Here at ConneXion we are committed to community. We really work hard at nurturing a sense of community on Sunday nights and throughout the week. In part that is because we recognize the deep longing we all have to know and be known, to love and be loved. It’s also because we believe that we can’t truly be obedient Christians who are growing in our faith apart from community. We simply can’t ignore the many commands in Scripture about ‘one anothers’. We’re called to care for one another, bear with one another, laugh with and cry with one another, encourage and admonish one another. All of those commands and many more presuppose we are in community with other Christians.

There’s lots of ways to get plugged into community. One of the most important to the ministry of ConneXion is CGroups. The ‘C’ in cgroups stands for ‘community’, not ‘connexion’. In CGroups students meet with one another in the home of an ECC family. In that place they study God’s word together, but not in a merely academic way. Because they are together in community, they can bring God’s word to bear on each others lives in meaningful ways. It’s a beautiful thing and we’re inviting you to be a part of it with us.

CGroups meet Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. There is a grad group, a group for freshman girls, another all girls group and 8 coed groups. You can sign up for a group that fits you at Connexion this week and for the next few, or you can go to the small group page on the website and fill out the form. Groups don’t start till the week of Sept 15th. Between now and then, you’ll be contacted by a cgroup leader who’ll give you all the specifics you’d need to know.

We hope for our sake and for yours that you’ll accept the invitation to join us in community.

Lord, our God, you know who we are: People with good and bad consciences; satisfied and dissatisfied, sure and unsure people; Christians out of conviction and Christians out of habit; believers, half-believers, and unbelievers.

You know where we come from: from our circle of relatives, friends and acquaintances, or from great loneliness; from lives of quiet leisure, or from all manner of embarrassment and distress; from ordered, tense, or destroyed family relationships; from the inner circle, or from the fringes of the Christian community.

But now we all stand before you: in all our inequality equal in this, that we are all in the wrong before you and among each other; that we all must die some day; that we all would be lost without your grace; but also in that your grace is promised to and turned toward all of us through your beloved Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.

We are here together in order to praise you by allowing you to speak to us. We ask that this might happen in this hour [throughout this semester] in the name of your Son, our Lord. Amen.

- Karl Barth, Fifty Prayers

Got questions? Yeah, so do I, and I think that’s good. Socrates warned humanity of the tragedy of an unexamined life. I think we would do well to beware the dangers and tragedy of an unexamined faith as well. I’m not afraid of questions. I love questions and I’m confident that the Christian faith can stand up to the most rigorous questioning.  In fact, I’m more worried about the faith of those who don’t ask questions.

This semester we’ll be thinking through some big questions regarding our faith, God and the Christian life. I think these are questions we’ve all had, have, or will have at some point in our life. They’re relevant, and not just for those of us who grew up in the church, but also for those who haven’t ever been in a church building. Everyone wrestles with why God allows evil. Most of us have asked, “God, why don’t you just show yourself and end the debate?”  We’ve questioned how a loving God can send people to hell. We desperately want to know how to grow closer to God. We’ll be asking, especially this year, does Christianity mix with politics? We all want to know how to cope with pain/hurt in our lives.

Those are just some of the questions we’ll be asking this semester. Again, this series is designed to strengthen our faith, equip us to have these conversations with our friends, and to engage those friends you bring on a Sunday night. If there are questions you think we just can’t ignore, let us know. Email me at dan@connexiononline.org or leave suggestions in the comments.

See you all on August 31st at 7pm.

We are less than two weeks away from the start of a new year of Connexion on Sunday, August 31st at 7pm. We’ve been looking forward to the start up since the end of the spring semester and have been praying, planning and working hard to make this year a great one at Connexion. Here’s some of what we have in store for you:

1. An exciting teaching series on Sunday nights called “Got Questions?” On Sunday nights we’ll be thinking together about big questions we all have - questions about God, Christianity, faith and life. It’ll be a great series to invite your friends too! And as always, Sunday nights will continue to be great times of worship and fellowship as well.

2. An incredibly practical cgroup study. This fall, CGroups will be studying through the book of James - a book that is all about putting faith to work in daily living. We have worked very hard to provide this opportunity for community and study this year and trust God will use these groups, as he always has, to change lives.

3. Service opportunities. We are still committed to the idea of connecting students to various opportunities to serve. You’ll be hearing about a monthly outreach ministry to kids in the Crestmot area of Bloomington (the name for this ministry is still tbd). Renovo will continue ministering to the homeless population in Blooomington, offering a Sunday lunch to those who would be hard pressed to find a meal that day. I’m sure more opportunities will present themselves throughout the semester in addition to these.

4. Opportunities to enjoy being together. Events immediately preceding and following Connexion on Sunday nights will be a fairly regularly thing. Of course we’ll keep doing the open mic thing for those of you will talents, but we’ll offer a greater variety of social activities.

Enough said. Now a simple invitation: come and be a part of it all!

The last couple of weeks have been a little different with the 4th of July weekend and then the all church picnic, but this Sunday, Connexion is back on track - meeting at 8pm here for a time of worship, teaching and discussion. Plan to join us and spread the word!