Sunday, April 23, 2006

"From Major Messes to Masterpieces, part 2" - that was our focus today as we finished up the seven declarations that we can make as God's masterpieces (a declaration is when I act on my belief that what God says is true by speaking it out regardless of the circumstance). After all was said and done, these were the 7 declarations:

1. I am timeless.
2. I am priceless.
3. I am part of a greater picture.
4. I am original.
5. I am lovable.
6. I am a work in progress.
7. I am fixable.

I have really enjoyed preaching lately as I often am sensing anticipation and receptiveness from The Journey as the word is spoken. People were declaring these things during the invitation, and the Holy Spirit is doing a great work. In both services combined, we had 145, but the day had only begun at that point.

Candace and James Smith (and Quincy and Christopher) were visiting, which was great. I love those guys. But that afternoon, a bunch of people went to Wild Willy's Burgers for lunch to say goodbye to James and Candace. It was such fun! Church, I am convinced that we are missing out on fellowship opportunities - let's use Sundays to reconnect, and use the small groups to connect even more deeply.

But also, the church body began a church-wide 3 day fast (from Sunday at 7pm until Wednesday at 7pm), and we kicked it off with a 7pm worship time at the church. Without exaggeration, it was phenomenal. It was free-flowing, and there were times of singing, and times of silence, clapping and kneeling, calling out and singing solo, proclaiming the word - it was a great step for our body, and a great way to start out a fast. God continues HIS work at The Journey.

I would love to hear some stories from those who participated, as well as stories or words from those who fasted (whether partially or entirely). Feel free to post responses.

Sunday, April 16, 2006 - Easter Sunday

We relocated to the Knights of Columbus Hall in Rochester for today's Easter's service (also see November 20, 2005 service). We relocate primarily for our church body to come together as one unit and worship together in unity, and it was a good day for that. I believe our visitor traffic was cut down drastically because of our switch, but it was something that I felt was necessary and good.

About the service itself, we had a free lunch and free pictures beforehand for anyone who wished to partake (which many did), and we started at 10am. The worship was good, and we intro'd a new song "Only a God Like You" which was received very well.

My message was extemporaneous, as I was ready to do part 2 of the message, "From Major Mess to Masterpiece," but I just felt from the time I woke up (about 4:30am) that God was leading me in a different direction, to speak on the resurrection. So I did - and I talked about what the resurrection means to those who are confronted with it. To the women, it meant salvation. To the guards, it meant fear and death. To Peter and the disciples, it meant another chance.

Overall, it was a good day. We were not up in attendance as we had 149 (nor were we down). It was THE day to celebrate what the Lord has done, and that's what we did.

Sunday, April 9, 2006

From Major Messes to Masterpieces - that was the theme of today, as well as the next couple of weeks. We are focusing on Ephesians 2:10 - "We are God's masterpiece..." and today's service was good for many reasons.

1) We created our first Journey masterpiece, making a collage of handprints, thumbprints, brush strokes, and more that represents our renewed commitment to the church as the body and masterpiece of God. It went surprisingly smooth.
2) The Lord's Supper - communion - was precious, especially in the second service as we mixed in music during the communion, singing "Amazing Love" with the distribution of the bread and "Nothing But the Blood" during the juice. Very powerful.
3) The message was well-received, and Ed's application at the end of the first service was perfect - the declarations "I am timeless, priceless, and part of a greater picture" are things we can say anyway, even when the enemy would tell us differently.
4) The decor aided the message - people were surprised by the artwork displayed, the music - it created ambience that is good to have.
5) We had 159, which is fantastic!
6) Best news of the day - we had one teenager who was visiting with Leiah indicate that she prayed with me and invited God into her life. I did not get her name.
7) George, who got saved two weeks ago, was also back!

There is so much growth that needs to happen at The Journey, and so many of you are struggling with personal issues or spiritual issues. The declarations you heard can help stand in your fight against the enemy who would lie and tell you that you are worthless and have no value.

My encouragement to you for next Sunday when we meet at the Knights of Columbus Hall is from the song "Sing to the King":

Come, let us sing a song. A song declaration "WE BELONG TO JESUS" - He is all we need."

Lord, we Your church, The Journey, we belong to YOU!

Sunday, April 2, 2006

One of the parts of the pastoral ministry that I love is baptism. I love seeing people follow the Lord, obeying Him in this area, and submitting themselves to biblical baptism. But even before actually baptizing people, I love to talk with them and explain to them what baptism is all about - the symbolism, the identification, and the blessing that comes along with baptism. So any day that I get to "dunk" some Christians, it excites me.

Today, I baptized seven people (see pictures below), and it was great. Baptism also means that we typically have visitors with us, so there is always added excitement. Not that I need more excitement - today, I felt like I spoke 1000 words per minute - maybe I need to lay off the caffeine a little! :) But I think that the moods and participation in both services were good, and I pray that the Lord takes me to another level in my preaching, as I preach for life change. I spoke today on being "Changed by Love" from Ephesians 2:4-7, and how we we receive God's love in our lives, He gives us life, changes our situations by changing us, and give us rest (coinciding with being made alive in Christ, raised with Him, and seated with Him in the Heavenly Realms) - it went well overall.

The worship went well today too - please pray as Bill continues to transition into this role, that he will really grasp the aspect of leading our church into worship every time. That is his heart, but is something that takes time and can be frustrating. But I thank God that Bill is stepping forward. May God be glorified in all of this.

Overall good day today - we had 137. The Lord is good. The Lord, He is God!

Before preaching, Pastor stands in the middle of the chairs in the auditorium and talks about the "spiritual pinata," i.e. the "windows of heaven" that would open up every time we get together if we would seek God's face and ask Him to work... 

This is Kate Ferrigno, a woman who joined us at the beginning of our 40 Days campaign in October. She wanted to be baptized, identifying herself completely with Christ and with The Journey. 

Kate is underwater, being buried in the likeness of his death. We baptize by immersion, associating with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

This is Carolyn Guthrie, who asked to baptized as a follower of Jesus Christ. Carolyn's son was with us today, witnessing this wonderful event.  

Carolyn comes up out of the water, ready to grow more in Christ, committed to Him as a disciple. 

This is Ella Adams. Ella insisted on getting together with me this week and talking about baptism, so we did, and she wanted to take this step. She had invited Jesus Christ into her heart during our children's Sunday School. 

Ella comes up out of the water, solid in her decision to obey Jesus Christ and be baptized. 

This is Ben Chamberlin, whose family was with us witnessing his baptism. I am so excited to see what the Lord is doing in Ben's life. 

As Ben comes up out of the water, I hold the back of his head because I bumped it against the side of the pool! Ben is a new man as he follows the Lord in obedience. 

This is Melinda Chamberlin, Ben's wife. They are a spiritually growing couple, involved in our Gatekeeper's ministries.  

Melinda comes up out of the water, and I am smiling because I also bumped her head! But besides the small concussions, I am grateful to God to have made a difference in Melinda and Ben's lives!  

This is Johnathon Hellman, a man who joined us back in October and received Christ into his life. I am excited to see him follow the Lord in baptism, and I pray that the Lord will continue to make him into the man God wants him to be. 

Johnathon comes up out of the water, to walk in a new way of life as a committed follower of Jesus Christ. 

Before each baptism, I read from Matthew 3:13-17, the baptism of Jesus. I do this because my pastor that led me to the Lord did this, and I have always loved what this passage meant - when I heard it, it meant someone was following the Lord in baptism... 

Monica Harris is a 9 year old who has asked Jesus into her heart and wanted to be baptized. 

Monica Harris comes up out of the water, raised to walk in a new way of life. 

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Today was a good day at The Journey. To begin, we had 139, which is a good attendance - it seems that our building just gets smaller and smaller! I will be meeting with a consultant on Wendesday, April 5, to get things rolling on a building project, and so I am excited to report the progress of things as we begin to get moving in this area.

Today I preached on "But God...", emphasizing how God stepped in according to Ephesians 2:4-7. During the second service, I had two people raise their hands that they prayed with me to ask God into their lives, a man who visited with Todd Allen (George), and Michael Conrad's son. I am always excited to see the spiritually dead come to life right before our very eyes, and we consistently are seeing people invite the Lord into their lives.

As a brief synopsis of today, it was a good day at the Journey.