Bridge Community Church Leeds

What do Jesus’s words in John 5:16-24 teach us about “crossing over?” Pastor Steve Kempton explains the background to the passage in John, how Jesus in all His work is in perfect unity with His Father as revealed in healing. Pastor Steve then goes on to explore the idea of crossing over. In this passage, Jesus speaks about the most fundamental of all crossing over journeys - from death to life. Faith in Jesus means we can face any uncertainty - including death itself - with confidence that there is no journey that Jesus cannot accompany us on. The journey from death to life is a once for all crossing over. Pastor Steve explains how Jesus gives us the confidence to face this crossing.The Bible also gives us other examples of people who crossed over. Pastor Steve explains that these are continual “crossings over” that we can navigate again and again in life. He gives seven examples:Joshua, who crossed over from the wilderness to the promised land - from wandering to taking possession, which leaves us with the question: “When was the last time, you did something for the first time?”Gideon crossed over from hiding to great courage. Pastor Steve reminds us of the phrase “take courage” - courage is something we have to take hold of.Abraham crossed over from comfort to faith. He didn’t need to see the whole journey before taking the first step.Caleb crossed over from waiting to gaining his inheritance - we too can cross over from promise to possession.Moses crossed over from captivity to freedom. What do we need to leave behind in order to live in freedom?Peter crossed over from the boat to the water, being willing to leave what seemed safe.Esther crossed over from silence to courageous action.Pastor Steve asks us to consider what the Holy Spirit is saying to us through these examples. Is it time to move from asking “what is safe, to what does God require of me?” Are we hearing Jesus saying to us: “Son, daughter, follow me. It’s time to cross over.”We welcome you to Bridge Community Church, Leeds!We invite you to join our online community!Like us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsFacebookJoin our Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/BCCOnlineCommunityGroupFollow us on Instagram: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsInstagramFollow us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsTwitterVisit our Website: https://www.bccleeds.org/If you would like to give to further our work. You can use the link below:https://bit.ly/GivingtoBCC#EveryoneWelcome #ChurchOnline #Leeds #Burmantofts #LincolnGreen

How close are human beings to eliminating death? Despite significance gains in global life expectancy, and the efforts of billionaires in the USA, death remains an inevitable terminus to the human condition. But there is good news.As Pastor Peter Clothier reminds us, Jesus comes to brings us eternal life - which is so much more than the hope of eternal existence. What’s the difference? Pastor Peter highlights three aspects of what ‘eternal life’ means to those who follow Jesus.Eternal life is so much more than earthly visions of the good life - health, wealth and happiness. Jesus brings an awareness of God’s love, forgiveness and an incomprehensible peace. In the words of a nurse, commenting on the demeanour of a Christian patient, the patient had “inappropriate joy.” Jesus brings us a joy which we experience in relationship to Him - not determined by our physical circumstances. Eternal life is more than quantity - “how much.” Eternal life is quality “how good!”Secondly, eternal life is relational. As the apostle John puts it, this life consists in knowing the one true God and the Son whom He sent into the world, not to bring condemnation but salvation. We can have a deep personal experience of Jesus which gives us a whole new perspective on, and attitude to, both life and death. As the Apostle Paul put it - to live is Christ, and to die is gain.Thirdly, the eternal life Jesus offers is a gift. Death, as Paul again puts it, is what we earn through sin, which is a rejection of all that God commands in order for us to live full and flourishing lives. We can’t earn salvation, and even if salvation could be earned, how would we ever know we had done enough to get it? The good news is that salvation is offered to us as a free gift. The gift itself is valuable not only in the benefits it brings to us, but also in what it cost Jesus to be able to give it. We can accept what we have earned - death, because of our sin - or gratefully receive the gift that Jesus offers us.Pastor Peter shares some of his own story about the impact on him of receiving Jesus’ gift of eternal life.How will you respond to the gift that Jesus is offering you?

The speaker for our Guest Service today is Pastor Steve Kempton. Pastor Steve shares how he wasn’t brought up in a Christian home and, although the home had a Bible, he never read it. Pastor Steve begins by explaining various things that the Bible has to say about itself. It’s a lamp that illuminates our way ahead, bread that nourishes the soul and answers the “first order questions” of life - who we are, why we are here and where we are going. The Bible is truth which liberates us and it is revelation that shows us who God is and who we are. Turning to the Bible, Pastor Steve shares an account about a man called Levi - a tax collector by profession - and how Jesus called Levi to follow Him. Levi leaves his profession and completely reorientates his life around Jesus. It’s an extraordinary response. What was it about Jesus that made Levi want to leave his successful and highly lucrative way of life to follow Jesus?In a memorable illustration, Pastor Steve shares the story of Larry Walters, a man who “wanted to see Los Angeles from a different perspective.” Larry is famous in LA as a man who brought air traffic to a halt by creating a home-made aerostat made up of a lawn chair and 42 weather balloons. Arrested when he eventually landed he was asked why he did it. His answer: “Because you can’t just sit there.” Levi, it seems, felt the same way about Jesus’ call to follow Him.Pastor Steve shares how he went to a church in 1984 with no intention of doing anything other than to “mock and to laugh.” Instead, he found himself doing three things that Levi did. First, he got up. It wasn’t the words Jesus used that had this impact on Levi, but the personal call of Jesus Himself. Knowing about Jesus is very different to following Him, and it's a decision that can result in us finding places to go that, without Him, we would never have considered or imagined. Pastor Steve explains how, in a moment of time, Levi saw his life both as it was and how it could be. Pastor Steve recounts how his own life was changed for ever on the day he “stood up” in a church in response to an invitation to follow Jesus. The Bible tells us that someone “who has the Son has life, and who does not have the son does not have life.” Pastor Steve asks us all “Do you have life today?” and “Do you have the Son?”The second thing we read that Levi did was that “he left everything.” In the leaving, there was also a gaining. As the apostle Paul reminds us: "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” In following Jesus was have the chance to leave bad attitudes, unhelpful behaviours, and a life without God, and to experience God’s mercy and power which enables us to live a whole new kind of life.The third thing Levi did was to follow Jesus. This changed Levi’s perspective, his direction in life and even his name - going on to be called Matthew who wrote the gospel that we find at the start of the New Testament. Jesus sees you, knows you, and calls you. Is it time to embrace the future that Jesus is calling you to, to stand and to follow Him, and to say to yourself “You can’t just sit there?”We welcome you to Bridge Community Church, Leeds!We invite you to join our online community!Like us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsFacebookJoin our Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/BCCOnlineCommunityGroupFollow us on Instagram: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsInstagramFollow us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsTwitterVisit our Website: https://www.bccleeds.org/If you would like to give to further our work. You can use the link below:https://bit.ly/GivingtoBCC#EveryoneWelcome #ChurchOnline #Leeds #Burmantofts #LincolnGreen

On the Sunday we welcomed our new senior pastor, Steve Kempton and his family, the message for the day is brought by Pastor Andy Lenton. Sharing from the book of Nehemiah chapter 3:1-14, Pastor Andy takes us through the names of the various people who took responsibility for rebuilding sections of the walls of Jerusalem in the middle of the fifth century BC. Pastor Andy uses the passage to speak to us about our relationship to a new senior leader. Whilst we will ask legitimate questions about what changes the leader will make and what he will bring, a more pertinent question is what we, as members of BCC will do. Like Nehemiah, leaders gather people around a vision. Whilst God may give a vision to a leader, the responsibility for building is given by God to the people.Pastor Andy shows us that many of the people mentioned in Nehemiah took responsibility for what was in front of them. We may be attracted to the idea of a spectacular or prominent ministry. But God values all service. Pastor Andy gives a variety of examples of the kinds of service that are crucial to the life of a growing and missional church, service that may not be generally prominent but which is nonetheless noticed and valued by God Himself.Pastor Andy also reminds us that not everyone was building the same thing. There is a temptation to compare the responsibilities God has given us with those He has given to others. This can become an unhelpful distraction. The body has many different parts, as Paul reminds us in his letters. “Don’t compete” says Pastor Andy “instead complete.” The strength of the wall of Jerusalem was not just in its individual sections, but in the combined strength of those sections fit well together.Combining our strength is essential for, as Nehemiah teaches us, there are forces and enemies which seek to undermine God’s building work. We are people called to stand together and encourage each other. We all have an important part to play - as Pastor Andy reminds us: “Your brick really matters!”We welcome you to Bridge Community Church, Leeds!We invite you to join our online community!Like us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsFacebookJoin our Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/BCCOnlineCommunityGroupFollow us on Instagram: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsInstagramFollow us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsTwitterVisit our Website: https://www.bccleeds.org/If you would like to give to further our work. You can use the link below:https://bit.ly/GivingtoBCC#EveryoneWelcome #ChurchOnline #Leeds #Burmantofts #LincolnGreen

How can we make more space for people come and find Jesus? How do we do this in the different contexts of the life of the church and in our own personal lives? Sharing from Mark chapter 2 verses 1-12, Leigh Richmond asks us to think about those “who can’t get through” and how we respond to them in three ways: Notice the person.Make room, and Trust Jesus.It’s challenging to think that we can ourselves be close enough to hear Jesus, but still fail to notice people who can’t get through. This is what was happening in Mark 2. A paralysed man, brought by his friends to Jesus, wasn’t kept away from the Lord by opposition, but by other people who also wanted to hear Him.Leigh asks us to think about how challenging it can be for visitors who have little or no idea of what church is about. Where should they sit? How do they understand what people are talking about? What should they do during the worship? As Leigh reminds us, barriers can be created by familiarity as well as by hostility.We can create barriers for people by our busyness - either being too busy to give people time, or by not giving them our full attention when our thoughts are on the the next task we need to attend to. It’s possible to be lonely in a room full of friendly people.But it doesn’t have to be this way - mission starts when we take a minute to notice. Leigh shares research statistics that show how people in the UK are seeking information about spirituality and the opportunities this provides for the church. He goes on to share personal testimony of how an ordinary moment can become a holy moment when people trust you enough to share their challenges and to ask for prayer. Leigh uses this to give us a number of ways in which we can be more missional in a natural and straightforward way.Like the friends in Mark’s gospel, we do what we can to give people room to come to Jesus, and then trust Jesus to do what only He can.  As Leigh concludes: “Do what love has put within your reach!” And trust the Lord to continue His work of bringing salvation, freedom and new direction to people today.We welcome you to Bridge Community Church, Leeds!We invite you to join our online community!Like us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsFacebookJoin our Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/BCCOnlineCommunityGroupFollow us on Instagram: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsInstagramFollow us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/BCCLeedsTwitterVisit our Website: https://www.bccleeds.org/If you would like to give to further our work. You can use the link below:https://bit.ly/GivingtoBCC#EveryoneWelcome #ChurchOnline #Leeds #Burmantofts #LincolnGreen

What is communion? Why do we do it? And since we practice it on a regular basis, how do we ensure that we don’t start taking it for granted and lose focus on what it’s really all about? Pastor Jacqui Richmond gives us three reasons why we take communion.First, we remember Jesus and what He has done for us. There are times, especially when we are in a “heavy season” where we can lose focus on God. Communion brings us back to the core of our faith, not only what Jesus did for us but also what motivated Him to do it. That same love continues to be extended to us whatever else is happening in our personal and wider world.More than this, we remember that Jesus has forgiven us and brought us into a new covenant. Pastor Jacqui shares her own experience of the first time she took communion. She remembers saying to herself: “Don’t ever forget this moment.” What was your most memorable moment of taking communion? What was the Lord saying to you then? Allow Him to remind you of that as you take communion again. In the confidence of God’s forgiveness we can, as Paul instructs us, examine our hearts, repent of where we are not following Jesus, and move on cleansed and with new strength from the Holy Spirit.Third, we take communion because Jesus is coming again and we look forward to that moment. We look forward, as Revelation shows us, to the new order of a new heaven and new earth free from mourning, death, crying, or pain. As we take communion together we find ourselves united as one body under Christ. We are all invited. Take, eat drink and be thankful!