Connection Community Church

Connection Church 01/30/10 - God is Just and Merciful

Connection Church 01/24/10 - God Is More

9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’" Luke 4:9-11 (NIV)

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours." Luke 4:5-7 (NIV)

Connection Church 12/27/09 - Unwrapping Christmas: The Gift of Peace

Connection Church 12/24/09 - Unwrapping Christmas: The Gift of Life

First of all, read Luke 2:1-20. Maybe you’ve read it before and you know the story. But this time, take your time. Read it carefully. Try to put yourself in the scene. Imagine traveling with Joseph and Mary the 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Imagine the sights and smells of the animals in the stall when the baby is born. Imagine yourself sleeping on the ground with the shepherds. Imagine hearing and seeing the angel of the Lord and the celestial choir that comes to praise God. Imagine going into town, to the stable, and seeing the Lord, Jesus, the Christ, who has just entered the world….a baby wrapped in cloths, lying there in the manger. Take time to re-live this WONDERful event that we can so easily miss in all the hubbub of Christmas. Read Matthew 2:1-12. Imagine yourself traveling with the Magi, following the star in the sky. Imagine your encounter with Herod. Imagine what it must have been like to finally, after all those miles of travel, come face to face with the child, Jesus. Imagine giving thi

Kids come in all shapes and sizes. Some find it easier to be obedience than others. Were you a kid that tended to do what was expected, or did you tend to be disobedient more often than not? Has that carried into adulthood. Do you tend to be obedient or do you tend to “fight the rules” most of the time? Do you find it easy to be obedient to God or more of a challenge? Has God ever called you to do something that was so far out of your comfort zone that you just didn’t feel like you could comply? What was that? Do you wish you had given it a try? Why or Why not? Have you ever been called by God to something way out of your comfort zone that you did comply with, something to which you were obedient? What did you find when you did what you felt God calling you to do? Did God give you what you needed for the task? Were you able to see that “with God, all things are possible?” Did you have a faith growth, a spiritual growth as a result of being obedient to God’s call? Other than Mary and Joseph, who is the char

What was the most awesome thing you ever hoped for at Christmas as a kid? Did you get it? If so, was it really as awesome as you thought it was going to be? What are you hoping for this Christmas? Have your Christmas hopes changed over the years? How so? What does Jesus as the Gift of Hope mean to you?

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.Then the devil said to him,“If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’” Luke 4:1-4 (NLT)

Think about the Lord’s Prayer. It’s not just something that was made up. Jesus shared that prayer with His disciples as a model for how to pray. We find it in Matthew 6:9-13. Think about what we are really saying when we say, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Are we asking God to offer us forgiveness as we offer forgiveness to others? Now that’s a little challenging isn’t it? I know it is for me. What does that mean to me if I am unforgiving of other people? Does that mean God will not forgive me? Wooooahhhhh. Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a better past. No matter how many times we re-live something, it never changes. We can never make the past better than it was. Is there something in your past that has a hold on you? Have you tried to let go? Have you sought help in letting it go? If not, maybe this is the time to seek that help. It has been said that God never wastes a hurt. I don’t think that means that God brings hurt to us in order to use it for some g

Connection Church 11/22/09 - Family Matters: Facing the Tough Issues

Connection Church 11/15/09 - Family Matters: The 3 C's

Much information for this message series was found in the book, Loving Your Relatives (Even When You Don’t See Eye to Eye by David & Claudia Arp and John & Margaret Bell, including these Re-mix questions. “To grow up, it is necessary to forgive your parents. When you do not forgive them it means you are clinging to them in the hope that if you can make them feel guilty enough they will finally come through with more parenting.” (P. 35) Do you agree, disagree, or a little of both, with what is said here? Is there anything for you to forgive your parents for? Have you done that? If not, what are you waiting for? Take some time an pray about it. If your parents are not still alive, do you still think it is possible to forgive them? Dead or alive, try writing a letter to your parents in which you forgive them. If they are alive and you need to share the letter with them, do it. Otherwise, dead or alive, just put it in a drawer. The act of writing the letter often is enough. On p. 36 the Arps and the Be

When it comes time for the offering at church, do you think of it as a necessary evil, an act of obedience, an opportunity for thanksgiving, an extension of worship, or a combination of more than one of these? Is putting money in the offering bag like putting a donation in at the Little League field? How is it similar? How is it different? When you hear talk about money at church, do you react negatively, positively, or neutrally? Take a couple of minutes and consider WHY you react as you do? What causes that reaction? Do things from your past affect how you feel currently? As we said in the message, tithing is giving 10%, ideally the first 10% of what comes in. Think about how much you give and calculate what percent that is of what you make. How close are you to tithing? What would it take for you to begin tithing? Do you need to ease into it, a few percentage points at a time, or are you willing to plunge all in? As we said in worship, what would happen if for a month or two you tried tithing, taking 1

Read Luke 1:26-38. The story of God partnering with Mary to bring Jesus into the world is the greatest example of God partnering with a human being. Other than this one, what is your favorite example from Scripture of God partnering with someone. What makes it your favorite? What is your favorite example outside of Scripture of God partnering with someone, someone well-known? What makes that your favorite? What is your favorite example of someone you know personally who God has partnered with? What makes it your favorite? Is God currently partnering with you? In what area? Are you using your Spiritual Gift(s)? Are you passionate about where you are serving? If not, where could you use your Spiritual Gifts and be passionate about where you are serving?

Have you ever been on a cruise ship? If so, what did you like best about it? If not, does the idea of a cruise appeal to you? Why? What is it about cruise ships that is so appealing? Are there aspects of a cruise ship that make it appealing as a metaphor for church? What are they? What are the aspects that make it not such a good metaphor for the church? What is the closest you’ve ever been to a battleship? Served on one? Had a tour of one? Seen one on TV or in the movies? What thoughts/images come to mind when you think of a battleship? Are these positive or negative? Is the battleship a good metaphor for the church for you? Why or why not? On Sunday, we compared the church to a battleship and said the crew members should be equipped to succeed in carrying out their mission. Are you so equipped? If not, who are you going to share that with so that they can help you get equipped? We also said that crew members should be able to contribute in significant ways to the mission of the ship. Are you able to so

What does it mean to you to be part of a team? Are you currently part of a team? Where? Is that team “united” or “untied”? During your lifetime, what is the best team you’ve ever been a part of and what is the worst team you’ve ever been a part of? What made the teams so good or so bad? Can you use this knowledge to make any current teams you are a part of better? Oftentimes in traditional churches, the term “committee” is used when talking about a group of people working together at the church. At Connection we like to use the word “team” instead. What images come to mind when you hear committee? When you hear team? Is there much difference? Are you currently part of a team at Connection? Is the team “united” or “untied”? What is it that is making it one or the other? If you feel it is more “untied,” is there anything YOU can do to change that? How about your home team? Is that team “united” or “untied”? If you answered “untied,” what can you do to change that? If “united,” what is it that makes it unite

If you hear the word “servant” what images come to your mind? Are they positive or negative? In our culture, is being a servant something people would strive for, or something they generally would want to avoid? What about you? Does the idea of being a servant appeal to you? Read John 13:1-17. Now close your eyes and imagine Jesus washing your feet. How do you feel? Does it make you uncomfortable to think that God’s son is on his knees, washing your feet? How can we serve others sacrificially without making them feel uncomfortable? When was the last time someone served you, other than a waiter or a waitress in a restaurant? How were you served? Did they do a good job? What was it about the way they served you that made it a good or a not so good experience? What can you learn from that will help you serve better? Other than Jesus, who do you think is the ultimate servant in the Bible? Why did you choose that person? Do you share any qualities with them? What can you learn from them to make you a better s

unbound: from the successes that bind us (9/27/09) Genesis 32: 22-24