"The Soldier, the Athlete, and the Farmer"

On Sunday, May 15, 2011, the Greater Hartford Church of Christ had the younger generation lead the church services both at 9am & 11:30am services.  

A powerful communion was led by Robert Outterbridge who explained that being “alone” and “forgotten” was how he felt in his relationship with his biological father, and how that is not the case with his Father in heaven.  Jeff Matthews did a contribution speech on how giving our money to the church isn’t like garbage at all.  In fact, our  contribution money is actually used for good and is useful for the advancement of God’s kingdom.
Campus students from UConn & SCSU – Nick Bissonnette, Titus Walelo, and Vitalij Staroverov led the 9am service by preaching out of 2 Timothy 2:1-11 . 

Nick opened up the sermon by explaining how the soldier in an army has so many characteristics that a Christian should mimic – they should be focused, disciplined, non-distracted, and determined. 

Titus Walelo came second and preached a convicting lesson on how athlete’s can only receive a crown if they “compete according to the rules”.  He shared some of his life experiences as a track runner and how becoming a Christian really helped him to see how God’s Word is the rule book for the “game of life.” 

Vitalij Staroverov finished the 9am roundup on the topic of a “farmer” and how we need to work diligently like a farmer and spread the “Gospel” seeds as much as we can.
The 11:30 worship service was led by all teenagers.  Mitchell & Monet opened up the service with the welcome, prayer and announcements.
Then the “restoration” of Orquidea followed with Dee Russell sharing her heart about Orquidea’s desire to come back to God and be closer to him than ever before.

Chris Carlos led a simple communion speech of how Jesus gave him a “second chance” through his baptism.  Reading out of John 8 , he shared briefly about how the cross is about how God gives us “second chances”.   Then Eric Easton played a beautiful song on his guitar entitled, “Mighty to Save”. 

Joshua Rivera shared a 3 ½ minute contribution speech on how contribution is really about giving your whole heart, time, energy, and life to God --- not just your money.  He gave several examples in his own life of how he does this, even though at 13 years old he has no money.
Karina, Amaris, Sarah, and Jessie Collado performed a special song called, “How The Lost Get Found” --- a popular Christian song originally sang by Britt Nicole.  Great applause filled the entire auditorium as soon as the song finished.

Finally, with the same scripture (2 Timothy 2:1-11 ) and with the same powerful Spirit, Drew Cline, Malcolm Fisher, and Dillon Woodley preached a similar message on “the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer.”  Please click on the videos to view their sermons.