Making the Connection

I just got back from a meeting with our friends at The River 102.3. They are eager to partner with us on our annual Big Hunt. We talked about ways to make this year event bigger and better than ever. Get this, our very own Steve Etheridge may be the MC! This is going to be fun.

Check this letter out:

My heart was very warmed when I opened your letter and saw the gift of $1,325 from you and your combined "church home group." The heart of our Lord must have been warmed when you had a Chinese dinner theme night, prayed over our brothers and sisters in China and then made a commitment to send as many Bibles as you could. The amount you sent has been matched by an anonymous donor, which means that you and your home group have donated 662 Bibles to China! Thanks be to God! May he bless you richly indeed. - Norm Nelson, Compassion Radio

I’m so proud of the Rhoades Connection Group and their heart to see people all over the world know God! Way to go!

Today I got to speak to a group of church leaders about effective communication. We discussed how you know if you "hit a home run" with a message, since this can be such a subjective task. The way we measure this at TCC is through our Connection Cards where people are encouraged to take very simple, practical, yet challenging next steps in their spiritual journey.

One pastor friend of mine gave some push back on this. His take on it was, "God didn’t call me to be effective, only faithful. After all, how can we measure our success by the response of others who may not be spiritually mature?"

Is it possible to be both faithful to God and effective? I believe it is. Ultimately, my goal is to present as many fully devoted Christ followers to God as I possibly can and squeeze the maximum redemptive potential out of my life.

I’m the pastor of The Connection Church in Kyle, Tx, just south of Austin. We are here to connect with God and with each other.

We put God first and traditions last. We love people regardless of their background.

Everyday people are getting connected to a real relationship with God and with each other and lives are being changed for the better.

I want to personally invite you to be our guest this Sunday morning at Tobias Elementary School in Kyle at 9, 10:15, or 11:30 for the best hour of your week.

On this blog, you can get a "behind the scenes" look at what’s happening through our church and what’s going on in my head. Enjoy!