We have had a GREAT run of weekends this summer at Journey.
• Marko did that amazing talk on “God Given Emotions”
• Baby Dedication weekend with the Untamed Families message was a spectacular weekend.
• John Lynch had a direction-altering message on “The 2 Roads”.
• Trevor Davis returned to lead us in worship and do some original stuff.
• The Worship / music has been powerful every weekend.
So this weekend we kicked off a new series called, “I’d Love to Change the World”. We’ve kind of evolved a tradition of having the August series be something of a direction setting series. Usually it’s a recognition of we feel God is already doing, what He already has brewing. It’s clear there is something rumbling at Journey that is about God using us in a new way, at a new level, on a new scale. I know that’s happening in me.
Part of what it means to be made in the Image of God is that in us there is a desire to, as N.T. Wright puts it, “see the world put to rights.” We have a desire to change the world. It’s sad a tragic when we give up on that. Perhaps this is part of what Jesus meant when He said we have to become like children to inherit the Kingdom of God.
Speaking of that, one of my weekend highlights was meeting 11-year-old Emily between Sunday morning services. 
She was so moved when she saw the images of devastation in Haiti that she was urging her mom at every turn to give and donate. She offered to give up her text plan for her phone so they could give more. She then came up with the idea of making decorative flowers for the end of your pencil and sending all the money to Haiti. She can’t wait till there is an opportunity for her to go.
Another treat for me this weekend was to have some friends from Fresno drop into the 11:00 service on Sunday. The Beery family sent 5, count 5, kids through our student ministry in Fresno. They were all awesome kids that were major kingdom impact players.
THE PRAYER: The whole message this weekend was aiming to set up our “Prayer of the Month”. Here’s the plan: every day this month, we take just a couple of minutes to pray…
“Lord, what do you want to do through me to change the world?”
Then, we wait and see how God might be answering the question.
I can’t wait to hear what He says to us.
