Connections JournalConnections Journalhttp://www.heritagecc.org/connections-weblog/2010-03-04T18:38:05ZSquarespaceTell me...how are we doing?http://www.heritagecc.org/connections-weblog/2010/3/4/tell-mehow-are-we-doing.htmlJohn Buckles2010-03-04T18:32:35Z2010-03-04T18:32:35ZThe Connection Ministry exists to assist any individual desiring to take any step into or within the Heritage faith community. Our ministry heartbeat is to provide, provoke and protect a safe and comfortable environment where people feel valued, cared for and at ease in an unfamiliar setting.

Whether you have been at Heritage once, or are a founding member, your experiences and opinions are important, and you likely speak for several others who willl never communicate to us in this way. We know we can get better at modeling the hospitable heart of Christ. Tell us how :-)

If you would like to comment on any aspects of Heritage’s hospitality, please fill out our online HCC Guest Survey 

If you would like to help enhance the connection aspects of Heritage as a current or former attender, please fill out our online Connection Assessment Survey. 

]]>Servant Appreciation Night!http://www.heritagecc.org/connections-weblog/2010/2/27/servant-appreciation-night.htmlJohn Buckles2010-02-28T00:26:00Z2010-02-28T00:26:00ZI wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the servants in the Connection Ministry for everything you do each weekend and in other spaces to lead our Heritage culture in partnering with God in modeling the welcoming and shepherding heart of Jesus. You not only greet, serve, orient and direct our guests and attenders, but often help reduce and remove the barriers that attenders may have toward God and what He wants to do in their lives.  Your other-oriented hospitality ministry contribution is, according to one church development author, a “steppingstone to the life of the church” (Krejir) as well as a tangible and hard-to-refute witness of the grace and love of God.

To honor your service this year, we are hosting our 3rd annual Servant Appreciation Night for you on Sunday, March 7, from 5:30-8:30pm at the Westerville Community Center, 350 N. Cleveland Avenue. This unstructured, open house style evening allows you and other servants in our church family the exclusive (after hours) use of the whole facility for YOU and anyone you choose to bring with you (friends, family, neighbors, associates) to enjoy swimming, open gym, climbing wall, indoor games and playground, nibbles, etc. in your honor.

Those who have come in years past have thoroughly enjoyed a FREE night of refreshment and mental/physical health. We hope you can enjoy this small token of our thanks for all your Kingdom enhancing efforts, but even if you are unable to attend please know that we love and appreciate you more each day as we labor together in service to our King!

Connection Pastor John Buckles

 

]]>How and what do we REALLY communicate?http://www.heritagecc.org/connections-weblog/2010/2/19/how-and-what-do-we-really-communicate.htmlJohn Buckles2010-02-19T17:42:32Z2010-02-19T17:42:32ZAs a former communications professor I am reminded there are three components to “communicating” effectively (as a member of any welcome team, or at any time or place in your life):

1.  Verbal –  WHAT you say (Good morning, good to see you, hello…etc)

2.  Vocal –   HOW you say the words (being “up”, expressive, enthusiastic, authoritative, audible enough to be heard)

3.  Nonverbal –  WHAT you “say” apart from words and tone of voice (eye contact, facial expressions, attire, gestures, touch, etc)

EACH of these channels is communicating “something”, and studies show that if the components are in “conflict”,  people will ‘believe” the vocal and nonverbal ones over the verbal. This could be applicable and valuable information, not only in all the welcome ministries, but in your everyday conversations. Be intentional and mindful of what you are REALLY “saying” to those around you, at church and in the rest of your life relationships.

Thanks,
John Buckles
Connection Pastor

]]>How Do You Get Closer to Someone?http://www.heritagecc.org/connections-weblog/2010/2/3/how-do-you-get-closer-to-someone.htmlJohn Buckles2010-02-03T20:40:40Z2010-02-03T20:40:40ZReflect for a moment on your very closest relationships. What is it that distinguishes them from the more casual ones in your life?  Chances are that you (and the other person) would say there are three dynamics that exist in a more significant way than the other relationships:

1)  You ask a lot of questions of each other.

2)  You freely self-disclose (appropriately) with each other.

3)  You  listen well to each other.

 

There is no substitute in a growing relationship for the exchange of personal information and the subsequent empathy and understanding that goes with it. It is the life blood of intimacy. It also models the heart of Jesus. He is supremely interested in your life’s smallest details, and always makes time for you. He will ask questions and share His heart in response to your inquiry. As we engage in service to each other, let us be Jesus to each other. And watch the relationship grow. Let’s be an other-oriented community and you and others will find that you have more close friends than you could ever imagine.

 

]]>Tis the "Season"!http://www.heritagecc.org/connections-weblog/2010/1/29/tis-the-season.htmlJohn Buckles2010-01-29T20:42:53Z2010-01-29T20:42:53Z“There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecc. 3:1)

The Bible talks a lot about seasons. And not just fall, winter, spring and summer. “Seasons” are those periods in our lives characterized by particular relational, spiritual, occupational and behavioral conditions and “climates”. Our world is experiencing a new season in many ways, - a new political backdrop, a new economic landscape, a new age of civilization, technology, etc.

The Scripture exhorts us to live and preach the Word and to be prepared in season and out of season (2 Tim. 4:2). Perhaps you have reached out to someone in a previous season with the love of Jesus, and have been stiff-armed. As the Lord shakes His world in this new season, maybe now you will reap a harvest in this due time if you will not give up (Gal. 6:9). Take a chance and reach out to them again, sow a seed of God’s welcome and reconciliation and see what He does. Even as I write this,  a good friend of mine has continued to reach for his wayward daughter and has been stiffed. Right now she is sitting in church. Who knows if she is still hard toward God, but our only job is to continue to entreat and welcome , and let God do a new thing His way in His time.

]]>A True Super Bowl this yearhttp://www.heritagecc.org/connections-weblog/2010/1/23/a-true-super-bowl-this-year.htmlJohn Buckles2010-01-24T00:52:13Z2010-01-24T00:52:13ZWant to really enjoy the Super Bowl on the afternoon of Sunday February 7th? Consider inviting someone else to your party. This day is one of the most fertile dates of the year to reach for someone outside your own circle because statisitcs show that there are perhaps more gatherings and parties than any other non-holiday day of the year. The day sets up as a social bonanza. The hard-core footballers watch football and the majority can just have good conversation, board games, and food. Even the kids find things to do. The calendar is usually pretty clear, so seize the day for low level, high touch ministry, and see what God does!

]]>A New Year's Divine Conversationhttp://www.heritagecc.org/connections-weblog/2010/1/7/a-new-years-divine-conversation.htmlJohn Buckles2010-01-07T16:01:26Z2010-01-07T16:01:26ZJust a quick note to ask you to join me in prayer this month for ones who (increasingly this time of year) may be sensing the tug of the Spirit and are “returning” to church. Typically these next couple weeks see the biggest attendance “bump” of the year, so pray for sensitivity and expectancy as to how God might use you to model and join his Fatherly heart in “welcoming” them (back).

For some of us it might mean walking across the foyer, auditorium or street and initiating a conversation. Others of us may feel led to pick up the phone, send an email or invite someone to something you’re doing. On the next few weekends here at Heritage, it could also mean a tangible step like steering away from the 11am, coming on Saturday night, limiting the carts in a snow-piled parking lot and/or taking the shuttle (donuts are a still an additional short term reward!). Maybe even a smile and a simple act of service like praying for the person next to you or scooting in toward the middle of a row.

Whatever we may be led to do or not do, let’s do it with the joy that comes from being “other-oriented”, considering others above ourselves. What Divine “conversation” we will be articulating!

]]>Be Imitators of Immanuelhttp://www.heritagecc.org/connections-weblog/2009/12/3/be-imitators-of-immanuel.htmlJohn Buckles2009-12-03T22:15:04Z2009-12-03T22:15:04ZImmanuel, God WITH us. The hospitality heart in me resonates with this aspect of the Nature of our God. He wants to be close to us. Why? Because He knows what it does for a person. Let’s model His heart and draw close to people this holiday season. No matter what their love language (or ours) , you can’t really express it well and often without getting up close and personal with them. The Holy Spirit was called the “paraclete” by Jesus, One who “comes alongside” us. Let’s settle for nothing less :-)

]]>Thanksgving and Hospitality -- How Are They Related?http://www.heritagecc.org/connections-weblog/2009/11/24/thanksgving-and-hospitality-how-are-they-related.htmlJohn Buckles2009-11-24T19:59:11Z2009-11-24T19:59:11ZAs a holiday, Thanksgiving seems as “hospitable” as any on the calendar. Visions of sitting around the table, enjoying a meal together and a seemingly more relational holiday than even Christmas can be.

As a mindset, a spirit of thanksgiving seems to open the door to relationship, — not only with God but with other people. Personally, I find myself more attracted to positive, happy people and seem to naturally gravitate away from negative, pessimistic people. An aroma of thankfulness seems to say, “I am open to you and what God is doing in me and you”, where an ungrateful person often seems to be deep in their ‘stuff’ and not always as other-oriented. Some of that is quite natural and understandable, but rather than circle the wagons this holiday, let’s send the message that the glass is half full and there’s room for another at my table and in my life.

]]>Shuttle Thanks!http://www.heritagecc.org/connections-weblog/2009/11/10/shuttle-thanks.htmlJohn Buckles2009-11-10T17:41:03Z2009-11-10T17:41:03ZI really appreciate so many of you making the other-oriented, making-room-for-one-more sacrifice of taking the shuttle from the Westerville Central Parking lot! With the messages in this series, and with guest friendly events coming like baptism (Nov 22), child dedications (Dec 6), and Advent, we really want everyone to be able to get in and have a God encounter.

And yes it is true…we will be continuing to offer donuts on the shuttle indefinitely. I know it seems shallow for us to do that, but hey this is important stuff and it’s the least we can do in return :-)

Shuttle runs continuously between Central High School and the front doors of Heritage every Sunday from 8am-1pm!

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