C4 Connextion Corner

  Advent Week 4: Greater is Coming: Love 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. What’s love got to do with it? Most people can recite or are familiar with the 1984 smash hit by Tina Turner. And while she expressed love as a secondary emotion, it is the crux of our walk with Jesus.  The word love is mentioned over 300 times in the Bible. God (all three members of the Trinity) is love ( 1 John 4:16 ) and before Jesus departs, He gives us a new command centered around love ( John 13:34-35 ). Suffice it to say, love is highly valued in the sight of God, so much so, that He gave the world His only begotten son.  To truly appreciate the Advent season, we must embrace the totality of Jesus’s mission to completely save us ( Hebrews 7:25 ).  We cannot mention the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, but neglect to shed light on his return and rule ( 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 and Revelation ...

Greater Is Coming: Christ's Covenant of Joy   “ 41 At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed.  43 Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me?  44 When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy.  45 You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” 46 Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. 47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! 48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. 49 For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. 50 He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. 51 His mighty arm has done tremendous things!...” Luke 1:41-51 NLT   The third week of Advent represents joy. While Ch...

  Greater is Coming: Behold The Prince of Peace Focus Scripture: Isaiah 9:6 Greater is coming simply translates as Jesus is coming for the Blood washed believer. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) As we celebrate the second week of Advent, let us focus our attention on peace. Let us settle our minds and spirits, as we get in the Presence of the Lord. Gideon understood Peace quite well according to Judges 6:23-24. “Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace.” Be encouraged this Advent season because Greater is coming. Peace can be defined as being free from mental or spiritual agitation. There have been quite a few disruptions and an overwhelming number of tragic happenings over the last few years...

  I saiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Here is the Good News I have always had a disdain for hearing “I have good news and bad news.” My disdain for the statement comes from the thought that the purpose of the good news is to soften the blow of the bad news . If I am completely honest, we live in an era where bad news is common. So much so, that good news can, quite literally, take our breath away. We live in a sin-filled, sick-ravished, fiscally impoverished, morally inept, and inebriated society. The gift for us is that our gracious and loving God decided that this world and people (us); who are corrupt and sinful in nature, are the people in which God would deposit His son in the earth. This gift has given us direct and deep relationship with the father. And we have one job: to remind ot...

“ When joy and prayer are married, their first-born child is gratitude” Charles Spurgeon   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18    Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.   Happy Thanksgiving to you my sister and brother! I have a question for you, can you be grateful when circumstances are not what you want them to be?  Can you rejoice, pray and give thanks to God when things in your life may be upside down?  This scripture, written by the Apostle Paul commands us to do three things that are uplifting when many things around us may not be uplifting.   We must realize that being a Christian means we are not allowed excuses for not having a grateful, thankful heart toward the God that loved and saved us. Regardless of our past, our current conditions or hopeful future, we are to give thanks! Another Thanksgiving holiday has come before us and while some of us...

TIME 4 INSPIRATION           The concluding observation of this Lenten Season is inundated with self-reflection and worldview perspectives. As Holy as this time is, we cannot help but be impacted by higher inflation rates than in 40 years. The cost of food, gas, electricity, and just about every necessary commodity we can imagine has been drastically affected. Ukraine and Russia have thrust us into a vicarious place of what-ifs, and let’s not forget (or underestimate) the pandemic and its lingering effects. We have faced and continue to be confronted with personal tragedies and triumphs, both reminding us of the sovereignty of our loving Father and Savior. Today I challenge, beseech, and even urge you to receive a message of  inspiration , a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul. As a challenge, why not allow your mental, physical, and spiritual being full of potential positive energy designed and intended to shift and...

Introspection: The Start of Inspection by Taji Brown Founding Scripture: Matthew 7:1-5 If you dissect the word introspection, I strongly believe it means the beginning of inspection. Where better to start examination, than with oneself. Introspection is turning our eyes inward and seeing the true nature of the man. It is doing what Michael Jackson did in 1988, “...starting with the man in the mirror…” Introspection is looking at the role you played in an altercation first before placing any blame. According to Webster’s dictionary, introspection is an examination of one’s own thoughts and feelings. It is a reflection of all things internal. Unfortunately, we as a people tend to run away from this concept. For us it is much easier to point the finger at our neighbor. We do not like to take responsibility for our own mess and own up to our proclivities. We would much rather find fault in everyone else around us in order to have an excuse for our baggage. However, Matthew 7:1-5 is v...