Making the Connection

Back in the day, we used to sing, “We’ve got so much, so much, so much (ad nauseam) to be thankful for!” and we do have so much, but how can we express our thankfulness to God? Luke 17:11-19 is all about a miracle of Jesus that points us to 5 principles of living thankful lives.

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

Jesus didn’t let anything distract or detour Him from His purpose: He was going to Jerusalem because that was the way to the cross. In fact, His path led Him through a place that would make Him “unclean” under the religious system of the day. But He wasn’t worried about what people thought or said about Him. He was committed to one purpose, His Father’s.

¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

These sick men also were Samaritans who were considered “half-breeds” by their culture. Most people thought they weren’t worthy of God’s love and acceptance. They had 2 huge strikes against them! But the very ones that culture turns away from and looks down on are the people God wants to help and heal. And they came to the right Person, Jesus, to change their situations.

¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

Jesus didn’t do any stunts, say any magic words, or do anything out of the ordinary. It was just a simple, powerful, miracle. But it required them to do something. They had to obey and do what Jesus said to do.

¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.

It’s alright to get excited about what God has done and is doing in your life. It wasn’t a secret. He wanted everyone to know what God had done. Loud is okay! Let’s get LOUD!

¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

He feel on his knees to thank Jesus. There are many postures of worship: lifting your hands in the air, bowing your head, falling on your knees, whatever posture expresses your thankfulness.

¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?

The others were so excited that they didn’t even think to stop and say thank you. How many times are we like that?

¹⁸ Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Who is most thankful, the insider or the outsider? Sometimes Christians are the ones who take God’s work in our lives for granted.

God wants us to live lives of thankfulness.

• By following Jesus example of pursuing God’s purpose for us no matter what it costs to our reputation or our comfort. We’re not going to veer off course. We’re going to see people changed one life at a time!

• By loving the unloved, by caring for those in need. We’re a church for everyone. Nothing ticks me off more than when I hear, “Oh, they would never come here. Their life could never change.” Don’t set limits on what God can do! Jesus reached out to the despised, the isolated, the sick, and the spiritually confused. We will never put limits on who God has called us to reach. How can you practically reach out to someone in need around you? One way you can reach out is to invite someone to Connection Christmas.

• By obeying God’s word. They had to go to be healed and they obeyed that part of what Jesus said. But they had another decision: would they make the unselfish decision to follow Christ and then thank Him and live a life of thankfulness? You can get a free bible for your mobile device here.

• By worshipping extravagantly. There’s something refreshing and healing about entering into God’s presence. I’m so proud of our worship team and the way they have grown. When we get together for our Celebration Services, it’s all worship, from the music to the teaching, to the offering. We have to intentionally pause for praise in the middle of the rush of life. We should make thanking God a top priority. I thank God every day for the gift of the day and for bringing me through it.

• By remembering the cross.

Matthew 26:26-28 says, While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.

Jesus invites us to always be thankful for His sacrifice! We have so much to be thankful for today, but above all, I’m thankful for His Cross!

As we’re getting ready for Thanksgiving, I’m reminded of how much we have to be thankful for. I’m especially thankful this year for our growth and impact and the many changed lives we’re seeing at The Connection Church. Whether through our recent Thanksgiving Food Drive or through our upcoming Angel Tree gifts for the children in Hays County with an incarcerated parent, I am blown away by the difference we’re making this year! Thank you to each person who has invested to make all this possible!

At Christmas, we celebrate the greatest gift of all: God so loved the world that He GAVE His only Son! We want to help you keep Christ at the center of your Christmas celebration. When we give gifts this year, let’s prayerfully consider what we’ll offer the birthday boy Himself, Jesus Christ. He deserves our greatest gift!

That’s why we’re having our annual Christmas Presence Offering. God has called us to be His hands and feet both here and around the world.

This year’s offering will be used to build a well for clean, safe drinking water to those in a poverty-stricken country through Living Water International. When we give the gift of a well, we’re giving life, health, and a tangible expression of God’s love to a village of over 250 people!

Other receipts from this year’s offering will be invested in positioning The Connection Church to continue shining out the light to Central Texas in 2011.

Here’s what we’re asking everyone to do:

• Pray and ask God what He would have you give “over and above” your regular tithes and offerings. We can’t all give the same amount, but we can all do something.

• Bring your “over and above” offerings with you during the month of December as we celebrate His blessings or give online here.

I thank God for using us to save lives through The Connection Church. I can’t wait to see what God will do as we give back to Him because of all He’s given to us this year!

It won’t be long now, and I do think we rush past Thanksgiving too quickly and move to Christmas. But for me, I love the whole package of the holiday season. December just flies by and if you don’t schedule a few fun Christmas memories for your family, you can miss some great opportunities.

There are so many options to choose from that you really can’t (and shouldn’t) do it all. In fact, make sure to schedule down-time for your family too so things don’t move so fast!

Here are a few that have been a part of our celebration:

• Sights and Sounds of Christmas – a crowded, carnival-type event where you can make a quick trip to Bethlehem
• Santa’s Ranch – a drive through Christmas light experience
• Main Street Bethlehem – It’s a drive to Burnet, but they’ve transformed a whole city block into Bethlehem where you really feel like you were there on a hunt for the birth of a King!
• Buda Trail of Lights: (December 16-22) This year, we’re planning on having a display with a live nativity (contact me if you want to help create, build, or be a part of the live nativity!) It’s going to be a great time for us to connect with our community during a time when people are most open to God’s message.

and this year, there’s something brand new:

• Lights of Tejas at Camp Tejas in Giddings. It’s happening the first 3 weekends in December from Thursday to Sunday. If you’re looking for something for your family or Connection Group, you might want to check it out.

And of course, the most exciting part of our Christmas tradition is Connection Christmas services. This year, in our new location, we’re going to be offering a service on Christmas Eve’s Eve and Christmas Eve. Tickets will be free but are required to attend due to space. More to come on that soon!

How about you? Do you have any other outings your family is a part of?

How would you describe a normal, average, natural day in your life? For most, natural means (not necessarily in this order):

Waking up tired (maybe hitting the snooze button several times), practicing good hygiene (hopefully), a little exercise, breakfast, getting the kids to school, racing to work (in a job you’re not too pumped about), pushing papers, shovels, products, whatever the job calls for…, lunch, appointments, conflict, fighting traffic to get home, extra-curricular activities, struggle, homework, dinner, lukewarm relationships, Facebook, email, a little tv to unwind, paying bills, falling in bed exhausted, maybe a little time for God through prayer and devotional.

Wow! That’s a pretty bleak look at average. But there’s something deep within us that cries out, “There must be MORE!”

Thankfully, there is! God didn’t create you to live a cookie cutter life! Jesus came to give you a better and greater life than you’ve dreamed of (John 10:10).

He wants to add His Super to your Natural so that you can stay above the fray (and pray). We don’t need to ever use the excuse, “Well, it’s only natural,” when God wants us to live in the Supernatural.

Over the next 5 weeks, we’re going to be hanging out in the stories of the miracles of Jesus to discover for ourselves how to live a Supernatural kind of life. I hope you won’t miss a single week of this exciting “Supernatural” series.

It’s a sweeping pandemic that’s gone viral since way back in the day! We were all born with The Human Sindrome. That soft spot toward sin, that appetite for anger, the propensity toward pride, the leaning toward lust and laziness, grooving toward greed and gluttony, and a capacity for covetousness. Left untreated, it becomes deadly, destroying us from the inside out. So, we try to cure it with self-help exercises and home-made remedies, but in spite of all our efforts, it grows inside of us like a fatal cancer. So we do our best to cover it up. To relabel it as a mistake or a bad choice. But the outcome is the same: disconnection and destruction of everything we love.

This week, we’re going to begin tackling our toughest temptations head-on. In our newest series, The Human Sindrome, we’ll decode the 7 deadly sins and discover the way to free their hold on us. I can’t wait to begin to show you the original cure for the Human Sindrome and reveal some practical steps to live free from sin’s devastating effects.

Make plans now to be with us this Sunday at our new location at 9:30am and 11:00am as we kick it off with some new surprises. For more info, check out our website or our event page on Facebook.