A 2-Way Bridge: The Bridge OUT

Introduction • Last week I said that bridges are immensely important.... they allow us cross busy roads, deep gorges or ravines, a river or some obstruction... from point A on this side to point B on that side • Not only are bridges immensely important, they are immensely convenient... • Bridges are a crucial part of our country’s infrastructure... and bridges are a crucial part of the infrastructure of the Kingdom of God as well... ◦ They answer this question: “What path is in place for the lost, the broken, and the hurting to move past the obstacles and come to Christ?” Not come to church, but come to Christ Jesus built BRIDGES. If we are to be like Jesus, then we must also build bridges that allow for TRAVEL in TWO DIRECTIONS. • We are called to be like Jesus, therefore we are called to build bridges • Primary scripture text: Luke 14:15-24 FOCUS VERSE Luke 14:23 Then the master told his servant, "Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full." NIV • Notice in this parable that there is a going out that occurs... and there is a coming in as well • The last part of verse 23 tells us why we need to build bridges that allow for 2-way traffic: “so that my house will be full” Bridges allow us to COMMUNICATE the INVITATION but far too often we are content on the “Point A side” and the MESSAGE stays with us. • When we build bridges... make a connection... open a door... we do this as servants of the Master who has sent us to communicate a message and that message is “Come to the banquet” ◦ Unfortunately, we don’t often travel the bridge out because we are content right here just the way it is ◦ How full are we? Reasons that we don’t travel the bridge out... 1. We don’t KNOW that we are SUPPOSED to. • Simply put, sometimes we just don’t realize that this is our calling ◦ In order to complete our mission we need to GO... 2. It SCARES us; we suffer from a condition known as GEPHYROPHOBIA. • Gephyrophobia is the anxiety disorder or specific phobia characterized by the fear of bridges ◦ Sufferers of gephyrophobia may avoid routes that will take them over bridges ◦ LINK to the video we watched: https://youtu.be/gJOh_N38fW4 ◦ We don’t need to fear though... • Is the reason you don’t travel out because you are scared? ◦ Get in the word and read these passages and others, pray these passages, connect with others in the community, serve together... you’ll find that your fears will be greatly reduced 3. We don’t know WHO to INVITE. • Sometimes, we just don’t know who to invite... who is the message for anyway? Let’s look back at the parable... Who to invite becomes fairly easy... everyone! 4. We don’t know WHAT to SAY. • Sometimes we don’t know what to say... in the parable we read, here is the message: “Come, for everything is now ready.” (v. 17) That’s fairly simple... “it’s ready.” • Do you need to have everything figured out? To be a theologian? A professional? No. ◦ We walk the bridge together ◦ This is the basic building block of making disciples: experiencing life in Jesus together 5. We stop at the EXCUSES and think we’ve “DONE ENOUGH.” • Sometimes, we don’t travel the bridge out often enough... we go out, communicate the message, maybe hit some resistance or excuses, and say, “Well, I tried” ◦ Then we think, “I’m never doing that again...” ◦ Really? What do you think the Master would say if you reported that back to Him? • What we are really dealing with is the fear of failure... that the invitation will be rejected and we will have failed... so we try, hit the excuse, and then stop ◦ Notice in this parable that the master doesn’t scold them for failure... he simply asked them to communicate the invitation... and they did ◦ Then he says, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” Communicate the message to others... ◦ “Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.” • What I read there is that the only time we can stop is when the house is full ◦ How full are we? Closing If we aren’t willing to build bridges to those around us, then what we are actually doing is building WALLS and erecting OBSTACLES. • When we lived in England, loved to visit castles... nearly every castle had a moat ◦ You span the moat by means of a bridge... a drawbridge... it allowed people to travel OUT beyond the castle walls and IN to the security of the castle • Think about our congregation... is the drawbridge up or down? Are we building a bridge that we can go across beyond the walls of this place? ◦ If not, then all we’ve done is widen the moat a little more, dug it a bit deeper, and build the walls of the castle a little higher • Since I have been the Pastor here I have heard many in this congregation say, “I believe we are right on the edge of something big that God wants to do” ◦ I agree and I now know what that edge is: it is the Point A side of the bridge ◦ God has prepared us, he has positioned us, and he is pointing us forward and our next action is to begin walking across it • What kind of bridge builder will you be in 2020? It’s time to START building bridges. • In your bulletin are two boxes... ◦ Write the names of two individuals... “I commit to build a bridge with these two people” • We have three challenge areas here in 2020: ◦ First: stay engaged with the community... share with someone else the names of your two ◦ Second: Prayer... pray for them daily... ask someone else to pray with you as well ◦ Third: Have a plan to stay in the word... as you stay in the word, pray that God will show you wisdom in his word that you can use as you build the bridge