Core Values: Prayer

My prayer life is not what it should be. 

It’s not that I don’t pray. But when I do, too often I hide the desires of my heart. 

Too often I forget who God is. 

Too often I forget who I am to God.

So my prayers lack ambition. I say to God, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” but I secretly (or not-so-secretly, because our God knows and sees all) wonder if His will includes a handful of things I deeply desire – for others and for my life on this earth. 

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” 

James 4:2-3 says, “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

I think sometimes I’m afraid to ask God for the desires of my heart because I know my own humanity. I know that in my humanness, the desires of my heart might not be perfectly aligned with His heart. I know I might ask for something from a wrong motive…from a selfish motive. And this reluctance to be vulnerable before the Lord leads to distance between us  - distance I’ve created because of my own insecurities and unwillingness to lay bare my soul before Him!

And so, in some areas of my life, I have not because I ask not.  

Because I need this reminder, and I think you might too, I want to offer some truth from God’s Word about who God is, who you are and who I am, and His invitation to us today.

God is holy. He runs the universe, which He created. He has the power to do ANYTHING He desires. He is bigger than we can comprehend. And He loves you. He loves me. 

You are beloved. I am beloved. We pray to a Father who calls us His own, in the name of Jesus, who loves us so fully He gave His life for us and lives to intercede for us, by the power of the Spirit who gives us words to pray when we have none. We go to the Creator of the universe not as strangers, but as beloved sons and daughters.

God yearns for us to be fully honest and transparent before Him when we pray. When we come with sinful motives – and we will, because we are human – He graciously and lovingly molds our desires into His desires. Our hearts become one. We see that His glory and our good always coexist.

As we delight in Him, we are invited to ask, knock, and seek. Like children longing for all their parents have to offer, we are invited to run into His arms and plead with Him for miracles big and small! 

He offers immeasurably more than all we can ask or think or imagine, and yet so often, in fear or sometimes apathy, we think in measurable terms, and we don’t ask for the immeasurably more for those around us and for ourselves. 

Will you join me in praying boldly and fervently this week, as those beloved by our Father? In delighting in Him and trusting in His goodness?

Only God knows what could happen!

With joy, love, and expectancy,
Erika

Core Values: Spirit of God

Not long ago, I was having a conversation with a wise woman in our church, and we were talking about how uncomfortable the American church often becomes when it comes to talking about the Holy Spirit. 

Our culture is comfortable with a general belief in God the Father. Belief in God feels non-threatening. It feels like something we can sort of wrap our minds and hearts  around. 

In the church, we are pretty comfortable talking about Jesus too. After all, He is our Redeemer and our Savior, and most of our songs and preaching centers on Him in some way.

Where it gets mysterious, though, is the Holy Spirit. The unknown seems frightening sometimes, doesn’t it? So often, we talk vaguely and fearfully about the Holy Spirit. We relegate Him to third wheel of the Trinity, and in doing so, we miss out on so much of what God intends for us and for those around us.

Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Micah describes being filled with the Spirit of God as being filled with power, justice, and might. Romans calls the mind governed by the Spirit one of “life and peace.” Jesus Himself told the disciples it was to their advantage that He was leaving, because they would receive the gift of the Spirit! 

The Greek word for Spirit, pneuma, literally means, “breath.” God breathes life into our dry bones when we come to know Christ. This breath, this life, is His Spirit. The Spirit is the animating force that makes it possible for us to live the lives God intends for us – for our good and for His glory. It is by the Spirit that we are able to see God work miracles in the everyday. It is the Spirit who empowers us to love well, live boldly, put sin to death as we build His kingdom, and be His witnesses in this world. It is the Spirit who fills us with power, justice, might, and peace. And it is the Spirit who makes us more and more like Jesus. 

John Piper describes being filled with the Spirit as being, "caught into the joy that flows among the Holy Trinity.” Sounds pretty incredible, doesn't it?

Father, we don’t want to be those who grieve Your Spirit.  Rather, may we be people who embrace the beautiful gift of Your Spirit. May we embrace the powerful mystery of how He breathes new life into our dry bones. May we walk in and by the Spirit as we live, pray, and worship, knowing that we desperately need the power, peace, and joy You offer through the Holy Spirit. May we drop our self-sufficiency, stubbornness, and fear and allow Him to guide our steps. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

See you tomorrow!
Erika

Core Values: The Word of God

Oh how I love your law!  It is my meditation all the day." Psalm 119:97

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Psalm 119:103

"My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise." Psalm 119:148

Do not speed read these verses from the Bible.  

Speed reading the Bible robs us of joy and strength and hope.

Pause.

Ask God to help you slow down. 

Read them again.

Slowly.

When was the last time the Holy Spirit filled you in such a way that you found yourself meditating joyfully on the Word of God all day?  When did the Word of God keep you up at night because you could not stop meditating on the promises of God?  

It's been awhile for me.  I read the Bible a lot.  I seek to know God better through being a "student of the Word."  But what if God's intention every time we read the Bible is for us to approach it like this: 

"God...I can't wait to hear what you are going to say to me today!"  

And then after we read the Word we meditate on it all day and all night with joy.

As I type these words I know this is the AIM.  We do not read the Bible to become "good Bible students."  We read the Bible in order to know and worship God.  And when we read the Bible for any other reason we need to ask God for the gift of repentance.

May we be those who ask for supernatural grace to repent and supernatural power from on High to read the Bible in a way that leads to loving and worshipping Jesus, the Word Incarnate.

See you Sunday,
Steven

This is who we are.

What are your core values?

What drives you, motivates you, to wake up each morning and begin afresh?

What are the beliefs that form the bedrock of the foundation for your life?

Sometimes it’s helpful to pause and reflect on the answers to these questions. We can become so busy in our day-to-day lives that we forget why we do what we do! At times we even forget who we are.

Over the next eight weeks, as a Bridge family, we’re going to walk through our core values. We’re going to pause and reflect on who we are, why we exist, for whom we exist, and how we’re called to live our lives. We’re going to celebrate the way we’ve been invited in to God’s plan for our neighbors, city, nation, and world, and the many lives He has already radically transformed!

We’ll begin this week with our cornerstone and shepherd, Jesus Christ. Without Him, we would not exist as a church! We’ll look at three main Scripture passages, all centered around the idea of what difference Christ can make in our lives – individually and collectively – when He is “in our boat.” 

In subsequent weeks, we’ll continue through the rest of our core values: the Spirit of God, the Word of God, prayer, grace, Gospel community, simplicity, and engagement. As we do so, our prayer is that our love for God and each other will deepen and grow, and that the Spirit will ignite our passion for connecting people to God’s indelible grace. 

Can’t wait to gather with you all tomorrow morning at 10!

For Better or For Worse

My little sister is getting married in two weeks. This morning I wrote the first draft of my toast for the reception. Tears soaked my journal as I wrote out line after line about my love and prayers for her and her soon-to-be husband. 

The tears weren’t from a place of sadness, though; they were from a place of joy, and this is why: I know my sister and her husband love one another deeply, love our God passionately, and love others thoroughly. Though there may be challenges along the way, God has equipped them with everything they need to live life well together, for as long as they both shall live. They are ready– as ready as any human being can be – to prayerfully enter into this beautiful thing called marriage. 

Our time in Hebrews comes to a close this week. And how the author ends the letter is extraordinary.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen…Grace be with all of you. Hebrews 13:20-21;25

The original readers of Hebrews are entering into a season of known challenges. Persecution is fast approaching. Struggles have begun. And yet our author ends this letter with resounding joy. 

Why? 

Because our God – who breathes life into dry bones, who sent the Great Shepherd to earth to buy us back from death and shepherd us as we walk in the light – has equipped us with everything we could ever possibly need to live life on mission for Him. 

Christianity, like marriage, is not a guarantee of smooth sailing. But it IS an eternal covenant, in which we have a God who works His will out in and through us – not out of obligation, but because He delights in doing so! 

He has promised promise to love us, comfort us, honor and keep us for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, for the rest of eternity. 

If you know Jesus, you have everything you need to do His will.  You have a hope and a future. 

The world longs for hope. The world questions the future. The world is waiting for a Shepherd. 

You know Him.

What are you waiting for?

As we close the book of Hebrews for now, let’s walk in His will. Together. 

With love and great joy,
Erika

This Fall at The Bridge

Strengthened by Grace

How is it with your soul? 

John Wesley used to ask this question of those in his small group. It’s a bit harder to evade than, “How are you?”

So I ask you today, “How is it with your soul?”

How are you doing at your very core – the inner workings of your heart, your mind, your affections, your relationships, and your will? When you peel back the layers of the onion, how are you, really? How is your spirit?

If this question feels overwhelming to you, you’re not alone. It has felt overwhelming to me in past weeks as well. As I was preparing to write this email, though, I read a phrase in Hebrews 13 that the Spirit has quietly but persistently repeated in my heart and mind. 

“It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace.”

There are a lot of challenging commands in Hebrews 13, all of which have only ever been modeled perfectly by Jesus Himself. By the time we get to verse 9, the responsibility of the believer can seem too massive. Admittedly, there have been countless times when I have seen the needs around me – when my heart has been broken – when my spirit has felt broken. But do you know what our God’s response is?

Allow your heart to be strengthened – established – solidified – built upon the grace that only God can give. 

Feast upon grace. Be sustained by grace.

What does it look like for you to feast upon grace  - to be nourished by grace - this week? 

Father, You are the great Creator, Giver, and Sustainer of grace. Thank you for Jesus, who – robed in humanity – came to change everything, from the course of history to our day-to-day lives. As we continue looking at our lives and unveiling our hearts before You this week, please help us to understand what it means to truly be nourished by grace. Forgive us for our constant consumption of other thoughts and behaviors that make us hungry and thirsty. You alone satisfy. Your grace alone nourishes. When we feel tired, help us to draw near to You and Your grace. Thank you for inviting us to the table to feast. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Joyfully,
Erika

Quakes Renew the Planet

“Deadly and Yet Necessary, Quakes Renew the Planet”

As I read this headline in the New York Times, I couldn’t help but think of Hebrews 12:26-29: His voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. 27 This expression, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what is not shaken might remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

The first paragraph of the NYT article reads like this: “Scientists argue that in the very long view, the global process behind great earthquakes is quite advantageous for life on earth — especially human life.”

Earthquakes often result in death.

Earthquakes often result in destruction. 

But earthquakes also build mountains, enrich soil (to make possible the growth of coffee, tea, rubber, etc.), regulate the planet’s temperature, concentrate gold and other rare metals, and maintain the sea’s chemical balance.

Earthquakes constantly recycle the earth’s crust and thus produce a lush planet that is actually livable.

Some experts even refer to the regular quakes — hundreds a day — as the planet’s heartbeat!

When we read headlines of death and destruction in the midst of earthquakes, though, it’s hard to think of anything but the horrific tragedy that has just occurred. 

Similarly, when we find ourselves in the midst of brokenness and darkness on this earth, it’s hard to think of anything but the overwhelming nature of it all. 

Like the readers of Hebrews, who were looking at the future, realizing their faith would likely result in earthly suffering and persecution, and questioning whether they should stick with it or abandon ship, we are faced with the same decision.

When we experience the earthquakes of life, do we succumb to dwelling on the death and destruction — the brokenness and darkness — around us? 

Or do we believe in the depths of our being that we are part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken and abide in the steadfast One? 

Do we believe in our guts that while everything is shaking around us, and one day when God will shake everything once and for all, that those who are in Christ are eternally secure and immovable because of His grace and love? That He will finish the good work He began?

Don’t allow the enemy to render you ineffective because you’ve believed the lie that God’s kingdom can be shaken. 

Just as earthquakes bring renewal and life and even precious metals out of death and destruction, we possess the same promise. We’ve been promised, “a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Isaiah 61:3)

Beloved, you will not be shaken. You are being renewed. You will live. Like a piece of precious gold, you are being refined. Because a Savior was shaken on your behalf. When your life feels like it’s on shifting ground because everything is shaking around you, remember this truth: if you know Jesus Christ, you are standing on bedrock. You have a solid foundation. And He will never fail you.

May we serve Him with thankful hearts, with reverence and awe, because He is worthy of all of our praise!

Hope to see you Sunday,
Erika

Drooping Hands & Weak Knees

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

Hebrews 12:11-13

There is so much glorious relief in verses 12 and 13 of Hebrews 12. 

Last week we talked about God’s discipline as a loving Father – the way He rearranges our lives in a way that may momentarily feel painful, but produces peaceful righteousness once we believe that He is good and His loving will for our lives is actually for our good. 

In verse 12, we get a, “therefore.”

We get a, “If you embrace and believe what I’ve just said – that God is a good and loving Father who knows you better than you know yourself, this the benefit. This is what happens.”

When we believe God is the Father He promises He is, we are finally able to lift not only our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees, but the drooping hands and weak knees of others as well. This is a collective exhortation. You all.

When you hit a wall – when you consider turning back or throwing in the towel – remember who God is. Remember the struggles of this life are temporary, even when terribly painful. Allow the Holy Spirit to whisper truth to your heart that lifts your tired hands and allows your feeble legs to walk again. Do the same for your brothers and sisters in Christ. As you are able to walk, lift their hands and strengthen their knees as well. 

As you put one strengthened foot in front of the other, walking the path that Jesus Himself has prepared tirelessly and sacrificially, be encouraged. This is not your trail to blaze. That work has been done. At one time, there was brush so thick and overwhelming that only One could cut through it. But now the trail has been blazed. It’s not without it’s steep hills and cavernous valleys, but the views along the way are tremendous. Your final destination? Glory unlike anything you’ve ever seen. 

If you veer off path of this trail, the thorns you find yourself caught in promise to be more painful and damaging than anything on the trail. What’s more, the trail is the only one that will lead you to your destination. 

The other amazing feature of this hike is this: you're following countless people who have walked this trail before, and you’re leaving footprints for countless people who will follow you, all of whom have been instructed to have your back. If you stumble, they don’t throw you off the trail. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they pick you up, dust you off, and offer to walk alongside you until you can stand again. This is not survival of the fittest. This is the perseverance of the saints – and experiencing the reality of it has been one of the greatest joys of my life. 

Hope to see you Sunday, and I’m praying even now, that if your shoulders are slumped, your hands are drooping, and your knees are failing, you are strengthened and encouraged by God Himself and by His people this week. 

Joyfully,
Erika

Hard Things

The beginning of Hebrews 12 is an invitation to hard things. It’s an invitation to discipline. It’s even an invitation to pain - or at least an invitation to understand pain through a different lens.

Before you pack up and go home out of despair, though, hold on a second! Because it’s an invitation to the kind of purposeful pain that leads to growth. It’s an invitation to the kind of throbbing pain our muscles feel on the second day after an intense workout – pain that leads to increased strength and endurance. It’s an invitation to the kind of pain our bodies feel when enduring physical therapy – pain that leads to healing. 

The message of Hebrews 12 is good one. A needed one. A freeing one. Pain is not for naught. When understood in view of the cross, pain leads to strength, endurance, and healing. It doesn’t necessarily make it easier. Sometimes life is just plain hard! But if Hebrews 11 was a heartening and humbling reminder of all those who have gone before us, made mistakes, experienced pain and suffering, and yet trusted in God’s faithfulness, Hebrews 12 is the passing of the baton. Hebrews 12 is the, “Ok, church, what say you? If Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith, who endured more pain and suffering than we can imagine and gave His very life for us, we too can ENDURE. What will your race – your life – look like in light of this? How will you respond to hard things, knowing God Himself has promised to guide us through?” 

Endurance doesn’t happen overnight. It requires effort. It requires pain. It requires perseverance. It requires toughness. It requires discipline. (A note: sometimes "toughness" means just keeping your head above water, or like Moses, allowing others to lift your arms...)

But oh the joy – the glory – of experiencing the victory of enduring! 

I had the gift of watching Daria Helfrich’s brother and friend - and thousands of other runners - compete in the Boston Marathon a few months ago. I’ve never witnessed a more inspiring sporting event. In the pelting, frigid, wind-tossed rain, their months and months of sacrifice and training paid off. In the worst of conditions, they finished and victoriously collected their medals. They endured. And it was beautiful to behold. The exhaustion and exhilaration on their faces, arms raised victoriously in the air, believing that every minute of training was worth it for THIS moment. 

What if we lived our lives on earth fully believing our endurance here and now will result in a moment infinitely better than crossing the finish line at the Boston Marathon? A moment of extravagant joy that never ends? Not because of our hard work, but because of God's infinite grace?

This week, Jon Davis will preach on the next section of Hebrews 12 – and we’ll learn about discipline. Here’s a hint: when a loving Father with purely good and holy intentions disciplines us, it may feel painful, but it leads to peaceful goodness. 

May we see God as the loving Father He truly is this week, and may we see ourselves as beloved sons and daughters of the Most High, embracing hard things and discipline, with our eyes on Jesus, knowing His ultimate goal is not our harm, but our greatest good.

Joyfully,
Erika

The True & Better Moses

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt,for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. – Hebrews 11:23-27

Moses loved God and His people more than the privilege, comfort, and wealth he enjoyed in Egypt. Moses feared the Lord more than he feared Pharaoh. Moses understood that willingly enduring mistreatment would lead to contentment and freedom beyond anything he had ever known – not just for him, but for an entire people – even for you and me thousands of years later. 

Does this pattern sound familiar? 

Willingly laying aside royalty for mistreatment? 

Willingly discarding privilege for pain?

Moses, but a shadow of the Savior to come, appears in Hebrews because of his faith in the eventual coming of a true King superior to Pharaoh. This King, Jesus, didn’t only willingly endure mistreatment to provide rescue; he actually was and is our rescue. “Jesus is the true and better Moses.”

Moses walked in freedom and led others to freedom – both physical freedom and spiritual freedom – because his hope wasn’t in his status, his own abilities, the treasures of Egypt, or the fleeting pleasures of what his Egyptian life entailed. His hope was in God’s promise to Him and those who had come before him. He placed his confidence in this hope. The same things that grieved God’s heart grieved his heart. With this posture, God used him in amazing ways to build His kingdom on earth. (And as a bonus, Moses got to see some incredible miracles of God unfold before his very eyes!)

May we love God and people above privilege, comfort, and wealth.

May we fear the Lord more than we fear man. 

May we be willing to endure mistreatment on this earth for the sake of Jesus. 

May we taste God’s goodness, faithfulness, and love so intensely that the fleeting pleasures of sin pale in comparison.

And may we understand our lives on this planet as a part of a story bigger than our imaginations can fathom, set in a kingdom of which there is no end, serving a King who has defeated death, enabling us to live lives of freedom and contentment, not based on temporary circumstances, but based on the enduring reality of being loved by the King.

See you Sunday!
Erika

I Pity the Fool

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praise to your name, Most High,
to declare your faithful love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
with a ten-stringed hard and the music of a lyre. 

For YOU have made me rejoice, Lord, 
by what you have done;
I will shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
How magnificent are your works, Lord!
How profound your thoughts!

A stupid person does not know,
a fool does not understand this:
though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish,
they will be eternally destroyed. 

But you, Lord, are exalted forever.
For indeed, Lord, your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.

Psalm 92:1-9

One of the truest signs of a heart satisfied by God is a spirit of thankfulness. Discontent reigns for the nonbeliever – and can eat away at the joy of the Christian who has been overtaken by comparison and covetousness. 

How is your heart today? Are you thankful? Or are you perpetually discontent, desiring the lives of friends or strangers above your own? This kind of discontentment makes it really, really hard to be salt and light in a world that so desperately needs preservation and illumination. And perhaps even more devastatingly, it makes it almost impossible to enjoy and love God Himself. 

If you’re in the midst of sadness, Psalm 92 has a word for you: God is faithful. His love is faithful. The wickedness of this world – the darkness we see around us – it is temporary. We talked about this last week in Hebrews 11! Even now, the light is overcoming the darkness. One day He will fully overcome, and all darkness will depart forevermore. One of my dearest friends just suffered a heart wrenching loss, and in sharing the news with me, she said this: “We are so sad, but we are not without hope.” We are not those who have no hope. We can – because of God’s faithfulness – still worship Him in the midst of hardship – even if through tears. He will never leave us, and His love is better than life. Continuing to worship in the midst of hardship isn’t just an arbitrary command; it actually draws us closer to life and joy in the midst of pain.

If you’re in a season of abundance, Psalm 92 has a word for you, too! He is the giver of all good gifts! Have you declared His faithful love in the morning and His faithfulness at night? Have you shouted for joy in awe of His goodness? Have you marveled at His magnificent works? 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be classified as a stupid person or a fool. The psalmist doesn’t mince words here! The fool lives and acts as one who has no hope. The fool lives and acts as one who does not trust that God’s love is faithful to the end. The fool lives and acts as if his or her worth and satisfaction depend upon things that pass away. I pity the fool! 

It seems as though the opposite of the fool is the thankful worshipper. So let’s be thankful worshippers this week and always. We serve a God characterized first by His steadfast love. What an extraordinary truth. 

See you Sunday!
Erika

P.S. Stay tuned for an announcement email tomorrow with details about a bunch of opportunities coming up at The Bridge!

A Better Country

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth...But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. – Hebrews 11:13,16

I'm sitting outside a tiny coffee shop in a sleepy town on a chilly day in northwest Michigan as I write this email to you. Many of you have offered words of encouragement and prayer as I’ve taken a few days to simply be. Thank you! 

Dallas Willard once said, “Solitude well practiced will break the power of busyness, haste, isolation, and loneliness. You will see that the world is not on your shoulders after all. Your will find yourself, and God will find you in new ways. Silence also brings Sabbath to you. It completes solitude, for without it you cannot be alone. Far from being a mere absence, silence allows the reality of God to stand in the midst of your life. God does not ordinarily compete for our attention. In silence we come to attend.” I can say, from my experience even over the last couple of days, that this is true. My heart is full of gratitude for this time with our Creator.

I want to impart one thing that God has made abundantly clear to me in this silence. 

He is faithful, but His faithfulness may seem confusing to us at times. His faithfulness deals in the eternal. All too often we are obsessed with the immediate. When we don’t receive immediate gratification, we become skeptical about His goodness. We doubt His faithfulness. 

Candidly, I never thought I would be 30 and single. I thought God’s faithfulness looked very specific – that by now, I would be a wife and mother, among other things. However, He had other plans, and He has been so good in the midst of those plans. I’ve seen His faithfulness firsthand, though my life has looked different than I expected! I was concerned with the immediate; He is focused on shaping my heart for eternity and drawing me nearer to Him. For some, this means marriage at a young age; for me, it has meant waiting. This process of learning about His love for me hasn’t been easy; it’s been riddled with seasons of loneliness, frustration, doubt, and grief. And yet it has been sweet, too. In the midst of the quiet, in the loneliest times, He is there. He is with me. He was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the desolate wilderness. He was with Sarah in her painful waiting. He is with you. 

Is there a situation in your life is causing you to question God’s faithfulness? A spouse who hasn’t held up to his or her end of the deal? A child who is far from God or far from you? Financial struggle? Betrayal by other Christians? Illness? Loneliness?

If our lives on this earth were the end of our existence, some of these situations would be crushing. We'd run far away from pain and toward what we perceive as pleasure. Even with the presence of God, they still feel overwhelming! 

But Hebrews 11 – and the rest of God’s Word – tell us there is a better country we are to long and hope for. God has prepared an eternal existence for us in which all of our hopes, dreams, and longings are fulfilled – where the pain and struggle of this world is no more. It's not an escape hatch, but it is a destination.

For now – as strangers and exiles doubling as salt and light, who are called to be a preview of the coming attraction of the better country to the watching world – for now, we live in the “already” and “not fully.”

We live in the “already” of Jesus’s offer of life for now and forevermore, but we live in the “not fully” of this present age. We live in a time when we continue to look forward to the city God has prepared for those He loves and for those who love Him.

Until that day, may we rejoice in hope, be patient in struggle, and be constant in prayer, all while experiencing the fullness of joy that exists in His presence even now. He makes life worth living, friends.

With great love and joy,
Erika

Faith, Hope, and Love

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 10:39-11:1)

Every human being lives by faith. Each of us believes in something, or someone.

Faith is what we anchor our hope to. What we anchor our lives to.

Sometimes we place our faith in family members, friends, political candidates, government policies, or wealth. We place our faith in our jobs, comfort, security, or education. We place our faith in our own abilities. Sometimes we even place our faith in our own spirituality or religiosity. We place our faith in things or people (even ourselves) who ultimately will fail. They will always come up short. We know this, don’t we? We’ve experienced the letdown that comes with their failure.

Our world doesn’t need anymore of this kind of faith – watered down, subjective, hyper-individualized, misplaced trust in failing things. It has no staying power! Our world desperately, urgently needs genuine, biblical faith. 

Hebrews 11 tells us what true biblical faith has been, is, and always will be. Biblical faith is assurance of things hoped for. It is conviction – undying belief – in what is real. This chapter gives us name after name after name of those who had faith that endured suffering, which sustained them through feast and famine, and led to lasting life. The strength of their faith wasn't what sustained them; rather the object of their faith sustained them.

James 1:3 says that the testing of true faith produces perseverance. This perseverance – this steadfastness – makes us perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

Does the object of your faith make you perfect and complete, lacking in nothing? 

According to Romans 5:1-5, faith produces peace, joy in suffering, endurance, character, and ultimately hope. This hope dismisses shame and replaces shame with love poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Does the object of your faith produce peace, give lasting hope, and fill you with love for those around you?

Galatians 5:6 says that God values faith working through love. This is what He cherishes. 

Genuine faith is a loving, working, faith. If we have not love, we have nothing. 

1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Do you struggle to love? Examine what you’ve anchored your hope to. 

Do you lack hope? Examine the object of your faith.

Have you placed your faith in that which will not save? Believe in Jesus, and Him alone, and be saved. Trust in the only Messiah who brings life. 

This is the only faith that will change the world. Church, we need more of this.

May we be those who unapologetically believe in and cling to the only One who brings life, hope and love, and may this faith radically transform our lives and our world. 

With great joy and love,
Erika

Remember when...

"Remember when..."

How often do we use this phrase when we’re reminiscing about the good old days? Usually when we refer to the “good old days,” we’re talking about a time we perceive as simpler - or as easier, perhaps. 

The author of Hebrews does this in chapter 10. But the “good old days” he’s calling to mind are a little different than our understanding of the “good old days.” He says, “Recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.”

In other words, “Remember those days when life was terribly hard but you clung to your belief? When you sacrificed because of your faith but had compassion on those around you? When you and your friends were persecuted but joyfully accepted it? When you struggled but had confidence it was purposeful? When you knew that it was all worth it because of Jesus?”

Remember when you believed He was enough so deeply that everything else paled in comparison? Remember all the times He’s been faithful to you?

Remember when Christ was your first love?

Think about that time. Dwell on Him. Cling to Him.

That’s not it, though. The author of Hebrews isn’t finished.

“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised...we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

evelation 3:3 says, "Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent..."

Philippians 3:16 says, "Only let us hold true to what we have attained." 

Hang on, friends. Your faith is battle-tested. Don’t shrink back. Let's not throw away our confidence in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. No matter what life throws at us, may we press on. May we return to our first love. May we allow Him to preserve our souls. For we have a better possession, and an enduring one. Let's keep our eyes on the prize.

With love and great joy,
Erika

A Crisis of Hope

Hope is a powerful thing. It sustains us when we can’t see the way out of tragedy. It gives us a reason to get out of bed when the pain of life becomes too much to bear. It invites us to search for the light when all we see is darkness. It provides assurance in uncertainty. It reminds us, in the face of death, that life is worth living.

Hope isn’t some abstract concept void of reality. Hope is real. Hope has a name.

Hebrews 10:22-23 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

We hope because our God is faithful. We hope because He never fails, even we don’t sense His presence. We hope because Jesus, the One who endured suffering and overcame death, made a way for fullness of life. We hold fast to this hope because it gives us a reason for being – a reason for living.

But we can’t do it alone. We were never meant to. Life is too hard to endure in isolation.

Right after the author of Hebrews encourages us to hold fast to our hope, we read this: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together…but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Life in Christ is impossible apart from each other. We need each other, friends. We need actualface time – not screen Facetime. We need to love boldly and generously – and we need to be loved boldly and generously. We need to challenge each other toward Christlikeness – and we need to be challenged toward Christlikeness. We need to encourage – and we need to be encouraged.

This week, two beautiful, vibrant people who had risen to the heights of success in their fields – Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain – lost hope. A lump swelled in my throat when I read the news of their deaths. Life seemed too great a burden to bear. Despair reigned. As their families and friends try to put the pieces back together, there’s agonizing confusion about how this happened. It’s an all too familiar tragedy.

Over the last two decades, suicide rates have increased by more than 25% in the United States. Rates of depression and anxiety are at an all time high – especially among teenagers and young adults. People are looking for answers – for meaning. We are in a crisis. Healing looks different for each person: some need a shoulder to cry on, some need medication, some need a counselor. One thing is certain and universal, though: we all need hope, and we need each other.

Hebrews 10 offers us a needed reminder in light of this crisis of hope: in the midst of the pain is a God who invites us to draw near because He loves us more than we can imagine. As we draw near to Him, we also draw near to each other, refusing to allow anyone to live in isolation – doggedly loving those around us in the way He loves us, holding fast to this hope we have in Jesus.

Hold fast to hope, beloved. He is faithful.

With love,
Erika

Our Pleasure & Our Duty

Our pleasure and our duty,
Though opposite before,
Since we have seen His beauty
Are joined to part no more.

To see the law by Christ fulfilled
And hear His pardoning voice,
Transforms a slave into a child,
And duty into choice.

These words were written by John Newton, the once wretched slave ship captain turned abolitionist Jesus-loving minister. Something extraordinary happens when we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead. Our unbelieving hearts and self-worshiping minds, which were once hostile to God and viewed His law as enslaving and oppressive, are transformed. We find freedom, beauty, and pleasure in God Himself and in His Word. Hebrews 10:16 says that He puts His laws on our hearts and writes them on our minds. We become like children, desiring to respond to the perfect sacrifice of Jesus by worshiping our God in spirit and in truth and by following His example, which He empowers us to do through His Spirit.

My question for you this week is this – and it’s one I have to ask myself more than often than I’d care to admit – do you know the freedom, beauty, and pleasure of childlike faith?

I overthink things a lot. I have a tendency to associate adulthood with seriousness and independence – neither of which is biblical. I can be clinical about the way I study Scripture and view God as distant, rather than near. I can worry so much about obeying the rules that I forget to love and enjoy the One who fulfilled the law, who told his disciples this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatand first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

This is the law He has put on our hearts and written on our minds! Christ is this law – love itself - fulfilled!

Having childlike faith doesn’t mean checking our brains at the door. The word disciple means “one who engages in learning through instruction from another.” It means understanding our position as children of God – relishing it, resting in it, and loving Him – with everything we have. It means knowing Him as our Father who is always with us and trusting Him in the way a child trusts her daddy when he hoists her up on his shoulders for a better view.

Hebrews 10:1-18, our text for this week, is about Jesus’ sacrifice once and for all. He’s done it. It is finished. So let’s stop striving and start trusting as children who know their Father. "Our pleasure and our duty, though opposite before, since we have seen His beauty, are joined to part no more." If an angry slave ship captain can become like a child, so can you, and so can the person you’ve been praying for. Jesus transforms hearts and minds. No one is beyond His reach.

See you tomorrow!
Erika

How's Your Joy?

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.”
 - Psalm 51:12

This morning, my mom sent me a devotion on 1 Thessalonians 5:16. The phrase, “Always be joyful,” resounded in my heart and mind early in the day. As the day wore on, though, I had to pray Psalm 51:12 more than once. The weight of suffering in the lives of friends and family – the weight of the pain in this world…I began to attempt to carry this weight on my own, and guess what began to wane? Joy.

“Father, restore to me the joy of your salvation. Refresh my joy. Realign my devotion. Deepen my faith in your goodness.”

How’s your joy? Does it need a refreshing? A renewal? Are you tired? Are you weary? Are you finding it hard to remain joyful in the midst of the challenges of life?

Over and over again, we read words like these in Scripture: “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say, ‘Rejoice!’” God is serious about joy – and not just a forced smile and faux happiness, but rather “subterranean joy that is simultaneous with, and deeper than, the greatest of our sorrows.” (D. Mathis)

You might be wondering…what in the world does this have to do with Hebrews 9? What does joy have to do with sacrifices and blood and covenants?

It has everything to do with it. It’s the how and the why of the joy He commands – and invites – us to partake in.

When we read Hebrews 9, we are reminded of the lengths to which God has gone to save our souls. We are reminded of the totality of our sin and the completeness of His sacrifice. We are reminded that we live in a privileged time in the history of the world, because we get to know and follow a Savior who lived, died, and rose again, rather than simply await His arrival on the scene.

When it feels like life is overwhelming – when you begin to try to carry the burdens you were never supposed to carry – remember this: God is unreservedly committed to your endless joy in Him. Remember the Jesus of Hebrews 9 who loves you and shed His blood for you. In this world, you will weep at times. You will struggle at times. You will have trouble. But take heart! He has overcome the world.

As we head into the weekend, may we be so in awe of His sustaining love, burden-bearing sacrifice, and redemptive grace that our hearts are filled with His joy. In response to Hebrews 9, may we pray – wholeheartedly – “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

See you Sunday!
Erika

The Better Sacrifice

“…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
- Hebrews 9:14

We’re reaching a critical point in Hebrews. The author has made the case that Jesus is better than the angels, the prophets, Moses, Joshua, and the Levitical priesthood. He has tried to explain to his Jewish Christian audience that Jesus is the fulfillment of everything they had been longing for.

Are you convinced that Jesus is better? Would you be convinced if you were in their shoes?

Is this Gospel – this Jesus – worth following even in the face of persecution? In the face of the threat of death?

If you’re not there yet – if you remained unconvinced – keep listening. God has more to say through the author of Hebrews.

After reading in the previous chapter about the beautiful new covenant Jesus has ushered in, in this week's passage, we read about Jesus as the better sacrifice through descriptions taken straight from the Old Testament.  Although you and I don’t talk about tabernacles and sacrifices often, the Jewish Christians did. They understood this language intimately. What they didn’t understand, though, was how these images had been filled to overflowing in Jesus.

The symbols in the tabernacle and temple, the sacrifices offered, the laws followed – these could not cleanse them internally. They couldn’t save them! All of these things were pointing to the only One who would: Jesus Christ.

These rituals had dealt with the externals, but Jesus came to cleanse our conscience from the inside out and to save us fully – once and for all.

Every human is born with a conscience. But for the person without Christ, the conscience is constantly condemning. There is nowhere for them to take their failures, and we all have failures. What do you do with your guilt without belief in Jesus? You wear it like a robe. It accumulates, and you limp under its weight, with nowhere to lay such a massive burden down. 

But here’s the thing: when we become believers, our conscience is redeemed and the Holy Spirit points us toward the path of life, which is serving God forever. We are brought into the marvelous light of His kingdom, because He bore the burden of our guilt. He ransomed us out of slavery to our sin and shame. He voluntarily put on the blood-stained robe that was too heavy for us. He secured our eternal innocence by shedding his blood, making the sacrifice of goats and lambs unnecessary forevermore. On one day, at one point in history, Jesus willingly laid down his life and shed his blood once and for all.

For the Jewish Christian, this was extraordinary. Is it to us? When we sing, “Lord I Need You,” do we understand the depth of our need, the breadth of the sacrifice and the overwhelming nature of the love it took to make such a sacrifice?

Let’s be blown away this week by the goodness of Jesus. Let’s not carry the burdens He has offered to take for us, because He doesn’t just save us from something. He saves us for something. He purifies our conscience "from dead works to serve the Living God." When we attempt to put our robes of guilt back on, we are forfeiting freedom He means for us to enjoy and works He has prepared for us to do!

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” – Galatians 5:1

Let's be convinced Jesus is better.

See you Sunday!
Erika

Draw Near.

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. – Hebrews 7:25

Draw near.

Come close.

Move toward.

Apart from Jesus, we’re unable to draw near to God. It’s impossible. He is too holy, and we are too human. But Jesus, both holy and human, who sacrificed His own body on our behalf, as our High Priest, continuously prays on our behalf even as you read these words. He is able to save to the uttermost. Wholly. Fully. Completely.

The invitation embedded in this salvation is simple and clear. Draw near. God desires our communion with Him. He desires our attention and our presence. He knows that we flounder when we move away from Him. We were hardwired at creation to need Him, and when we run away from Him, it’s impossible to fill that need with anything or anyone else. I know. I’ve tried!

In Genesis, shortly after Adam and Eve disobey, God asks them a question: “Where are you?”

Even as believers, when we sin, our temptation might be to move away from Him, rather than drawing near. In response, God asks us, “Where are you?”

In James 4:8, we read, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Draw near. No matter where you are, let your response to the question, “Where are you?” be one of drawing near and seeking Him. No sin is too great; no shame too burdensome. Because of Jesus, our High Priest, you will find Him and He will draw near. 

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite poems from Jill Briscoe. See you this Sunday, when we’ll all draw near together!

Joyfully,
Erika

I ran to the deep place where nobody goes and found Him waiting there.

“Where have you been?” He asked me.

“I’ve been in the shallow places where everyone lives,” I replied. I knew He knew. He just wanted me to admit I’d been too busy being busy.

“I’m running out…” I began.

“Of course,” He said. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

He sat down on the steps of my soul in the Deep Place where nobody goes and smiled at me. Angels sang; a shaft of light chased away the shadows and brightened my daily day. I smiled back.         

   “I’m such a fool…”

“Shhh,” He said, putting His finger on my lips. He touched my hurried heart. Startled, it took a deep breath and skidded to a near stop. My spirit nestled in to nearness in the Deep Place where nobody goes. 

My soul spoke, then: He answered with words beyond music. Where on earth had I been while heaven waited? Such grace!