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NEW FOR OCTOBER

This Sunday we're starting a new series called Follow. (You can invite someone here)
We'll also be introducing a new song called "Yours Forever" by Hillsong United. Listen here.

This Sunday is also our 6th Year Anniversary for The Journey...that went fast. We will have a few special things planned for this Sunday.

REAL

We had the worship & communion event tonight. It was good.

If you are like me, it's easy to take things for granted. Even though we talk about relationships at The Journey, life can become routine. As we have been deal with funerals and families this past week, routine is gone. Taking things for granted today - nope. Eternal life, hope, the cross, Jesus - it all seems more real than it has recently. I hate that sometime it takes the lows in life to start to see things clearer. 

COMMUNION

Tonight is our first worship and communion night. Don't miss it 7:00 pm at The Journey. It will be more introspective and reflective than a normal Journey experience with extended music. 

SUNDAY RECAP FOR SEPTEMBER 27

NO PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED
Week 4 - It's not about having it all together, but trusting in a perfect Savior

RECAP
Paul wrapped up the series today by giving people a chance to begin a relationship with Jesus. We started with a Coldplay song about going back to the start. Paul talked about three people from Luke 23 you had a chance to restart. Our past doesn't matter, nor our positions - really nothing can help us earn our way and there's nothing too bad to ruin our chances to find forgiveness. Doing our best will never be good enough to measure up. When we stand before God, it's not like we can say "well at least I wasn't as bad as them" -Not good enough. Jesus is perfect. He is the Savior and salvation His gift to us. If someone offers you a gift, do you try to repay them for it or give them something to try to equal things out? Religion is like that. Religion says I will do these things and say those things, hopefully it equals out. Relationship with Jesus is about accepting this gift and in return, loving Him and following Him out of that love. Will you follow Him? Are you trying to earn your way with religion or will you accept this gift?

THOUGHTS
- We weren't the most prepared for today. And like usual, we see God move. 
- We know of at least one person who decided to follow today
- Mark did announcements and shared about the many issues and losses this week for journeyers. We followed that with some songs which (not planned that way) really tied in well and responded to the situations.
- Paul did a great job even though not as prepared as he would have like - I thought he nailed this series
- We didn't do a lead in video today - I thought is was kinda weird without it
- We have awesome volunteers at The Journey
- We got people to clap today
- I sent Paul a message through mind power today - you can ask Mark - it was amazing
 - Emotions were high today - more importantly - God's Word and His hope was even more real. As I heard the Scripture and sang the songs, the words seemed more real with a perspective in the face of the fragility of life here on earth.

NEED TO KNOW
Vegas Missions Trip - Deadline is next Sunday for this trip in Feb
Worship & Communion Night - Monday night 7:00 pm

VIDEO
Follow Promo - Oct. Series

SONGS
The Scientist - Coldplay
Look to You - Hillsong
Meet with Me - TenShekelShirt
I Just Need You - Telecast
Jesus Paid it All - Kristian Stanfill
My Savior My God - Aaron Shust

HEAVY HEART

I love my job but not this week. Virginia had brain surgery. A friend at The Journey had a still born baby. Another journeyer lost is 8 year old daughter in a car accident. My heart is heavy. I want to be there for everyone but I can't always be there. The hardest part of my job is the 3/4 pastor and full-time dad at home with my kids restricts my availability. I feel like every week I'm stressed to get everything done. I feel like I don't give my family 100%, nor do I give enough to The Journey. I leave Paul and other staff having to deal with things that I should be part of and I feel like I let down Journeyers when things like this come along and you want to be there for people but you can't make it work. Even though I can't always be there, my heart and mind are there. This week has been emotional and it puts things in perspective. Work is nothing compared to relationships - error on the side of your family -  so pray for those hurting, hug your kids and connect with Jesus because life is short and fragile. 

VIVA LA VERVE

Vince Antonucci was at The Journey this past May sharing his story and his mission from God. We are looking at more ways to support him as he launches a church on the Vegas Strip called Verve. Verve & Vince are one of our strategic investments at The Journey and we want to support him as he reaches people disconnected from God in Las Vegas. Here is an opportunity to support him and help reach people in Sin City. Our church is going to support him, Steph and I are in, and we are heading up a trip to Vegas this February (deadline in two weeks - see Elvis at church). 

V

Praying for Virginia this morning and her brain surgery. Be looking for a Journey Update later today for an update on the surgery.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

Lost People Matter to God. What are you going to do with that? You could do nothing. You could twist it to justify actions. You could prioritize time to connect with your neighbors... lnteresting post from Ben Arment last week:

The Most Dangerous Phrase in the Church
 I don't know who came up with it. I think it was Bill Hybels. And it's an absolutely correct statement. He was trying to move Christians out of the inwardly focused communes we called churches and into the world. It ushered-in a more compassionate and contextualized approach to the Gospel. But it has the potential to be the most dangerous phrase in the church."Lost people matter to God."Here's why.We can use it to justify every - and I mean every - decision in ministry. They might not be bad, but it's impossible to argue back when you sling out the "lost people matter" phrase. Install a $1 million LED wall?... Lost people matter to God. Tolerate a mistake in the service? No way... lost people matter...It's not the phrase that's dangerous. It's what we do with it.

 See here is the deal. I feel the weight of the above thoughts along with other leaders at The Journey - how can we best use our time and resources for our church to make an impact? Not always easy. The heart of the post is making wise decisions to move towards a more compassion way to share the message of Jesus. I think we need to switch to a new approach and it really doesn't involve a program or system for the church. It's about relationships with an understanding of personal responsibility. As one of the leaders of The Journey, I am held responsible by God for what I do with The Journey as His church but also what I do with my individual life. When you stand before God, it won't be about what church programs you participated in but what did you do with your life? - you are personally responsible for reaching others. You are personally responsible for making your life count. You are personally responsible for your level of connection with Jesus. I will try to help you as a pastor of The Journey, but You are responsible to take action. Lost people matter to God. So what are you going to do with it? 

ALL THE SINGLE PARENTS

I just give a shout out to all the single parents. Steph was gone for 24 hours with a trip for school so I had the kids all day. This usually isn't a big deal but I was so tired yesterday and worn out from the weekend. So I want to give some props to all the single parents who don't get time off and have to hang in there even when you are wiped out. So here's my song for you...imagine me in only a black unitard getting jiggy with it and singing... All the single parents (background vocals: all the single parent) All the single parents (all the single parents)...

PERSONAL NOT PROGRAM

This past Sunday Paul talked about how knowledge isn't king - hearing God and doing what He says is what a real relationship with Jesus is all about - that's spiritual maturity. So with that in mind, we do thing different at The Journey. With my past church experience, it seems like many churches philosophy to help people grow is to have them participated in many church activities - Sunday School, Women's/Men's ministry, Church, Bible Study or Prayer Meeting, etc. It was about engulfing yourself in a church community. While I don't want to discredit these opportunities, we take a different approach. I would also like to apologize to people who have asked us to start many different programs. We have a different philosophy and we don't mean to be rude and it's not that we aren't listening - it just that we function in relationships and we want people to take more personal responsibility and not depend on programs. I know this isn't the easiest to understand because the other philosophy of programs has been ingrained in us for years.

Our goal is for people at The Journey to be in a self-feeding, personal relationship with Jesus and to look beyond yourself to invest in others to help them take first and next steps. While it's good to gain knowledge and Bible understanding, unless you apply it, it's worth is void. If we really want to understand Jesus, it's found in putting Him first, then others - looking beyond ourselves, living life together, caring for each other and helping those who don't know Jesus find a relationship with Him. The church shouldn't have to try to persuade people to take time to invest in others, but life becomes busy, complex and it's easy to just become inward focused as people and a church. We don't want that to happen. The best steps you can take isn't a program but it's to develop a personal relationship with Jesus and to experience Him by looking beyond yourself.

Here is some more thoughts on this from LOS