Sermons

The Time? February 1945. The Place? The Sauer River. This will be one of the Nazi's last stands. Starting in Belgium and flowing eastward to Luxembourg's eastern border, The Sauer covers a 50 mile expanse. The objective of the Allies is to cross The Sauer in order to push Germany back to its' original borders and to ultimate victory. However, the Nazi's have floated mines down the river and have succeeded in destroying crucial bridges. As well, Germany's occupied side of the river is massively fortified, with enormous heavy artillery capabilities.

The Allies plan to float a pontoon bridge across The Sauer while engaging the enemy. Once the bridge is in place, the Allies can once again move forward to fulfill their goal. This plan depends solely on the bridge in order to succeed. Another words, without this bridge in place, victory would be a distant dream. For the people involved, it was of the utmost importance to obtain victory at any cost. The Bridge was the only way. Looking back in time, to the year 1945, we know what the outcome was. But to the people who played a part in this dramatic situation, there was no choice. To give up and retreat would mean a potential victory for the enemy. This could not be tolerated. To defeat the enemy and claim a complete victory was the goal. But it was imperative that they get across that river. They could not get across by themselves. The Bridge was the only way.

As you can see, this war-time situation has many parallels to our Christian lives, to our Christian walk and to our Christian faith. It represents how we depend on our own Personal Bridge, Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Bridge to Repentance, He is our Bridge to Conversion, He is our Bridge to a new life, He is our Bridge to Sanctification, He is our Bridge to Redemption, He is our Bridge Eternal life, He is our Bridge to Ultimate Victory over Sin and Satan. Without our Personal Bridge we would miserably fail.

How can we have access to this Bridge? In Ephesians 2:18 it says," For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." It is through Jesus that we reach the Father. But how can we reach Jesus? Let us turn to Romans 5:1-2:" Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." It is through faith that we will have access to Jesus. Sound simple? It's not meant to be difficult!! But first and formost, we must take that first step forward in faith!!

I can remember when my son learned how to crawl. Boy, did he love to crawl!! He was still crawling just before his second birthday. Well, my wife and I were beginning to wonder if he would ever walk. We decided to take matters into our own hands and make him take that first step. We stood him up and holding him by his hands we took him for a walk. He thought that this was great!! As soon as we let go of his hands, however, my son figured it was time to sit. We tried standing him up against the wall and coaxing him to walk toward us. No way!! How about a little incentive!! Come to Dad and I'll give you a yummy cookie!! Forget it!! There was nothing we could do to make him change his mind. Well, we gave up. A few weeks later, we were relaxing in the living room and my boy was playing with a toy on the floor. All of a sudden- He stood up!! He stood wobbling there for a few seconds and then he lifted up one foot and took one step forward. We held our breaths. He did it!! How happy we were. Our son took one step forward in faith!! I would take a guess that he was wondering if he would fall down but he decided to take the chance. He took one step forward in faith!!

Likewise, to accept Jesus as our bridge to salvation, we must step forward in faith. Oh, we can tell Henry or Mary or Bob how the Lord led in our lives and how the Lord can change their lives for eternity but that initial first step forward in faith has to be a personal one. According to the Winston dictionary, faith is described as believing and trusting in something that is not seen. One of my favourite verses in the Bible is what I call the Doubting Thomas verse. I'm sure you are probably familiar with it. Jesus shows Thomas the nail marks in His hands and the wound in His side. And then He says these words of comfort to all people who take their stand for the Lord. John 20:29-'Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed: blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." This is the essence of faith!! Our son didn't know what the outcome was going to be when he took that first step. But once he took that tentative first step forward, he found it easier to take more steps forward until he had the confidence to walk instead of crawl. And so it is in our lives. Not until we step forward in faith onto the Everlasting Bridge- the Bridge to a New Life- will we be walking on solid ground. Won't you take that first step today?