Operation Backpack 2011

Every year, Connection Church adopts a local elementary school for the entire school year.  As part of this endeavor, we set a summer goal to raise enough money to outfit every student with a backpack stuffed with supplies for the year.

This year we are once again adopting Edison Elementary School and we need to raise $4000.00 over the next 7 weeks and we need all of your help to make it happen.

Here are some ways you can help.

1. Set a personal/family goal for how many backpacks you can give.  Each backpack costs $10.00
2. Try to get your place of employment to donate an amount to Operation Backpack (100% of monies received goes directly to the project.)
3. Get your friends, family and co-workers to buy 1,2 or more backpacks.

We have cards available every Sunday for you to take to give to potential donors and you can also point them towards our website where they can donate online as well.  The URL is www.connectionchurch.me/operation-backpack.

God at the Movies

We kicked off our yearly July series, God at the Movies, this past Sunday with 2010 blockbuster movie, Inception.  I presented a very distinct Biblical parallel that I clearly saw within the movie.  It's clearly seen in the middle of the movie when Don Cobb is talking about the power of inception. "An idea is like a virus," he says, "resilient, highly contagious and the smallest seed of an idea can grow.  It can grow to define or destroy you."

That's the paradox we must all face.  What we choose to believe will define us or destroy us.  Believing God's ways always brings life, and believing Satan's lies, while it may seem to bring life, ultimately leads to death and destruction.

If you missed this past Sunday, you can catch the message here.

This week we are highlighting the movie, "The Blind Side."  Can't wait to see you there.

Modern day good Samaritan

For the latter half of 2010 into the first three months of 2011, I preached through the book of Mark. It was a very challenging book for our church as we have taken a very close look at the life of Christ.

There was about four weeks in which the greatest commandment and one of those weeks I was concentrating on the good Samaritan. In my study, I got to thinking how Jesus may have told it in today's terms. Here are my thoughts.

Jesus was talking to a bunch of evangelical, right-winged Christian's about the greatest commandment. "You shall love God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul, and the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

A man in the crowd, seeking to make himself feel better, asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"

Jesus answered with the following story...

"A right winged radio talk show host, named Glenn Beck was on his way to the Fox News Studios for his late afternoon tv show. When he was a block away from the studios, he fell upon some gang bangers who beat him up, robbed him blind, took his book of Mormon and left him for dead.

Shortly after, Rush Limbaugh came his way, but he didn't stop. His radio show was starting shortly and he couldn't stand to think of letting his corporate sponsors down, after all Capitalism never sleeps.

A little time later, Bill O'Rielly walked by, but he didn't stop either. In fact, he crossed over to the other side of the street so not to get tangled up in the whole affair. After all, his TV show was starting shortly and the weight of the world is always resting on his shoulders because, "he's watching out for us!"

5 minutes after Bill O'Rielly passed by, Al Sharpton came strolling down the street on the way to being a special guest on O'Rielly's show, where he knew he was going to be called a pinhead. He saw Glenn Beck, had pity on him, went to where he was, bandaged his wounds, put him in his car and took him to Mercy Hospital where he gave them enough money to cover all his expenses.

After telling the story he looked at the smug man and asked, "who was Glenn Beck's neighbor? To which the man answered, "the one who showed pity on him."


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