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SUNDAY RECAP FOR AUGUST 23

GO - WEEK ONE

RECAP
In Monopoly, it's all about making the right investment at the right time. Today, Mark talked about investing and inviting and why now is the right time. Mark talked about how Jesus is asking us to GO (it not a maybe, it's more like a coach asking us to give 110%). Jesus has prepared us to GO and He believes we can do it. He shared a few verses from 2 Corinthians 5 & 9, but spent a majority of his time in John 9 and the blind man. This guy didn't have Jesus all figured out. He just shared out of his experience. He even said, I don't know -  but one thing I do know is my experience - I was blind but now I see. We don't have Jesus all figured out. We don't have all the answers to peoples questions - but we all have an experience we can share. So, what's your story? What have you learned about Jesus? How have you seen Him in your life or in the lives of others around you or at church? How have you experienced God at The Journey? Just share your experience. Mark closed out his time with a music video - Give Me Your Eyes - it was really a prayer to see people as Jesus sees and having a willingness to GO.

THOUGHTS
- The best thing about Mark sharing today is I know he isn't just saying this - he means it - he lives it.
- I really like that Brandon Health song and video
- It was a good thing I didn't have any main responsibilities this morning. I spent a hour before church troubleshooting and fixing some tech issues. It makes Sunday a little crazy.
- We have a few errors throughout the morning. We strive for excellence but understand and accept the mistakes - life is too short to get crazy about that stuff. I hope all our volunteers know that because we do give some pressure to be our best. I don't care about the mistakes as long as people are trying.
- I had a last minute idea to play the Mission Impossible theme for announcements. I didn't give Mike the best option to play the song. lt got messed up both services. I laughed and told Mike it is a good thing I can ad-lib. Sorry Mike.
- Caleb and Missy did a great job leading the band today.
- Attendance has been climbing each week as summer comes to a close but we need some peeps to come and bring some energy to the 9:30 service.

VIDEOS
GO
Give Me Your Eyes - Brandon Heath

SONGS
Mighty to Save - Hillsong
Lead Me to the Cross - Hillsong United
From the Inside Out - Hillsong United
God of Justice - Tim Hughes
Who You Are - Desperation Band

SUMMER IS OVER

The cool weather set in - I'm sure we will have some more blazin hot days - but it was nice to feel a little chill in the air as fall is just around the corner. Summer is pretty much over at the Lewis home. This past week was kinda crazy. Steph is back getting her 5th grade classroom ready. She went in every day this week and I am back to full time dad duties. I took a few vacation days and finished Emma's playground, weatherproof/stained our deck, mowed the grass, cleaned up the garage, and started thinking about winter prep fertilizer. This week will bring a pool party - if the weather is nice - a garage sale - we have a ton of kids clothes and toys to get rid of - and it is the last week before Steph has to official report back to school. Summer is over. I still hope to enjoy some nice days, corn on the cob, fresh fruit, grilling, walking the pier, and time in the yard. Hope you are having some great last days of summer.

MORE INSIDER INFO ON UPCOMING JOURNEY STUFF

All this week, I have been letting you in on some upcoming stuff at The Journey. I am surprised that there were no comments about the outdoors Christmas Eve Gathering idea...

A few other other things you can be looking for this year: We are going to be offering an extend worship & communion night. It will be a lot of music, communion, personal reflection and an chance to refocus on a week night. We will also have some Next Steps Nights. Last year we did things like a Parents Night Out, iWonder, a financial class and some other focused night to help you take next steps. We will offer some Next Steps Nights throughout the year and they will have 2-4 seminars that you could attend as part of the night. There will be courses that will offer some ideas for next steps and that are connected to what we talk about on Sundays, courses on basic Bible knowledge or ways to study your Bible, and there will be specific times for parents, marriages, and much more. They will all be design to help you take a next step.

I think this is going to be a great year at The Journey and I am excite for this fall. I am seeing some big steps behind the scenes and we have a ton of great volunteers stepping up. I think God is going to do big things this year. 

NEW THIS FALL: THE AGENCY

We have had a top secret group at The Journey over the past couple years called...THE AGENCY. This group of highly skilled agents help accomplish the mission. We are doing something new with this group this fall. We are expanding it to include all Journey volunteers. It's a group about the vision, training, and some fun along the way. You can search for some of the agency videos here that were used at this group. 

So, if you don't volunteer at The Journey please don't read any further or your computer might self-destruct. If you do volunteer, read on - but first - start singing in your head the Mission Impossible theme and this information will be much more meaningful....(ba ba ba bum, ba ba ba bum, ba ba ba bum ba ba ba bum, do do doooooo, do do doooooo, do do dooooooo, do dot....)

THE AGENCY is a top secret group of highly skilled volunteers at The Journey. Our mission, if you choose to accept it, is to carry out the God-given vision of The Journey and help people take first and next steps with Jesus. Our next covert training session will take place on Monday night, August 31 from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. We would like all agents to report for some fun, training, upcoming information and rah rah time as we prepare for fall.

PLANNING FOR CHRISTMAS

We have been doing some brainstorming this summer about what to do for Christmas...that is right - Christmas. It will be here before you know it. We were thinking about ways we can bring Christmas to our community instead of asking them to come to us. So we were brainstorming about doing a Christmas Eve Gathering for our community...but how, and where?

We have been throwing around an idea...this could be a great idea or our worst idea ever. We haven't decided yet and we have mixed reviews.

 Okay imagine yourself on Christmas Eve. It's about 30 degrees with a light snow. You bundle up your family for Christmas activities outside at our community event. You show up to participate in some snow family Christmas fun. You are having fun, drinking some hot chocolate or coffee from the local coffee house booth and now the outdoor Journey Community Christmas Eve service begins at a location many people would see. Some people are huddling around the outdoor heaters as they hear about a special projects to give back to the community. We all sing Christmas song as a light snow falls from the sky. Many people hear about how God came to be with us and give us hope.

So - that is the idea...the problem is it could be -10 degrees or 60 degrees on Christmas Eve. It could be awesome if it were just a light snow. It would be awesome to be in the community. I know this idea is pretty risky and could go terribly wrong and might not be worth the time, effort and money...or it could be awesome and connect with a bunch of people.

So what do you think? Any other ideas on how to bring our Christmas Eve Gathering to the community?

PLANNING AHEAD

Every summer, we take time to plan the year ahead (I guess we work on school calendar year). I am going to be sharing some insider info for The Journey this week about some things coming up for the rest of 2009. 

This Sunday we are starting a new series called Go. It will be two weeks and finish up summer. This fall we are going to have some awesome Sunday series. Next month we will begin a series called - No Perfect People Allowed (so I guess I can get in). In October, we are looking at some different people in the Bible and learning about unleashing our God-given potential. In November, we will be looking at some big questions about God. We will actually have a survey and you will be able to pick some of the topics. December will bring a Beatles Christmas series...Let it Be.

If you have been missing church with vacation and summer events, well - you won't want to miss this fall. More insider upcoming info tomorrow.

DESTINATIONS

We just wrapped up a series called Destinations - it was all about how our attention figures into our direction, how our intentions don't, and how we need to trust God to find direction. Daily decisions determine our direction and our direction determines our destination. So, if you want more here are two options:

This week, Paul is blogging about how to connect with God's word.

Andy Stanley - a pastor in ATL - penned the phrase we used in this series. He has a new book out called the Principle for the Path that will give you more thought provoking, life changing ideas about your direction. You can pick it up at Hage's by the mall area or order it on Amazon. Here is a review of the book here. 

Hope you have a great week going in the right direction.

SUNDAY RECAP FOR AUGUST 16

DESTINATIONS: WEEK 3
Your Direction Determines Your Destination

RECAP
Toonces the Driving Cat started things off again. In the video, Paul decided to lie to himself that this time would be different - but it wasn't. The reality is we often lie to ourselves that things will be different this time or that he/she will change if we were married or that we will do better at work/school/home even though we continue doing things the same way. We lie to ourselves and we tell other people to do the same thing...just follow your heart. The problem is our hearts don't always lead us in the right direction. We almost always choose temporary happiness over our preferred destination. The bottom line: this is why we need God and His direction. We looked at Solomon. We was the wisest person of all times - he wrote all the Proverbs in the Bible, people came to him from all over the world to seek his wisdom (1 Kings), and he also wrote the book about marriage and sexuality in the Bible (Song of Songs) - so you know he's smart if he figured out women (good joke by Paul)  - even Solomon said he needed God and His direction (Prov 3:5-6 and all through Proverbs). We all need God's direction and it's found in knowing Him and His Word. We looked through Psalms 119 and how His word can direct our paths. Paul shared options and resources from our Info Center and Next Step Booth (Check em out next time you're at church). Here is one more - daily Bible reader on Youversion.

THOUGHTS
- We were fuller again today with vacation season started to come to an end AND people came on time for the most part. Amazing. 
- Stephani and I both sang today. This is a little easier now that Eli doesn't take a morning nap. It great to sing with her again.
- Stephani rocked it out on the opening song, You Decide. Band felt good today. I had Jesus bumps.
- I broke a string on the last song in the 11:00 gathering. Good thing I have two guitars and a wife to grab the extra one for me.
 - I thought this was a really good series - Paul had some great stuff to share with us - maybe we shouldn't have done it in the summer. Oh well, there is always the podcast.
 - The pictures and stories Mark shared from the storm damage and us helping didn't do it justice. The damage was overwhelming and helping that lady was awesome. Some journeyers had chance to talk with her. It made a big impression in Mark's neighborhood and it can only lead to more opportunities to talk to people about Jesus.

VIDEO
Toonces the Driving Cat - week 3

SONGS
You Decide - Fireflight
Life Light Up - Christy Nockels
Song of Hope - Robbie Seay Band
Saviour King - Hillsong United
Love Song - Jason Morant
Chasing - Desperation Band 

HELP OUR COMMUNITY

Tomorrow morning we are gathering up some journeyers to do some work to help our community. Let's join up and share God's love and make a difference.

Here are the details

Here are some pictures of the damage from the storm from Mark's blog:
At Mark's house and neighborhood...
and Trees
Trees
Everywhere...
and powerlines

Here are some other things the Journey is doing to make a difference in the world and our community.

THE FACTS OF LIFE ABOUT SUMMER

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have - the facts of life about summer...

GOOD - Lots of events like Unity Festival and the Fair
BAD - Eating 75% of your meals at festivals
We had a great home-made fresh dinner last night - Ham Steaks on the grill, tomatoes and basil from our garden with fresh mozzerella from the Cheese Lady, along with some other tasty treats from the farmers market like corn on the cob and melon. However, this was the first home-cooked, real meal in like 12 days. We've been on the go to events - hot dogs, brats and other fair food. Not good. Well good. Not health and I am out of Tums.

GOOD - Relaxed Schedule
BAD - Relaxed Schedule
I'm not the most disciplined person. Having Steph home during the summer and having a more relaxed schedule is great but things like working out find their way out of the daily routine.

GOOD - Longer Days
BAD - Later Nights
I love summer nights and long days to play in the back yard, but our kids stay up way later and take away my night alone time with Steph

GOOD - Summer food: grilling, fresh fruit, corn on the cob, ice cream
BAD - Hot Dogs, Brats, Fair Food and ice cream
We have been eating bad lately at all the festivals and we eat way too much ice cream in the summer. I love ice cream. But we also eat a ton of fresh fruits and veggies. I go to the farmers market every week. I was hoping they would even themselves out but I think we still eat too much ice cream.

GOOD - Being in the Yard, playing outside, seeing neighbors
BAD - Mowing the yard
I mowed my grass last night. It was SOOOOOO long. I like being outside with the kids, seeing neighbors, and chilling out in the back yard. I like having a nice yard, flowers and a garden, but I don't enjoy yard work. It's not therapy, it's work. With all the nights we've been gone, I haven't had time to mow. This is year 3 of my yard and it is really getting thick. Thick and long means some raking too. It took me twice as long. It's even worse when everyone else is playing in the kids pool and slip n slide as I mow.

GOOD - Warm Weather
BAD - Warm Weather
Summer use to be my least favorite season. I burn easy and I start sweating after 70 degrees. However, I am liking summer more with kids because there's so many fun things to do and you don't have to bundle them all up.

Hope your last weeks of summer are filled with more good than bad.