Summer Connect Gatherings 2026
Get ready for an unforgettable summer at Harpeth Hills with our special Wednesday Night CONNECT Gatherings! Each week will feature a delicious meal, a dynamic guest speaker, and inspiring music to lift your spirit and set your heart on fire for God.
Each night's topic will take a deep dive into 1 Corinthians 13. This chapter reveals the very heart of the Gospel through one defining word: LOVE. These are nights you won’t want to miss—packed with passion, purpose, and powerful encounters with God’s presence.
Mark your calendars now, spread the word, and start inviting your friends—because something incredible is happening every CONNECT Wednesday, and YOU are a part of it!
Meals begin at 5:30pm. (Sign up for meal)
Worship begins at 6:30pm.
Schedule
June 17—There Just Has to Be a Better Way! (1 Corinthians 12:31)
Jonathan Storment (Pleasant Valley Church – Little Rock, AR)
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Sets up the series from a quick summary of Corinth, the major problems addressed in the letter (e.g., division, residue of Corinth’s pagan immorality, marriage problems, worship wars, etc.), and points to the power of love [for God & Neighbor = the “greatest commands”] to address each.
June 24—How to Be Sure Jesus Recognizes You (13:1-2; cf. Matt 7:21-23)
Jody Vickery (Twickenham Church – Huntsville, AL)
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We can forget that “doing the right thing” isn’t always the “right thing” — when done from a wrong-headed, selfish, legalistic, or other “inferior” motive. Wonder why Jesus foretold that he wouldn’t know some of the hardest of “church workers” on the Final Day? Paul explains it here!
July 8—Giving Until It Doesn’t Hurt (13:3)
David Hunzicker (North BLVD Church – Murfreesboro, TN)
One of the things that most imitates the character of God is to be a self-sacrificing giver. So why didn’t, for example, Ananias and Sapphira get a pat on the back from the apostles? Their giving was a form of perverse selfishness! There was more self-serving than self-giving. It was loveless — without hot biscuits!
July 15—Patience and Kindness: Were They Twin Sisters? (13:4a)
Nathan Burrow (Hillcrest Church – Abilene, TX)
These love-generated virtues travel together. They are near-identical twins! Kindness requires huge amounts of patience; think of parenting, mentoring, teaching kindergarten or Sunday School. The patient soul has either been led to show kindness — or may be learning it from kindness not received well.
July 22—The Humility of Love (13:4b-5a)
Monte Cox (Downtown Church – Searcy, AR)
That love is NOT “jealous, boastful or proud or rude” is testimony to the fact that people who love are slow to take offense and refuse to get even when the chance is staring them in the face. What did Jesus say about turning the other cheek? What did he model before Pilate and on a Roman cross?
July 29—Love Waits! (13:5b)
Tra Beard (Northwest Church – Southaven, MS)
Why are people so “irritable” in airports and on planes? On Interstates or city streets? In restaurants and grocery stores? The selfishness that makes love impossible “just can’t wait” — for anything! It must be first, get noticed, be celebrated. Stepping back to give others the advantage is the hallmark of love.
August 5—Love Tends to Be Forgetful (13:5c)
Adam Brewer (Southwest Church – Jonesboro, AR)
The pagan-to-modern mantra is “Revenge is best served cold!” That is, putting someone in his/her place, retaliating, and getting even are deemed more satisfying when planned and executed over time rather than in the heat of the moment. Love closes the book quickly on both real and imagined offenses.
August 12—When Love Raises Its Voice (13:6)
Anthony Walker (Highway 231 Church – Murfreesboro, TN)
If selfish, angry, and vindictive folks (i.e., un-loving people) like to roar their anger and bully other into submission, unselfish, self-controlled, and forgiving people (i.e., lovers) do their rejoicing and shouting when truth prevails, the weak are made strong, and the lost are found.
August 19—The Gift That Keeps on Giving (13:7)
Josh Ross (Sycamore View Church – Memphis, TN)
Ever notice how some people “burn out”? Remember Jesus Parable of the Soils and the seed that fell on too-shallow, rocky soil? Love shortly will be declared greater than even faith and hope (v.13), and this verse tells us why: it sustains both in times of challenge and weakness. A life rooted in love never fails!
August 26—The Virtue for All Seasons (13:7-10)
Jennifer Barnett (Ethos Church – Nashville, TN)
Here we come back to the beginning of Paul’s characterization of love. Why is the path of love greater, stronger, superior? Why does it keep us from a dry and legalistic tick-the-box sort of Sunday morning faith? It is rooted in God’s very nature and is the essence of the life Jesus modeled for his disciples.
September 2—Love in Action (13:1-10)
Becca Smith (Harpeth Hills Church – Brentwood, TN)
The church which is the “fullness of him who fills everything in every way” is called to this Gospel reality – to live out the greatest of these which is LOVE.