On Sunday morning, March 14, those who attended the Greater Hartford Church of Christ entered to find no heat in the building.  A pipe had burst and no air flow could get from the boiler to the auditorium.  Grateful that it wasn’t December or January, we huddled together and generated as much body heat as possible to enjoy two rousing morning worship services.

Later in the day, Isaac Davis got together for a Bible study.  Moved by the power of the Scriptures that he had been intensely studying for the past couple of months – Isaac determined that he would not delay in getting right with God.  He wanted to be baptized as soon as possible.  It was a fantastic determination.  There was just one catch. There was no hot water in the building.

From March 4-9, our family visited the state of Arizona.  The primary reason for our trip was to conduct a parenting workshop entitled, “Parenting with Grace and Truth.”  However, what we most looked forward to was spending time with Gary and Gail Sciascia and family – best friends of ours for many years and of plenty of others in the state of Connecticut.

On February 20, teen disciples from New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut converged on the Hartford church building to plan the first-ever "Teen Conference" event set for Oct. 16-17, 2010.

Each year brings a new set of plans to enliven our hearts and actions following the holiday season.  This year’s series, “The Me I Want To Be,” has taken hold, and many new faces have been flowing into our services in January.  However, January 24th was one of those “unbelievable God” Sundays as our congregation rented out Hall High School in West Hartford for a service and a potluck meal.  Over 550 people checked out God on this Sunday as we talked about the important role of relationships in our lives.
West Hartford is really the town where our church began.  The early days of our history were mostly spent at the Elmwood Community Center in West Hartford, so heading back for a special neighbor day event made sense.  Around 8:30 AM, many disciples were already flooding into Hall High to set up sound, practice the songs, arrange kid’s kingdom rooms, open up the cafeteria, prepare communion and more. 
The crowd began to roll in at 9:30 and just kept coming.  There was an eclectic mix of songs, starting at 10 AM, with about half sung acapella and half accompanied by the band.  Tim and Sam Blake welcomed the audience following three, more lively ones.  Daniel Gifford, Hall Senior, and Susan Parra, Hall graduate and present girls’ freshman volleyball coach, had special thoughts about their school and their church as well.  Teen leader, Julius Ferrer, later led our minds in a communion thought which centered on Jesus being the bread of life.

On Valentine’s Day, February 14, the teen ministry took over the leadership of the 9 AM worship service in our church.  Teen leader Julius Ferrer preached and, in the first part of the sermon, he quoted John chapters 13-17.  It was amazing, convicting and inspiring.  But even with all of that, the mountaintop experience of that service was the immersion of Sarah Allen.
Before a largest ever crowd (at one service) of 310, the teens welcomed, shared, sang, prayed and preached.  Dillon Woodley and Taylor Heath gave the opening greetings and announcements.  Daniel Gifford shared from I Peter 1:24-25 prior to communion.  He spoke about how the world can become less alluring as we draw closer to Jesus, realizing that it doesn’t fulfill or last.  Drew Cline focused our minds prior to contribution by sharing personally about giving from conviction and not just emotion or peer pressure.
Following the passing of trays, Sarah Allen and a host of family and friends moved to the stage.  Sarah’s two older sisters had come back from Boston, where they are in college, for this special day.  They asked her the two questions prior to her spiritual rebirth.  Heather Ferrer read a favorite passage.  Jimmy & Anita Allen both talked of Sarah’s heart, progress and life and their love for their youngest.  Then Sarah read a statement of thanks to God and the many who have helped her to this point in life.  She concluded with “I have decided to follow Jesus - no turning back; no turning back.”