Making the Connection

Last week’s service was a tough one for many of us who have experienced divorce first-hand or are facing one now. I personally endured the pain of divorced parents as a junior high kid, and it was one of the hardest things that I’ve yet to experience. I know it must be even harder for the actual couple that is trying to survive a divorce. If you’re facing this, don’t try to go it alone. Stay connected to God’s family.

The Bible says God hates divorce because of the pain that it causes His children. Remember though, that God doesn’t hate divorced people. No matter what you’ve gone through in the past, you can experience God’s best for your life today. Divorce also messes up the picture that Christian marriage is supposed to present to the world: the unbreakable relationship between Jesus and His bride, the church.

We talked about the fact that even though divorce is allowed in certain cases in the Bible, it’s never recommended. I’ll say it again, "You’re best potential for the happiness you’re looking for is in the marriage you’re in right now." Its always better to work through the problems you’re facing than run from them and have to deal with the same ones or worse down the road.

As a lead pastor for seven years now, there are many times that I feel like the church is going great and headed toward the great future God has for us (okay, I always feel like this). But when I look at the landscape of the families in the church, I realize that we are only as strong as our marriages. As they go, so goes our church family. Let me encourage you to do everything you can to make your marriage as strong as possible, with God at the very center. Also, right now, would you take a few moments to pray for the marriages that are struggling?

For a helpful article on surviving divorce, check out: Coping with Divorce

Today was another unforgettable Connection Church Sunday!

First, there was the time change which came earlier than usual this year. It’s confusing for people and everyone wants to sleep in that extra hour.

Second, this was the first weekend of Spring Break. We expected many people to be MIA for trips. This was all aligning to be a kick in the head.

Then we get to the first service. During Zak’s welcome, a main breaker was thrown and we lost all the electrical outlets and the house lights. The stage power stayed on, including the video projector. When the band kicked off the worship set, there were no vocals. Once we figured out what had happened, I stepped up to let everyone know that today we would be doing an Acoustic Set. Kevin stepped forward with his guitar and he and Pam led a stripped down version of the songs. They did an amazing job with some songs that were definitely band-oriented material.

Frances and the Kids Team had to adapt to the "no power zone" as well. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken.

We love the fact that we are on the cutting-edge of technology. Media is an integral part of the way that we communicate the timeless message of God’s truth in a timely way. But, today was a much needed reminder that what we are all about is not the bells and whistles. When you take all that away, what do you have left? We rediscovered that it’s all about broken people with a passion to connect with a great God. And He is the true source of our power. When all else fails, His worship will prevail.

By the end of the service, we were powered up and Pam blew us away with Third Day’s Cry Out to Jesus. And the second service was fully charged.

A couple of cool things about last Sunday:

We opened with Kevin and the TCC Band delivering the old Bachman-Turner Overdrive "Taking Care of Business." Great song choice Kevin. It was a great way to kick off the day’s focus. Someone wrote on their Connection Card: "Did Kevin and Cole go to the the same dance lessons?" Who could have written that? I don’t know… maybe my wife?

Also, my Mom was with us, which was cool because she very rarely gets to come down. She is a great Mom. Since Zak was preaching I got to sit with her through a lot of the first service.

Zak, of course, knocked it out of the park with a great message on balancing work and home life.

During the second service, I got to help out with the KonnectionKidz. They were doing 10 stations to reinforce the idea: Heroes stand for what is right! So when I went in, I immediately got to help at one of the stations. What can we stand for? Jesus, Family, Friends, Truth, Being kind to others. What was really cool was that then Pam came in and worked a station, followed by Kevin, and then our phenomenally talented lead guitarist Russ came in and did a station as well. It was all pretty spontaneous, but it was really awesome to have so many people willing to serve anywhere they can.

It did help me to really appreciate again the faithfulness of our kids director Frances and her whole team, who give of themselves consistently to pour into our kids and see them grow God’s way. Props to each of you.

This Sunday we conducted a survey of those attending TCC. Granted, we had around 350 people in our services and we only received 66 surveys back, but this gives us a snapshot of our vitals. The results are interesting, and for the most part, confirmed a lot of what we thought we knew. There were also a few surprises along the way. You can view the results for yourself right here: SURVEY

To begin, I want to make some general observations.

• Most of us are married with kids
• Most live in Kyle
• You probably heard about the church from a friend
• You regularly attend one of our services
• Most people have come in the last year
• Most people have come closer to Christ through TCC
• Most people have a strong sense of belonging
• Almost everyone is easily able to enter into worship on Sunday
• Almost everyone is helped by the messages
• Almost everyone is participating as much or more than they did last year
• If you did invite someone, it was probably by word of mouth

That gives us an overall picture. Like I said, not real earth-shaking stuff, but a good barometer of where we are right now in our growth. There are several specifics from the survey that I want to blog about over the coming weeks as we get ready for Easter.

Place sticker on forehead. Smile.