Life in Connection 2.0 | Sunday, September 27, 2020

Good morning, Cross Connection Church, and welcome to church online! We're so glad that you are here with us this morning. Before we join our worship team for worship, I want to ask you to send out a message to a friend or a group of friends to invite them to join with us this morning. Just send them the link live.cccchurch.com so that they can join along and follow with us through the Scriptures.

Now, let's go to Pastor Anthony as he leads us in worship. Let's pray.

Well, God, we thank You for today. We are so encouraged, Lord God, that You are for us. We can believe Your Word; we can believe Your truths, Lord God. We agree, Lord, with the Word that says Your love is better than life. God, we thank You for just the victory that we have in Your Son, Jesus. Would You do a work in us, Lord? Would You sing songs over us, songs of peace and songs of deliverance? Would You sing over Your congregation, Lord, as we minister to You? Bless Your name. In Jesus' name, amen.

Now, let's worship.

I searched the world, but it couldn't fill me. A man's empty praise and treasures that fade are never enough. Then You came along and put me back together. Every desire is now satisfied

Better than you, for this, I'm not afraid to show you my weakness, my failures, and flaws. Lord, you've seen them all, and you still call me free.

Cause the God of the mountain is the God of the valley. There's not a place your mercy and grace won't find me again.

Oh, there's nothing, nothing better than you. I know it's true. You turn mourning to dancing, you give beauty for ashes, you turn shame into glory. You're the only one who cares. You turn mourning to dancing, you give beauty for ashes, you turn shame into glory.

You're the only one who cares. Oh, there's nothing better than You. Nothing is better than You. Yes, nothing is better. You're the only one who cares.

All right, well, that was pretty awesome! Hopefully, you guys enjoyed the video of the baptism. We got to baptize six people on a glorious day with beautiful weather, fantastic surroundings, and lovely people. It was a great time.

Welcome to church today! We're so glad to have you here, whether you're a regular or a first-timer. It's awesome to have you with us. One thing you'll learn about our church is that we are all about prayer. Prayer is the main thing. Well, Jesus is the main thing, but prayer is pretty close because prayer is talking to Jesus. We love to pray. If you'd like to send a prayer request in, you can send that to the information on the screen. We'd love to pray for you. We have a prayer team that gets together weekly to go over these requests. It's our privilege and honor to be able to pray for you.

I have a favor to ask you guys. We are looking for hosts for our Watch Church at Home watch parties. What that entails is being available to open your home to have people over and do church together. Since we can't do church in the big wide setting, as I stand here talking to an empty room recording announcements, it's much better to be able to watch with a small group of people instead of being isolated at home. If you're interested in opening your home for that, please contact us at home@lifeinconnection.com.

On this beautiful fall day, our mission is Operation Christmas Child. That's where we pick up shoeboxes, fill them up with items, and send them off. Some lucky kid is blessed beyond belief by the work that you've put into it. If you're interested in being a part of this, you can pick up the boxes on October 11th, which is coming up pretty quickly. The pickup will be between 2 and 4 p.m. here at the church.

We need the boxes back, and you'll hear more about this in the future, but we will need the boxes returned on November 8th, also right here at the church from 2 to 4 p.m. So, remember to pick up on October 11th and drop off on November 8th.

Be a part of Operation Christmas Child and bless some kids. Here's a video that tells you more about it.

Your Operation Christmas Child journey starts in your own living room when a person packs the shoebox and prays for the child who will receive that box. Father, thank you so much for the privilege that you've given us to be able to pack these boxes. When we pray, God takes your gift, your box, and begins to navigate it around the world until it ends up in the hands of a child. Then, those prayers that you prayed for that child are answered, and every year we see millions of children put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

My name is Luis Gonzalez. Growing up in Panama was very difficult. I didn't have a dad, and having a single mother wasn't easy either. Living in poverty made my life even harder, and I was begging my mother to please send me to school. The next day, a friend of mine invited me to church, where they were giving out those boxes. When I opened my shoebox, I found all of the school supplies that I needed to go to school inside. That was the first gift I ever received.

In Operation Christmas Child, we hear of these miracles happening all around the world. There is the child who receives the pair of orthopedic shoes that he has needed all his life, or the child who prayed for some tools for their dad and opens the box to find a hammer or a measuring tape. There is also the child who has prayed just to know that somebody loves them, and when they open a shoebox, they find a note saying, "Hey, we love you. Jesus loves you."

The most important thing that we can put in a box is prayer. Praying for the child who is going to get your box has a big impact. At the end of the day, lives are changed; children are coming to faith in Jesus Christ, and that's what it's all about. So keep praying. We need your prayers for the children of the world. What a blessing Operation Christmas Child is!

You know what else is a blessing? The faithfulness of this church. You guys have been so faithful in your giving and your tithing, and I just want to say thank you. Thank you on behalf of us here at Cross Connection. Thank you on behalf of Jesus. You guys are, as it says in Scripture, hilarious givers. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.

Now, if you are prepared to give today, there are a lot of ways you can do it. You can mail it to the address on the screen, text it to the number that's on the screen, or email. There are a plethora of different ways. The important thing is to give with a hilarious heart.

Alright, God bless you guys. The weapon may be formed, but it won't prosper. When the darkness falls, it won't prevail, because the God I serve knows only how to triumph. My God will never fail. I'm going to see a victory; I'm going to see a victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord. I'm going to see Your victory; I'm going to see Your victory, for the battle that belongs to You, Lord. There's power in the mighty name of...

Jesus, every war He wages, He will win. I'm not backing down from any giants. I know how this story is. I know how this story is. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory for the battle that belongs to the Lord.

Take what the enemy meant for evil, and You turn it for good. You turn it for good. You take what the enemy meant for evil, and You turn it for goodness. You turn it for good. You take what the enemy meant for evil, and You turn it for good.

You turn it for good. I'm gonna see a victory; I'm gonna see a victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord. I'm gonna see a victory; I'm gonna see a victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord. You take what the enemy meant for evil. Oh yes, You do! You take what the enemy meant for evil. Yes, Lord God, we believe these truths. Lord God, we have the victory. We fight from victory, God, and You never fail us. You never have, and You never will, God. So we just thank You again for this time. Bless our time in Your Word now, in Jesus' name. Amen.

As you saw just a few minutes ago, this last Sunday we had a pretty good-sized gathering at the beach for a baptism. We hadn't done a baptism this year, even though we highly value baptism at the church. We think it is very important that we obey the Lord's command to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. It's one of the ways that we...

We identify ourselves with Jesus as His followers, and we associate ourselves with His death, burial, and resurrection. At the end of our service today, we'll share together in communion, which is another way that we obey, identify, and associate ourselves with Christ. We'll talk a little bit more about that in a bit.

Before we do, I wanted to first say thank you. I want to express my gratitude to those of you who call Cross Connection Church your home church. Thank you to those of you who, during this chaotic year, have continued to be faithful to the Lord and to His church at Cross Connection. Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your emails, thank you for your cards, and thank you for your faithfulness in giving.

When this all first began, we made adjustments to our budget, largely because I was more than a little concerned that this would drastically affect our ability at the church to continue to do ministry and to provide for our staff. That concern was entirely unfounded because of you, Cross Connection Church. You are faithful to the Lord and His church with the first fruits of your finances, and so I want to say thank you.

Thank you for ministering to one another. Thank you for not being hard to lead. You show by your faith and faithfulness what it is to be a church and what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Thank you for sharing our broadcast with others. I want to encourage you to do that even right now or when the broadcast is over today. Share the archive with a friend and post it on social media. Thank you for sending us your prayer requests and for being willing to serve.

Before the shutdown, if you were a regular attender at Cross Connection, you know that we were experiencing a season of growth. We were preparing to meet the needs of the church during that growth period. We were about to add a fourth Sunday service, and we were asking you to meet the needs of a growing church by filling the spots for serving at that fourth service. The irony of it all was that the week after I shared our plans with the church to expand to another service, we started the shutdown. Here we are, almost seven months later. I've said it quite a few times over the last seven months, but I think it's worth saying again.

This is not ideal. This isn't what I would have planned for our church in 2020, but I am continually trying to accept that this apparently is what God designed for us in 2020. You can pray for me on that one; I'm praying for you too. I don't have the same level of joy in preaching to a camera as I do when I stand up here on a Sunday morning and preach with you all here in this room.

If you've thought, "Miles must like what we're currently doing, or else he would just open the church back up," nope, wrong, incorrect. Fail. Hear me on this: we will begin meeting again in our sanctuary, and I look forward to that day. It is my hope and prayer that that will be soon. My speculation is that a lot will change in November for some reason.

Why are we not meeting like some other churches are meeting? Because myself and our leadership—our pastors and elders—at this point sense that this is what the Lord would have us to do. I know I've shared this before, but I wanted to put it back out there again today. We're doing this because we believe this is how God would have us lead at this moment. As soon as that changes, we'll follow Him wherever He takes us.

The baptism last week was a true blessing. I'm not one that is very tearful; I'm not the tearful type. But as I was standing in the surf with Pastor Mark, looking back at the group that was gathered in support of those who were being baptized, I did have tears come to my eyes. Why? There is joy in the gathering of the saints. I know you know that.

When I was in grade school, I remember that we had an individual come and share at my school for an assembly. He asked the question, "Why do you all go to school?" He picked a number of the kids who raised their hands, and they all said something along the lines of, "We go to school to learn." While that's basically true, the guy shared, "No, you really come to school to see your friends." Now, I know that's not entirely true, but it stuck with me. While it is true that we gather together at church to worship and to study the Scriptures, another big reason that we gather...

Fellowship is essential, and there is joy in the gathering of the saints. That's one of the big things that we've been missing these last several months. We are still able to worship, pray, partake of communion, and study the Scriptures, but fellowship and the joy that it brings have been missing in a significant way. We have been seeking to address that, and one of the ways we would like to do so is through small groups.

There is joy in the gathering of the saints, and we believe that fellowship with one another is essential. Since we have been unable to gather in a large group here on Sundays, we have encouraged you to prayerfully and carefully gather in small groups. I want to share a bit more about that this morning.

We have talked about these sorts of things many times before, and you may even get tired of hearing it. However, one of the New Testament authors wrote that reminders are a good thing. Even when we already know something, sometimes we need to hear it over and over again. A very well-known passage, which if you've been a part of Cross Connection Church you've heard us share many times before, is Acts 2:42. In the New Living Translation, it says, "All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, and sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper, and to prayer."

The focus of the early church was teaching, fellowship, hospitality, and prayer. This is not new to you if you're a long-time member at Cross Connection Church; you know these things. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you. The earliest Christians were devoted to the teaching of the apostles, to fellowship, breaking of bread, communion, hospitality, and prayer.

The church has continued in these practices for 20 centuries—2,000 years. The church has done this whether it has been freely and openly with religious liberty in open societies or quietly under the threat of persecution. The church continues to be the church, and we are committed to faithfully continuing these practices today.

In the apostles' doctrine, preaching and teaching through the Scriptures, we continue to receive your prayer requests and to faithfully pray for them each week. We are breaking bread in communion, as we will do in just a few minutes, and we are asking you to continue to fellowship with one another, being hospitable just as Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas, the Marys, Martha, and the rest of the early Christians did in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.

Acts 2:46 says, "So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." This might be review, but this is what we need to do. It is what the church did in the past, it is what the church will do in the future, and it's what the church needs to do right now.

For the better part of the last four or five months, my family has been gathering with our connect group a couple of Sundays each month to watch the service together and then to have a meal with one another. It has been a beautiful period of time. We have looked forward to seeing our group in our home every single week. My wife and kids have enjoyed it, and I have enjoyed it as well. The other families that join us have loved it too.

If you're not gathering with others within the body of Christ in your own home, you're not doing what the church has done throughout its history. Understand this: normal Christianity is the community of the saints continuing daily with one accord from house to house. This is not new to the shutdown life that we're living under coronavirus; this is what we were calling upon you to do before 2020.

We've been promoting small groups, connect groups, for eight years at Cross Connection, and we've had pretty good participation in those groups. At a few points over the last eight years, we've had as much as 40 to 45 percent of our church involved in a group. Almost ten years ago, we knew that this is what we needed for our church, and we canceled our midweek Bible service here back in 2011 to focus on small groups. So this is not new, but now it's more important than ever. Let me say it again.

We will meet again in person for larger corporate gatherings, just as we did prior to the shutdown. However, going forward, continuing with one another in gatherings from house to house will always be essential. This is what we mean when we say at Cross Connection that we exist to experience and to extend life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. Life in connection with one another is core and essential to who we are. This isn't just something that we do at Cross Connection; it's about our very identity as a church.

The word translated as "church" in the New Testament means gathering and assembly. Listen, coronavirus shutdowns, mask mandates, and Gavin Newsom will not prevail against the gathering of God's people. Therefore, you should connect with one another, and you should continue breaking bread from house to house. Remember, this is the way that the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved 2,000 years ago.

I have shared this with you before, but if Cross Connection Church is your church, and especially if, before COVID, you were serving here on Sundays—helping with hospitality, security, ushers, greeters, in the children's ministry, or on the tech or worship team—you should now consider serving by opening your home to a small group for fellowship. It doesn't have to be a big group; it can be two or three couples. You don't have to meet every day; it can be once or twice a month. You can meet in a park, you can meet outside, and you can wear masks if you feel that you need to.

Do you really need my permission or the permission of the government to interact with other people? I hope not. Call it a protest if you'd like; we're called Protestants. Get it? This is what we have been doing—we've been protesting for 500 years. Why stop now? If you're willing to help fulfill our mission of life in connection with one another, then I want you to go to at home.lifeinconnection.com and get plugged in. Read the information on the website and go ahead and open up the link to be able to serve as a host.

Looking for a group? We'd love to help you get plugged in. Now is the time to be the church. When you can't go to church, it becomes all the more essential to be the church. If church involves connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus, and you're feeling disconnected in every way, then you have to intentionally take steps to be connected with God and His people. Visit home.lifeinconnection.com. This is essential even when we get back to church; it will still be essential because we are living in an increasingly fractured and isolating society. God created us to live life in connection with Him and with one another.

If the culture is generating more division and separation—and I would suggest to you that it is—then we, the people of God, need to work to move against that. This is kind of like a 2020 reboot, like when your iPhone isn't working and you have to hard reset it. That's what we're doing: a hard reset, and we're booting into life in connection 2.0.

In the New Testament book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul wrote, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all."

Church, now is the time to be what God has called you and me to be and to walk worthy of that calling in humility, patience, and love. The Lord will continue to add to the gathering of His people those whom He is saving, and that sounds really good to me.

So, I want to encourage you one more time before we begin to worship the Lord. In a few minutes, we're going to partake of communion. I want to encourage you that the Lord saved us so that we could be reconciled to God and to one another, that He could join us back to Himself.

And that we could be gathered in to be His family, His people, the body of Christ, the Church. The Church is not just a building; it's not just the time when we gather people together on a Sunday morning in a building. The Church is the gathering of God's people, whether they're corporately gathered or scattered throughout the community.

During this time, it's a time for us to learn to be the Church in a new way so that we can reach our community and our world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what is needed in our society more than anything. I have said this so many times, and it becomes more and more clear to me every single day that passes in 2020. What is desperately needed in the United States of America and in the entire world in our day is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of salvation from sin and death in Him.

It is only in Jesus where we experience the kind of reconciliation that we desperately need. As people are constantly looking for something to fix the problems in our society today, especially in an election year like 2020, what we need to recognize as the followers of God, the people of God, the Church, is that the greatest hope for our culture is the good news of Jesus.

So may it be that God would unite us as His Church at Cross Connection to be able to reach into our community here in North County and beyond with the good news of that gospel. Just as Acts chapter 2 says at the end of the chapter, that we would have favor with all people and that the Lord would add to the Church daily those who are being saved.

Father, we thank You for the good news of the gospel, and we pray that that good news would be applied to our hearts in a new and special way during this time. Help us to follow You faithfully and to honor You during this time. Would You please make Cross Connection Church to be a city that is set on a hill that cannot be hid, a light shining to a dark world? We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

You are here, working in this place. I worship You; I worship You. You are here, working in this place.

We make a miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are. You are here, touching every heart. You are here, healing every life.

You are here, making a miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are.

Light in the darkness, my God, that is who You are. That is who You are. Oh, You are, even when I don't see it, You're working. Even when I don't feel it, You're working. You never stop, You never stop working.

You never stop, You never stop working. Even when I don't see it, You're working. Even when I don't feel it, You're working. You never stop, You never stop working. You never stop, You never stop working.

Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who You are. Yes, You are. We make a miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who You are.

Are we? Make a miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are. Yes, we make a miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are. That is who You are. That is who You are. That is who You are. That is who You are. That is who You are.

As I said earlier in our message today, we want to partake of communion together. Last week, we had a baptism, fulfilling the command of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations and to baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Baptism is one of the sacraments, one of two sacraments that we observe at Cross Connection Church. The other is the Lord's Supper, communion.

Of course, we've done this a number of times during lockdown, and so if you've been following along with us, you know the routine. Hopefully, you have some bread or some little crackers and some grape juice or some other liquid to remember the body and the blood of Jesus. We do this because Jesus did this with His disciples on the night that He would be betrayed by one of His own, by Judas Iscariot. As He partook of the bread and the cup with them, He said, "Do this in remembrance of Me."

And so that's exactly what we are doing today when we partake of communion. The Apostle Paul writes of it in First Corinthians, chapter 11. He says, "Therefore I receive from the Lord that which I also deliver to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.'"

Let's partake together and remember His body broken for us. In the same manner, He also took the cup.

After they had eaten, He said, "This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me." Let's partake together.

Lord, we remember today Your body that was broken for us and Your blood that was shed for us. Just as the Old Testament prophet Isaiah foresaw, You would be the suffering servant who would be beaten for us. You would be bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement for our peace would be upon You, and by Your stripes—the whipping that You took—we are healed and cleansed.

We know from the New Testament book of Hebrews that without the shedding of blood, there is no removal, remission, or forgiveness of sins. But Jesus, You are what the Scriptures describe as our propitiation, the atoning sacrifice. You took our sin upon Yourself; You who knew no sin became sin for us so that we would receive Your righteousness. We remember that today with great joy—that we are forgiven because of what You did and what You said on the cross: "It is finished. It is paid in full."

We are so grateful that You gave everything for us and that in You, we are more than conquerors through You who have loved us. We are more than conquerors over sin and over death.

Lord, I pray that You would help us to walk in that victory, rejoicing in You. And now, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Coming to you live from baptism, we are at the participating field.