About

On September 21, 2010, Curtis and Allison planted Harvest Christian Fellowship of Amarillo. We originally began in Jack and Darla Carthel’s home, moved shortly to a guest room at the Country Barn restaurant, and then renovated a three-thousand-square-foot building on I-27. Within the year, we were offered our current building which consisted of chandeliers, pews, and orange carpet with the entire children’s wing condemned by the city. But our God is a God of redemption, and He has raised this building up from the ashes to what it is today — housing the youth of Connexion. We have expanded to our worship center located on 45th and Teckla, which allows us to minister to well over a thousand each month.

Ephesians chapter four reminds us that we, as a church, should be an equipping center. Early on, Curtis would watch Kid City while Allison would lead the forty or fifty people in worship. When worship was over, she would relieve Curtis while he would then go and preach. However, as people were equipped, they began to serve, and the church was soon on its way. Bret Huey would become our second hire and would be vital in equipping people for ministries in the church.

Today, Harvest Connexion has sixteen full-time employees and many part-time employees. We currently have over 400 people in Life Groups and Focus Groups, and others who serve many ministries throughout the city and the world — but this is just the beginning. Our goal is to continue to grow so we can engage our culture, encourage them in a relationship with Jesus Christ, equip them, and empower them in service.

Matthew 16:13-20 “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in Heaven.’ Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.”

John 14:6 “Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.’”

Jesus, both fully man and fully God, came into our culture, lived a sinless life, died a shameful death for the forgiveness of our sins (not to condone them), rose from a cold grave, and is now in Heaven seated at the right hand of the Father. Through Jesus alone we have salvation, life, and a right relationship to our heavenly Father.

1. The Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one God. Supreme over all, omniscient and omnipresent, leading us into a life of liberty and ultimately to a life of holiness.

2. Jesus is God’s one and only Son – John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”

3. Jesus came to save people from their sins – 1 Timothy 1:15 “It is a trustworthy statement, desiring full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”

4. The only unpardonable sin is to reject Jesus – Luke 12:8-10 “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. Those who reject His teaching, reject Him.”

Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

The church is the body and bride of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:21-33 “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

Revelation 19:7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”

2 Corinthians 11:2 “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.”

Throughout Scripture, the Greek noun “ekklesia” is translated “church.”

“ek” – a preposition meaning “out”

“kalo” – is a verb meaning “I call”

Literal Interpretation – The called out ones. The historical application was a legal term used to describe a group of people called out to establish government or to govern. We affirm theocratic government within Connexion Church.

Matthew 16:13-18 “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.'”

Jesus builds His church, but we must steward it appropriately. We must see Him above all things and uphold His Word as written in the Scriptures (Bible).

Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body — whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

This is a picture of individuals or members coming together to form a single unit or “body.” This body is led by Jesus, who is the head of His church. From this picture we must understand the value of each member. Each member must grow to understand the importance of their proper relationship to the rest of the body. Each member needs to function properly, communicate clearly, and fulfill his or her calling, following the vision and values of the church.

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We must remember the church is the only organization that exists for those who are not yet a part of it. In other words, maturity in Christ is serving the world and giving an invitation for them to become a follower of Jesus.

Grace – “God’s Ability”

Righteousness – “It is as it should be”

Life together. Life-Giving, Christ-Manifested, Spirit-Filled, Bible-Teaching Church.

Why the spelling? – The “X” comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Christós (Χριστός). And that’s how we connect, with Christ being central in who we are!

Habakkuk 2:1-3  “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved. Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.”

Vision needs to be written down so it can be handed off.

If you know where you are going, you are bound to get there. We must have vision. We must have vision statements so each one can know the target.

We connect through engaging the population regardless of race, age, male or female:

Race – Ethnically diverse: There is only one race, the human race.

​Age – Multigenerational: In a day and time when the expert is celebrated over the sage, we celebrate the sage! With age comes wisdom, and the scriptures are very clear about this. We honor those who have gone before us. It’s because of them, we are here.

Male & Female – We celebrate our differences and hold everyone in a valuable way. We believe there are only two genders, “male and female, He made them both in His image.” (Genesis 1:27)

​Revelation 7:9 “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes.”

The church should be an equipping station, teaching the Scriptures in a practical way and helping its members apply God’s word to their lives.

​Church – We equip through Scripture, tradition, experience, and reason.

Life Groups – We equip through doing life together and studying the Scriptures in our homes.

​Events – Holy Spirit Class, Freedom in Christ, grief ministries, marriage ministries, men’s & women’s events are all ways we equip at Connexion.

Ephesians 4:11-13 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

As we are strengthened in our walk with our Lord, we become empowered to be His ambassadors to the world. When disciples are empowered, “the world becomes their parish.” We expect to see 10% of the population we serve to be connected to the church. We pray for the empowerment to plant churches throughout the Texas Panhandle, the nation, and the world…and this is happening!

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”