Making the Connection

Today, we’re kicking off a 90-Day Journey through the Bible with Genesis 1 & 2. If you want to join us, you can download the reading plan here.

Talk about Vision! God has a huge dream that we see as it starts to unfold in these 2 chapters. They are some of the most familiar in the Bible, and they are some of the most powerful. In these chapters, we discover 2 truths that are a vital part of who we are at The Connection Church.

Genesis 1: Our Creative God

The opening of Genesis gives us a picture of the creation of the universe and everything there is. God is the source of creativity. He’s the only One who creates Ex Nihilo, which means “out of nothing.” He just spoke it and it was there. Since then, we, who are made in His creative image, have a desire to create, but we do so by observing what God has made and using the materials that God supplies.

Which reminds me of the story about the scientist who figured out how to create life. He challenged God in a man-making contest and said, “Here, I’ve gathered up 2 piles of dirt, one for you and one for me.” God replied, “Sorry, you’ve got to create your own dirt.”

When we have a project, either at work or at home, we should do our very best to reflect the creativity God has implanted in us. What dream has God placed in your heart that you can begin to live out and offer to Him?

Genesis 2: Our Connected God

This passage also reminds us that God is relational and loving. He says, “Let Us make man in Our own image.” Is this some ancient typo? Not at all. It points towards the truth that God is Triune. He has revealed Himself as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit who relate perfectly to each other.

God continually says, “it is good.” But then when He made Adam, He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” Healthy relationships matter to God. God doesn’t want us to be lonely. He didn’t create us to be isolated hermit ostriches but instead, we’re made to do life together.

What if we remembered that everyone we see today is a unique creation of God, made in His image? That way, even with their faults, we saw the good and the potential God has placed in them. How would that change the way we think and treat them?

We wish you all the joy of Christmas and God’s best for your New Year. We’re so thankful to have you as part of our lives. We can’t wait to see what God is going to do in and through each of us in 2011!

What is the worth of a chair? Priceless. At least at The Connection Church. Because we only have so many to go around * and everybody needs one. Especially the many, many people who are starting to check us out every week.

With growth comes some growing pains, and one of those is balancing our 2 Sunday morning services at 9:30 & 11. This past Sunday, there were 40% more people in the second service than the first. So, while we were packed out at 11, there were plenty of seats open at 9:30.

So I’m asking those of you who call The Connection Church your home to make what we call a “missionary move” to the early service.  This will help balance the services and provide someone with a much-needed chair. It will also help us stave off our inevitable jump to 3 services for a while longer.

So for clarity, if you’ve been attending the 2^nd service, would you please adjust your schedule to attend the 1^st service? You can always stick around and serve during the second hour if you’d like.

When you get there early, the donuts and coffee are fresher. See you this Sunday morning at 9:30!

* By the way, I can’t wait for the day when we get our own chairs, and enough of them, to go along with our new location. And of course, those will come as we give toward our vision of seeing our county changed one life at a time!

Tonight at First Wednesday, I got to share an overview of our strategy for making an impact this Christmas. But it all starts with connecting with Christ daily by hearing from Him in His love letter to us, the Bible, and talking with Him through prayer.

How can we really keep Christ at the center of our Christmas this year? One way is to get into His Word everyday. The good people over at youversion.com have put together a simple reading plan that will help us trek through the Christmas story a day at a time. You can start by going right here: Rediscovering the Christmas Season.

Let’s do this together over the next month! Ready, Set, Go!

December 1: Luke 2:21-40

December 2: Matthew 1

December 3: Luke 2:1-20

December 4: Mark 9:33-37

December 5: Matthew 4:12-17,  Isaiah 9:1-3, Matt 5:14-16

December 6: Acts 20:35, 1 John 4:10

December 7: Exodus 25

December 8: Matthew 25:31-46

December 9: Isaiah 9:6-7, Revelation 19:1-16, 1 Timothy 6:11-16

December 10: Matthew 1:22-23, Isaiah 7:10-15, John 1:14

December 11: Genesis 1, Isaiah 1:18, Psalm 51:1-10

December 12: Revelation 2:1-5, 1 John 3:1-3

December 13: Psalm 150

December 14: Acts 15:22-31

December 15: Luke 1, Jeremiah 32:17

December 16: Matthew 2:1-12

December 17: Galatians 4:1-7

December 18:Isaiah 58, Matthew 6:16-18

December 19: Luke 11:1-13

December 20: John 1

December 21: John 21:25

December 22: Psalm 100

December 23: Matthew 25

December 24: John 3:16

December 25: Luke 1:26-56, Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-40

Some big things are coming, and I’m not just talking about a rotund man in a red suit.

God is at work through us. On Thanksgiving weekend, a Sunday that’s usually one of the lowest attended Sunday’s of the year, we actually were up by 50 people from the previous week! And still, we saw so many new faces!

NEW SERIES STARTS THIS WEEK

This week, we’re kicking off a new series called When Love Comes To Town. Yes, it’s a great U2 song (and our band will be serving up some nice music by one of the greatest bands in history), but it’s really about when God’s Love entered the world in the most humble way to an obscure village and the change that He brought to the world. This is going to be a great week to invite your family and friends to experience a better Christmas than ever before.

CONNECTION CHRISTMAS SERVICES

We want to bring God’s Love to our world in some very specific ways, including what’s become a Hays County tradition: Connection Christmas services, happening on 2 nights this year! Just like our other BIG events, it’s going to take us stepping up as a church to serve at one of the services (and attending a different service). We’ve heard so many times that people are more open to the Gospel at Christmas than at any other time of the year. Let’s leverage that for God’s Kingdom by pulling out all the stops for these services! You can get your FREE tickets here. The tickets each represent a seat, so get all that you need and only what you’re going to use. Children Pre-K and under don’t need a ticket for FREE childcare.

NO SERVICES ON THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

Also, we won’t be having services on December 26th, the Sunday after Christmas, as a way to say “Thanks!” to our staff and volunteers for working so hard the week before Christmas and all through the year so they can travel, unplug, and be with their families. Not to mention, it will give us a running start for the incredible year that is in front of us.

CHRISTMAS OFFERING TO GIVE THE GIFT OF WATER

This week, we’re also kicking off our annual Presence Offering. I’m really pumped about giving to provide a well with safe, clean water for a town full of people. Literally, we’ll be saving lives this year. The rest of the offering will go to further the work we’re doing here locally through TCC. The Birthday Boy deserves our best gift because He is the best Gift ever given! You can give right here or bring your offering with you to worship.

There’s more that we’re doing too. The Buda Trail of Lights with a live nativity, the Angel Tree, and more, so keep watching for more details. Are you ready? Let’s do this!!!