Cole Phillips

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Cole Phillips Cole Phillips is the founding and lead pastor of The Connection Church in Hays County, Texas.

10/23/2026

Is this a warning from God about America? “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.”
Jeremiah 18:7-10 NIV

10/22/2026

It’s easy to pray for a need and then wait for someone else to meet it. But Nehemiah saw the need, let it break his heart, brought it to God in prayer, and then offered himself as a part of the answer.

At the close of Nehemiah’s prayer in 1:11, Nehemiah asks God for divine favor before "this man," the king. He’s asking God to make him a part of the solution. He’s making himself available.

He asked for favor to act on it personally. God often answers our prayers by equipping and sending the very person who is praying.

God has given you time, abilities, relationships, and resources. When you make yourself available to God, those ordinary things become instruments of His extraordinary work. The question is not whether God can do something about the need. The question is whether you are willing to be part of how He does it.

10/21/2026

Nehemiah didn’t remind God of something He had forgotten in Nehemiah 1:8-10. He put his faith in God had already declared to be true.

Praying the Bible is one of the most powerful things a believer can do, because it lines up our requests with what God has shown us about who He is and His will.

When Nehemiah said, "You promised," he wasn’t demanding from God. He was trusting God. He was saying, "I believe You mean what You said, and I am standing on it."

Colossians 2:7 calls us to let our roots grow down into Christ so that our faith grows strong. Roots go down before anything rises up. This week, let God's Word be the ground beneath your prayers.

10/20/2026

Sometimes, our prayers sound polished, safe, and carefully worded, but they never get below the surface. But there are other prayers like Nehemiah prayed, that fall before God with grief, raw honesty, and transparency. He didn’t just talk about others' sins; he confessed his own. That kind of humility is rare and powerful.

God doesn’t need us to bring him a cleaned-up version of ourselves. He already knows what’s really going on. He is looking for an honest heart.

As we move forward together, God isn’t just interested in developing a property. He wants to develop your heart.

Confession is the foundation for taking your next steps with God.

What areas of pride, apathy, or self-dependence have kept you from fully trusting God? What would honest confession look like in your prayer life today?

10/19/2026

It’s easy to keep a comfortable distance from the suffering of others. In the book of Nehemiah, we see that Nehemiah had a prestigious position, a secure life, and no personal obligation to the people struggling in Jerusalem.

But when he heard their story, it hit him so hard that he started weeping. A compassionate response like that leads people to do something about the need. Nehemiah's heart was broken before he ever lifted a hammer.

Ask yourself: What need is God placing in front of you that you’ve been too comfortable to feel? Who in your life, your neighborhood, or your community has a need that you can help to meet? Let their reality move you.

The willingness to be moved is the first step toward being used.

10/17/2026

The armor of God is every defensive and offensive piece we need to stand against the enemy’s attacks. We have all believed lies. We have surrendered ground. We have chosen our own way over God's way.
Jesus walked through the wilderness without sinning. We have given in to temptation. That is exactly why Jesus didn’t just come to show us how to fight. He came to win the victory we could never win on our own. He carried our sin, shame, rebellion, and condemnation to the cross. Three days later, He walked out of a tomb.
You can wear the armor of God because of what He has already accomplished. You are now fighting from victory, not for victory.
If you’ve never surrendered your life to Christ, the greatest battle you face today isn’t temptation or fear. It’s the question of whether you will trust Jesus who has already won the war.
Romans 10:9 declares that confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in His resurrection leads to salvation. That is where the battle ends and the new life begins.

10/16/2026

Jesus did more than just quote Scripture in his battle with the devil; He lived it out.
He refused bread when He was hungry. He refused to test God when it would have been dramatic. He refused the kingdoms of the world when it was offered at the wrong price.
The Word wasn’t just on His lips. It was in His life.
James 1:22 says that hearing the Word without doing it is self-deception. It creates the illusion of spiritual depth without the substance. Biblical knowledge that doesn't produce obedience eventually breeds pride.
The sword of the Spirit is most powerful in the hands of someone willing to actually live by what it says.
Every time you read the Bible, the real question is not what you learned. The real question is what God is asking you to do about it. Obedience is the point. It is where the Word moves from your mind into your life and begins to change things.

10/15/2026

Have you ever noticed that when Satan tempts Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew 4, the devil is quoting Scripture? That goes to show that the enemy knows the Bible well enough to twist it so he can lead people away from the truth. He strips it of context and uses it to point people away from God instead of toward Him.

This is a warning to us. Knowing Bible verses isn’t the same as knowing the Bible. A verse pulled from its context can become a weapon aimed in the wrong direction, used to control, manipulate, or justify things God doesn’t approve of.

2 Timothy 2:15 calls us to handle the Word of truth correctly, like a skilled worker who knows the Bible and uses it the right way. Before asking what a passage means to you personally, ask what it actually means. Who wrote it and who was it written to? What was happening? How does it fit in the bigger story of Scripture?

Handling God's Word honestly is an act of worship.

10/14/2026

You can't fight with a weapon you don't how to use. As it takes skill to use a sword, it also takes skill to wield the Word of God correctly in the spiritual battle you face.

10/14/2026

My dad used to say, “When you’re talking to yourself, you’re talking to a mighty fine person.”

That’s what David did in Psalm 42. He looked at his own downcast soul and preached the truth directly to himself. He didn’t wait for his feelings to change before he spoke the truth. He said what was true and trusted that his feelings would eventually follow.

Something powerful happens when you say the Word of God out loud. It interrupts the fearful conversation in your mind.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Bible is alive and active, sharp enough to divide what is real from what is false and cut through the layers of deception we have accepted about ourselves and our circumstances.

When the enemy raises his voice, you raise the voice of truth. Not apologetically, but with authority. The lies you have been rehearsing silently in your mind deserve to be interrupted by the truth God has already said. Speak it. Say it out loud.

Wield the sword of God’s Word; don't just admire it from a distance.

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Buda, TX

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 1pm

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