Connections Church

Welcome to Connections Church Online!

Connections Church welcomes Pastor Rob Byker for more from his series, this week from Philippians 1:20-26. We learned that Paul is determined to see his suffering as an opportunity to exalt Christ in His body. Paul prays for sufficient courage to live a Christ exalting life. His vision is breathtaking: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Visit our website: https://myconnections.church/

Welcome to Connections Church Online!

Connections Church continues our series from Pastor Rob Byker on Philippians, Chapter One with a sermon from Philippians 1:12-19, titled "The Potential of Suffering to Advance the Gospel." Paul sees that suffering can advance the gospel. His jailtime gave him an audience to preach the good news to the entire palace guard. His example also emboldened others to share. His enemies had jailed him to defeat the gospel but Paul rejoices in the Lord who uses his jailtime to promote the gospel.

Visit our website: https://myconnections.church/

Welcome to Connections Church Online!

Connections Church welcomes Pastor Rob Byker for the second week with a sermon from Philippians 1:9-11, titled "Growing in Love for God’s Glory." Paul wants the Philippians to love wisely and well through their suffering! An appointment to suffering is an appointment to love and such Love will yield glorious blessings. Blessings like being able to discern the good, right and true path in life and finding ourselves glorious on Judgment Day as the people God intended us to be: pure and blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness.

Visit our website: https://myconnections.church/

Welcome to Connections Church Online!

Connections Church welcomes Pastor Rob Byker with a sermon from a series on Philippians, Chapter One, starting with Philippians 1:1-9, "God Will Finish What He Started in You!". We learn about how Paul overflows with thanks for the Philippian church. Other churches fed on Paul’s gospel teaching but this church supported it. They were partners in the Gospel with Paul and they were not ashamed of his chains. Sometimes when we hurt we lose sight of the blessings we possess as God’s holy people bound for glory.

Visit our website: https://myconnections.church/

Welcome to Connections Church Online!

Connections Church is honored to welcome Pastor Joyce Schroeder from Cadence International with a message from 2 Thessalonians 2:13–3:5, titled "He Called Us to This."

Visit our website: https://myconnections.church/

Welcome to Connections Church Online!

Connections Church is blessed to be joined by Yvonne Biel with a message from Romans, titled “Unashamed”, teaching us about Paul's transformative journey.

Visit our website: https://myconnections.church/

“For the grace of God has appeared

that offers salvation to all people.

It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness

and worldly passions,

and to live self-controlled,

upright and godly lives in this present age.”

~ Titus 2:11-12

You've seen it happen.

(Maybe it's happened to you.)

Without this fruit you can crash your job,

your marriage,

your health,

your life,

your faith.

Self-Control.

When we listen to the siren songs of the world

we inevitably crash.

But there is another song-

A better song-

that calls us home to the shores of grace.

This Sunday we wrap up our "Bear Fruit" series

with our final fruit of Self-Control.

“I am gentle and humble in heart.”

~ Matthew 11:29

It seems that angry, loud, and down-right mean voices have taken control.

Maybe this is the most important fruit for our times-

To cultivate gentle hearts like the heart of Jesus.

We don't have to guess how Jesus described himself.

He tells us.

Directly.

"I am gentle and humble in heart."

And more, he lived it-

He came to us gently,

the babe born in a manger.

He treated us gently,

not holding our sins against us.

He comes to us gently,

in the whisper of the Holy Spirit

to all with open hearts.

“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed...

with such great faith."

~ Matthew 8:10

Only twice in the bible do we read that Jesus was "amazed."

(I suppose it's pretty hard to amaze the creator of the universe!)

On one occasion he was amazed at his hometown's lack of faith.

But on another occasion we read that one man,

a man others presumed to be far from God,

actually amazed Jesus with his faith.

In Christian circles we throw around this word "faith" a lot.

So this Sunday we'll take a deep dive into,

faith,

being faithful,

and the fruit of faithfulness.

The goal is simple enough-

that we too might amaze Jesus with our faithfulness!

God is love.

(1 John 4:8)

And love is patient.

(1 Corinthians 13:4)

This Sunday we continue our "Bear Fruit" series

with a deep dive into patience.

Perhaps no other characteristic of the Spirit's fruit is more

easily dismissed than patience.

Too many people excuse themselves by simply saying they are just not patient.

And that may be true.

In our flesh most of us are naturally impatient and irritable.

But that's the point of the fruit of the Spirit-

We have a strength and power not of ourselves.

We can become more loving.

More joyful.

More peaceful.

And yes, even more patient!

And like all the fruit,

it takes some practice.