If Only...

Series: Vantage Point
Sermon: If Only...
George J. Saylor
March 16, 2008

We’ve been having some fun with vantage points the past two weeks. Now the real test begins. Let’s see what your vantage point really is- what do you see?



A bunny, or a duck, or both?

Our vantage point determines how we see something, or someone. Sometimes what we first see, or believe, changes. Sometimes we get to a place we can see a person or situation from several vantages points. In pictures like these we often see one thing right away. But after time or closer inspection, we see something else, we see something more.

Read the rest of the sermon at cccsermons.blogspot.com

Easter Preparations

Easter is still two weeks away, and I'm already looking ahead.

That's because I love what comes after- the book of ACTS.

Acts quickly becomes a very special book to everyone planting a church. It literally picks up where the gospels leave off, immediately following Jesus' resurrection. Just when all looks lost, Jesus defeats death, and instead of his movement being wiped out, it just begins. The mantle is passed on to us, the followers of Jesus, and the church is born.

Acts chapter 1 ends where a lot of churches start, and end…a group of 120 people praying and seeking God. That's a great start to a church and a movement, but it's just the start. In the next chapter we see 3,000 people receiving Christ and being baptized. It's interesting that someone counted. But more interesting, and wonderful, is how it happened. It all began with people praying. Then they gathered a crowd. Then they shared the good news of Jesus. THen the Holy Spirit showed up and did his thing.

Prayer isn’t just a good idea when we can’t think of anything else to do. It isn’t something to tack on to every Christian meeting to make us feel better about ourselves. It should never take a backseat to anything…it should be THE THING that guides the people in the church on a personal basis.

Prayer works–we've already seen it at work at Connections. When we've really needed something, we've prayed, and when we've really prayed, God has provided. I believe that prayer is what's going to take us to the next level. And I hope we can get there this Easter.

So I invite you to pray with us, invite some friends, hear the good news, and watch as the Holy Spirit does his thing.

Vantage Point- Week 2

Series: Vantage Point
Sermon: iamwhoiam
George J. Saylor
March 9, 2008

Last week I made a bet with my wife that if I called Jesus the "Che Guevara of Israel," folks would catch the reference. I lost. But you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about when you see the pictures:





Now it all makes sense doesn’t it!

The point is that we don’t have to look too deeply into culture to see that this man named Jesus who lived 2000 years ago transformed our world and continues to transform lives. There are as many vantage points on Jesus as their are people in the world. People have turned him into just about anything they want.

Walk through the mall and you’ll find this shirt.

Walk into a library and you’ll find countless books.
Glance over a magazine rack and you’ll find him on a cover.
Walk into a video store and you’ll find everything from Mel Gibson’s “The Passion,” to “Jesus of Montreal,” and even “Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter,” a proudly made Canadian film! (You just know that some group of students are going to rent that movie tonight!)

Read the whole sermon at cccsermons.blogspot.com

Superwoman

I have a secret.
I'm married to Superwoman.
I even know her true identity...

Robin Saylor.
Today is her birthday.
And I'm the most blessed man in the world to call her my wife.

Somehow she manages to:

• Love me, which is a full time job in itself. Jesus said my yoke is easy and my burden is light, but being married to me has to be the biggest burden ever on a woman!
• Home school our three most awesome kids. But this is the easy job, they are perfect little angels.
• Keep our home in shape, and even paint whole rooms while I'm gone.
• Be creative. All those cool graphics we use for our church- she makes them.
• Be available. She always finds time to be there for folks.
• Just do it. All those little things that just seem to get done at church- she does them.
  

On Sunday we had a Connecting Point lunch and an insane amount of people showed up. I had folks introduce themselves and share how they came to Connections. More than anything else the number one reason folks in that group ended up at Connections was because Robin invited them. Really.

I don't know where she finds the time to meet and invite these people.

Then yesterday I was meeting a friend for lunch yesterday and bumped into a neighbor. She said (not me), "George's wife is like Superwoman- she home schools three kids and still bakes homemade bread!" I was not going to disagree. She is like superwoman.

Maybe I'll even buy her the cute outfit with red leather boots!

Happy Birthday my Love!

whatsyourvantagepoint?

Series: Vantage Point
Sermon: whatsyourvantagepoint?
George J. Saylor



H.G. Wells wrote,

“More than 1900 years later a historian like myself, who doesn’t even call himself a Christian, finds the picture centering irresistibly around the life and character of this most significant man…The historian’s test of an individual’s greatness is ‘What did he leave to grow? Did he start people thinking along fresh new lines with a vigor that persisted after him?’ By this test Jesus stands first.”

It has long been understood that even if the bible didn’t exist we still have historical documentation from other sources that verify there was a man named Jesus who called Nazareth his home, he gained a following as a teacher and the reputation of being a miracle worker. At the height of his popularity he has a following of hundreds. But he ended up dying a criminal’s death on a cross. His followers then, instead of moving on, claimed that Jesus rose from the grave, and then the movement that Jesus started began to truly take traction, and has, without exception, continued to grow with each successive generation.

Read the ret of the sermon at cccsermons.blogspot.com