One of the things I really appreciated about "God Shines Forth" by Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves is that it starts the conversation about mission and personal evangelism at a place where we probably don't start often enough: with God Himself.

When we talk about missions, evangelism, or sharing our faith, we usually begin with the command. Jesus told us to go. People need to hear the gospel. The church has a responsibility to reach the world. And obviously, all of that is true. But Hames and Reeves back up much further. Before mission is something God tells us to do, it flows out of who God is!

God shines forth!! That's the picture from the book that has stuck with me the most.

Think about the sun. It doesn't have to be convinced to shine. Light radiates from it because that's what it does. In a far greater way, God's goodness isn't something He keeps to Himself. He gives. He reveals Himself. He makes Himself known.

And ultimately, He has made Himself known to us in Jesus.

I think that changes the way we think about evangelism. We're not trying to convince people to become interested in a distant God. We're just telling people about God who has already moved toward us in Christ.

I think Christians can sometimes make evangelism feel like an obligation we'd rather avoid. We know we're supposed to tell people about Jesus, so we feel guilty when we don't. We try harder for a while. Maybe we have a few awkward conversations. Eventually, the whole thing starts to feel like another Christian responsibility we're not doing very well.

"God Shines Forth" gives us a much better place to begin. What if one of our biggest problems with evangelism isn't that we don't know enough techniques? What if we just don't see clearly enough how good God actually is?

Because when you really begin to see and experience God's goodness, His beauty, His generosity, His grace—it makes sense that you would want other people to know Him too.

We do this all the time. We tell people about a restaurant we loved. I'm doing it right now by recommending this book. We tell somebody about a place we've visited because we want them to experience it too. When something is genuinely good, sharing it with someone else doesn't feel forced...it feels...RIGHT.

Why would knowing Jesus be any different? It shouldn't!

That's one of the challenges I took away from this book. What the church needs isn't simply more pressure to evangelize. Maybe we just need a clearer vision of the God we're telling people about.

That's really the heart of Christian mission. God has revealed Himself to us in Jesus, and now we have the privilege of helping others see what we have seen. Not because we're trying to win an argument or grow an organization. We simply believe we have encountered Someone worth knowing.

That's what I appreciated so much about "God Shines Forth". It reminded me that sharing Jesus doesn't have to begin with guilt or pressure. It can begin with simply seeing God for who He is—and then realizing He's too good to keep to ourselves.

Interested in reading it? Here's the link to it on amazon: God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church by Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves

“Follow me.”

Those are two of the simplest words Jesus ever spoke. They’re also two words that completely changed the lives of the people who heard them.

When Jesus called His first disciples, He wasn’t simply inviting them to believe a few things about Him. He was inviting them to build their lives around Him.

And He still is.

Following Jesus begins with trusting Jesus.
Christianity isn't primarily about becoming a better person or trying harder to live a good life. It begins with recognizing that we need something that we cannot provide for ourselves.

We need forgiveness. We need grace. We need new life.

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus has provided all of that through His death and resurrection. He died for our sins, rose from the dead, and offers eternal life to anyone who trusts in Him.

That's where following Jesus starts—not with what we do for Him, but with what He has done for us.

Following Jesus means learning from Jesus.
The word "disciple" simply means "learner". A disciple of Jesus is someone who is learning from Him how to live. That's why we spend so much time in the Bible at The Bridge. We want to know Jesus. We want to understand what He taught. And then we want His words to actually shape the way we live.

Following Jesus reaches into our marriages, our parenting, our friendships, our work, our finances, our priorities, and even the way we treat people who are difficult to love. It impacts how we view the world and interact with the cultural issues of our time.

None of us gets it all right all the time. That's part of following Him too. We keep learning.

Following Jesus means becoming more like Jesus.
Jesus isn't merely interested in changing where we spend eternity. He wants to change who we're becoming right now too! The longer we follow Him by faith, the more our lives should begin to take His shape.

We learn to love people because He loves people. We forgive because He has forgiven us. We serve because He served. We become generous because He has been generous toward us.

That kind of change doesn't happen overnight. Following Jesus is a lifelong process. But we believe Jesus meets us where we are and loves us too much to leave us there.

Following Jesus was never meant to be done alone.
Jesus called individual people, but He called them into a community. We need each other.

We need people who will encourage us when we're struggling, pray with us when life hurts, remind us of what's true when we've forgotten, and sometimes challenge us when we're headed in the wrong direction.

That's one of the reasons the local church matters. We open His Word together. Ask questions. Spend time together. Worship and celebrate what God is doing together!

So if you're just beginning your journey of following Jesus start with some of that: Open His Word! Start with the Jesus and the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. Discover how Jesus lived. Learn what Jesus taught. Trust Him enough to do what He says.

If you’re looking for a church, you probably have more questions than simply, “What time does the service start?”

You might wonder what kind of people you’ll meet, what the church believes, or whether you’ll fit in. Maybe you’ve been part of a church your entire life. Maybe it’s been years since you’ve walked through the doors of one. Or maybe church is completely new to you.

So, what kind of church is The Bridge?

One of the simplest ways we describe ourselves is this: **We’re a neighborhood church.**

We’re a church for our neighbors.
The Bridge is located in Linwood, Pennsylvania, and we really care about the community God has placed around us.

We don't want to be a church that simply gathers for a service once a week and then disappears until the following Sunday. We believe God has placed us here for a reason, and we want our community to be better because a church that loves Jesus is here.

Sometimes that means helping people learn what it means to follow Jesus. Sometimes it means providing food for a family going through a difficult season, caring for children, praying with someone who is hurting, or simply being present when life gets hard.

Jesus taught us to love God and love our neighbor. We want both to be visible in the life of our church.

We’re a church made up of ordinary people.
You don't need to have your life figured out before coming to The Bridge.

Our church is filled with people from different backgrounds, generations, and places in their spiritual journeys. Some have followed Jesus for decades. Others are just beginning to understand what Christianity is about. Some came after wonderful experiences in other churches. Others arrived carrying significant wounds.

There is room to ask questions here. There is room to learn and grow.

We don't expect you to pretend to be somewhere spiritually that you aren't. We simply want to help people take their next step toward Jesus.

We’re a church that takes the Bible seriously.
If you spend much time at The Bridge, you'll notice that we open the Bible a lot!
And that's intentional. We believe the Bible is God's Word and that it speaks with authority into our lives. When we gather on Sundays, the preaching is centered on Scripture. When we study together, we open Scripture. When we're trying to navigate life, relationships, suffering, decisions, or questions about God, Scripture is where we continually return.

That doesn't mean we pretend every passage is easy or every question has a simple answer. It means we believe God has spoken, and we want to listen.

We don't want to build a church around the personality of a pastor or whatever happens to be popular at the moment. We want Jesus to shape what we believe and how we live.

We’re a church centered on Jesus.
Our mission at The Bridge is simple: Connecting Others to the Love of Jesus.

That's more than something we put on a sign. It's why we exist. And it encompasses Christ's commission to every believer to go and make disciples and His command to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Ultimately, we aren't trying to connect people to a religious institution. We want people to know and follow Jesus. We believe His grace is greater than our failures. We believe His death and resurrection provide forgiveness and new life. And we believe following Him changes the way we love, work, serve, forgive, raise our families, and treat our neighbors.

We’re a church where questions are welcome.
You don't have to understand everything about Christianity before you walk through our doors. You don't have to know the Bible, know all the songs, or have every question settled.

We believe there is room in the church for honest questions and real conversations. At the same time, we aren't uncertain about what we're inviting people toward. We believe Jesus is Lord, His Word is true, and following Him means allowing Him to shape what we believe and how we live.

So bring your questions. Come listen. Open the Bible with us. Get to know us. Most importantly, get to know Jesus! We believe He is worth following.

We're still becoming the church we want to be.
The Bridge isn't a perfect church. We're definitely made up of many imperfect people learning together what it means to follow a perfect Savior.

But we do know the kind of church we want to keep becoming: a church that loves Jesus more than anything, takes His Word seriously, cares about people genuinely, serves our neighbors freely, and helps one another become more like Christ.

So if you're new to The Bridge—or you're simply wondering whether you could ever feel comfortable walking into a church again—we'd love to meet you!

Have you really welcomed Jesus into your life?
The Gospel of Mark begins with an electrifying announcement: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1)

With those words, Mark isn’t just introducing a story—he’s declaring a new era. Harkening back to the Genesis account, Mark declares the beginning of something just as momentous--a new creation, a new era, a new work of God breaking into history.

But before Jesus officially begins His ministry, preparation is required. And that preparation begins with John the Baptist. "Behold, I send my messenger...who will prepare Your way before you. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight!'" (Mark 1:2-3)

Every great arrival requires preparation. When a king visits a city, roads are cleared, banners are raised, and people get ready to welcome him. In the same way, God sent John the Baptist ahead of Jesus to prepare the people—not by organizing parades, but by calling them to repentance.

John’s message was clear:

• Turn from sin—Don’t just regret wrongdoing; change direction.
• Open your heart—True preparation happens inside, not just through outward rituals.
• Recognize the greatness of Jesus—John himself said, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming… I am not worthy to untie His sandals.” (Mark 1:7)

John’s mission wasn’t to draw attention to himself. His entire life pointed forward—to Jesus, the One who would baptize not with water but with the Holy Spirit. His job was to simply prepare people's hearts to welcome the King of Kings.

What Does This Mean for Us?
John’s call to prepare wasn’t just for the people of his day—it’s for us too. Meeting Jesus isn’t just about knowing His name or believing He exists. It’s about making room for Him in our lives.

Many of us want Jesus to be part of our lives, but not necessarily in charge of them. We want His blessings, His peace, and His strength—but we hesitate to fully surrender control.

Preparation means asking tough questions:

• What areas of my life need to change to truly welcome Jesus as King?
• Are there sins or habits I need to turn from?
• Am I holding onto control instead of submitting to Him?

Jesus didn’t come just to inspire us. He came to reign! And if He is truly King, then our role is not to invite Him into our plans—but to surrender to His.

A Challenge for This Week
Preparation takes intentional steps. This week, take a moment to reflect:

• Identify one area of your life where you’ve been trying to maintain control rather than surrendering to Jesus.
• Pray specifically about that area and ask God to help you let go and trust Him.
• Take a practical step—whether that’s confessing a struggle, changing a habit, or choosing obedience in something God has been prompting you to do.

The King has arrived. The question is—have you really welcomed Him into your life? Is He in charge? May we all recognize as John did how worthy Jesus is of our surrender--"There comes One after me who is mightier than me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose." (Mark 1:7)