I doubt many (if any) of you have heard of the Choluteca Bridge in Honduras. I hadn’t heard of it until recently. It is a suspension bridge built in 1996. It is a state-of-the-art bridge engineered and built to withstand hurricane winds that plague the region. It was very well built and survived Hurricane Mitch in 1998, in near perfect condition. It was an architectural achievement!

Even though the bridge stood its ground, there was a problem. The storm caused the river to carve a completely new path – which no longer ran under the bridge! The bridge was no longer able to transport people over the river! Imagine that … the river shifted.

This month we celebrate The Reformation. Dr. Martin Luther and the reformers realized that the rivers of the church and culture had shifted. Briefly, they led a movement to build bridges to transport people to the Word of God, and the church back to the truth of God’s Word and will.

The rivers of church and culture are shifting all around us today. As we celebrate The Reformation of the middle ages, we need REFORMATION BRIDGE BUILDERS today. Honestly, the church of all ages has to continually be in reformation and conformation to God’s transforming Word. But the rivers of church and culture are swiftly carving out new paths.

The Gospel is often illustrated as a bridge from sin and destruction to life and salvation. The church’s calling is to share this Gospel-Bridge with all people, so it has to always know where the river of separation is to be effective. Plainly, the way we’ve always functioned as a church needs to be evaluated and changed. We no longer live in a predominately Christian world. Churches are closing. People are not joining the church and members are no longer regularly attending. A recent survey revealed that only about 20% of Christians (believers!) are in worship on any given weekend.

CALL TO ACTION: Trinity, we need a Reformation Bridge Building Vision. Why are we here? What’s our mission? Is our ministry bridge effective? If any of you are interested in working with me on a vision crafting process, join me on Reformation, October 30 at 7:00pm to begin bridge building.

~ Pastor Dennis J. Krueger