WHAT IS CHURCH UNDER THE BRIDGE?

Taking the Kingdom Outside with Church Under the Bridge
A monthly COTH outreach to the poor

Pastor Charles and the leadership of our own Church of the Hills community have been talking about entering a new season both corporately and individually. We’ve all felt the leading to go outside the walls of our buildings and homes and “give it away.” Many of us have heard the message from the Lord and it’s been reinforced through our Pastor’s Sunday messages, our small group discussions, and in our intimate times alone with Jesus. What’s new is the way that the Lord is highlighting old familiar avenues, as well as showing us new ways to take what we have been given in the Spirit (and in the natural) and give it away to a broken and hurting world. The Lord we serve wants His unfailing Love to be poured out to those who don’t know the depths of His compassion for the hurting and broken.

If you and your family want to take the power and Love of Jesus outside into the community, but are not sure how to get started, we would like to tell you more about the partnership that Church of the Hills has with Mission Possible on the fourth Sunday of every month.

Church Under the Bridge is a weekly worship and fellowship service for Austin’s homeless. The service is held outside under the I-35 overpass between 6th and 7th streets each Sunday. Church of the Hills has partnered with Mission Possible, an inner city ministry serving the poor that puts on the Church Under the Bridge church service, every 4th Sunday of the month since May of 1998.

You may not know this, but we have over 6,000 homeless people in the city of Austin looking for love, hope, food, shelter, and work on the streets. We find many times that the homeless person we bring the love of Jesus to is not much different than you and me, except that somewhere down the line, they have taken a wrong turn that has put their lives on a destructive trajectory. The good news is that Jesus is the redeemer and wants to deliver His people from the pit of despair and deliver them into reproductive service in His Kingdom. Even better news is that He wants to deliver His Kingdom through you and me, through the meeting of simple physical and spiritual needs, through healings, deliverances, signs, wonders and salvations; all of which comes as a result of following Jesus’ example. All we need to do is show up and let the Kingdom that is within us change the atmosphere with His love.

To get a mental picture of Church Under the Bridge, try to imagine the scene from Matthew 22:8-9
8“Then he (the king) said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’

Church Under the Bridge provides a “mission field” that, although is a completely different culture than what we are used to, is only about 30 minutes from the COTH parking lot.

AREAS OF SERVICE


Level One – (The only requirements are to bring what you carry and smile, encourage, and intercede)
• Set up tables, chairs, tents, and equipment
• Prepare and serve coffee and pastries
• Intercessors – pre-service and during service
Level Two – (Same as level one with a little more direct contact)
• Greet and direct volunteers and church CUTB members
• Talk with people and hear their stories
• Minister as the Lord leads you

Level Three – (Same as above with direct ministry contact)
• Saturday Night Live greeter outreach team
• Man the Prayer tent – pray with people
• Man the Book Table – pray with people
• Worship team and testimonies
• Lead a Treasure hunt

You can get more information about Church Under the Bridge, by e-mailing or calling

Mike & Amy Macari
swacmrm@aol.com
512-422-5249
or
Leonard Brack
Leonard@kw.com
512-750-4199