The Connection Church

Jesus said in John 16:33, “In the world, you will have tribulation.” This means that trouble is going to come. There is no way to avoid it. Even being a Christian doesn’t exempt you from having to deal with tough situations. No amount of running from, hiding, or ignoring your troubles will make them go away. This is why it’s important for every believer to grow in their faith and not stay stagnant...

Most Christians will tell you that they want to get closer to God. Unfortunately, too many do not succeed. Can you really do something to cause God to get closer to you? The answer is “yes!” Everyone can experience that desired intimacy with God by learning and following a few simple, biblical principles.

God is faithful. The Scriptures inform us numerous times in both the Old and New Testaments that God will never leave or forsake us and that His mercy endures forever. If that is true (and it is), then as we grow to understand and experience this faithfulness, our hearts should be filled with so much joy.

Christians and non-Christians alike both desire to be good people. Sometimes we obsess over it. We buy self-help books and DVDs, we go to seminars, we get counseling, we make New Year’s resolutions, and we Google about how to break bad habits. These things aren’t bad, but you must keep in mind that God is more concerned about having a relationship with you then He is about your behavior. While we...

You cannot talk about God without talking about grace. Grace is how we are saved, and it empowers us to be victorious in any situation that we face. This is why it is so important for us to really understand this thing called grace. A shallow understanding of it will lead to abusing this gift of God and leading a powerless life. So the question remains: Who is God? In this sermon, hear much more a...

Jesus told parables (stories) to help people understand God, His way of doing things, and His kingdom. Jesus was real, authentic, and what He said made sense. His stories always went straight to the heart of the matter. The parables found in Luke 15 are no exception. This Sunday, we will take a glimpse into these particular stories and see how they help us to further answer the question, Who is Go...

Who is God? It might be impossible to fully answer this question, but there are things about God that we can know. As a matter of fact, it’s easy for us to fill in the blank for the statement “God is_____.” For instance, God is love. We can also easily fill in the blank for what God is not. For instance, God is not lust. If we keep exploring what He is and what He is not, we can find a truly wonde...

While many in today’s society are engaged in celebrating “diversity,” the Bible places an extraordinary emphasis on “unity.” In the second chapter of Philippians, Paul states that followers of Christ be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind. Join us this Sunday as we reinforce for the whole church, our men’s conference theme, Bound Together: Unity through Relationsh...

Who is God? What is God like? These are enormous questions that are difficult to fully answer. But maybe the answer lies in another question: what if God is like Jesus? What if the personality of God is identical to the personality of the man called, Jesus of Nazareth, as portrayed in the Gospels? Jesus audaciously made this claim, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” What if that claim is tr...

Who is God? This is the question that humanity has tried to answer for centuries. The many different conceptions of God, and competing claims as to God’s characteristics, aims, and actions, have led to the development of many different theories about Him. So how do we know what God is really like? While we may never know everything there is to know about God, there is a treasure trove of things wr...

“Expectation is the mother of all frustration.” —Antonio Banderas… Expectations can be so good, but sometimes they can be extremely frustrating, especially when they don’t live up to what we desired. This Sunday, we will see how God wants us to deal with our expectations in the sermon, Managing Expectations.

What has God promised you that you greatly desire to come to pass? Has He given you a dream or vision to move in a certain direction, but you just don't know how? Or maybe you know the direction in life you are going, but you keep feeling like you are going to mess it up. This Sunday, we will share the characteristics that every believer must have to ensure that you are Moving Toward Your Pro...

For roughly three and a half years Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. He did this in both the hills and valleys of Israel, along with the temple and synagogues of the land. As he healed the sick and fed the hungry, He constantly preached the Kingdom of God. In Matthew chapter 10, He gathered twelve apostles and sent them out to preach the Kingdom, just as He did. As disciples of Christ toda...

The Gospel of the Kingdom was never intended as a one-time work in the life of a believer. The gospel should be on continuous display over the lifetime of a disciple—an unfolding of years of service to our King, Jesus Christ. This is why having A Kingdom Mentality should be first and foremost for every Christian. This Sunday, we will see the value of the Kingdom of God as revealed in Scripture, lo...

We continue the bettering of our thinking and lives as we begin answering the question: What does it mean to have a “kingdom mentality”? And why does it matter if we have one? Join us as we begin wrapping up the last few weeks of this multi-sermon discovery of ‘Think Better, Live Better’.

Join us for part 9 of the “Think Better, Live Better” sermon series: In the Bible, we come across words like justification and election and predestination. At times they can be confusing at best and seemingly scary at their worst. Does God choose some people to be his beloved people and exclude others? Does the word predestination imply that some people’s destiny is fated to greatness and others t...

As Christians, our theology shapes us. It shows up in our relationships, conversations, and the way we respond to our circumstances. If our theology doesn’t find its foundation in Scripture, we can do serious damage to those around us. Bad theology hurts people and dishonors God. When we study the Bible correctly, with the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can take great comfort in having a theology...

“I think, therefore I am…” Rene Descartes, a philosopher and mathematician in the early 17th century, penned this one simple phrase that helped define a worldview for a future generation. As Christians, this cultural philosophy of individualism should not be followed. Our strength should come from the power of the Holy Spirit, not ourselves. When we think better about putting our faith in the wisd...

Negative, self-depreciating, or belittling thoughts should have no place in a Christian’s life. And it’s equally important that you never allow negative labels to be put on you by anyone else. When you wear negative labels, you allow people to control your destiny. People don’t control your destiny. You control your own destiny through the power of God’s Word.

According to Paul in Romans 5:17, “…those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life…” Every Christian should be walking in a grace that causes them to rule in their life. This includes ruling over sin. If grace is in abundance, how can sin stand? It can’t because grace does not accommodate sin; it faces it squarely and goes above sin in order to conquer it. If...

Bad theology has caused many believers to live a performance-based Christianity—always trying to be good enough in the eyes of an angry God. But the truth is we don’t serve an angry God that is judging us based on our performance. Our God is a loving Father whose desire is for all of His children to be free in Christ. Once we settle the issue of our righteousness, we will think better, and therefo...

Our minds are like a computer. Computers are designed and programmed to function a certain way. You can have the fastest hardware, but if you put the wrong software in it, it’s not going to function the way it was intended. Viruses can get into a perfectly good computer and start to contaminate the software. As believers, we have to guard our minds from viruses. One of these viruses is bad theolog...

Who are you? Are you the sum of your successes? Or maybe a collection of your failures? The real question is: who are you because of Christ? This Sunday discover how to end the cycle of instability in your walk in Christ, once and for all. Discover who you really are, and find the rest and peace that we all long for as we continue our new sermon series: Think Better, Live Better!

Your thoughts have incredible power over your life. What you allow your mind to dwell on determines how you live—for better or worse. The good news is that God made you with the ability to control your thoughts. You are equipped to handle anything that comes your way, including the bad stuff. Jesus said, “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Anytime you think on what is true...

We all begin at different places in life. None of us had the chance to choose where we were born or into what kind of family we were born. None of us got to choose our social or economic environment, the educational system we were thrust into, or the opportunities that we may have had early in life. For many, it might seem that life is not fair. Regardless of our beginnings in this world, God has...