The Connect Devotional - a daily devotional with CCC

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Archives for January 2021

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Words and Wisdom

Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark The wisdom from heaven is first of all pure (James 3:5, 17). Chatham Church wants to grow into a "noble cedar" church. Another way we talk about this is being a "big tent" church. "Big tent" does not mean lots of people who are all alike, who all agreethat's pretty easy to do! But "big tent" means lots and lots...

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Fruit Fight

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (James 3:17). She threw a fruit I couldn't dodge; I giggled at the blow. I picked one up and tossed it back; The fight began to flow. He stood by, watching, wondering; And I just couldn't resist. Before he knew...

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Hard Work Pays Off

You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. James 3:18 (MSG) It's hard work to learn to tame the tongue, and in turn treat others with respect. It's something we've spoken with our children about at length, and a frequ...

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From a Stumble to a Fire

"Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark." (James 3:5) "We all stumble in many ways" (3:1). James' pronouncement (understatement?) is just as true now as it was centuries ago. These past months of isolation, loneliness, frustration, and fear have provided plentiful opportunities, even for Christians who should be modeling a life of humility, to go wro...

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Me and My Big Mouth

James 3:1-18 Ever said anything you regret saying? Ever spoken too soon? Ever failed to speak up when you knew you should have? Ever had someone say something to you that broke your heart, your spirit? Ever said something like that to someone else? "Sticks and stones may break my bones Loose lips sink ships Me and my big mouth!" Welcome to James 3. This chapter is our ...

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Gnawing

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night" (Joshua 1:8). Have you ever tried to pry a bone away from a dog? Watch outyou might get snapped at, or nipped! This is a picture of what it means to meditate on Scripture. Not the snapping or nipping partthe gnawing. One of the Hebrew words which our Bibles translate as meditate is ve...

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Treading Water

"Get ready to cross the Jordan River." (Joshua 1:2) Treading water gets tiring. Getting to that distant shore seems impossible, so I keep treading water, momentarily safe. My efforts get me nowhere but exhausted; I can't keep doing this. What's the other alternative, drowning? It's terrifying to stop treading water, scary to start moving forward. I can't reach the shore, ...

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Rest to Restart

Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: "The Lord your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land (Joshua 1:13). You are to help your brothers until the Lord gives them rest (Joshua 1:14b). Please pause here and picture a sleeping baby. Did you smile? They are so sweet when they're sleeping, aren't they? Yet their way to dreamland ofte...

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Moses is Dead!

After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua, "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River " (Joshua 1:1-2). What got you here may not be all you need to get you there. As the book of Joshua opens, the people of Israel are at a significant "restart" moment. Forty years of wilderness wander...

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The Main Objective

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 Once upon a time in a land far away I was a teacher. In college I took an education course specifically geared toward instructing new teachers how to create effective lesson plans. It was tedious work, but all th...

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The Blessing of Confrontation?

Jeremiah 2 Has it ever happened to you that a good friend "got in your face" about some aspect of your conduct and, much as you may not have liked the experience, you had to (eventually) agree that your friend was on to something? Welcome to Jeremiah 2. Here the "friend" is the Lord God Almighty, and the faces being gotten into belong to the people of Israel. It's a tou...

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Memorable Amazing Water

My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2:13). One of my early childhood memories is of my brother and me drinking water from an artesian well. Over the years that memory faded. Then came the daysixty years later--when my mother and I re-visited ...

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Spring Water or Cistern Water?

"My people have forsaken me, the spring of Living Water, and havedug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water" (Jeremiah 2:13). The high school soccer trophies on the bedroom shelf. The honors cords draped over the college diploma. The plaque honoring excellence at work. They all hold some measure of success, offer some sense of security: Look what I did...

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"Where is the LORD?"

They did not ask, "Where is the LORD?" The priests did not ask, "Where is the LORD?" My people have forsaken me, the spring of living water (Jeremiah 2:6, 8, 13). Unhook is our theme word for this third week of our Restart! Series: it's hard to really get restarted if you're chained to something! How do we get unhooked so that we can get going again? The feeling of bei...

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Spring > Cistern

My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water,and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2:13). [Editor's Note: because our writing team had the week off between Christmas and New Year's, our Connect Devotionals got a week behind the preaching and home group study schedules. We're now back in sy...

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Hineni

God called to Moses from the bush. And Moses said, "Here I am" (Exodus 3:4). This week we've been exploring what it means to Restart. How do we keep going in what feels like an unending wilderness? How do we "find God" in situations that seem only to communicate God's absence? Where do we gain the energy to hear and obey God when we feel weighed and dragged down by so man...

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Why Not Minot?

Exodus 3 On December 23, 2009, in the middle of a record breaking blizzard, Team Waldstein rolled into Minot, North Dakota. (Pronounced MY-not...rhymes with, "Why not?"...see what I did there?) It was a new start for our family, and one only my husband was excited about! Outwardly I went willingly, because I knew in my head it was the right move for our family. Inwardly I...

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Hard Pass

Exodus 3 and 4 When our second child was just a couple weeks old my husband approached me with a radical idea. "I'm going to start applying for other jobs out of state." My then sleep deprived state keeps me from recalling my exact reaction, but I'm positive laughter was involved. We had a brand new baby, a two-year-old, two full time jobs, my entire extended family withi...

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From Inertia to Engagement

"So now, go. I am sending you" (Exodus 3:10). Inertia? Have you felt it these past few months? Forced into months of semi-isolation and limited contact with others, was it easy to get lazy, stay in the sleep pants, and watch yet another Netflix show? Did it become more comfortable to stream the church service at our convenience? Have we preferred working from home with it...

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The Back Side of Nowhere

Moses led his flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb,the mountain of God (Exodus 3:1). Happy New Year, and welcome back to Connect Devotionals! A new year begins, and a new sermon series: Restart! As 2021 begins, a restarta fresh startreally is something to long for, as a country, as a church, as a person. 2020, with its pandemic, political turmoil and on...

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