Series: Connections Gives Back
May 25, 2008
Last Sunday we started our mini-series on Connections Gives Back. We began looking at this foundational passage for the church, and for Christ-followers, Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of you? To do justly, to love mercy, to walk humble with you God.” A mission for all the people of God to guide and direct our lives- corporately as the church and individually as brothers and sisters in Christ. We got started on the first part- do justly (Notice I didn’t say we finished, because really, we’ve only scratched the surface in looking at the call to justice). Today we move on to mercy and walking with God.
Read the whole sermon at cccsermons.blogspot.com or listen at connectionschurch.ca
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Remember the 8th
I'm talking about the 8th commandment, "Do not steal."
Yesterday my bike was stolen (this is one of my few pictures to remember her)
RIP: 2002-2008
I can't believe she's gone.
She was beautiful, and served me well for 6 years.
The years flew by.
She was in great condition.
Sure her rims were a bit out of true, she had a couple of scratches, but she was still in excellent shape.
Someone else obviously liked her looks as well.
Cut my lock in broad daylight.
I was surprisingly not mad, considering my insurance deductible is $1000 so it's not worthy submitting as a claim. But I was still pretty upset.
I walked around the area for about 15 minutes to see if the thief dumped her.
I prayed prayers I don't think I've ever prayed before.
First, I honestly prayed to love my enemy.
If I meet this person I will tell them about Jesus.
And then I prayed, in love, that God would smite this person something fierce.
Really.
I pray they will wreak on my bike and get hurt pretty bad.
I pray they will get boils and go bald.
I pray they will be plagued with digestive problems.
And I pray they will repent of this sin, turn their life around, and come to Jesus.
If they do that, I don't even care if I get my bike back.
So if you see an incontinent, bald, boiled and bandaged person riding a silver and black Diamond Back, fully-suspended mountain bike...
Don't bother telling them to give the bike back, tell them to give their life to Jesus.
He'll work the rest out I'm sure!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Choice Points
I've been reading a book that makes reference to an obscure computer programming term called "choice points." These are points of change in a decision tree. We might call them forks in the road. This writer applied the term to churches and described them as, "points in time when a formal or informal, and sometimes unconscious, decision is made regarding a value, preference, attitude or response."
There are hundreds of "choice points" we've faced in our lives. Most go unnoticed and are not reflected up. Some are insignificant. Of course, so change everything.
Church planting involves choice points all the time. Perhaps the foremost one is this,
Action vs. Inaction
Someone once said, "Start and the job is half done." That is so true. Thinking, planning, preparing, praying are all necessary things. I'm not advocating doing things poorly or in a rush. But just getting something started is often the key to getting it done.
How many great ideas, plans, hopes and dreams go unbirthed simply because they were never started? Some ideas are so good they are worth starting, even poorly, just to make sure they get started. I embraced this idea from the start. I knew we could have planned for years and never covered all the bases of anew church. I also knew we would have killed the dream and missed the moment God had opened. There are natural "windows" to start a new church. The two obvious ones being the new school year, and the new year. I knew we wouldn't have everything in place by Fall 2007, so we started "Sneak Preview" services. This ended up being a great strategy. We were able to launch fully in January 2008 with most of the snags worked out.
Is there something God wants you to take action on? If so, you are being faced with a choice point. Plan for it. Prepare for it. And definitely pray for it. But most of all, start it! Take action- make the call, sign to contract, set the date, seal the deal and "get-r-done!"
There are hundreds of "choice points" we've faced in our lives. Most go unnoticed and are not reflected up. Some are insignificant. Of course, so change everything.
Church planting involves choice points all the time. Perhaps the foremost one is this,
Action vs. Inaction
Someone once said, "Start and the job is half done." That is so true. Thinking, planning, preparing, praying are all necessary things. I'm not advocating doing things poorly or in a rush. But just getting something started is often the key to getting it done.
How many great ideas, plans, hopes and dreams go unbirthed simply because they were never started? Some ideas are so good they are worth starting, even poorly, just to make sure they get started. I embraced this idea from the start. I knew we could have planned for years and never covered all the bases of anew church. I also knew we would have killed the dream and missed the moment God had opened. There are natural "windows" to start a new church. The two obvious ones being the new school year, and the new year. I knew we wouldn't have everything in place by Fall 2007, so we started "Sneak Preview" services. This ended up being a great strategy. We were able to launch fully in January 2008 with most of the snags worked out.
Is there something God wants you to take action on? If so, you are being faced with a choice point. Plan for it. Prepare for it. And definitely pray for it. But most of all, start it! Take action- make the call, sign to contract, set the date, seal the deal and "get-r-done!"
Monday, May 19, 2008
Seek Justice
Series: Connections Gives Back
George J. Saylor
May 18, 2008
My poor wife grew up in very a very unjust circumstance- she was a Pastor’s Kid. There are actually support groups for pastors kids because to the issues they have. If you are a PK and have issues, talk to my wife, not me. My dear wife was subjected to what was called “The Calvinettes.” She tells me it was like a Girl Guides troop with a biblical twist. They would get their troop together, put on their little vests and kerchiefs, do crafts, work on earning badges, sing songs and study the bible. The Calvinettes always began with the same ritual- they would all line up and the leader would ask, “Calvinettes of Victoria, what does the Lord require of you?” And in unison the girls would shout back,
Read the whole sermon at cccsermons.blogspot.com or listen on our website.
George J. Saylor
May 18, 2008
My poor wife grew up in very a very unjust circumstance- she was a Pastor’s Kid. There are actually support groups for pastors kids because to the issues they have. If you are a PK and have issues, talk to my wife, not me. My dear wife was subjected to what was called “The Calvinettes.” She tells me it was like a Girl Guides troop with a biblical twist. They would get their troop together, put on their little vests and kerchiefs, do crafts, work on earning badges, sing songs and study the bible. The Calvinettes always began with the same ritual- they would all line up and the leader would ask, “Calvinettes of Victoria, what does the Lord require of you?” And in unison the girls would shout back,
“To do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God, Micah 6:8.”To this day my wife still points to this as one of her life verses- one of those verse that provides for her a handle to grasp the Christian life, a ruler to gauge her lifestyle, and a goal for her to try to attain. Those are the hallmarks of a great and worthwhile mission- this verse gives us the direction to set our lives and the tools to get there. It calls us to something greater than just ourselves and our own wants and desires. It gives us something to live for, and something worth dying for. It really is a mission worthy of our entire life.
Read the whole sermon at cccsermons.blogspot.com or listen on our website.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
EVERYTHING matters!
Today was one of those services where our volunteers ROCKED.
Which is essential, because everything matters in a worship service.
Everything.
One mistake and you may never get another chance with someone.
Here are some reflections on today's service:
One, today was so scary for me. We had Jacob Moon in to lead worship. I knew Jacob Moon was good, but wondered how it would "feel" with him leading our music component.
I don't want to mess up our "brand."
Let me explain- a woman who comes regularly and who has no church background missed the past two weeks. This weekend she had TWO folks visiting with her and brought them to Connections. When I saw the new faces I literally prayed,
That why we keep doing what we do well!
Second, sound.
Today the sound guys showed me their commitment. On our second sound check we still had buzzing. It was unacceptable. The guys pulled out speakers, stand, snake, cables and put me on a whole other channel. Romans 10 says,
Third, lighting and camera.
Today I goofed. I moved too far from my mark and my face couldn't be seen clearly. Want to know why that is important?
We have one person who comes to Connections because she reads lips. She can see my lips because we have very good lighting and a GIANT screen.
If she can't see my lips, she doesn't "hear" the good news.
If for no one else our lighting has to be excellent, and I have to stay on my mark.
If we do this, we will be a ministry to the hearing impaired.
Fourth, we gave back.
We haven't even scratched the surface of stewardship, but the giving pattern we're starting to develop shows us that people believe in our mission. It's humbling. Today and next week we want to communicate through our actions that we are serious about "Connecting with the world." The people responded. I'll have a final figure to give soon, as we may have more coming. The International Justice Mission will be blessed.
As we move forward we want people to know that they can give confidently to the church because we will steward their gifts well- to pay staff, to develop our ministry, to reach out in mission.
There is so much more to say, but for now we continue to be blessed, we want to be a blessing, and big things are on the way!
Fifth, and finally, it's my anniversary weekend! 11 years of wedded bliss! I love Robin. I love being married to her. I can't wait to see what the next 11 holds in store- I hope one part involves the 11th anniversary of Connections and thousands of people reached for Jesus!
Happy Victoria Day,
Pastor G
Which is essential, because everything matters in a worship service.
Everything.
One mistake and you may never get another chance with someone.
Here are some reflections on today's service:
One, today was so scary for me. We had Jacob Moon in to lead worship. I knew Jacob Moon was good, but wondered how it would "feel" with him leading our music component.
I don't want to mess up our "brand."
Let me explain- a woman who comes regularly and who has no church background missed the past two weeks. This weekend she had TWO folks visiting with her and brought them to Connections. When I saw the new faces I literally prayed,
"God, make this service work!"She can invite her guests to Connections because she knows what she's bringing them to experience- the atmosphere, the music, the message, the coffee! If we deviate from the "brand" we've created, she loses confidence in bringing her guests.
That why we keep doing what we do well!
Second, sound.
Today the sound guys showed me their commitment. On our second sound check we still had buzzing. It was unacceptable. The guys pulled out speakers, stand, snake, cables and put me on a whole other channel. Romans 10 says,
"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news...how can they hear unless someone goes to tell them."Guys, you are beautiful because you make God's word heard.
Third, lighting and camera.
Today I goofed. I moved too far from my mark and my face couldn't be seen clearly. Want to know why that is important?
We have one person who comes to Connections because she reads lips. She can see my lips because we have very good lighting and a GIANT screen.
If she can't see my lips, she doesn't "hear" the good news.
If for no one else our lighting has to be excellent, and I have to stay on my mark.
If we do this, we will be a ministry to the hearing impaired.
Fourth, we gave back.
We haven't even scratched the surface of stewardship, but the giving pattern we're starting to develop shows us that people believe in our mission. It's humbling. Today and next week we want to communicate through our actions that we are serious about "Connecting with the world." The people responded. I'll have a final figure to give soon, as we may have more coming. The International Justice Mission will be blessed.
As we move forward we want people to know that they can give confidently to the church because we will steward their gifts well- to pay staff, to develop our ministry, to reach out in mission.
There is so much more to say, but for now we continue to be blessed, we want to be a blessing, and big things are on the way!
Fifth, and finally, it's my anniversary weekend! 11 years of wedded bliss! I love Robin. I love being married to her. I can't wait to see what the next 11 holds in store- I hope one part involves the 11th anniversary of Connections and thousands of people reached for Jesus!
Happy Victoria Day,
Pastor G
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