Last night we held our 3rd Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (we have done one every year except last year), and we had about 110 people attend - it was good. You know, I never know exactly how those kinds of events will come off, but it came off well. I was reminded in a very touching way how incredibly evangelistic and Christ-filled Christmas is, and why the world fights it so much.
Maybe that sounds like a "duh" statement coming from a minister, but the traditional Christmas carols are inundated with the Gospel message - Hark the Herald Angels, O Holy Night, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, etc. Fitting songs such as these fit into our praise and worship fairly easily, although they take work since we only sing them during one season of the year. But it is no wonder than anti-Christian people would find Christmas so offensive as it is so powerfully evangelistic - talking about Immanuel - God with us - and receiving Him.
And as we had many visitors in the service last night, I had the strangest thought for just a moment - that maybe I had designed the service to be a little too Christian - I thought maybe the non-Christian visitors would be slightly uncomfortable. And then I came to my senses, as I thought to myself, "You know what? We can go anywhere else and not get the message right! We can go to school productions, theater events, movies, TV and get the watered-down or wrong messages about Christmas. As the pastor of a growing, vibrant church, I had better get the message right!" - and so that passing thought was gone - "I don't receive that!"
And when we lit the candles near the end of the service and sang How Great is Our God - it was phenomenal! The lyrics say, He wraps Himself in light and darkness tries to hide and trembles at His voice...it was amazing to be part of a crowd of worshippers singing this as we held our lights, knowing that He is the Light of the world that pushes away the darkness of sin and death, and we are His lights, bringing the good news of peace to everyone.
There were a few times last night when we sang a cappella (without instruments) on Joy to the World and O Come All Ye Faithful, and the congregational singing was incredible! It was like directing a large choir, as harmonies rang out and I was overjoyed to hear such an incredible voice of people praising God.
After everyone had gone, as I shut off the lights in the building, I thought back to 2003 and our first Candlelight Service - small, intimate (30 people?), and not planning to have to read without the lights on (I read by candelight at one point, and quoted from memory at another point) - and as I stood in the darkened sanctuary for a minute, I thanked God for how far He has brought us in just three short years.
And so today, Christmas Day, as I have had the chance to sit back and ponder last night, and open gifts from so many wonderful church members, I just thank God for the Gift of His Son, a Gift too wonderful for words, and thank God for the wonderful people that I have the joy of ministering to and serving God with...
Monday, December 25, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Sunday December 24, 2006 - Christmas Eve
OK - I have to admit - I was really unsure what our attendance would be like today, as we had many people out of town, and this being the day before Christmas. My wife and I had talked earlier this week about the fact that maybe we should have just scheduled one service for this morning - but wouldn't you know, we had 146 today, which was a great surprise! We had some guests, and overall, it was a good day at The Journey.
I preached on receiving the gifts of Advent at Christmas - joy, hope, peace, and love - and letting them into our lives. It was a very evangelistic sermon as well, as I wanted to give visitors the chance to receive the greatest gift of all - Jesus Christ. Two people in our second service raised their hands that they prayed with me and invited God into their lives, starting a new relationship with Him - it was awesome!
The music was rough in a couple of spots - that was my doing mostly - but it was good nonetheless, specifically Sharon Gaudet's "Babe in a Manger" - I would love for her to record that song...
Tonight is our Candlelight Service, which is just a chance to worship together as we celebrate Christmas with our extended church family. May the Lord ignite our hearts and make us into the lights that our community needs us to be.
Thank God for the gift of His Son, a Gift too wonderful for words...
I preached on receiving the gifts of Advent at Christmas - joy, hope, peace, and love - and letting them into our lives. It was a very evangelistic sermon as well, as I wanted to give visitors the chance to receive the greatest gift of all - Jesus Christ. Two people in our second service raised their hands that they prayed with me and invited God into their lives, starting a new relationship with Him - it was awesome!
The music was rough in a couple of spots - that was my doing mostly - but it was good nonetheless, specifically Sharon Gaudet's "Babe in a Manger" - I would love for her to record that song...
Tonight is our Candlelight Service, which is just a chance to worship together as we celebrate Christmas with our extended church family. May the Lord ignite our hearts and make us into the lights that our community needs us to be.
Thank God for the gift of His Son, a Gift too wonderful for words...
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Sunday, December 17, 2006
As I record the information about each service through this blog every week, I am sometimes at a loss for words. You see, I want to be factual in what I say, and yet at the same time, I want to write from my perspective of how I felt the service went, understanding that my feelings are not always what everyone else felt. So forgive me if sometimes my feelings do not reflect your own - feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments below.
For me, Sunday morning began as a struggle. I was dealing with some personal conflict that had me up at 5am and at the church by 6am. I was struggling with some tough feelings, but I was actively giving them to God, and even during the praise team practice and before church I was frustrated and conflicted.
Yet, when the music began at 9am for the worship, it lifted. There is something about worship that frees us, that refocuses us, and that allows us to put our problems in perspective. So once the church started singing, my spirit immediately lifted, and what I thought would be a tough day of preaching for me (yes, I have those kinds of days) turned into a good day as we focused on the JOY of serving God from John 4 - after all, it was the third week of Advent, and JOY was our focus.
But as I delivered the message, when it came time at the end, so many people raised their hands that they wanted to "find the nourishment that comes from DOING the will of God," I was excited. I desire to see our church body step forward TOGETHER in planting and harvesting, every one knowing his/her role and doing his/her part. When this working together happens, there is "much joy waiting" for us and for God.
It was a good day at The Journey, even though for me it started out as a struggle. I am so grateful for the people who come ready to worship, and who are ready to enter into God's presence, because by inviting God's presence, I, for one, experienced JOY - thank you so much for your consistency in being ready to take the congregation into the presence of God.
The attendance today was lower (Christmas shopping, parties, and events are drawing people away - just don't forget to come back!) as we had 130, but if you missed it, there is always next week.
For me, Sunday morning began as a struggle. I was dealing with some personal conflict that had me up at 5am and at the church by 6am. I was struggling with some tough feelings, but I was actively giving them to God, and even during the praise team practice and before church I was frustrated and conflicted.
Yet, when the music began at 9am for the worship, it lifted. There is something about worship that frees us, that refocuses us, and that allows us to put our problems in perspective. So once the church started singing, my spirit immediately lifted, and what I thought would be a tough day of preaching for me (yes, I have those kinds of days) turned into a good day as we focused on the JOY of serving God from John 4 - after all, it was the third week of Advent, and JOY was our focus.
But as I delivered the message, when it came time at the end, so many people raised their hands that they wanted to "find the nourishment that comes from DOING the will of God," I was excited. I desire to see our church body step forward TOGETHER in planting and harvesting, every one knowing his/her role and doing his/her part. When this working together happens, there is "much joy waiting" for us and for God.
It was a good day at The Journey, even though for me it started out as a struggle. I am so grateful for the people who come ready to worship, and who are ready to enter into God's presence, because by inviting God's presence, I, for one, experienced JOY - thank you so much for your consistency in being ready to take the congregation into the presence of God.
The attendance today was lower (Christmas shopping, parties, and events are drawing people away - just don't forget to come back!) as we had 130, but if you missed it, there is always next week.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
A good day here at The Journey - a really good day - as we celebrated the 2nd week of Advent. Debra Carnevale and her granddaughter, Kayla, lit the Advent candle in the first service while the Bonneas and their grandson Aaron lit the candle in the second service.
Today was a good day for several reasons - the worship was good, the word was good, we continue to celebrate Advent, and we had a guest missionary with us - Jon Liles, missionary to Italy. Jon not only presented his field and sang, but he was a living example of our theme from Isaiah 52:7 - "How beautiful on the mountain are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation..." Jon and his family surrendered to go to Italy, and from God's perspective, He loves their feet!
We also had a special celebrity Bible reader, Linus, as he read the shepherd story from Luke 2. And the worship, especially in the 2nd service, was great as we sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," "Angels We Have Heard on High," and "O Holy Night," which almost blew the doors off of the place.
Our attendance was the lowest it's been in months - since May - we had 114 - but it was great day, and the Spirit of God was among us. If you missed today, I look forward to seeing you next week as we enter into our third week of Advent and focus on the theme of JOY.
Today was a good day for several reasons - the worship was good, the word was good, we continue to celebrate Advent, and we had a guest missionary with us - Jon Liles, missionary to Italy. Jon not only presented his field and sang, but he was a living example of our theme from Isaiah 52:7 - "How beautiful on the mountain are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation..." Jon and his family surrendered to go to Italy, and from God's perspective, He loves their feet!
We also had a special celebrity Bible reader, Linus, as he read the shepherd story from Luke 2. And the worship, especially in the 2nd service, was great as we sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," "Angels We Have Heard on High," and "O Holy Night," which almost blew the doors off of the place.
Our attendance was the lowest it's been in months - since May - we had 114 - but it was great day, and the Spirit of God was among us. If you missed today, I look forward to seeing you next week as we enter into our third week of Advent and focus on the theme of JOY.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Sunday, December 3, 2006
This Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent as I spoke on being Fueled by Hope. I was very excited about this message, as it was birthed out of struggling with the topic and allowing God to speak into my life on what hope is, how it differs from faith, and what practically it means to us. I preached on the fact that hope makes me stronger in 4 ways:
1) Hope motivates me to keep looking forward-expectantly.
2) Hope encourages me with the fact that God isn't done working yet.
3) Hope frees me from always trying to make things happen.
4) Hope forces me to honestly evaluate my walk.
We had a great day as we also celebrated communion in the middle of the message and read from Isaiah 52-53 before we took of the bread and juice. We also sang a few Advent songs (Come Thou Long Expected Jesus and O Come O Come Emmanuel).
Our attendance has been steadily in the 140's and 150's over the past two months, and we had 148 today. We have had some wonderful new people that have either joined us or are seriously thinking about it, including Jennifer Ryan and Veronica (last name?), Matthew Reed, Jon & Kim Lash, Brent Williams, Jamie, Kevin, and Hope. It is a wonderful thing to see people grow in their relationship with the Lord, and then in relationships with others.
May God continue to grow us into the church He wants us to be.
1) Hope motivates me to keep looking forward-expectantly.
2) Hope encourages me with the fact that God isn't done working yet.
3) Hope frees me from always trying to make things happen.
4) Hope forces me to honestly evaluate my walk.
We had a great day as we also celebrated communion in the middle of the message and read from Isaiah 52-53 before we took of the bread and juice. We also sang a few Advent songs (Come Thou Long Expected Jesus and O Come O Come Emmanuel).
Our attendance has been steadily in the 140's and 150's over the past two months, and we had 148 today. We have had some wonderful new people that have either joined us or are seriously thinking about it, including Jennifer Ryan and Veronica (last name?), Matthew Reed, Jon & Kim Lash, Brent Williams, Jamie, Kevin, and Hope. It is a wonderful thing to see people grow in their relationship with the Lord, and then in relationships with others.
May God continue to grow us into the church He wants us to be.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
An addendum to last week's message...
This past weekend I preached on "How can I claim my inheritance?" and just like so many sermons, I realized that I cannot preach every thought I have about a subject. So I wanted to give you a small portion of the message that I did not include in the sermon, and allow you to think about this and ask questions - here goes...
"...the inheritance you have isn’t solely received by you demonstrating faith only when it is beneficial. You see, our trust and obedience needs to go far beyond receiving only the good things that God has for us. What about trust and obedience – FAITH – that is required in situations that aren’t beneficial to me – like when God tells me to stop sinning – saying, doing, watching, listening to the wrongs? Next week we will discuss this in detail when we answer the question, “what does God want from me?” but I want you to know that God’s blessing, the inheritance, is contingent upon our obedience in every facet of our lives. Don’t try to claim inheritance when you aren’t willing to walk in obedience. – Paul warns us about this kind of thing in Galatians 6:7-8:
Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. (The Message)
You don’t claim an inheritance from God while walking in disobedience. You can fool a lot of people about your walk, but God’s not fooled. If you seek your inheritance while knowingly harboring sin or bitterness or deception, you won’t find your inheritance until you have exercised faith in those areas of your life."
Monday, November 13, 2006
To Sir with love...
I read yesterday in an MSNBC article that Sir Elton John said in a newspaper magazine that "religion encourages hatred and produces hateful lemmings," and that he would "ban organized religion completely." Admittedly, as I read what he had to say, it didn't exactly help me be more loving and accepting. It wreaks of Karl Marx's "religion is opium for the masses" statement, indicating that outside of providing some emotional high to deal with everyday issues, religion is useless.
So my immediate reaction was, "How dare he! How dare Sir Elton John would say these things..." To go along with his words, Rosie O'Donnell in October made comments on her new show The View in which she said, "Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like the United States." And again, my thoughts immediately were, "How could she say that?! How dare she!"
But before I went and picketed and boycotted and wrote to every major Christian organization to ban the listening and viewing of these entertainers, the Voice of the Spirit within had to remind me of a few things:
BUT we are to not curse them, but love and bless them (Romans 12:14) and show them just how untrue their statements are by the very ways we react to them. If we are people of faith (who trust in and act on what God says...that sounds familiar), then when we are openly scorned, ridiculed, and spoken evil against, we respond by demonstrating love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness to those who do so. Paul calls love a "more excellent way," and it ought to be our defining characteristic.
I'd love any thoughts if you have any...Pastor.
So my immediate reaction was, "How dare he! How dare Sir Elton John would say these things..." To go along with his words, Rosie O'Donnell in October made comments on her new show The View in which she said, "Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like the United States." And again, my thoughts immediately were, "How could she say that?! How dare she!"
But before I went and picketed and boycotted and wrote to every major Christian organization to ban the listening and viewing of these entertainers, the Voice of the Spirit within had to remind me of a few things:
- Jesus told His followers, "If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first."
- Hebrews reminds us like the old song, "This world is not our home."
- And Paul encourages us in Romans 12 to "not let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good."
BUT we are to not curse them, but love and bless them (Romans 12:14) and show them just how untrue their statements are by the very ways we react to them. If we are people of faith (who trust in and act on what God says...that sounds familiar), then when we are openly scorned, ridiculed, and spoken evil against, we respond by demonstrating love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness to those who do so. Paul calls love a "more excellent way," and it ought to be our defining characteristic.
I'd love any thoughts if you have any...Pastor.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Save the dance...
I have been reading Fresh Faith by Jim Cymbala, a great book that corresponds well with our current fall campaign of Discovering the Possibilities of Faith. The book is wonderful (a definite recommendation), but there is a phrase in the book that I have begun using - Jim says, in reference to kidding or fooling ourselves, "Let's not dance with ourselves."
The call to live a life of faith and the life of a Christian is a call to honesty that begins with telling the truth about ourselves, includes recognizing the truth that God tells us, and includes recognizing the lies of the devil. Each one of these "honesty" checks is difficult, but the one that Christians are simply awful at is telling the truth about themselves. As a pastor, when trying to help someone become extricated from a sinful pattern, if that person refuses to acknowledge the pain they are causing to God, themselves, and others, and if that person fails to recognize the ugliness of their sin, than victory is impossible. They are too busy "dancing with themselves."
I even see this with non-sinful issues. For example, for years I would lie to myself about what I could consume and not consume, and how ultimately, I could control my health if I had to. Until I realized that my habits were controlling me - it wasn't that I couldn't stop behaving in unhealthy manners, but it is that I refused to be truthful and recognize just how weak I really was. For me, if there is candy at my desk or chocolate in the cupboard, I was going to eat it, regardless of my "will (or Willis) power." I had to take that stuff away completely so that I wouldn't "dance with myself" and keep adding pounds and bad health.
I believe this extends into our church life as well. Too often, we are a church that "dances with ourselves." EVERYONE knows that EVERYONE has problems (if you've seen our sign - we're "the perfect church if you aren't") and EVERYONE struggles and has issues - R.E.M. reminded us that "everybody hurts sometimes." But our hurts and struggles, rather than being what distances us away from each other, should be the one thing that draws us closer together. If I can find healing for a hurt or a solution for a problem or encouragement for my life mission through others, than why don't I seek that? I think the problem is that we "dance with ourselves" and we don't want to acknowledge that in our church body - from leaders to laypeople - are sin, problems, and struggles. We would rather gloss over that because, in doing so, we can gloss over our own. It becomes a Clinton-like "don't ask, don't tell" policy - and the praise music we play every Sunday becomes just another opportunity not to dance with the Father but to dance with ourselves.
I read this morning on Jesus Creed that the Ted Haggard scandal has really exposed some weaknesses in the way we as the church relate in community, especially when it comes to dealing with our sin and weakness - Journey, something has to change, from pastor to deacon to leader to teacher to layperson; from fathers to mothers, husbands to wives, parents to children, children to friends - all the way down - something has to change in our community for us to really understand what COMMUNITY is all about...
Church - The Journey, if we really are going to be a church that travels "together in community," then let's stop dancing with ourselves and let's start dancing with each other! Let's dance in selfless, engaging, encouraging, inviting, growing, instructing, and relational community - putting away bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander and instead putting on kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness, clothing ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience! Save the dance for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and for the God who rejoices and sings over us.
No more dancing with ourselves and grieving the Holy Spirit. Let's start dancing with each other and letting the fulness of the Spirit dwell in our midst...
The call to live a life of faith and the life of a Christian is a call to honesty that begins with telling the truth about ourselves, includes recognizing the truth that God tells us, and includes recognizing the lies of the devil. Each one of these "honesty" checks is difficult, but the one that Christians are simply awful at is telling the truth about themselves. As a pastor, when trying to help someone become extricated from a sinful pattern, if that person refuses to acknowledge the pain they are causing to God, themselves, and others, and if that person fails to recognize the ugliness of their sin, than victory is impossible. They are too busy "dancing with themselves."
I even see this with non-sinful issues. For example, for years I would lie to myself about what I could consume and not consume, and how ultimately, I could control my health if I had to. Until I realized that my habits were controlling me - it wasn't that I couldn't stop behaving in unhealthy manners, but it is that I refused to be truthful and recognize just how weak I really was. For me, if there is candy at my desk or chocolate in the cupboard, I was going to eat it, regardless of my "will (or Willis) power." I had to take that stuff away completely so that I wouldn't "dance with myself" and keep adding pounds and bad health.
I believe this extends into our church life as well. Too often, we are a church that "dances with ourselves." EVERYONE knows that EVERYONE has problems (if you've seen our sign - we're "the perfect church if you aren't") and EVERYONE struggles and has issues - R.E.M. reminded us that "everybody hurts sometimes." But our hurts and struggles, rather than being what distances us away from each other, should be the one thing that draws us closer together. If I can find healing for a hurt or a solution for a problem or encouragement for my life mission through others, than why don't I seek that? I think the problem is that we "dance with ourselves" and we don't want to acknowledge that in our church body - from leaders to laypeople - are sin, problems, and struggles. We would rather gloss over that because, in doing so, we can gloss over our own. It becomes a Clinton-like "don't ask, don't tell" policy - and the praise music we play every Sunday becomes just another opportunity not to dance with the Father but to dance with ourselves.
I read this morning on Jesus Creed that the Ted Haggard scandal has really exposed some weaknesses in the way we as the church relate in community, especially when it comes to dealing with our sin and weakness - Journey, something has to change, from pastor to deacon to leader to teacher to layperson; from fathers to mothers, husbands to wives, parents to children, children to friends - all the way down - something has to change in our community for us to really understand what COMMUNITY is all about...
Church - The Journey, if we really are going to be a church that travels "together in community," then let's stop dancing with ourselves and let's start dancing with each other! Let's dance in selfless, engaging, encouraging, inviting, growing, instructing, and relational community - putting away bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander and instead putting on kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness, clothing ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience! Save the dance for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and for the God who rejoices and sings over us.
No more dancing with ourselves and grieving the Holy Spirit. Let's start dancing with each other and letting the fulness of the Spirit dwell in our midst...
Friday, November 03, 2006
In the crosshairs...
I read online last night that Ted Haggard was being accused of having a homosexual relationship for the past three years, and it knocked the wind right out of me. No, not again. I know that there are only unproven allegations (which I hope to be false), but from what a news article on MSNBC wrote, some of the allegations, Ted admitted, are true. What a terrible shame and what a fall of a great leader. I pray for Ted and his family, and I pray that the truth comes out like it should. I pray for his church (New Life in Colorado Springs), and I pray that we church leaders stay pure against the attacks of Satan who is gunning for us...
I feel the deep impacts of this, and if the devil can get Christian leaders to fall (and his attacks are vicious, real, and hit at the perfect spot) then he can nullify the Christian message to many. So much is at stake, and so easily I forget. Christian leaders all over the country are in the crosshairs, and the devil is waiting to pull the trigger when we foolishly leave ourselves vulnerable (I say "we" because I could easily have been taken out many times by my own foolishness).
God, please keep your church leaders pure and protected. Keep us from sin, and keep us from stupidity and pride. In this case of Ted Haggard, may Your goodness shine through in a dark time, and may Your grace be extended to Ted and his family who so desperately need it (as do we all). Father, may You extinguish the fiery darts of the wicked, and may You ultimately restore Ted as he receives instruction, correction, and accountability through his church board. MAY WE CHRISTIANS NOT SHOOT OUR WOUNDED AND LEAVE THEM FOR DEAD! May Your LOVE, which is far greater than any accusations or realizations, be what is evidenced by the world. Forgive Ted, and forgive this other man, and Lord, may Your kingdom come...in the name of Jesus I ask this.
I feel the deep impacts of this, and if the devil can get Christian leaders to fall (and his attacks are vicious, real, and hit at the perfect spot) then he can nullify the Christian message to many. So much is at stake, and so easily I forget. Christian leaders all over the country are in the crosshairs, and the devil is waiting to pull the trigger when we foolishly leave ourselves vulnerable (I say "we" because I could easily have been taken out many times by my own foolishness).
God, please keep your church leaders pure and protected. Keep us from sin, and keep us from stupidity and pride. In this case of Ted Haggard, may Your goodness shine through in a dark time, and may Your grace be extended to Ted and his family who so desperately need it (as do we all). Father, may You extinguish the fiery darts of the wicked, and may You ultimately restore Ted as he receives instruction, correction, and accountability through his church board. MAY WE CHRISTIANS NOT SHOOT OUR WOUNDED AND LEAVE THEM FOR DEAD! May Your LOVE, which is far greater than any accusations or realizations, be what is evidenced by the world. Forgive Ted, and forgive this other man, and Lord, may Your kingdom come...in the name of Jesus I ask this.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Sunday September 24, 2006
Today was a good day at The Journey. It was a great day as we dove into the Word about developing a mobile faith that moves and grows with us, and there was a great spirit of participation and worship in both services. We also had eight first time visitors with us, which is always tremendous, especially as most of them seemed to really enjoy and be engaged in the services.
The worship was good, specifically as we introduced the song In Me by Casting Crowns. I believe it was well- received, especially by the folks in the second service! It is a song that is based upon letting Jesus Christ do His work in our lives, especially because His work often times seems impossible for us to accomplish - but "when I'm weak, You make me strong. When I'm blind, You shine Your light on me 'cause I'll never get by living on my own ability..." Since we are in the series, Discovering the Possibilities of Faith, this song is the perfect emphasis. It is all about "the power of Christ in me."
The message today was tough to prepare, and quite frankly, I was nervous as I prepared it as to how it would come across (too textbook-ish, too technical), but it came off well and was received well. Our desire at The Journey is to build a safe place of faith exploration, and to build a faith where faith moves forward. You see, the one thing I didn't emphasize (and should have, but it will be emphasized in small groups) is that we want you to explore your faith which means moving forward, not being stagnant. It is the only way to live the Christian life. It is so much better than building a stagnant faith, and thus, a stagnant church. Stagnant kingdoms don't move forward.
It was great to have the visitors we had with us, and God continues to add to our numbers both in people who have been looking for a church home as well as new believers. Yesterday, we had a woman raise her hand that she prayed with me to receive Christ (which was AWESOME!) and I connected with her after the service, as well as hooked her up with a discipler. The other visitors all seemed genuinely enthusiastic about coming back, so we continue to see the Lord add new people.
Our attendance was 126, which is definitely lower for this time of year as we were missing ALOT of our regulars from the second service. But if you missed it, you WANT to pick up a copy of yesterday's message and find out what we mean when we say that The Journey is on a mission, traveling toward God...
Next week we will discuss the third part of our mission, what it means when we say we are traveling to reach our culture. You do not want to miss it!
The worship was good, specifically as we introduced the song In Me by Casting Crowns. I believe it was well- received, especially by the folks in the second service! It is a song that is based upon letting Jesus Christ do His work in our lives, especially because His work often times seems impossible for us to accomplish - but "when I'm weak, You make me strong. When I'm blind, You shine Your light on me 'cause I'll never get by living on my own ability..." Since we are in the series, Discovering the Possibilities of Faith, this song is the perfect emphasis. It is all about "the power of Christ in me."
The message today was tough to prepare, and quite frankly, I was nervous as I prepared it as to how it would come across (too textbook-ish, too technical), but it came off well and was received well. Our desire at The Journey is to build a safe place of faith exploration, and to build a faith where faith moves forward. You see, the one thing I didn't emphasize (and should have, but it will be emphasized in small groups) is that we want you to explore your faith which means moving forward, not being stagnant. It is the only way to live the Christian life. It is so much better than building a stagnant faith, and thus, a stagnant church. Stagnant kingdoms don't move forward.
It was great to have the visitors we had with us, and God continues to add to our numbers both in people who have been looking for a church home as well as new believers. Yesterday, we had a woman raise her hand that she prayed with me to receive Christ (which was AWESOME!) and I connected with her after the service, as well as hooked her up with a discipler. The other visitors all seemed genuinely enthusiastic about coming back, so we continue to see the Lord add new people.
Our attendance was 126, which is definitely lower for this time of year as we were missing ALOT of our regulars from the second service. But if you missed it, you WANT to pick up a copy of yesterday's message and find out what we mean when we say that The Journey is on a mission, traveling toward God...
Next week we will discuss the third part of our mission, what it means when we say we are traveling to reach our culture. You do not want to miss it!
Monday, September 18, 2006
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Today marked the beginning of our fall campaign, "Discovering the Possibilities of Faith..." I am so excited about this campaign and what it will mean to The Journey. There are many exciting things that are coming, and this week marks the start of our small groups - which is a GREAT thing!
It was an action-packed day from start to finish - actually, it was an action packed weekend as we did a booth at the Rochester Fair in which we gave out an iPod (congratulations to Mike Poole of Farmington who won it!) and received 50 surveys that we conducted on Church and Spirituality in our area. We had many volunteers who manned the booth the whole day, and it was great interaction with many people from our community.
Sunday morning we began our campaign, and despite sound system problems that seemed to damper the music, we had a good beginning as we talked about the 2nd part of our church mission, traveling "together in community," and how our church can be madeover by following this part of our mission. The video Coming Back/Islands was a great close to the message, an exclamation point about the need to draw out of our isolated shells and become linked with others in the body of Christ.
Sunday night was also phenomenal as we did a Night of Worship. What a great crowd we had, and what a great wave of the Spirit swept over as we sang, declared, took communion, and did a time of free worship. It is a great thing to experience God's people uninhibited in worship, declaring the truth and rejoicing without holding back.
Thank you, Lord, for another fantastic day at The Journey.
It was an action-packed day from start to finish - actually, it was an action packed weekend as we did a booth at the Rochester Fair in which we gave out an iPod (congratulations to Mike Poole of Farmington who won it!) and received 50 surveys that we conducted on Church and Spirituality in our area. We had many volunteers who manned the booth the whole day, and it was great interaction with many people from our community.
Sunday morning we began our campaign, and despite sound system problems that seemed to damper the music, we had a good beginning as we talked about the 2nd part of our church mission, traveling "together in community," and how our church can be madeover by following this part of our mission. The video Coming Back/Islands was a great close to the message, an exclamation point about the need to draw out of our isolated shells and become linked with others in the body of Christ.
Sunday night was also phenomenal as we did a Night of Worship. What a great crowd we had, and what a great wave of the Spirit swept over as we sang, declared, took communion, and did a time of free worship. It is a great thing to experience God's people uninhibited in worship, declaring the truth and rejoicing without holding back.
Thank you, Lord, for another fantastic day at The Journey.
A long break...
Well, August and part of September has gone by, and during that time, I was able to take a much needed break in planning for the fall and in looking ahead for the church. As you might have noticed, we stopped posting during that time (the longest stretch that we have had since I began doing this blog in July of '04). Our attendance for the last 6 weeks was as follows:
August 6 - 146
August 13 - 128
August 20 - 130
August 27 - 129
September 3 - 131
September 10 - 137
We did have a great 6 weeks with some GREAT stuff happening. I am sure at some point that I will get pictures of our one day VBS back on August 19th, which was a great success (thank you to all who volunteered, and to Brenda Bumford for all your hard work). We also did a booth at the Rochester Fair that produced many surveys and contacts (thank you to all who manned that booth, and thank you to Randy Tullis for over-seeing that).
During the time I was on hiatus (which was a break mostly from preaching, not from the rest of my routine), Rod, Ed, and Lee all took turns speaking, and then Dr. Gary Pinion spoke last week - and everyone did a fantastic job. I am thankful that there was the chance to take that long of a break (4 weeks)...
Now we get back into the swing of things, and we project a great fall season of "Discovering the Possibilities of Faith..."
August 6 - 146
August 13 - 128
August 20 - 130
August 27 - 129
September 3 - 131
September 10 - 137
We did have a great 6 weeks with some GREAT stuff happening. I am sure at some point that I will get pictures of our one day VBS back on August 19th, which was a great success (thank you to all who volunteered, and to Brenda Bumford for all your hard work). We also did a booth at the Rochester Fair that produced many surveys and contacts (thank you to all who manned that booth, and thank you to Randy Tullis for over-seeing that).
During the time I was on hiatus (which was a break mostly from preaching, not from the rest of my routine), Rod, Ed, and Lee all took turns speaking, and then Dr. Gary Pinion spoke last week - and everyone did a fantastic job. I am thankful that there was the chance to take that long of a break (4 weeks)...
Now we get back into the swing of things, and we project a great fall season of "Discovering the Possibilities of Faith..."
Friday, August 04, 2006
3rd Birthday party pictures...
Hey all,
Below are the pictures from this past weekend. The post from the event is listed below all the pictures, so you might have to scroll down quite a bit.
Below are the pictures from this past weekend. The post from the event is listed below all the pictures, so you might have to scroll down quite a bit.
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