Messages

Worship is a regular part of every one of our Sunday services, but what is it, really?  Is worship only the 15 minutes of singing we do at church?  Or is there something bigger, something more vital that can happen in our relationship with God if we worship him in every part of our lives?  This Sunday we’ll begin a 3-week series of messages, helping us unlock the true power of worshiping with all our heart. 

You must love yourself. Practice self-love. I can love myself better… Loving oneself is a strong message today, but with so much self-love, why are we will not happy and why is the world so broken? In this third and final week of message series, Relationship Goals, we’ll look at what Jesus and early Christians thought about God’s love and how this can help us find a healthy sense of self-love and identity. We ‘ll also discover how self-love is only truly life-giving if coupled with self-accountability!

One of the most frequently quotes sayings from the Bible is “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.” Other religions and even non-religious people believe and practice this powerful principle. Unfortunately, it is easier quoted than done. In this second week of our series, Relationship Goals, we’ll see how we can overcome the common barriers to loving our family, friends, neighbor and coworkers and how Jesus taught that loving people who are different than us was like loving him directly.

We all want to have great relationships in life, but where do we start? Jesus suggests we start at the beginning with our relationship with God. We all have some kind of relationship with God (or the idea of a higher power). In the first week of our series, Relationship Goals, we’ll explore what it takes to have a flourishing relationship with our Creator by looking at one of Jesus famous parables – the Sower and the Soils. Whether you are new to faith, recovering from a challenging religious upbringing, or a deeply committed believer, we’ll discover the joy that comes from being open to God and seeing meaningful change in our lives.

This Easter message focuses on discovering peace through Jesus. Through stories like Mary finding the empty tomb and the fearful disciples, we see how Jesus offers comfort in times of uncertainty. It’s about trusting in Jesus to overcome our fears and find hope. Easter invites us to experience God’s love and forgiveness, especially during tough times. Ultimately, it’s a reminder that Easter isn’t just about the past—it’s about finding peace and courage in our lives today, regardless of our challenges.

Palm Sunday which commemorates Jesus’ humble entry into Jerusalem on his way to the cross. On this Sunday 2000 years ago, those who knew of Jesus’ miracles and teachings dropped what they were doing and made his entrance into Jerusalem their priority! In this final message in our BE WELL series, we’ll explore the topic of Vocational Wellness and ask: Who or what gets our best time, energy, and resources? We’ll be challenged to make God’s priorities, our priorities.

Wellness is not just about you… it’s about US! This week in our BE WELL series, we’ll look at an unusual story in the life of Jesus, when he washed his disciple’s feet, and we’ll see how this humble and intimate act illustrates God’s vision for relational wellness.

Does your relationship to money come to mind when you think about the topic of wellness? It should! Jesus talked about money more than any other topic! How we earn, save, and generously give money to others is a key component of God’s intended life of wellness. This week in our BE WELL series, we’ll explore ‘Financial Wellness’ by looking through the eyes of a woman who gave all she had to Jesus.

What is the relationship between the body and the spirit? Many of our greatest successes (and struggles) are rooted in how we understand the body|spirit connection. This week in our BE WELL series, we’ll look one of Jesus’ most celebrated miracles – raising his friend Lazarus from the dead. We’ll see what this event has to say to us about God’s loving plan for the intersection between our physical, mental, and spiritual health!

We all gotta eat! But what’s the best way to navigate our relationship with food? There are endless approaches to feasting and fasting, but if we are not careful, we can miss the beautiful simplicity of God’s gift of food. In this second message in our BE WELL series, we’ll explore the connection between food and faith and see how Jesus not only invites himself to our meals but wants to be the source of our ultimate nourishment!

We all want ‘wellness’ in our lives, but it is easy for us to find ourselves at two extremes. We either idolize wellness by making our personal self-betterment the most important part of life or we villainize wellness, seeing it as something counter to putting Jesus first. In this first message in our BE WELL series, we explore the topic of biblical wellness by going behind a question Jesus asked a man who looking for healing: “Would you like to get well?”

Discover the results of our recent church survey and learn how to grow in your faith and connect with our community. Explore the demographics of our church, the importance of relationships, and our goal of spiritual flourishing. Together, we will learn how to commit to relationship building, turn spiritual problems into clear questions, and explore the Bible to answer those questions. Don’t miss this opportunity to grow in your faith and connect with our community.

There is only one thing that we can say for sure will happen this year: change. But, for some of us, that’s the most terrifying guarantee of them all. How can Jesus help us face challenges with more confidence? What does it look like to follow Jesus into a world of change? This week we’ll finish our series by looking at Jesus’ promise to be with us and guide us through even the biggest challenges 2024 has to offer.

We like to imagine that our income is what brings us security – but what if the truth is just the opposite? What if our reliance on our resources is exactly what brings us the most stress, panic, and worry? This week, we’ll explore God’s economy and how trusting him fully can bring us the hope, peace, and engagement we’ve always wanted.

Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking that if what happens in our lives doesn’t get recognition, doesn’t get likes, doesn’t get people’s attention, then it isn’t valuable. But in God’s view of life, our most important connection – the one that we have with him – thrives in secrecy. Why is that? What’s the benefit of developing a healthy personal relationship with God? How can we become more intimately connected to Him this year?

This year will be full of opportunities to respond to other people’s poor decisions, unkind words, and unwise actions. But what if we didn’t wait for the moment of those events to see what our response would be? What if we prepared for our inevitable stresses by practicing Jesus’ upside-down way of living? This week, we’ll explore what it means to really put Christlike characters into action and prepare to share God’s love at every opportunity.

Many of us enter 2024 with a healthy bit of trepidation: What will our lives be like? How will the 2024 election season shape our culture? What big decisions and challenges will we face this year? Thankfully, Jesus has a message of hope and peace in times of challenge – but that message comes from thinking and acting in ways that are far out of the ordinary. Instead of opinionated and strong, Jesus tells us to be tender and meek. Instead of fighting to be right, Jesus tells us to be pure and peacemakers. We’ll begin this year by taking an important look at Jesus’ upside down teachings and how they can help us transform our 2024 for the better.

This year, our church has focused on understanding ‘The Mission of God’, a concept that goes beyond personal salvation. It’s about following Jesus and working together as a community to help people live better lives through His teachings. We’re encouraged to think about how, as a church, we can join in this mission, aiming to create a world that flourishes under God’s love and guidance.

Christmas Eve services at church can feel like just another thing to get done during this hectic holiday season.  And with the possibility of an even more hectic year looming, is there any hope of a little rest?  This Christmas Eve at Journey, we’ll explore how Jesus’ arrival made way for his new Kingdom where he will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father” and, most importantly for us this year, “Prince of Peace.”  Let’s discover together how to experience the peace that only a true connection with God’s love can bring.