Bridgetown Audio Podcast · Bridgetown Church

God is Love - Creating Love

·42 min·3 clips

He was afraid to truly listen to God because he feared being exposed for his sins and failures.

This episode features a sermon by a pastor from Bridgetown Church reflecting on Pentecost and the transformative role of the Holy Spirit. The speaker shares his personal journey from a theological background that minimized the Spirit's present-day work to embracing charismatic practices. He recounts his initial fear that listening for God's voice would lead to condemnation over his sins, a sentiment echoed by an elder from a Texas church they visited. The teaching asserts that the fundamental nature of God is love, not disappointment, as revealed through the Holy Spirit. The sermon examines the Trinity, citing Michael Reeves's book "Delighting in the Trinity" and early church father St. Basil the Great, who described the Holy Spirit as the personified love between the Father and the Son. It traces a pattern of the Spirit's activity through three biblical moments: creation in Genesis, the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3, and Pentecost in Acts 2. The pastor describes a personal moment where a congregant shared a prophetic word that precisely matched a private message he believed he received from God. He analyzes the Pentecost event, explaining the "tongues of fire" as a sign that individual believers are now God's temple, replacing the old physical temple. A memorable insight is the idea that painful childhood memories often carry the false feeling of being alone, and healing comes by inviting Jesus into those memories. The speaker illustrates this with a story of reframing a tense childhood dinner memory through prayer while on a backpacking trip. The episode concludes with two responses to receiving the Spirit: inner healing for past wounds and being sent out for kingdom mission in one's community. The tone is pastoral, instructional, and deeply personal, blending theological teaching with relatable stories and self-disclosure. Its style is conversational yet structured, moving through scriptural exposition and practical application. Listeners interested in charismatic Christian theology, personal spiritual formation, and inner healing prayer would find this episode compelling. Those uncomfortable with experiential spirituality or discussions of prophetic gifts might prefer to skip it.

As heard by us

A clear Trinity teaching that ties love, Spirit, and church life into one steady arc.

Bridgetown uses Pentecost as a starting point for a wider Trinitarian case, linking love, creation, Jesus' baptism, and the church's ordinary witness.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a Trinity teaching that ties Pentecost, creation, and Jesus' baptism into one line of thought, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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