Together in Portland: Gather on Sundays

Let’s think of a certain place we go to meet people. Like we go to the doctors office to meet the doctor. Or we go to school to meet our teachers. What are some other meeting places and who do we meet there? 

Give space for answers.

All throughout the Bible, we read stories about people going to special places to meet with God. In the beginning when God created everything, people were with God in a beautiful garden. They were meeting with God all the time! Later on, people would go meet God in a special tent—called a tabernacle—where God lived. Eventually, King David set out to build a beautiful temple for the people to worship God in. God met with His people in all of these special places. 

But the prophets—God’s important messengers—told the people that one day, God would build a new temple to live in, one that was even more amazing. In fact, God promised that he wouldn’t just live in this temple, but he would live with his people. 

God kept this promise when he sent Jesus, who the Bible calls “Emmanuel,” which means God with us. Jesus was even better than the tabernacle and the temple, because he was a person! When Jesus returned to heaven to be with God, he sent the Holy Spirit to fill God’s people and live in their hearts. God’s presence wasn’t just with his people. Now, it was in them! Because of the Holy Spirit, God isn’t only in a special place. God is with us and we can meet with him any time, any place. 

The apostle Paul describes God’s Holy Spirit-filled-people (that’s us) as a family that is being built together like a house for God to live in. Let’s read Paul’s words in the book of Ephesians:

So you are no longer outsiders and strangers. You are citizens together with God’s people. You are also members of God’s family. You are a building that is built on the apostles and prophets. They are the foundation. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone in the building. The whole building is held together by him. It rises to become a holy temple because it belongs to the Lord. And because you belong to him, you too are being built together. You are being made into a house where God lives through his Spirit. (Ephesians 2v19–22, NIRV) 

Work through these questions together:

• Where did God used to meet with his people? 

• Where does God meet with his people now? 

• How does the apostle Paul describe God’s Holy Spirit-filled-family? 

• God’s Holy Spirit-filled-family meets together in special places. What are some of these places? 

Another word the bible uses to describe God’s Holy Spirit-filled-people is the “Church.” This means that church isn’t just a certain place we go on Sundays, but it’s actually God’s people! When God’s people—the Church—gather together, we meet with God as we meet with God’s people. 

The specific Holy Spirit-filled-family we meet with in Portland is called Bridgetown Church. And our Bridgetown Church family is on a mission to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. We believe that one of the ways we do this is by meeting together. Just like God’s people did at the tabernacle or the temple, we meet with our Bridgetown family to learn, pray, and worship God together. What are some other things we do at church on Sundays?  

Give space for answers.

Let’s remember what a usual Sunday looks like at Bridgetown. When we get to church, people will be at the front doors to welcome us. Then we might find seats for our family in the auditorium or check in to Bridgetown Kids. At the start of the gathering, one of our pastors will begin with a call to worship: a prayer we say as a church to remind ourselves that we are here to be with Jesus and worship him together. 

Then, we’ll spend some time worshiping Jesus through singing. We might sing songs about God’s love or about God’s kingdom. We might sing songs asking the Holy Spirit to come and meet us and work in our hearts. Some of these songs we might know, and others we might not. If we want to learn the words of these songs, we can even sing them at home or in the car together—we can worship together anytime, any place!

Bridgetown Worship has put together a playlist of the songs we sing at our Sunday Gatherings, which you can find at bridgetown.church/music 

After we’re done singing, it’s time to go to Bridgetown Kids! But first, a pastor will go up on stage to give the kids a blessing: a prayer that you would experience the love of God, the friendship of Jesus, and the power and fun of the Holy Spirit. Then, it’s time for class. In Bridgetown Kids, you’ll play fun games, hear a story from the Bible, and have time to talk to and pray with your friends and teachers. While you’re there, the grown-ups will be upstairs hearing a teaching from the Bible and praying together too! 

Once we’re all done, we’ll say goodbye to our church family and go home. But even when we’re not at Bridgetown, we can remember that God is always with us through his Holy Spirit. And, we can meet with our Holy Spirit-filled-family any time, anywhere! 

There are so many different things we do when we gather with our church family on Sundays. What are our favorite parts about going to church on Sundays? What are our least favorite parts? 

Give space for answers. 

It’s okay to not love every part of going to church on Sundays. This is why going to church takes practice, just like learning to play the piano or dribble a basketball. Sometimes we might get frustrated and not want to practice: some Sundays we might wake up cranky and not want to get out of bed, or feel a little bored occasionally. It’s okay to feel that way. Sometimes, it’s even important to stay home for a rest day with our family! But, we want to try to practice meeting with our Holy Spirit-filled-family regularly and often as we learn to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus would do if he were us. 

Let’s end our time together by thinking about how we can continue to practice gathering together with God’s family. 

Idea 1: Participate on Sundays as a family

Let’s pick one part of the Sunday gathering to do together every week on purpose. Maybe it’s praying the call to worship together at the beginning of the gathering. It might be standing and singing together during worship if we don’t already. We could even go to Bridgetown Kids together once a month—our family’s grown-ups helping in the kids’ class. If we have other ideas of things we could do together on purpose, instead of by ourselves, let’s talk about those now. 

Idea 2: Serve on Sundays as a family

At home, we might have responsibilities like loading the dishwasher after dinner or making our beds in the morning. It’s the same with our church family: we all pitch in and help! If we already go to church regularly and often, let’s think about how we can serve. Maybe we can say hello to people at the front door like we talked about earlier? Maybe we can host visitors and help them feel welcome? We could even pray for people together at the end of the gathering. Let’s go to the Bridgetown website to learn about ways to serve and sign up (bridgetown.church/serve).

If you’ve completed our Prayer Training, your kids can join you as you pray for people during response time. You can teach them our blessing prayer model or attend a training yourself at bridgetown.church/prayer-training.

Which of these do we want to commit to? No matter what we try, let’s commit to gathering with God’s people regularly and often, and pray now that God would continue to build us together with his family into a house for him to live in.