Bridgewater Conklin’s Podcast

James - BeReal: Faith in Suffering

In a world of copies and counterfeits, it can be difficult to know that you have something authentic, something real. And when it comes to issues of faith, it can be even more confusing. But James offers us help as he shows us what real, authentic faith looks like in the context of everyday life.

Everybody experiences times of difficulty and suffering. But for followers of Jesus, these trials not only expose the condition of our faith in Jesus, but also serve to strengthen and develop it. We’ll see how our responses to suffering shed light on whether our faith is real or counterfeit.

James 1:1-8

Speaker: Tim Sullivan

 

02-13-2023 - 17:21 Re-upload with Just Sermon

2022 Recap

Let's take a look back at what God has done in 2022, and look ahead to what we hope He does in 2023!

Philippians 1:3-6

Speaker: Tim Sullivan

 

Reset: Keeping the Change

Anything in life that is worth changing, is worth doing the work to keep that change. We can’t clean our house once and expect it to stay clean forever, in the same way we can’t expect one short season of trying to change make us different forever. Real, lasting change is a result of choosing to pursue and keep that change day in and day out.

Lamentations 3:19-25

Speaker: Joel Garrison

Reset: The Most Important Change

There are so many things our lives can be about. So many really good things can become the center of our priorities, even. In Christianity it can feel a little overwhelming when you consider all the “good things” we could and maybe feel like we should be doing. But what if it was really much simpler than that? What if the entirety of everything we ought to aim for in life could be boiled down into two things?

Matthew 28

Speaker: Tim Sullivan

Reset: A Pathway to Change

God sent Jesus to the cross to make change possible, and then He sent His Spirit to live in us to give us the power to actually change. But He wasn’t done yet! God also gave us His Word to lay out a pathway to leave behind the old and move our lives towards the new life offered in Christ.

Psalm 119

Speaker: Tim Sullivan 

Reset: The Power to Change

Even if we were successful in keeping our resolution for the year, and we were successful in changing behaviors, the heart often remains the same. But what if I were to tell you that God not only has the desire for us to change, but gives us the power to change?

Galatians 5:16-25

Speaker: Tim Sullivan

Reset: Are You Ready for a Change?

As you consider last year, are there things you would have wanted to be different? Are there things that were great that you want to keep doing? Are there things that maybe aren’t so great that you want to stop doing? The New Year provides a great opportunity to hit the reset button and make some changes—to take one step closer to the life we want. Are you ready?

We are going to be looking at 4 key factors in change. Where do we get the power to change, what change should we be aiming towards, what is the pathway to that change, and finally, how do we keep the change we worked so hard to get?

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Speaker: Matt Pousseur 

Hopes and Fears: The Opening Act (Christmas Eve)

Christmas is the biggest cultural celebration that we have and yet, unless several other things happened, we wouldn't even know about it or celebrate it today. What if the point wasn't Christmas—what if the point was something else entirely? Something that could give every single one of us hope for our future?

 

Matthew 1:18-21

 

Speaker: Tim Sullivan

Hopes and Fears: Hope Changes Everything

There are fears all around us in our society today. Political, economic, relational and family fears surround us. What do we do? When Jesus arrived on the scene 2000 years ago, the world was likely even worse than it is today, and yet a small group of people started to have hope. Why?

 

Luke 2:1-11

 

Speaker: Joel Garrison

Hopes and Fears: When Your Past Haunts You

When Jesus showed up on the scene it was without human fanfare. In fact, one could argue that His birth was never truly meant to be celebrated. Yet 2,000 years later we celebrate it globally. Why? Could it be that His birth was the beginning of something bigger than Christmas? Could it be that through His birth God was addressing our greatest hopes and fears?

The genealogy of Jesus is filled with some troublesome characters—many of whom we wouldn't expect to be a part of the family tree of the Son Of God. Even more surprising than that is the fact that women are mentioned in the genealogy as well—simply because that wasn't done in ancient times. Why are they there? Could it be that God wanted us to know that regardless of our past there is hope now that Jesus is on the scene?

Matthew 1:1-16

Speaker: Tim Sullivan