Worship

Loving the Man To Your Left and Right (Charles Paksi – 2/19/21 – NCS New Canaan)

February 19, 2021 by NCS New Canaan 2 Comments

Charles Paksi has served in the U.S. military for 29 years, and he shares, with amazing transparency and humility, the story of his life and the men who God used to mould him into the courageous man of faith, grateful son, devoted husband, loving father and faithful friend he is today.

Although Charles does not like talking about himself, his stories also reveal how God has used him to shape other men. From those on his “left” who influenced him, to those on his “right” who he is influencing, we see how God uses the power of relationship to raise up, train and protect his children.

Paksi looks back and recognizes how God blessed him and prepared him for his future as a warrior, a leader, a husband, a father and a friend through the people he encountered and the lessons they taught him. From a father who instilled in him a deep appreciation for faith, freedom and the privilege of being an American, to the uncle who inspired him at age 7 to become a Marine, to the bully who showed him the difference between offense and defense, to the man who exhibited the power of a man on foot, to the coach and small town that helped him understand the importance of culture, to the teammate who instilled the need to be prepared at all times, to the seasoned Marines who taught him through their actions the importance of love for the man on your left and right. He knows there were no coincidences.

Charles vulnerably explains the humbling experience of bootcamp and learning that you must rely on the Marine to your left and your right. He also reflects on the first time, at the tender age of 19, he witnessed a fellow Marine get killed and then observed the courageous response of his leader. And he shares the life-changing “born again” experience when he believed he was likely to die.

Through an extensive Q&A session following his talk, Charles gives a glimpse into why his life may hold many titles and many jobs, but he is, and always will be, a United States Marine.

What I’ve Learned from What I’ve Lost (Ron Hutchcraft – 2/5/21 – NCS New Canaan)

February 5, 2021 by NCS New Canaan Leave a Comment

Ron Hutchcraft shares vulnerably and from his heart about the sudden loss of his dear wife Karen a few years ago when she went home to be with Jesus. He opens up about their life and partnership together and how devastating it was to be without her. Ron talks about how his loss led to him writing his newest book Hope When Your Heart Is Breaking: Finding God’s Presence in Your Pain.

Ron then explains in detail five important lessons God revealed to him during the grieving process, even showing some of the notes he made in his journal (with his book and his talk exemplifying how he is personally living out the first lesson):

If you are going to have pain, get the point.
Repair now what you will regret later.
Let your heart feel.
Rise above the rubble.
The breaking of a man is the making of a man.

Ron’s talk echoes something we have said at NCS New Canaan many times (thanks to Dan Tocchini)–“Our today is robbed by our expectation of a tomorrow.” Think about what you would do if you were told you had one month to live, particularly in the relationships in your life–then JUST DO IT!

For those interested in learning more about, and possibly supporting, Ron’s work, his website is https://hutchcraft.com

The Problem of Pleasure (Ravi Zacharias – 10/8/10 – NCS New Canaan)

May 19, 2020 by NCS New Canaan Leave a Comment

The world-renowned evangelist and apologist Ravi Zacharias went home to be with Jesus at the age of 74 after a battle with cancer.

DO YOU REMEMBER?

It was 2010 and we received an e-mail from an NCS brudder asking if we would be interested in having Ravi Zacharias speak to our Chapter. Ravi was going to be in the area, had heard about NCS and was willing to speak to us. Why is that amazing? At that time, Zacharias spoke 300+ days/year and still turned down 99% of the speaking requests he received. He was used to speaking to thousands/tens of thousands/hundreds of thousands. We didn’t ask, but he offered to come to our little restaurant in Darien. It was one of the two largest crowds we ever packed into Ten Twenty Post Restaurant over 11 years (the other was Paul Young shortly after The Shack became a best-seller).

What do we take from this story? Our loving Father wanted us to hear Ravi’s message in 2010. We think He may want us to hear it again. Ravi talked about “displaced priorities”–he shared vulnerably about his own regrets–what he missed as a Dad from a life on the road. The Covid Crisis has been a reset for many–some families eating dinner together for the first time in years. Old priorities have been disrupted and re-ordered. When things “re-open”, we will have a choice–rush back to “displaced priorities” that feel familiar (that is where the world will draw us) or pause to consider “re-ordered” priorities.

So here it is again–to honor the life of a man who gave to others and who incredibly offered to give very tangibly to our little community almost 10 years ago.

A Musical Path to Spaceless Embrace (Dan Haseltine – 4/26/19 – NCS New Canaan)

April 26, 2019 by NCS New Canaan Leave a Comment

Dan Haseltine tells us that a songwriter’s job is to describe the world as it is and as it it could be, and he presents his vision of both.

Starting with a painfully vulnerable description of his childhood, Haseltine explains how a dysfunctional and volatile family life pushed him to music, and how music led him to mission. He transparently shares the generational brokenness that resulted in him growing up without access to a father, and then reveals how watching the Live Aid concert in 1985 transformed his understanding of rock and roll and permanently fused in his mind “music” and “mission”.

After describing the unlikely genesis of Jars of Clay at a small college in southern Illinois, Haseltine explains how the band was led to use its platform of musical success to embrace mission by starting the charity Blood:Water.

In telling this story, Haseltine reveals two lessons he has learned about humanity. First, that human beings often try to control or destroy things we do not understand, and second, that we long for “spaceless embrace” with each other but continually drive wedges between ourselves. Haseltine then offers his vision of the world “as it could be”.

Awake Mighty Men! (Brock Morgan – 12/4/15 – NCS New Canaan)

December 4, 2015 by NCS Leave a Comment

Brock Morgan gives a call to arms to the “mighty men” of NCS to awaken to their identity as men of God, to embrace that they are living in the overlap between heaven and earth, and to join God in lifting the heads of the next generation. Brock sees the hope of the next generation in us and challenges the “mighty men” of NCS to live out their faith so that the next generation can see what God is doing to restore the world to His original design. Brock also shares miraculous examples of the power of prayer and miraculous stories about how the Holy Spirit changed the hearts of the young people he served at Trinity Church in Greenwich.

Stay Connected