Subtext by BPYA

What can baseball teach us about belonging, friendship, joy, and following Jesus?In this episode, Pastor Tim sits down with Dan a devoted Tampa Bay Rays fan, husband, and member of the BridgePoint community for a conversation about faith and fandom. They talk playoff baseball, treasured memories at the Trop, an impressive bobblehead collection, and the way sports can turn strangers into friends in a matter of minutes.But the conversation goes deeper than the game.Dan shares how ordinary moments, watching a game, playing basketball, exchanging numbers with someone new, or receiving flowers from a friend during grief—can become the ground where genuine community grows. Because doing life together requires more than occupying the same church building. It requires vulnerability, intentionality, and a willingness to show up when staying home would be easier.They also wrestle with an honest question: How do we enjoy something deeply without allowing it to become our identity? Sports can offer excitement and escape, but only Jesus can provide lasting joy, purpose, and hope. As Psalm 34:18 reminds us, the Lord remains near to the brokenhearted even after the final out.This conversation is about baseball, but it is also about finding your people, carrying your faith beyond the church walls, and recovering a childlike joy that points back to Jesus. Get full access to BridgePoint’s Substack at bridgepointya.substack.com/subscribe

The gospel was never meant to stop with you. It was meant to move through you.In the conclusion of the Run Your Mouth series, Pastor Tim Riddick challenges us to consider what happens when the church possesses the most powerful message in history but keeps it trapped inside four walls. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus are not private treasures to protect. They are good news to proclaim.Jesus did not suggest that we go, He commanded it: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel” (Mark 16:15). That mission does not belong only to pastors and missionaries. It belongs to every person who has been changed by Christ.But before the gospel can pour through us, it must continue filling us. Colossians 1:22–23 reminds us that through Jesus, we have been reconciled and presented holy and blameless before God. We share from that settled place not from guilt, pressure, or the need to save anyone ourselves.You are not the Savior. You are the witness.Preach the gospel to yourself every morning. Share it with the person God has placed before you. The world does not need a polished performance it needs believers willing to open their mouths and tell the truth about Jesus. Get full access to BridgePoint’s Substack at bridgepointya.substack.com/subscribe

God’s heart is for the one and He is calling us to go after them.In week two of Run Your Mouth, Pastor Tim Riddick confronts the way Christians can treat evangelism like extra credit: important in theory, but optional in practice. Jesus never approached lost people that way. He crossed the distance, entered their world, and came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).The lost sheep in Luke 15 was not worthless or hopeless it simply wasn’t home yet. So the shepherd refused to remain comfortable with ninety-nine while one was still wandering. That same pursuit shaped Paul, who laid down his preferences and became “all things to all people” for the sake of the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:19–23).Who is your one? The friend, relative, coworker, or classmate God keeps placing on your heart?They are not a project. They are a person loved by God and worth pursuing. Evangelism is not about waiting for someone to wander into church. It means going where they are, entering uncomfortable conversations, and building bridges without compromising the truth.Identify your one. Take a step this week. Go after them because the gospel is worth it, and so are they. Get full access to BridgePoint’s Substack at bridgepointya.substack.com/subscribe

What if the thing you believe disqualifies you is the very place where God wants to display His power?In this kickoff to the Run Your Mouth series, Pastor Tim Riddick challenges us to stop waiting for a smarter, cleaner, more confident version of ourselves before telling people about Jesus. Paul didn’t enter Corinth hiding his weakness or performing for the crowd. He came “in weakness and in fear and much trembling,” determined to proclaim Christ crucified so that their faith would rest on God’s power—not human wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:1–5).Your questions don’t disqualify you. Your messy testimony doesn’t silence you. God’s grace is sufficient, and His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).You are not responsible for saving anyone; that belongs to Jesus. Your responsibility is to go, open your mouth, and trust the Holy Spirit with the words (Luke 21:14–15).God is not waiting for you to feel ready. He is calling you to go as you are. Get full access to BridgePoint’s Substack at bridgepointya.substack.com/subscribe

Some sermons are theory. This one cost something.In this episode of Subtext, Pastor Tim gets unusually personal sharing about the shelf he’d been walking past for twenty-five years. A name he never called. A wound he convinced himself he’d dealt with because he’d survived it. And what happened when he finally picked up the phone before he finished writing a sermon about forgiveness.We’re in Matthew 6 — the Lord’s Prayer — and Jesus puts forgiveness in the same breath as daily bread. Not as an occasional spiritual exercise. As a rhythm. As essential as eating. And in Matthew 6:14, he says something that’s hard to sit with: the way you hold forgiveness from others directly affects how you receive it yourself.This episode is for anyone carrying a name. A face. A season. A wrong that was real and undeserved and that you’ve been dragging behind you longer than you should have to.Because God forgave you, you can forgive them.Subtext is the teaching podcast of BridgePoint Young Adults at BridgePoint Church in St. Petersburg, FL. Get full access to BridgePoint’s Substack at bridgepointya.substack.com/subscribe