Say, "God is my judge."
Hananiah, which name means "God has favored."
Mishael, whose name means "Who is like God?"
And Azariah, which name means "Helped by God."
So Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen from all the tribe of Judah.
Four of the best and the brightest.
The chief of the staff renamed them with these Babylonian names.
Daniel was called Belteshazzar.
Bel is a Babylonian name. He was a Babylonian god named Marduk, and Shazzar means treasurer.
So when the king named him Belteshazzar, he was naming him false god's treasure.
Habak's god's treasure. The false god's treasurer.
Hananiah was called Shadrach.
Mishael was called Meshach.
And Azariah was called Abednego.
So that's where we get what?
Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego.
Or Meshach, Yershach, and Abungalow.
You probably... Sorry, that was an old joke.
Now it's important to know that their original names were all related to Yahweh, the one true God.
But their new names, the Babylonian names, were related to Babylonian gods.
So the king was definitely trying to take away their identity.
He didn't want them to remember.
He didn't want them to go back to... He didn't want them to remember or do anything that they used to do.
He was trying his best to brainwash them basically to be a Babylonian.
But little did the king know that he could change Daniel's name, but he couldn't change the God that Daniel served. Could he?
No, he couldn't.
That's why it's so important for us to know who we are in Christ.
Who we are in Christ.
So that we can live out His purpose in our lives.
Because the first thing the devil is going to attack is your identity.
Your identity.
If you don't know who you are in Christ, you'll listen to whoever the devil says you are.
And believe me, he likes to name names, doesn't he?
He said, "You're worthless. You're pathetic. You know, you'll never make a difference. If they knew the real you, Carl, they wouldn't love you anymore."
God will know.
What was so funny about that?
I know who was laughing. I recognize that.
If they knew you, they wouldn't love you anymore.
God's never going to forgive you. He's finished with you.
Isn't it something how the devil will tempt you to do something and say, "Oh, you can do it. You know you're awesome. You can do it. You can do it. You know it's going to be okay."
And then once you do it, they say, "Oh, you are worthless. I can't believe you did that."
That's Satan, and he is out to steal, kill, and destroy.
I was walking down the hall this morning because I had computer problems again, saying, "Get behind me, Satan. Get behind me, Satan."
And I met this nice young lady named Cindy, who found out it was her first time here.
And then she sees this guy walking down the thing, "Get behind me, Satan. Get behind me, Satan."
So Cindy, wherever you are, I apologize. I don't usually do that.
But anyway, you know we have to remind ourselves who God says that we are.
That if we're in Christ, we're a new creation.
That the old is gone, and the new is here.
We're the new.
You're the new.
Your spirit, your heart, are new.
And that you are fearfully and wonderfully made.
And that you're an overcomer by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of God, the testimony that Christ has given you.
And you're more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus.
That's who you are.
You're not who the devil says you are, but you are that right there.
So whenever the devil tries to change your name, you just say, "Nope, I'm a child of the King. I'm a spirit-filled, Bible-believing, truth-speaking, love-giving ambassador of the living God."
That's exactly who I am.
How about you?
Yeah, don't miss this.
Let's go back to verse 5.
The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchens.
So why does this matter?
Well, I'll tell you why it matters because food from the king's table, it was good.
Don't you know it was good?
I mean, it was the best of the best, the best cuts of meat, the best wine, everything was the best.
And I can just imagine braised lamb chops with cream gravy and brown sugar crust.
Of course, everything is better with cream gravy, isn't it?
I mean, it just is.
It doesn't matter.
I mean, ice cream is better with cream gravy.
But caramel crust braised lamb chops, we had that one day at Perry's, didn't we?
What's your name?
Steve.
Sorry.
It was the lunch special, though, right?
It wasn't like $100.
It was $15.99 or something like that.
Okay, just so you all know.
Oh, you're right.
It was $14.
Okay.
Let me keep...
Can you stop?
I'm going to preach, okay?
If you don't mind.
Anyway, braised lamb chops.
You know, I mean, it was good.
Cream gravy, green beans, sweet carrots.
Or maybe it was like Papacito's beef fajitas.
Have you ever?
Those are the best fajitas in the world.
With guacamole, grilled onions, sour cream, salsa, Alamo Cafe tortillas.
It was the best.
Shall I go on?
And for dessert, my sweet wife's homemade key lime pie and pecan pie.
Somebody stop me.
Somebody stop me.
Whatever it was, it was delicious.
But the problem was, and Daniel knew this, that it had been dedicated to the pagan gods.
So they didn't want to eat it.
What the king wanted to do was to get Daniel and his friends to dishonor God by eating the food from his table.
Now think about that.
Teenage boys taken from their homes, no doubt hungry.
I mean, aren't teenage boys always hungry?
I think they are.
How easy would it have been for them to compromise?
How easy would it have been for them just to say, "It's okay, I'm just going to eat a little bit of this steak. I'm just going to eat a little bit of this. I'll just take a few bites."
And if you haven't been there lately, it's going to come.
Because the devil is going to encourage you, "Just take a few little bites. Just do this a little bit. It's okay, nobody's going to know. You can do it."
It's then that we need to remember.
Remember what we said a while ago.
And that is, if we trade our convictions for compromise, we risk losing the foundation of who we are in Christ.
But Scripture says this in verse 8.
But Daniel was determined.
He was resolved.
He had decided ahead of time not to defile himself by eating the food and the wine given to them by the king.
So Daniel was determined that no matter what, he was not going to compromise.
He was going to compromise.
So he asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods.
But Daniel was what?
He was determined.
This word in Hebrew, determined, is translated four different ways.
In the NIV, it's "he resolved not to defile himself."
In the NLT, which is what we're reading today, "he was determined."
NASB: "he made up his mind."
King James Version: "he purposed in his heart."
I like all of them. How about you?
Yeah, I like all of them.
He resolved, he was determined, he made up his mind, and he resolved in his heart not to do anything that dishonored God.
This guy was all there.
Daniel was all that for God.
And at some point, you and I are going to need to resolve, and we are, you and I are going to need to be determined to purpose in our heart that I will do what God wants me to do.
I will do it, myself included.
Well, why does this matter, Carl?
It matters so much for us today because you and I are living in Babylon.
But you know what? Babylon does not have to live in us.
You and I are living in Babylon, but you know what? Babylon does not have to live in us.
We're living in Babylon.
I mean, we may as well be in Babylon today.
We're living in a fallen country, it seems like, but that fallen country doesn't have to live in us.
That we can rise above, can't we?
And I pray to God that in the next four years we will.
So if we're going to live with conviction in a culture of compromise, we're going to need to make some resolutions ahead of time.
So before Daniel saw the prime rib, you know, with beef gravy, he had determined what he was going to do the second he smelled it, and that was he was not going to take it.
He was not going to take it.
He was not going to eat it.
To faithfully follow Jesus, you and I need to decide ahead of time.
We can't decide when we're right in the heat of the moment, can we?
No, we have to resolve.
We have to say, "Okay, when this happens, then I'm going to do this. When this happens, I'm not going to do this."
So what does that look like, Carl?
Maybe for you it'd be, you know, I resolve that the first thing I do when I get up in the morning is I'm going to, you know, do what I need to do, and then I'm going to get my coffee, and I'm going to sit down, and I'm going to read the Word, and I'm going to pray.
Maybe that's what you need to resolve in your heart.
Maybe that's what it looks like for you.
Maybe, you know, maybe you need to resolve, "Hey, when I'm in town, me and my family, we're going to church, and we're going to engage with people. We're not going to just come and run when it's over. We're going to hang out, and we're going to meet new people."
Maybe that's what you need to be determined about.
Or maybe it's about your money.
You know, I'm going to resolve in my heart that whenever I get paid, I'm going to give 10% of what I get to the church, and I'm going to keep 90%.
That's a pretty good deal.
I keep 90%, I give God 10%.
Why?
Well, because God tells me to, for one thing, and for the next thing, we all know now that we don't give to a church, we give through a church, don't we?
We give through a church, and the more people that give, the more our church can do to reach people for restoration and redemption in Jesus Christ, can't we?
Yes, we can.
He's a cutie.
What a guy.
Where do you belong, son?
He's a cutie.
Maybe it's this: you know, at my work, there's a lot of gossip, and you know, my resolution is that whenever I'm at work, I'm going to step away from that gossip.
I'm not going to join in anymore.
Or maybe it's this: maybe I have to resolve in my heart, I have to determine that when my spouse and I get in an argument, that until we get it worked out, every word that comes out of my mouth is going to be with respect and love.
Because just because I'm in an argument doesn't mean we have to go, you know, bloodied down on the ground and hurt each other.
Maybe your resolution would be, "I resolve to spend more time in God's Word than I do on Facebook and Instagram."
I've seen how many times you guys post on Facebook.
So how do we do this in a world full of compromise?
How do we stand strong but still love well?
Well, what did Daniel do?
Well, what did Daniel not do?
He didn't make a public protest, did he?
No.
When the king said, "Hey, I want you to eat this," he didn't say, "Hey, no way I'm eating that. You know, God doesn't want me to eat that. That's sacrifice to idols. There's no way. I'm just not going to eat anything, and you're going to go to hell because you don't believe in my God."
He didn't do that.
He didn't make a big deal out of it.
He didn't run out of the room and blast off a group text in all caps, you know, saying, "This guy's going to hell. I don't agree with him."
Didn't do any of that.
No, he... what did he do?
He respectfully asked a question, didn't he?
"Hey, do you mind if we try something different?"
That's a loving response, isn't it?
That's a respectful, honoring response.
You know, sometimes I wonder, and I've been there too, that some of us are so right or we think we are so right that we don't even make a difference.
I've heard people say, and I've read what people have written, and it's like they're standing so high on the truth that they're pushing the people off the cliff that don't believe like they do.
"I'm up here, and I believe the truth. So if you don't believe the truth I believe, I'm going to push you down."
That's not what God wants, is it?
And that's exactly what Daniel did not do.
Some people are so right that they think they're so right that they don't want to listen to anybody else.
And if you genuinely want to make a difference, do you want to make a difference in this world for Christ?
I know you do.
You got to ask yourself, do I want to make a point or do I want to make a difference?
Do I want to make a point or do I want to make a difference?
Do I want to make a point?
Make a difference.
You want to make a difference.
Which one?
They're not the same thing.
Do you want to just make a point?
Because you can spew out all that stuff all day long, but if you want to make a difference, what do you do?
Well, you have a conversation.
You sit down with people, and you get genuinely interested in their life.
I know one of our elders, he takes people to lunch all the time.
He's retired, doesn't have anything else to do, but hey, I mean, he's investing his life into people in this church.
He's loving people, and that's what we're called to do, not blast them.
Daniel was honoring, and what did he do?
He spoke the truth with grace.
He spoke the truth in love.
That's exactly what Jesus did.
Jesus was all truth, wasn't He?
And I've said this before: He was all grace.
All truth, all grace.
Not 50% of the truth, 50% of grace.
A hundred and a hundred.
But He always brought grace when He brought truth. Amen?
And that's what I'm talking about.
And that's what I'm talking about.
And that's what I'm talking about.
And that's what I'm talking about.
And that's exactly what you and I need to do: always bring grace when we bring truth.
And how did he do that?
He asked a question: "Hey, do you mind if we do something different? You know, do I have to eat that?"
He said it in a respectful, honoring way.
So what do we do?
We speak the truth with grace.
Speak the truth in love.
Daniel didn't bend an inch, did he?
No, but he was loving, and he was strategic about what he did.
And here's what happened in verse 12.
Daniel said this: "Please test us."
And he didn't say this to the king.
He said it to the king's men that were taking care of him.
Verse 12: "Please test us for 10 days on a diet of vegetables and water," Daniel said.
"At the end of the 10 days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king's food. Then make your decision in light of what you see."
The attendant agreed to Daniel's suggestion and tested them for 10 days.
At the end of 10 days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king.
So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the food and wine provided by the others.
And what happened?
Well, Daniel honored God, so did Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Daniel honored God, and then God turned around and honored Daniel as well.
God gave Daniel the ability to interpret dreams and to interpret visions, and we'll talk about that next week.
But then in verse 19, the Bible says, "The king talked with him, and no one impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah."
Wait a minute, those are the old names, right?
So what did the king do?
He said, "I'm going to give you a name. I'm going to give you a name."
Did he restore their identity to them?
Sounds like it, doesn't it?
I don't really know.
Sounds like it.
So they entered the royal service.
Verse 20: "Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them 10 times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom."
So what did he do?
He won over the evil king, Nebuchadnezzar.
He won him over because they stood out.
They stood strong, and they were different.
But not different like odd different.
I mean, you know what I mean?
I mean, some Christians are just odd.
But they weren't odd different.
They were like better different.
Better different.
They were close to God and loving.
And the way they expressed their emotions and expressed their conviction, they were bold, they were strong, but they didn't compromise, but they always said it in love. Amen?
All hell had broken loose.
They were ripped from their homes, kidnapped basically, separated from their family.
Now they were slaves.
No support system.
Names were changed, indoctrinated into the Babylonian culture.
How can they possibly worship God while stripped of everything that matters to them?
No hope.
No future.
Seemingly, life was over.
But they were never over.
There's a message here today.
There's a message here for somebody who's hurting and somebody who's afraid and doesn't know what they're going to do and doesn't know where they're going to turn.
There's somebody in this room or online.
And if that's you, you need to remember what Scripture says.
In fact, He's the one who named you.
The Bible says you're fearfully and wonderfully made.
No matter what you're going through, no matter where you are, there's a God in heaven.
He loves you.
Think about it.
If they would have compromised their beliefs, Daniel and his three friends, if they would have compromised and given in, or if they would have blasted the king and told him how evil he was, if they would have traded in their convictions for compromise, nothing would have changed.
They may have lost their life, but nothing would have changed.
But what Satan meant for evil for Daniel and his friends, God turned around and gave it for good.
He used four teenage boys to turn the heart of an evil king and change the absolute course of a nation.
God's the main character in this story.
And because He is a good God, a loving God, and a righteous God, and a God of compassion, a God of grace, and a God of mercy, you can stand firm and you can love well.
You don't have to just stand firm.
And you don't have to just love well.
But you can do both.
Stand firm and love well.
Because you may be forced to live in Babylon, but Babylon does not have to live in you. Amen?
Now let's pray.
Father, thank You for the message of Daniel.
And Lord, thank You that he was so convicted and so strong.
And Lord, we know that it's Your strength that made him strong.
It's not that he was all that, but You're all that.
So Lord, we look to You for the days and the times that we need to stand strong.
Father, we're going to encounter them this afternoon.
We're going to encounter them tomorrow, the next day, and all week, all month, all year.
Lord, help us to remind us, Lord, that the enemy is always out to steal, kill, and destroy.
And everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie.
Help us to remember that, Lord.
And Lord, we ask You to go with us.
Go with us as we leave today.
Father, that You would work in and through us to speak Your name to others.
And Lord, when we speak Your name and Your truth, help us, Lord, to speak it with love and grace.
And if you're here today and you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you need to.
You need to.
And you're here.
You're here for a reason, no doubt.
He's brought you here because you needed to hear what was said today.
Not something I said, but something God said through me.
So if you're here and you don't know Him, He wants to know, or He knows you, but He wants you to know Him.
And if you want to surrender your life to Him, it's not just praying a prayer.
It's not just, "Yes, I want some fire insurance."
No, it's, "You know what? Everything I've tried in my life ain't working.
And I need a Savior.
I need redemption.
And I need restoration."
If you'd like to accept Jesus as your Savior, would you repeat a prayer after me?
It goes like this.
Nothing special, magic about the words.
You can put them in your own words.
And believers, would you also repeat it?
Dear Jesus, this morning I trust You.
And I accept Your forgiveness for all my sin.
Come into my life.
Fill me with Your Spirit.
Teach me from Your Word.
And help me to live for You every day.
Thank You for my salvation.
It's in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
You know, I believe with all my heart that somebody in this room said that today for the first time.
And I believe that someone said it online for the first time.
So let's just give them a hand.
God is good.
God is good.
Awesome.
So if that was you, would you do me a favor?
Would you take your bulletin?
And there's a little response card.
It's got perforations on it.
Just tear that off.
Write your name and your address and your phone number and your email if you would.
And we're not going to send you a bunch of stuff.
We do want to send you a New Believers Bible, though.
And we also want to text you and congratulate you.
Okay?
It's not a ploy to get you to join.
It's nothing like that.
It's just a congratulations that you've made that decision.
All right?
And the response card is right here.
Okay?
See that little guy?
Name, address, phone number, and email would be wonderful.
And then put it in the office box on your way out, and we will text you or call you this week, and we'll send you a Bible.
Okay?
All right.
Seems like one or two a week accept Christ in this room, and that's just a wonderful thing.
Wonderful thing.
A couple of announcements before I let you leave.
A new Bible study, I believe it started or it's going to start next week called The Red Sea Rules.
Warren and Sue Jance, would you guys stand up?
These two guys, lady and man, are the leaders of that group, and they meet at nine o'clock behind me in the room right behind me.
So if you want to be a part of that Bible study, join them, and I know they'd love to have you.
Neighborhood walk Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, January 18th.
We're going to walk in groups of four.
That's two weeks from yesterday, right?
Is that right?
Yeah, two weeks from yesterday.
We're going to walk in groups of four or five or something like that, and we're just going to walk the neighborhoods around here, and we're going to pray.
I'm going to pray for the people from a distance, pray for the neighborhood, and we're going to knock on some doors.
And if they answer, we're going to ask them, tell them who we are, where we're from, and we're going to ask them, "Hey, can we pray for you? Is there something going on in your life that you need prayer about?"
Some people, you know, they're going to say, "Oh no, I'm fine, no big deal."
Some people may slam the door.
Some people may not even answer the door.
But as the chance or as the opportunity arises, we're going to pray for them.
Okay?
And we're not going to send you out there if you're not comfortable with that, so we'll make sure that if you're not comfortable with knocking on the door, that you're with a group of folks that are okay.
So you can just kind of be in the background and be praying while they pray.
All right?
So we would love to know if you're going to come.
Okay?
So if you would check off the box on the response card, your name, phone number, and we'll get in touch with you and give you some details.
So two weeks from yesterday, we've got Bridge Link on the 24th, but we're going to change that to February, so you can scratch through that.
Christian Assistance Ministry is an opportunity to volunteer and help the homeless downtown, and that is Saturday, January 25th.
Anything that's said from the pulpit as far as an announcement, if you want to participate, just give us your name, phone number, and check that little box, and we'll be right back on the response card, and somebody will get in touch with you.
All right?
Just a reminder real quick that yes, please start making your checks, your tithe checks, any check that you write to the church, to the Bridge Community Church.
That'd be wonderful.
If by some chance you accidentally write it to CBC Northwest, it's okay.
They're going to give us some grace at the bank for a little while.
Okay?
If you are online, if you're on the Bridge Community Church, if you're giving your tithe online, you can still go to CBC Northwest and give it there like you always have because it's still going to the same place.
We're going to switch the website, and even when we do switch the website, it's still going to go to the same place, which is our bank.
Okay?
So just so you know that.
All right?
And it's just as secure as it ever has been because it's the same place.
All right.
Well, wonderful.
Why don't you stand with me?
I'm so glad you started your new year here in the church, and I'm so glad you're here at Bridge Community Church.
Why don't you give somebody a hug next to you, or if you're not a hugger, just shake their hand and say, "God bless you. I'll see you next week."
on Jan 05, 2025
