The Bridge RSM

One simple line in the Lord's Prayer stoked extra exposition from Jesus as He taught His disciples to pray. "Give us this day our daily bread" contains three key directives that will help us see God as the pinnacle of our source, schedule, and supply. What does it mean to trust Him daily with your needs? Do you trust Him or do you order your life around other sources? He is inviting us into deeper trust to know Him as Father, align our hearts with His, and come daily before Him for all of our needs.

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them to pray for God's will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. He didn't teach them to simply ask for the desires of their hearts or that God would do their bidding. He taught to pray for God's will. In prayer, we come to a place of seeking alignment with the Father. We invite Him to shape our hearts, days, and influence to bring His Kingdom to shape our present reality; not the other way around. When we do this, He will do greater things than we could have possibly imagined as He moves history toward the renewal of all things.

Would you describe yourself as "knowing God"? Maybe you've known Him for a long time. Maybe you're just getting acquainted. Maybe you're simply interested in knowing Him. Wherever you're at, we are invited deeper into a relationship with the One who's positioned us as "Our Father". He desires intimacy and familiarity. And yet there is a beautiful tension in Scripture. He's also meant to be revered above any other. He is, after all, God Almighty. As we begin a series on The Lord's Prayer found in Matthew 6, we wrestle out the tension in the first two lines given by Jesus: "Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name." There's a gift in the exploration of who God is and how He relates to us as His creatures. Will you step in and embrace learning to know Him more?

Have you ever felt intimidated by prayer? Ever wondered where to begin? You're not alone! You're not alone in your experience or in your practice. We've all felt that way. We've all had to begin to learn to come to God in prayer. And He even offers His own help! We have a teacher in Jesus and a helper in the Holy Spirit to help us train in coming to the Father in prayer.

Have you ever felt unworthy to come to God in prayer? Maybe the picture of Father God doesn't evoke a positive image. Maybe you just recognize the sin in your life. Maybe you're too busy striving for righteousness that you don't feel like you've done enough yet. Wherever you find yourself, we have a God that reaches across the divide and pulls us in. He always goes first to declare that we are His, He loves and accepts us, that we have access to Him, and that He excitedly awaits our coming to Him in prayer. Will you come to Him today? He's longing for you.

Have you ever felt silly talking to someone you can't see? prayer can sometimes feel awkward, especially because God doesn't often speak audibly in the way we're used to. As we learn to recognize His voice, this gets easier, but it takes time. We learn to distinguish His voice uniquely through time spent with Him in prayer, worship, and Scripture and in community. In the in-between space of this learning though can be awkwardness. Be encouraged by the community of faith! As we come before Him in earnestness He will respond. He desires intimate relationship with His creation and with you personally.

In 2026, we want to be a church that gets more engaged with prayer. But like anything, we won't just start praying at length because we resolved to do so. We need training. And that begins with an honest assessment of what our challenges are to a prayer-filled life. Pastor Ryan begins our year in earnest with a series reflecting on What Makes Prayer So Difficult. The starting place? Apathy. It's easy to write prayer off when we're not engaged with it, but beautifully, God has offered His people the dignity of participation. We get to partner with the God of the universe, growing in relationship and bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to bear on the earth through our prayers. It all begins with a single step towards God in prayer. Will you take a step today? What will it be?

Whenever we talk about fasting, we usually ask the question of what we're choosing to go without. Whether it's food or something else, we fixate on the thing we are setting aside. But the whole purpose of setting one thing aside is to take another thing on. We fast from, in order to fast for something greater! Fasting is a tool for us to tend the mess in our hearts and reorder and reorient to the person and way of Jesus. We create space in our hearts, bodies, calendars, and minds to train our attention on the true source and Bread of Life.

What do you live by? Everyone has something they trust in. A source of truth that guides their mental maps of the world they're navigating. For Jesus, that foundation was the Hebrew Scriptures. For His followers, the same holds true, along with writings from His followers in the immediate aftermath of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. We learn to live a life in proximity to God and guided by His Spirit as we engage Him through the Bible and in community. There are a lot of things we can live by, but only one source of life and truth.

God does not pursue you for your treasure, He pursues you for your heart. His love draws back those who don't know Him, those who have wandered away from His love, and those who have become stagnant and complacent. As we start to conclude this Advent season, Pastor Ryan speaks to us from Matthew 2 about how God's love pursues and humbles our hearts, and how He's given us His all-sufficient love in the form of Jesus, born to us as a baby on Christmas. What can you give more than your heart?

Would you characterize yourself as joyful? What about when things go wrong? Biblical joy is enduring and goes beyond circumstances to become who we are deep down. It can overcome fear to help us think clearly in difficult situations. Biblical, divine joy comes from proximity to God in prayer and worship and it's a fruit of our being recreated into the character of Jesus, full of joy.

As we continue the Advent season this year we look to the Prince of Peace, as the One who provides for us a Peace that is both permanent and unwavering. Peace is not the absence of conflict and chaos, but is rather the presence of the fullness of God. Sometimes it's rewarding to chase after the peace that God gives; to sit back and ask ourselves "Which of these things truly gives me God's perfect peace?" God provides for us a peace that is neither circumstantial or situational. Which peace are you seeking this Christmas season?

As we begin the Advent season this year we look a the story of Simeon, recorded by Luke in his gospel. Simeon's is a story of Hope, at length deferred, but finally fulfilled in the coming of Jesus. Simeon heard from the Lord and had hope in Him. He had a trust in things yet unseen. What does it look like for us to step into Simeon's sandals? What can we learn when we come & see the Hope of Humanity, God With Us in the person of Jesus and begin to trust in Him?

Do you have a vision of Heaven? Pastor Ryan concludes our series through the Epic Story of Scripture with just that. We look at the end of Revelation as John paints for us a picture of what eternity in the presence of God will be like! We will have God with us forever, no more pain or sorrow, and a life where all things are new... always. Hallelujah!

What will it be like after Jesus comes back? Is it a time to be fearful of or a time to look forward to with hopeful anticipation? The answer to that depends on you. Do you want to be ruled by King Jesus? That is the reality and the question set before us as Pastor Ryan draws our year-long journey through the Bible near its conclusion with a look at Revelation 20 and the reign of King Jesus in this penultimate teaching from the Epic Story.

There is one attribute of God's that gets repeated three times when it's used. That is that God is holy, holy, holy. He is utterly other and worthy of true awe and reverence. Pastor Mike returns to set before us what it means to live in the fear of the Lord and pursue the Kingdom of Heaven first.

Do you know the end of the Epic Story? It's pretty simple: Jesus wins! The power of Satan holds sway in many venues in the world, giving rise to the influence of the Biblical concept of Babylon all around us. Followers of Jesus can, however, have hope. In the end the Lamb of God, the Savior of the World, Jesus the Anointed One, The very God of Creation Incarnate will return in glorious splendor to vanquish Satan and establish His Kingdom of Truth and Justice forever!

Who is it too hard for you to share the love of Jesus with? Who do you think you can't be in fellowship with? Who can you not reach with the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven? People who speak differently? Dress differently? Vote differently? Believe differently? Does being a Christian mean to you that someone think, vote, and believe all the same things as you? Acts 10 paints a picture for us of God blowing the doors off the barriers we create for where the gospel can go and who can be invited in. At the very beginning of the Jewish religious movement that would become Christianity, followers of Jesus were expecting converts to become Jewish first and foremost, and then to join their specific sect that followed Jesus as Messiah. God had other plans! His plans were to bless the nations across ethnic and cultural bounds and create a new citizenry of Heaven. So maybe a better question is: "Who can you reach newly today with the good news that Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death and sits glorious upon the throne?"!

What might the impact be if people knew the Church as simply "the place where God is"? What curiosity and hunger might it stir up? What might it change about what we expect to see when we gather? The manifest presence of God is available to us whenever we gather and He wants to change things in and among us! His presence brings healing, reordered priorities, and makes us an irresistible community that reflects His glory to a world in need of fellowship with the Father.

Have you ever felt like an ill-equipped representative of Jesus? Jesus said that we would have troubles in life, but to take heart because He had overcome the world and He would send a Helper. That Helper came in the pouring out of God's Holy Spirit, initially at the Pentecost feast in Jerusalem following Jesus death, resurrection, and ascension. That same Spirit is available to followers of Jesus today to empower us to carry on the ministry of Jesus and reveal His love and character to a lost and dying world!

What does the resurrection of Jesus reveal about God and what does it mean for you? The reality is that, despite the pain and heartache of the world, Jesus is already victorious over the powers of sin and darkness that seem to hold sway over the present. He has achieved victory over death, which means he has achieved victory over sin itself. And the best part is, that victory is available to you today. You are not only the beneficiary of his righteousness being imparted on you because of His victory, but He welcomes you to walk in the same victory that He has. He invites us to participate in the divine nature and live in glimpses of Kingdom life on Earth as it is in Heaven.

What kind of person would forgive while being insulted? What kind of person would forgive while being literally nailed up on a cross? What kind of person would have compassion for the very people murdering them? God would. The beauty of the cross is that God, while we were stuck in our own brokenness and sinfulness, paid the debt that had separated us from Him and drew us into Himself through His radical forgiveness and generosity. Pastor Ryan begins Volume 4 of our year-long series in the Epic Story of Scripture, titled Glory as we look at Jesus exaltation on the cross and the radical grace that is the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Do you ever feel like you need help for this life? Like you don't know the words to say or how to act when in difficult situations? Like you don't know how to comfort those who are suffering? Like you don't know how to follow Jesus in the unique circumstances of your life? There's good news! Jesus promised us The Helper; His Holy Spirit who comes alongside us as leads us into all truth.

Our place is in God's world is defined by two things: our relationship to Him, and our responsibility as citizens of His kingdom. In Jesus, we have been adopted as beloved children of God. It's from that place that we look to God the Father for direction and we respond in obedience; not as a means to receive love, but in response to it. Likewise, we are ambassadors of King Jesus. He has given us authority over powers of evil in this world. The more we learn to walk in that authority, the more of God's power we will see released against pain, oppression, and darkness in our midst.

Jesus redefines our worldly norms in order to change our perspective and benefit His kingdom. Today, Matt Kladnik, our Head of School for RSM Christian, walks us through Matthew 19:13-15, when Jesus' disciples rebuked the parents of children that were looking to be with Jesus. You see, Jesus invites us to have a child-like faith. He wants to have a relationship with us because we are His priority. We have been so wounded by the world that we've forgotten how to wonder. What would it be like if we allowed the Holy Spirit to re-center and heal that part in us?

Are you a fan of Jesus? That's great! But Jesus didn't call us to be fans. He called us to be followers and he called us to Bring The Kingdom to the world. He called us to proclaim the Good News, demonstrate it, and freely give it away. Pastor Grace Kladnik takes us through what it means to be active participants in the work of declaring the Kingdom of God is at hand to all people, all around the world.

Who are you following and where are they leading you? Do you find your life characterized by peace and joy or anxiety and anger? The Bible tells the story of the King over all of Creation. And the best part? His Kingdom is one of peaceful flourishing for humanity and He is always beckoning us to come and follow; to be Followers of the King and live as bringers of light and life, participating in His Epic Story.

Three of the gospel accounts begin Jesus' ministry with a call to "repent for the Kingdom of God has arrived". Pastor Cami takes us through the dynamic fourth chapter of Luke as Jesus' ministry launches into His earthly ministry having been tested in the wilderness and then proclaiming what the Kingdom is like and demonstrating it's power. He shows a Kingdom that is compassionate and concerned with those that would otherwise be cast aside. He shows a Kingdom that heals the sick, cares for the poor, and restores the oppressed without restraint. But in that simple humility He also shows a Kingdom with unmatched power to conquer the forces of evil, greed, pain, and suffering that plague our world. He shows a Kingdom that will one day make all things new as those who choose Him will enjoy His glorious presence forevermore.

What has the whole Epic Story of Scripture been leading us to? It starts here, with the story of John, an Israelite prophet in the wilderness preparing the people to Receive the King that the Old Testament was pointing to all along. Jesus was coming and while John was baptizing people with water in the Jordan, He would come baptizing with the Holy Spirit and with fire. John led us to repentance, that we might Receive the King, Bear Fruit, and Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

God's Royal Story isn't like other stories. There are no castle walls keeping out the rabble. There is only a benevolent King who goes into broken places, brings real change to hearts and circumstances, and calls us into ambassadorship right where we are. We don't have to get fixed up and knighted before we're ready to participate in God's Royal Story. We can always begin to proclaim this story far and wide.

There are two ways of living: living in darkness or in daytime. God promises to restore us to life in Him again, and as we wait for that time, how do we chose to use it? Do you live in the darkness of the world, with anticipation of morning coming? Or do you live in the expectation of the dawn, in constant preparation for the wonders that He has in store? What time of day are you living in?

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by how broken down the world around us seems to be? We can't fix these things on our own, but with God all things are possible. God is looking for people to partner with Him in bringing restoration to the broken areas of life. So how are you partnering with God today to bring restoration in your family, workplace, or community?

Living in a world filled with sin isn't just a time of condemnation. It's an opportunity to be a blessing and to share hope with a world that is so desperate for a savior. Today, Pastor Ryan opens with our third volume in our year long Epic Story series, titled Restore. Living as exiles, we are given an opportunity to press into God's will for His people, as builders to make the world better, blessings for those who need it, and as intercessors for each other in every walk of life. Living in the hope of God, and the future that He has promised, leads to good, only, always. How badly do you need to live in the hope of God today?

Would you say you have an 'eternal perspective'? When you think about Jesus, does the fact that He is coming back to rule and reign on this earth come to mind. Pastor Ryan closes out Volume 2 of our look at the Epic Story of Scripture with a look at the idea of the Day of the Lord. In the Old Testament, we see God outline the consequences of Israel choosing their own way over divine wisdom and then ultimately the fulfillment of that consequence. What can we learn from this? It is a signpost for us that God will likewise grant us the result of our choices. But Peter encourages us in his second letter that, while it's been a long time, God has a different perspective on time, He wants to see all come to repentance, and The Day Will Come.

What is it that derails our destiny? So often, and for so many, it's pride. Pride makes us self reliant, defensive, and stubborn. It insists that we know what's best for our own lives and that we do what seems right to us. But the way of Jesus is different. It seeks the wisdom of God, always! King Asa is an example of how pride can lead us astray. Asa had an opportunity to repent too. He had a golden moment to turn back to trust. And we have a tool to help us to do just that. When you're being derailed by pride, the antidote is to simply turn back to God in praise. To remind yourself that He alone is God and the creator of all and to lift high the name of Jesus.

You are not defined by your history, but you are affected by it. King Josiah came from a history and lineage of predecessors who had become irreverent toward God. And yet, as a young man, barely more than a teenager, he made a choice to bring his life and kingdom back under the scripture instead of standing over it and looking down upon it. God's word is fresh every day; it's about what he's saying to you through hat He's already said. What is God speaking to you today?

We all have influence. We all have people we're around who hear from us, maybe learn from us, respect us. So how do you wield your influence? Who do you let influence you? This week, Pastor Ryan looks at the life of Jeroboam, a king of Israel who got it wrong. He took advice from the wrong people and led the people down destructive paths. What can we learn from a life like this? Where can you identify with Jeroboam's folly and, importantly, how can you turn from that and use the influence you have to lead people closer to Jesus?

Can you imagine living in a world of perfect peace? Pastor Mike Foell walks us through the promises that God made to King David in 2 Samuel 7. God promised David that He would cut off his enemies from him. Can you imagine being in a place like that? Even though David sinned countless times against God, He was still faithful. Destiny can be derailed by disobedience, but resurrected through repentance. As broken as we are, God still loves us. What promises has God made to you, and how has He continued to show His faithfulness toward you?

Substituting expedience for obedience always yields the "fast food" result. Trying to substitute what we want instead of what God has for us never satisfies our needs. It only ever brings something temporary. The truth of the matter is that there is nothing we can hide from God, and yet He still chooses to love us, care for us, and fulfill His promises towards us. Today, Pastor Cami walks us through how King Saul failed time and time again to listen to God's calling, and how God still loved him and his people through the process.

It's easy to let little things in our life slide for the sake of immediate gratification or convenience. And God doesn't expect us to be perfect, but He does call us to follow Him wholeheartedly. That's the crux of Compromise. It's trying follow other things along with Jesus and it doesn't work. The book of Judges is the story of Israel's compromise and the low build up of decisions that lead the people away from God. But His mercies are new every morning and there is always a way back to Him!

We often build our identity on things that are not the best focus of our lives. We focus on career, parenthood, or status. But there is a better source. Jesus asks Mary Magdalene two questions at the empty tomb: "Why are you weeping?" and "Whom are you seeking?". The second of which is key to rooting our identity in the firm foundation of God's goodness in our lives. Mary sought Jesus, her Gardner (tender caregiver), Teacher, and Lord. It was from that relationship that her identity came. The same is available to us today; abundant life living in the good love of Jesus our Gardner, Teacher, and Lord.

We talk about bridging the gap between who you are and who God created you to be. But how do you know who God created you to be. It starts by recognizing that we have been commissioned by God. Pastor Ryan begins Volume 2 of our series on the Epic Story of Scripture by examining the opening words of Joshua and what it means for us to be Commissioned by God in our lives today.