We celebrated 20 years of Journey this last weekend. Before the weekend I wrote this in my journal:
– We need to stop and give thanks. We need to seek to do the impossible – ascribing to the Lord the glory DUE his name (1 Chron 16:29) – we need to feel and mark how unusual this is, how remarkable this is –most church plants don’t become this, certainly most churches don’t become this size – we need to look at what it means for “ME” – Ps 22:27 – we have awakened God memory. We need to give honor to those deserving of it – 1 Thes 5:12, Heb 13:7 and we need to double down, to re-up, to plant an ebenetzer]
I loved how God met us. Here’s some things I dug (I’d love to get your comments as to what YOU were moved by – here or on Facebook)
I loved…
- That we were able to tell our origin story – we were born in calling, in wrestling with God, in vision to reach “as many people as possible”
- That many people new to Journey were able to meet our founding pastor Mike Burns, via the video
- GOD GETTING ALL THE GLORY
- Having time to meet, connect and swap stories after each service especially in the new Journey Java Plaza
- Having various pastors who’ve served at Journey in the services
- Seeing people who contributed so much to Journey in the early days
- Having a genuine EDCO dumpster in the service and throwing the chips representing “down-sized god” into it. I loved the noise it made.
- The Baptism video at the end
- Beginning and ending the service with worship (how else?)
- That agnostic Ben Gibbard accidentally preaches Romans 3 in the song we cited.
As I choked out at each service, it is one of the privileges of my life that I have been called to Journey Community Church. It is an unspeakable privilege of which I am not at all worthy. Journey is the church that makes me truly feel bad for people that aren’t a part of something like this and wish that they all would be soon… and work my butt of for that reality!
Thanks Journey!
Now here’s a bunch of pics.
