Bridges to the Future
“I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves” (Luke 10:3). This is how Jesus sends out his disciples to share the faith. Anyone want to sign up? Then Jesus goes on, “Travel light. Comb and toothbrush, maybe, but no extra luggage.” With a recruitment speech like that, who would ever put Jesus in charge of volunteers?
If you want someone to do something in the church, you should tell them it will be easy, comfortable, and not add stress to their life. If you want someone to volunteer, you sell them what is in it. You don’t say, “Whoever wants to be my disciples must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Volunteers are great. But Jesus doesn’t recruit volunteers. Jesus calls followers. Volunteers are good at keeping the status quo. However, followers can move in a direction where life change can happen. Volunteers can keep an institution running. However, followers will put us in a position to receive a great harvest.
Jesus longs to lead us on amazing adventures of building bridges in uncharted territories of faith and frontier places where we have never been. But it will take followers. If following Jesus has only led you to a seat in the church, then you stopped following Jesus somewhere along the way. Imagine a church where you get equipped to be Jesus’ hands and feet in the world. Imagine a church where bridges are crossed to reach the unchurched. Imagine a church not as a staging area for those waiting to die and go to heaven but instead as a training ground to develop the necessary tools to live out our faith in the world.
Imagine a church where, when it comes to God’s stories, we will do as the Psalmist says: “We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might and the wonders that he has done” (Psalm 78:4).
Psalm 78 is the second longest of the Psalms. It tells of God’s passion for humans, even when those humans turn away. It is the sad story of human determination to ignore God’s good gifts and forget God’s mercy. As verse eleven says, “They forgot what he had done and the miracles that he had shown them” (Psalm 78:4).
Therefore, it tells of God’s judgment. I encourage you to read the entire psalm. I don’t want to take the sting out of the judgment because sometimes the judgment can bring us back to the good news of the story.
Rev. Tom Long, retired professor of homiletics at Candler School of Theology, tells of a time when he was walking across the campus one day, and one of his students hailed him and said, “Dr. Long, could I speak to you for a minute?” He said, “I’m going to get a cup of coffee. Do you want to go?” She did, and as they were sharing coffee, she told him what was on her mind. She said she was serving as a field education student in a local church and that her supervising pastor required her to preach next Sunday. Tom said, “Good.”
She said, “No. It is not good. He’s making me preach on the lectionary.” He said, “Good.” She said, “It’s not good. Have you read the lectionary text for the week? They’re all about judgment. I don’t believe in judgment. I believe in grace. I believe in mercy. I believe…it took me three years of therapy to get over judgment. I am not going to preach judgment.”
Rev. Long said they talked about it for a while and then moved on to other things, and she started to tell about her family life. She and her husband have several children, only the youngest of whom—a teenage boy—was at home, and he was giving them hell. He was into drugs, maybe dealing them, in trouble with the police. She said, “Like last night, we were sitting at supper. We had no idea where our son was. He came in the back door in the middle of supper, and I asked if he would like some supper. He practically spit at us. He just stomped down the hall to his room and slammed the door.” She said, “My husband got up and turned on ESPN. That is always his response to this.” She said, “I don’t know, something got into me.” She said, “I’m afraid of my son physically. Physically afraid of my son. But something got into me, and I got up from the table, went down to his room, pushed open the door, and said to him, ‘You listen to me. I love you so much I am not going to put up with this.’”
Rev. Long said, “Caroline, I think you just preached a sermon on judgment.” God loves us so much God will not put up with the foolishness in our lives. This is the message of Psalm 78, and it is part of the grand narrative of God’s redemptive presence in our lives, which we are to pass down to the next generation.
According to recent studies, 17% of high school students have contemplated suicide. In a recent issue of First Things, Aaron Kgeriaty says that many factors should be considered for this epidemic. However, one thing he argues for the rise in hopelessness is the “loss of narratives for their lives” regarding teens knowing who they are.
Psalm 78 is an ancient call for us to be committed to passing down the narrative that gives meaning and hope to people in a fragmented and God-forgetting world. For the sake of our children, we must keep telling the story of Jesus and his love.
In the forward of the book, which tells of the stained glass windows at Gainesville First United Methodist Church, Marsha Hopkins explains the history of the stained glass windows. She tells the story of the Reverend Jim Thompson. As a youth counselor, she remembers Rev. Jim bringing the youth group to the church when it was only a concrete slab. This would have been before 1980. He told the students where the pulpit would be, the choir loft, and the altar rail. After sharing the vision of the new church, Rev. Jim Thompson gathered the students and the volunteers in a circle on the concrete slab, and they all began to sing, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing. That’s how it is with God’s love once you’ve experienced it; you spread his love to everyone; you want to pass it on.”
Before there was a sanctuary, children and youth space, and fellowship space, Rev. Jim Thompson and the leaders had a vision of what could be. I am asking you to re-catch the spark of that vision.
We live in a world where many young people are lost and hopeless and need a narrative that can restore their faith, identity, and purpose. Psalm 78 calls us to ensure they know the story of God’s love—a love that will not give up on us and corrects, redeems, and restores. We must pass down that story through how we live, serve, and give.
But it won’t happen if the status quo is maintained. It requires bold giving—giving that stretches us and challenges us to trust God more deeply. Stewardship is not just about keeping the lights on; it is about investing in the future of faith for those who will follow. Imagine what could happen if we gave not based on what is comfortable but on what is necessary to equip the next generation. Imagine what could happen if our gifts provided the tools for others to encounter Jesus in powerful ways.
So today, I challenge you to give more than you thought possible. Give because the story of Jesus and His love is too precious not to share. Give because a generation is waiting to hear that God has not forgotten them, that they are loved beyond measure, and that they have a place in His kingdom.
Get ready. We will build bridges where none exist because of your generosity and willingness to be a follower rather than just a volunteer.
Following Jesus isn’t safe, easy, or predictable. It’s a call to surrender, to trust beyond what we can see, and to step into the unknown, knowing that Jesus goes with us. It’s not a journey of convenience—it’s a journey of faith, and every step draws us closer to God’s heart.
Faith isn’t about knowing how the story ends—it’s about trusting the One who writes it. It’s about believing that Jesus will meet you there when you step out. It’s about going beyond comfort and into the deep places where real transformation happens.
So here’s the challenge: What step is Jesus asking you to take? Take that step of faith—not because it’s easy, but because Jesus is trustworthy. Step into the adventure of following Him more deeply. Let go of what holds you back and open your heart to what God wants to do through you.
If you’ve ever wondered how you can make a lasting impact, this is the moment. It’s time to offer your time, your talents, and yes—your financial resources—not just to sustain but to plant seeds for a greater harvest. Give generously, knowing that every act of faith builds bridges for the next generation to encounter the love of Jesus.
This is not about waiting for someone else to do it. It’s about each of us taking ownership of God’s mission in the world. If not us, who? If not now, when?
Today, Jesus sends us out with purpose. Will you follow Him? And know that it only takes a spark to get a fire going, and you may be the spark we have been waiting on.
Pastor Jamey
(Click Here to Watch the Worship Service from Gainesville First United Methodist Church, Gainesville, Georgia)
Questions to Consider:
- How can we cultivate practices that help us remember and pass on God’s deeds to future generations?
- What barriers prevent us from living sacrificially, and how can we overcome them?
- What is one specific step of faith God may be calling you to take? How can the community support one another in these steps of faith?
Prayer:
Gracious Father, make us faithful stewards of the story You entrusted to us. As the Psalmist says, may we not hide Your deeds from the next generation but declare Your wonders boldly. Stir in us a passion to give sacrificially, to love extravagantly, and to live courageously, knowing that Your harvest is waiting. Amen.
Benediction:
May your life be the spark that sets the world ablaze with His love. Amen.
Jamey Prickett 