If you were the king and creator of the universe, would you make an animal trough your grand entrance? Jesus’ transformational teaching about what the kingdom of God is like didn’t start when he began his public ministry. It started before he could even talk.

We've all seen athletes point to heaven after touchdowns or home runs. And we've heard actors thank God during their acceptance speeches. We know God can be glorified in our moments of success. But what about moments of weakness? How do we keep going when our circumstances are crippling and God seems to be saying, “No?”

Why didn't God do something? Sometimes, despite our most fervent prayers, God doesn't show up the way we want him to. The cancer isn't cured. The company fails. The foreclosure goes through. What do we look for when it feels like God forgot to show up?

Is God's silence a sign of his absence? Or does it mean something else? Jesus once said that his cousin, John, was the greatest man who ever lived. And yet, even John struggled with God's inattentiveness. The message Jesus sends him in the middle of his doubt contains a secret reassurance for us 2,000 years later.

Even in present circumstances that aren’t always what we’d hope or dream for, God can still work miracles. Faith that writes a bold next chapter is committed to showing up and daring greatly instead of giving up.

A next chapter worth writing will be one that's beyond us; it will require the hand of God to be involved. Movements of God necessitate trust and they require risk. It ultimately comes down to if we believe God is who he says he is and will do what he has promised to do.

Jesus explained his calling as "seeking and saving the lost." People who were nothing like him liked him. He was practically irresistible. What kind of things would we have to do as a church to continue this calling in the way that Jesus did?

What does God desire to do in our city? What is the eternity of disconnected people worth to us? What story does God want to write through Crossbridge? There is a big and exciting next chapter coming for us and we are ready and excited to share it with you.

In this world, we have numerous voices and influences that are all vying for our attention and our time. God's call on our lives is to be transformed as we renew our minds. As we discover our minds shaped and transformed by the Holy Spirit, we also discover ourselves remade as new people in Christ.

We may not know everything about Christianity, but we can always have a good idea of God’s heart for us in any and every situation.