We're a Year!

A year ago this past Sunday Connections Community Church did not meet. We were holding our preview services in the fall of 2007 but had not officially launched.

We "launched" on the first Sunday of 2008. And we haven't missed a Sunday since.
As I look back I'm struck by the feeling most of us get as we travel down memory lane: in some ways it feel like ages ago. But in other ways it feels just like yesterday. (for time-bound creatures, we humans have such a funny way of experiencing the past)

Here are some of the highlights, simply off the top of my head:

Our first series was "Resolutions Worth Keeping." We talked about four occasions in the bible when some made a resolution, which is defined, "to be fixed in purpose." We took from these stories four resolutions for our church, all based on the desire to "seek first God's kingdom." (Matthew 6:33)

• To grow our worship service;
• To increase our volunteer based to 100 people;
• To launch our Connection Groups ministry in the fall with 200 participants;
• To see 52 people give their lives to Jesus- one for every week of the year.

I've prayed for, wrestled with, and thought about those goals all year long. Were they audacious enough? We they too small? Were they tangible enough that we could gauge our progress? Were they my hopes, or God's plans? Well, here's where we sit a year later:

• We grew to see over 200 people coming to worship with us Sunday mornings this fall. But we haven't felt the need to offer a second service.
• We increased our volunteer base to nearly 125 people. So more than half of the folks that worship at Connections also volunteers at Connections.
• We launched our Connection Groups with more than 100 people registered.
• We've seen many people tell us they have committed or re-committed their lives to Jesus, but this one is hard to gauge. It's very personal, plus, we don't want to "force" or manipulate people or decisions. Yet we want to be very intentional. So, by way of our communication cards or other direct communication, I've had 12 people tell me they made a first time commitment or re-commitment to Jesus.

In February we had what I thought was our most fun series of the year- "How to Look Good Naked." I've been tempted to try to turn this series into a book. I really think God was up to something in those messages.

In March we began a series that took us through Easter, "Vantage Point." We looked at the different points-of-view that many had about Jesus during his life, and today. (I also went on a ski trip in March and made a video sermon that was pretty fun, and went over fairly well.)

We called April our "Volunteer Appreciation Month" and gave out t-shirts to all our peeps. We moved into our Signs of Belonging series, which talked about what it looks like to be a part of a church, and part of the body of Christ.

• Soaring in Worship- making worship a priority, corporately and in all our lives.
• Studying God's Word- setting aside time 5 days a week to read the bible and pray.
• Stewarding God's Gifts- out time, our talents and our treasure (yes, money). Joining a Connection Group is a great way to help us in this area.
• Serving God's People- signing up for a ministry team, or helping us create new teams for our church and community.
• Sharing God's Love- picking 2 people we can intentionally pray for and invite into our lives.

We threw in there our "Connections Gives Back" mini-series where we highlighted the work of the International Justice Mission and our own crew of people who were going to bike across the US and Canada in "Sea-2-Sea: Ending the Cycle of Poverty." John Vandersteen, Mike Talsma and Thea Hiemstra together raised over $20,000 and joined more than 200 people, together raising over 2.1 million dollars. This was an AWESOME cause for our church to feel a part. I pray things like this will become the norm for Connections and our people. We also welcomed back Kat Zietsma who had been serving in mission to India and New Zealand.

When we hit the summer season we launched into a study of the book of Philippians that we called "Breakout." As a preacher/teacher I love series like this because it frees me to simply go where the bible text leads. I didn't have to think to far ahead. I was able to just come to each passage and say, "God- teach me." This is going to become my routine for the foreseeable future- each summer we'll work through a whole book or section of the bible- just taking the whole thing apart piece by piece.

In August we ran a series called "Into the Wild." I was blown away by the feedback I got from this series. We had four people commit/recommit their lives to Jesus. Plus, the band did the coolest cover of Hard Sun ever!

In the Fall we kicked things off with "Wiii Church." This is when we really seemed to get into the zone at Connections. Numbers came up, folks were getting involved, the family ministry was flourishing with Sarah DeVries at the helm, I put a renewed focus on our Media ministry, and we formally launched our Connection Group ministry.

More than 100 signed up as we started a semester approach to home-groups based on three guiding values: Common Purpose, Common Place, Common Possessions. Our purpose is Connections, our place is as neighbors in homes, and our life is to be shared together, even through caring for the material and physical needs of one another, in addiction to emotional and spiritual support. I could write for days about this, but suffice to say- we got off to a great start!

We also had our first Communion and Baptism service. No promises on what this will look like in the future, but for now, it's enough to see folks stepping forward and making this public profession of faith in Jesus and participation in His church.

All through October we sported some cool t-shirts as we went on the faith journey from: Petri(fied) to Justi(fied) to Sancti(fied) to Glori(fied). I thought it was super cool, maybe more than anyone else. Thanks for indulging my goofy ideas.

Our Game of Life series saw some great feedback and response. I got to make everyone uncomfortable as I talked about sex. Then I got to be uncomfortable as I talked about money. I already have plans to do a Game of Life series, Part 2 (there are just so many great games out there can we can use to dive into some great topics. Spoiler alert- Taboo is gonna make you all squirm!)

Finally, we ended 2008 with "The Advent Conspiracy." Worship Fully- Spend Less- Give More- Love All. Whatever our particular needs were, we hoped and prayed and planned for a great celebration of the incarnation of God, the birth of the Christ, Jesus.

Like Gerry Garcia once sang, "What a strange trip it's been."
Actually, it's been wonderful. I am humbled and awed
by all that God has done,
by all our volunteers have done,
by the incredible things we've pulled off,
by the worship the Music Teams draws us into,
by the love and care of our Family Ministry,
by the hospitality of our First Impression Team,
by the creativity of our Media gurus,
by the faith of our Prayer Ministry,
by all of our Connection Group facilitators and hosts,
by the reports of love and support our folks extend to one-another and neighbors,
by the work of people like Mike Talsma, without whom Connections would fall apart. (I could name others, but Mike does so much behind the scenes, I thought you needed to know.)

And more, I'm blown away to genuinely feel that we've only just begun. To feel that we've just taken our second step as a church plant. The first step was just getting started. The second step was getting this year under our belt.

I so excited to experience all the God has in store for us in 2009. If God could a simple idea (share God's love with people) and an equally simple plan (meet in a theatre to worship) and take us this far in one year, imagine what He can do with us now!

In January we'll be spelling the Soul Revolution that gonna change lives!