Chuck Bridges Blog

This is truly an exciting time for me personally because of the clarity God has given me concerning the future direction for the ministries at Washington Avenue Church. Many of the things that God began showing me over 8 years ago are now becoming a reality. For so long I struggled to find clarity for the vision God was giving me. Now, I see clearly what must become a reality for every New Testament Church.

Not only do I see clearly what God is leading me to do but He is also affirming this new direction. Over the past 5 weeks, I have witnessed the salvations of 86 people!! 37 people have accepted Christ through our Washington Avenue ministries in the past 5 weeks and 49 people accepted Christ two weeks ago in Romania! There is no better way to experience God’s Approval Rating than this! Now we not only pray and hope for people to be saved, we EXPECT IT!

Last Sunday was our first service to “Unveil the Vision” that God has given us. Our entire leadership team is to be commended for the job they did getting us ready for this strategic day. The props in the worship center, the videos, the lighting, sound, new worship guides, etc. were all right on! I couldn’t have asked for anything to be any better. God has already placed people in this fellowship who have the gifts to do some incredible things — and the passion to use these gifts for God!

In all of our planning one objective has remained central — SIMPLIFY! In our culture people are not searching for more things to do. Actually, studies have verified that churches that offer less on the weekly schedule are growing while more traditional churches with complex program structures are declining. The conclusion to this trend is clear — reaching people for Jesus Christ is more important than maintaining a ‘church-based’ structure. In order to move in a more ‘Simplified’ approach, some of the long-standing practices of the church will be changed.

I can assure you that we will always preach the clear Truths of God’s Word; we will always share the message of salvation through Christ and give people an opportunity to receive what Jesus offers; we will always offer opportunities for believers to GROW to maturity in their relationship with Christ (understanding that true maturity means every disciple will share Christ with their friends, family, neighbors, etc.). Most of all, I can assure you that we will always be obedient to the leadership of God, the Holy Spirit!! As He leads, we will follow!

This Sunday, December 2, 2007, we will continue “Unveiling the Vision” in our 10:30AM worship service. If you are interested in “What’s Next” at Washington Avenue, come this Sunday and pray for God to show you what He is doing. If you can’t be here, contact the church office and order a CD or DVD of the service. We will have all 4 services in our “Unveiling” series available on CD or DVD after December 16.

I know there are thousands of people who need to find Jesus Christ as their Savior. Churches like Newspring in Anderson, Elevate in Charlotte, and many others are proving that the harvest is plentiful and it is ready! Newspring Church is planning to open a satellite church in Greenville. This excites me because I believe God is going to send a wave of His Spirit that will result in thousands of people being reached with the Gospel by any church that is ready to do “Whatever it Takes” to reach them. Be sure of this one thing: I want to be in on this great Harvest! I thank God for the work He is doing through our brothers and sisters at Newspring and pray for the opportunity to experience the same things here on this campus and wherever else God leads us!

What a Great Day this is to be SAVED and SERVING our MASTER, JESUS CHRIST!