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Weekend Update: "Service Change Alert!"

There is an old Christian/Church saying, "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken."  I share this because for the second time in as many weeks there has been a change to the service content for this June 4 & 6 Weekend.  Originally this weekend was slated as a stand alone message, taking a break from our God at the Movies series.  Then last weekend we announced that we be adding to the movie UP to the line up this weekend. 

However, there is has been yet one more change.  Ed Noble back from his five-day visit to Haiti felt compelled and lead to share about his experience there, while his thoughts, feelings and impressions are very fresh.  For a preview of what he may be sharing check out his blog Ed's journey.  Also joining him will be author/speaker Mark (Marko) Oestreicher who was apart of the recent trip.

God at the Movies will be resuming next weekend with the scheduled movie Crazy Heart.

Weekend Update: Memorial Weekend Edition

As we are entering into Memorial Day Weekend, if your travels do not take you out of town or if you are visiting San Diego be sure to join us this weekend at Journey Community Church for God at the Movies. 

We are at the midway point of the series looking at the movie Avatar -- the Oscar nominated and highest grossing film of all time.  We cannot overstate what a great opportunity it is to invite people to church -- for three weekends in a row we have run out of programs, invite cards are available at Guest Services.

After service there is still time to sign up for The Global Leadership Summit at the best host-site rates.  Be sure to read the program insert and register at the Guest Services.  And another great opportunity is to sign-up to be baptized at our first church-wide baptism of the year taking place on Sunday June 13.  There is a brief orientation class takes place immediately after service on the upper-riser area of the worship center for those who plan to go public with their faith.

Also being that is Memorial Day Weekend, be sure to take time during the course of the weekend to lift up 
prayers of gratitude for those who have given their lives in service of our country protecting the freedoms that we can often take for granted; and to lift up prayers on behalf of the men and women who are serving all across the globe in the various branches of the military.

Next weekend we are including one more film in the God at the Movies series.  Originally, we had the June 4 & 6 slated as a special stand alone message to put a break in the series.  Instead we are including the other highly voted on people's choice movie -- UP.  For a complete break down of the series go to godathemovies.net.

(500) Days of Summer featured at New Format God at the Movies series

I believe most guys have been in this situation where you enter a relationship with a girl believing there is incredible promise for a long term relationship (or at least that is what you hope) only to be disappointed or should I say brokenhearted because the feelings are not reciprocated.  Often times it is our own fault that we, as the guy, find ourselves in this situation because the girl is upfront with her desire to "just be friends."  Yet despite that knowledge, we still move forward hoping that those gestures and interactions, which from her perspective are purely on a friendship level, has the possibility to build to something more serious.

Now that is one of the key story lines of (500) Days of Summer.  I absolutely loved this film, along with Whip It and Up In the Air, were my favorite movies of 2009 and I am excited that I get to speak from this movie at New Format this Sunday (5/30) at their series God at the Movies.

In preparation for this message here are some potential spiritual themes that I am thinking about addressing ,but I would love to get your input on other potential insights.   Please let me know.

• Is there such a thing as love?
• What does mean to be right, but just not right for you?
• The environment we are in affects everything ... our outlook on life, relationships etc.
• What it means to be happy for others, when it comes at a cost to us.
• All things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
• Our thoughts are not His thoughts.

Again any insights you have gleaned from this movie would be greatly appreciated.

"God at the Movies Starts Tonight!"

Tonight our most popular weekend message series God at the Movies kicks off with the movie "The Blind Side." 

Also this weekend we are taking time to honor moms in view of mother's day.  And in case you have not made the connection, The Blind Side was strategically chosen to kick off the series in view of mother's day as the movie features the life of a mom, Leigh Anne Tuohy, and how her maternal instincts and compassion lead to changing of a young man's life.

We will also feature a great run of songs including "As Children," "Our God," "Blessed Be Your Name," "Revelation Song" & a special song dedicated to moms "Everybody."

There is still time to invite.  For complete details of God at the Movies click here.

To see the God at the Movies series promo again click here.

We look forward to seeing you tonight and at the movies!

Getting the Most out of God at the Movies!

No doubt after seeing the promo for God at the Movies this past weekend, Journey Community Church is incredibly excited about the series starting this weekend -- May 7 & 9! In case you did not see the trailer or simply want to watch it again, which I am sure you do click below.

Now that you are even more pumped after watching the promo -- here are some thoughts to make the most of the series:

• Definitely watch the movies ahead of time.  We make no apology that endings will be ruined for those who have not seen the film.
• Use this as a great opportunity to strengthen community in your small group. A few ways of doing this: 1. Watch the movies ahead of time together during your group time; 2. Use your small group to further discuss movie themes discussed in the weekend message or: 3. Discuss the movie ahead of time and then later see how your group's insights compare or differ with those being shared in the weekend messages.
• INVITE! INVITE! INVITE!  The best way to experience this series is to do so with a spiritual seeker.  Trust me on this one.

See you this weekend at God at the Movies!

3 Things I am Committed to Praying for Our Church

This morning during my quiet time I felt prompted to pray for these three things for the life the church members of Journey Community Church during this next season.

Praying that we will ...

1. Commit to being the best version of who God created us to be.
2. Lead where we are.
3. Have a heart for those outside the walls of our church.

My God at the Movies 7

Easily the most engaging series we have done annually is God at the Movies. 

Which on the weekend of May 7 & 9 will be the start of our seventh installment of the series. Using the most popular entertainment medium --  movies as a platform to raise spiritual themes and topics this series generates a lot of buzz amongst our church attendees and really raises the "invite factor" to our services.
It is also generates a lot of conversation and sharing of opinions as to what movies should be featured.  And believe me everybody has some suggestion on what movies should be used. 

Yet there are a couple of factors which are considered --  first, did the movie come out in the last year and is available on-demand, as a digital download or on DVD so people can watch the film and so we can show clips of the movie during the services and does it have a substantive subject matter where Biblical truth can be spoken into.  Every year the programming team leaves one or two weekends open for people to vote and we call it the people's choice weekend.  We voted this past weekend and the results of the vote and the rest of the series line-up will be shared this weekend at our services.

 Now if I were making all the decisions for what movies to be featured (which I am surely not) here would be my movies.
Up in the Air (my favorite and what I thought was the best film of the year - nuff said)

500 Days of Summer (if any of you has experienced what it feels like to be right, but not having it be right for you?  this movie makes you feel that like no other)

UP (What does it mean to leave it all behind to accomplish your goal or mission)

Star Trek

The Blindside

Monsters Versus Aliens

What would your movie line-up look like?

Weekend Update April 2010 Wrap Up

Life without faith is truncated, it's limited, it's less than life is suppose to be.  Faith is what keeps us from being jaded, cynical, crusty.  Your probably already know that the Bible is all about faith.  Most people believe in God -- it make sense He is there  -- it seems reasonable that someone bigger than us designed this thing.  But to experience God in your life, you've got to have faith, you've go to go beyond belief.  Friday 7pm, Sunday 9 & 10:45am.

APRIL 23 & 25          FAITH WITH GUILT:  How Faith Frees us from Crippling Guilt. (also this weekend there is still opportunity to get involved with San Diego City Fest -- stop by Guest Services to fill out a registration/prayer card)

APRIL 30 & MAY 2     FAITH WITHOUT LIMITS (also this weekend we will be your opportunity to register to attend the 2010 Global Leadership Summit August 5 & 6 at a special host-site rate.)

PLEASE PRAY:

1. God's anointing on all those who invovled with the weekend service experience (programming team, children's & student ministry teams, Lasting Impression Teams)
2. Our church would respond to God's movement in our lives and live in faith.
3. God would do a stirring in our heart to see people reached and that we would be inviting those in our spheres of influence to our services.

A Cross Centered Good Friday Service

For the third year now we have done multiple services on Good Friday as a means to handle the growing attendance -- completing two services last night at 5:30 & 7:00pm. I believe the desire for people to have this service, in addition to Easter on Sunday, is that it makes those Easter services all the more special. 

Interestingly in years past we have really aimed our church's inviting efforts toward Easter Sunday, however recently Friday has become a viable invite option as well.  Probably because whereas people might have a conflicting Easter gathering on Sunday, most don't have one on a Friday night.  A good example of this is our teaching pastor Ed Noble's friend who came for the first time on Palm Sunday and chose to bring her family to our 5:30pm service tonight.

Our Good Friday service was incredible and meaningful to say the least.  At the center of the service was the cross, figuratively and literally.  We had a 1,500 pound wooden cross mounted in the center of our worship venue.  It would serve as a focal point for a spiritual exercise where before taking the elements for communion, we first wrote out with our fingers by dipping them in red finger paint our names on to signs that were hung on the cross -- symbolizing the fact that it is we who should rightfully be there, but by God's grace Jesus took our place.  Here are some lasting images from the evening.

 

 

 

"What You Need to Know for Good Friday & Easter @Journey"

As we are about to embark on the biggest weekend of the year at Journey here are some important facts to know that will help make your experience as meaningful as possible for you and the guests that you bring.  Please note that Good Friday and Easter are two different service details are below.

Good Friday April 2:  5:30* & 7:00pm

• doors open 15 minutes prior to each service
• actual start times are 5:28 & 6:58pm respectively
  
• service is scheduled to go one hour
• communion will be served
  
• *there is no Children's ministry during the 5:30 service
• check in for your children begins 15 minutes prior to 7pm service
  
• Celebrate Recover will not be meeting this Friday
• Bookstore hours are from 4:30-8:30pm
• The Coffee Cart will be open

Easter Sunday April 4: 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00am

• doors open 15 minutes prior to each service
• services are scheduled to go one hour
• this Sunday kicks off a new series called "Beyond Belief"
  
• there is children's ministry at all three services from infant care to 5th grade
• check in for your children begins 15 minutes prior to each service
  
• there is no student ministries: middle school, high school & college are being encouraged to attend one of the morning services.  They all resume services the following Sunday April 11 kicking off new series.
• Interpreting for the deaf will be available at our 11am service.
  
• Bookstore hours 7:30am-12:30pm
• Complimentary refreshments are available after each of the services on the hard scape area immediately outside of the main entrance to the worship center.
  
• the Deli will be selling breakfast items in the Fellowship Center between 7:30-11:30am
• coffee cart is open before and after each service
  
• there is still time to invite people, if you need more invitation cards, stop by the church office
  

Weekend Update: HOLY WEEK

Tonight, Friday March 26, kicks of Holy Week at Journey that concludes on Good Friday April 2.  Information on the week is below.

This weekend will also include a great run of worship songs including: Cannons, Lord of Lords, Hosanna and As It is in Heaven.
Also there are some great ways to get involved with Easter. For details click here.

As for prayer we hope you will be joining us in praying all week for the service and it various components in addition here is content of an e-mail sent out by our teaching pastor Ed Noble on some additional ways to take part in Holy Week.

Hey all,

Easter is coming up. Holy Week is this week.

It's a great time of year for we who follow Jesus.

It's also a  time of prep for one of our most important & largest weekends of the 
year, Easter weekend.

So there are a couple of prayer initiatives we are diving in to.
March 30 we'll be fasting & praying during our normal staff devotion /  lunch meeting.
March 31 is Journey's part of PRAYER WAVE - different churches are 
taking a different day to pray for the city in the 40 days leading up 
to Easter. Let's keep that in mind. There will be a special Wednesday 
night prayer gathering that night as well -- 7pm in Equipping Center A.

I would love for those of you who can to come on out to pray.
Over those 2 days, let's do some fasting. You can pick a meal a day or 
any combo of meals for the 2 days. Not only will we be seeking the 
Lord's hand over our city & our church, it will be a great way to prep 
your heart for good friday & easter.

1 Chron 16:11 Seek the Lord & His strength; seek His face continually.

Ed

Why People Go to Church on Easter

At our Friday night service before our teaching pastor Ed Noble began his message he furthered encouraged the congregation to invite people to Easter – saying, “I am not sure why it is, but people are open on Easter, for whatever reason they come on this Sunday …”

Here is my shot at a possible answer to that question.

Though there are a multitude of variables that might lead someone to come to an Easter service – including, most notably the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in someone’s life, here is my take on it.

The reason I believe people are open to go to a service on Easter is … they have no competing invitations.  

Let me explain …

Easter is the one Sunday where they, (the normally un-churched, non-religious people) are not being invited to go golfing or to go and workout or to go shopping or to go out for breakfast.  Why? Because the norms of our American culture, I believe, leads us to assume that Easter is either a religious holiday that should be observed or participated in some fashion; or is an occasion to spend with family (for both religious and non religious reasons).

In addition there is also limited sporting events on television to vie for our attention as well.  Take for example this year, the NCAA Tournament Final Four (the greatest sporting event in the world) -- the games are on Easter weekend but not on Sunday.  The semi-finals are on Saturday and the championship game is after the holiday on Monday night.  (Even on a post about Easter I can get my March Madness plug in.)

Also not only are they not being invited, they are not doing any inviting also – for the same normative reasons.

Think about your inviting experiences in the past on a non-holiday weekend.  Though, I am sure at times we have experienced flat out rejections for no other reason than they are not interested, however most times – they have something else to attend that they simply deem as more important no matter how trivial it may seem.

Somewhat incorporated in my reasoning is that there is a subtle group/peer pressure that plays into it – “that is what you do on Easter  which is to go to a worship service of some kind.”  So to be invited to a service only follows suit to the already established norm.

All this to say is that we have a great opportunity.  Easter is two weeks from today let us take advantage of our guests not having an excuse of a competing invitation an invite them to service.  We have thousands of invite pieces available at Guest Services or the church office. 

For more information on Easter click here.

Weekend Update March 2010 Wrap Up

It is hard to believe that we will be soon wrapping up the first quarter of 2010

At Journey we will be closing this quarter strong beginning this weekend, March 19 & 21, with the conclusion to the series Tools & Fools as we will be looking at King Rehoboam's life with the message "Cutting One Too Many Corners."  In addition we will have incredible run of worship songs featuring: Revelation Song, Desert Song, Reign in Us and Arms Open Wide.

Then next weekend March 26 & 28 we will kick-off Holy Week with a special Palm Sunday message that will lead us into Easter Weekend -- April 2 & 4.   For details of Easter and how you can be involved click here. 

Included in Holy Week will be church-wide call to fast on behalf of our outreach, details will be in next week's update.  Also be sure to grab Easter invites this week at Guest Services.

For this weekend please pray for the following:

1. An anointing on all programming elements and those who will be playing roles in them (music, teaching, hosting, technical arts)
2. That our Lasting Impressions Teams (LIT) will create a welcoming environment.
3. All of of our children and student ministries will be well staffed and a real anointing on their programming.
4. For Easter as it only two weeks away.

Matthew 25:14-30: "I Want to Live with a Spirit ..."

A learning from last week's C3 conference has really impacted me.  A  teaching presented by Brian Houston pastor of Hillsong Church Australia.  He shared from Matthew 25:14-30 highlighting 3 ways he wants to live his life according to that passage.  To read the text click here. 

Here are three points that have prodded me to try and live differently. 

1. Live with the kind of spirit that anticipates and sees the master's goodness.
2. Live with a generous spirit, as one who gives and receives freely.
3. Live with the kind of spirit that expands and increases the master's domain.

A Picture of a Great Volunteer

Last week at this time I attended C3 West Coast: The Rise of the Iguana.  In pastor Ed Young's second message he presented this picture of a great volunteer -- inspired from the book of Nehemiah while trying to rebuild the wall.

"A tool in one hand and a sword in the other."

Weekend Update Easter 2010

As this is written Easter is just 25 days away!  Easter weekend (April 2 & 4)  is an opportunity for our whole church to get involved in this outreach event to see our loved ones reached for Christ.  So here is the ways we are asking all Journey members to get involved in three simple ways.

1. PRAY ... for open doors to invite people to a service; for an anointing on all the services from the children's programs to the adult services; for all areas of serving to be covered to create the optimum guest experience.
2. PARTICIPATE in a "first serve" opportunity.  If you are unfamiliar with what first serve is click here.  There are opportunities in our children ministry, fellowship team and lasting impressions teams (LIT)
3. PARTNER with your church in reaching your friends and loved ones for Christ by inviting them to a service. Below is the invitation piece that you can pick up stacks of business card sized invite cards at either the office or at Guest Services. 

In the mean time we have great services being planned for this weekend -- March 12 & 14.  We will be in part 2 of Tools & Fools looking at the life of Solomon with the message "Being Smart & Acting Dumb." Please note that this Sunday March 14 daylight savings goes into affect -- meaning that you will need to turn your clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night.

Learning to Celebrate What is Right in this World

A few weeks ago I attended the Green Room.  The first session featured a rebroadcast of a message by Dewitt Jones "Hallelujah: What's Right with the World."  I had experienced this message live and I actually own the DVD and have shown it at a team gathering.  However, watching it again in this context the learnings were just as fresh, inspiring and applicable.  One of the ways it affected me was simply causing me to notice more and to take time "to celebrate what is right in the world."

On a recent trip to North Carolina here are somethings that I noticed and was able to capture with my digital camera -- another good reason to carry it wherever I go.

This picture was taken on a walk in a park in Trinity North Carolina.  My friends in the mid-west think I am crazy for finding such beauty in the barren, leafless trees found in winter.

 

Then in the neighborhood where I was staying with family also in Trinity.

Then this line from Dewitt's message inspired me to take these two photos below.

"A bird sings not because it has an answer, but because it has a song."

 

A Never Changing Prayer Request

For 6 years now we have had a ministry at our church called PPT, which stands for pastors’ prayer team.  This team gets weekly list of prayer requests submitted by each pastor individually.  For me I break up my requests into two main sections – personal and ministry and list requests under each section respectively.

I try to update my requests based upon the activities of the coming week.  Some requests stay relatively the same based on a specific season or time of the year, while some have a specific date and time attached to the request.  Yet there is one request that has not changed in the 6 years of this team’s ministry and it is the very first request on my list seen by the team each week.  Here is the prayer request: “Continual healing and development of my son’s heart valve. “

A few days after my son’s birth it was discovered that he had a serious heart condition that would require open-heart surgery as soon as he was physically able.  So at five months to the day he had the surgery. By God’s grace he received incredible medical care and the surgery was a success!  Yet given delicate nature of the surgery it requires an annual echocardiogram to monitor the results.

After 6 years and seeing his remarkable progress it is hard to believe he had such a surgery. In fact two weeks ago on Wednesday Rhett and I were on a flight to North Carolina to see a Duke University basketball game in historic Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Yet the reality of his condition is always brought to forefront when he has his annual echo as he did last Wednesday – exactly a week after we left for our trip.  These visits stir up the following, amongst many things in me:

It reminds that life is precious
It keeps me humble before God
It stirs up an incredible amount of gratefulness to God and to the many people who pray for my son.

So a heartfelt thank you to those who have been continually praying for my son – many of you since he was born!  I am always moved when people come to me and ask how his appointment went and/or to simply let me know they are praying.  It means more to me than you know.

So here are the results … as was the case in the past 6 years the visit rendered positive results – something I do not take for granted.  Basically if his condition continues on its current course he will never have to have surgery again! 

Praise God!  And please continue to pray.

A Personal Invitation to "THE GREEN ROOM" from Nancy Beach

One of the people you will hear from is Nancy Beach whom in my opinion is one of the best leaders I know and I humbled to be able to call her a mentor and friend.   If your church does a video; or thinks through the service order of a songs you do; or simply the senior pastor and worship pastor communicate before going into the weekend you have been influenced by Nancy Beach.  She has been a champion for artists in the church for over 30 years.

Personal Invitation to the Green Room from Nancy Beach from Rod Kaya on Vimeo.

The Green Room is one week from today and there is still time to register to this incredible event for artists.  Journey Community Church attendees register at Guest Services after service for special host site rate.

I hope to see you there.

a Pharisees Guide to Fasting

Our church has recently concluded a season called 21 days of prayer and fasting.
Listed below is instructions on how to approach our fast, sent from our teaching pastor Ed Noble who champions these occasions.

We will follow the format of our usual one day fasts - begin when you  wake up, break it at dinner. Drink whatever this is a fast from solid  food. I know most of us will be working on Wednesday, just allow your 
hunger to direct your attention to the Lord for a moment. If possible  spend a few extra minutes you would be eating in prayer.

Yet when I am fasting sometimes I think it would be so much easier to approach fasting as like a Pharisee.

So here is a Pharisees guide to fasting in three simple steps:

Learn to manipulate time zones:

Have you heard the cliché “it is 12 noon somewhere in the world”  So for those who need it spelled out in greater details.  Start your fast on Hawaii time (2 hours behind PST) and end your fast on EST.  Please show some decency and stay within U.S. time zones.  This shortens your fasting by five hours.

Learn to broaden your definition of what is constituted as a liquid:

As most fast include liquids our natural tendency to think water or juice.  Here is one online definition of liquid, “Flowing freely like water; fluid; not solid.”  Did you catch the end of the definition “not solid?”  That leaves a lot of room for interpretation.  This could mean almost anything ... smoothies, latte’s, shakes, soups – you get the picture.

Learn to be creative in letting people know you are fasting, without letting using the word fasting.

See my next post "How to tweet you are fasting without saying fasting" for details.

"Eve of the Eve Service -- A Complete Experience for me"

Tonight on the eve of the Eve of Christmas service (a first for us) we experienced at packed service.  Feedback from our members gave us good indicator that the service would be full -- guests began arriving as early as 45 minutes prior and for me I had a complete worship experience!  So what made my experience complete?

 
The evening featured a great run of Christmas songs and music offerings that was simply incredible and as great as that was that was not what made our my experience complete.

There were some moving special music pieces done by some of our team vocalists, but that was not what made my experience complete. 

There was a stunning video/dramatic reading that told the story of our creation, but that was not made my experience complete.
 

Our teaching pastor Ed Noble delivered another timely Christmas message that I have grown acustom to but that was not what made my experience complete.

What made this service complete was that a friend I had invited showed up.  This friend is in the early stages of his seeking process and trust me when you bring someone to a service it definitely completes your experience.

There are three more services tomorrow and there is still time to invite someone.  Trust me the service is meaningful and moving and full of wonder and excitement -- yet it goes to a whole new level when you invite and bring someone with you.

For information on our Christmas services click here.

Christmas at Journey!

Later tonight we begin a run of four services to celebrate Christmas.  This gives us one last opportunity to encourage you to drop off an invitation card, pick up the phone & call or simply walk across the room.  We would be surprised at how many respond to last minute invitations.  If you need more evidence of how powerful an invitation can be read this journey featured this past weekend and/or a recap of this journey shared earlier in the month.

Just a reminder service times are Wed. Dec. 23 7pm & Thur. Dec. 24: 2,4 & 6pm. 

For specifics on the service click here.

Also we covet your prayers -- so prayers for the following would be greatly appreciated:

1. Pray for invites that have been made and continue to be made to be responded to affirmatively.

2. Pray for a real anointing on those who are serving in all areas: lasting impression teams, childrens teams, worship/programming teams & operation teams.

3. Pray for God to be glorified.

THE REST OF 2009:

Please note that we will not be holding our Friday service this week in view of Christmas.  However, be sure to join us on Sunday Dec. 27 at our regular service times of  9:00am & 10:45am as guest author/speaker will be presenting the last message of 2009 -- you will not want to miss it.

Regular service times resume on the weekend of Jan. 1 & 3, 2010.

See you this Christmas!!!

Another Christmas Party to Attend.

Last week Saturday our Lasting Impressions Teams (LIT) held their annual Christmas party which took on the form of a progressive dinner with different team members opening their home to host a stage of the meal -- appetizers & salad, main courses & the last home for dessert where we also included a white elephant gift exchange.  We had a really great time!

Now for many of us we have multiple Christmas parties to attend amongst our work, family, friends, children's school to name a few.  And in the life of the church, depending on your level of involvment you could easily add another two to four gatherings.  In fact later tonight I am attending the music team's Christmas party.  A friend raised the question, "How many parties do I need to attend to make it a meaningful Christmas?"  He sarcastically answered his own question by saying 12.Now this can be overwhelming with all these Christmas parties and it might be tempting to skip out on attending one of your ministry team parties and I want to encourage you not to.

At the conclusion of our LIT party I shared from Mark 3:13, 14 that says "He went up the mountian and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him.  And he appointed twelve, whome also named apostles to be with him and to be sent out to proclaim the message."

I pointed out that Jesus emphasized the importance doing ministry together with others by first calling the disciples to be with him and then preach the gospel.  I further added the following commentary, "We may not fully realize yet, how a simple annual gathering celebrating the season can have such a profound and meaningful impact on the teams and on how we do ministry together."  And concluded by thanking them not only for their service, but for simply being here.  I want to prod you not to look at these gatherings as just another Christmas party because your being there matters more than you realize.

Just Walk Around a Circle

A focal point in our announcements for the past couple of weeks has been encouraging our attendees to invited friends to our Christmas Eve services.  We have equipped our attendees with what we consider to be an effective tool and to help envision our church we had three people paint a picture of how powerful inviting someone to a weekend service can be by telling their story.  Pastor Bill Hybels wrote a great book on personal evangelism called Just Walk Across the Room.  Well sometimes we just need walk around in a circle.

(left to right Karen Olson, Becky Toth, Lauren Faiai & myself)

Ephesians 5:15,16 says "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil."  Two friends of mine (Becky & Lauren) lived these verses out literally six years ago.  In October of 2003, California was experiencing what would become a 5-month Grocery Union Strike.  As Albertsons employees on strike they had to picket eight hours a day walking literally in the same circular pattern.  Yet this time was redeemed as they got to know one particular fellow employee Karen a lot better.  And through a series of conversations with her spiritual matters were brought up, weekend messages were given & an invitation to a church service was made.

To fast forward the story -- Becky & Lauren decided to invite not only Karen, but a whole group of their fellow picketing employees and on one Friday night they filled an entire row.  Now some of those guests never returned, some attended for a season and moved on for a varitey of reasons.  Yet for Karen she got to know God, who she previously thought to be distant, in a personal way and her life has been changed, for the better, in countless ways.

Jesus said in John 4:35 "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest."  Inviting someone to church and to speak to those close to us about God and spiritual matters -- something so personal too many -- can be met with resistance, hostility and awkwardness at times.   And at the same time sometimes people are so ready and waiting for someone to ask just as Karen was.  

So take advantage of the next 10 days or so and make the ask and invite someone to a service, their life just might be changed for eternity.

What I was Especially Thankful for ... Incredible Volunteers

This past weekend as we celebrated Thanksgiving like all of us had much to be thankful for.  Yet one unique situation stands out.  Let me explain.  The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is usually a very productive day because we want to everything taken care of given that it is a short work week and that we want to enjoy our time with family and friends not preoccupied with work details.  I had anything but that type of Wednesday.

There was a last-minute pastoral situation that I had to take care of as I was about to leave for the day (a possible future post) and looming on me was the fact that a critical print piece that would play a central role in our service that Sunday was not printed and prepared yet.  For months we had this vision of providing our church members with a tool to help them invite friends to services this Christmas.  When we received the invites on Tuesay that would need to be put into holders there was a significant spelling error on the card.  The mistake was not on our end.  The team wrestled whether we could just give the cards but we unanimously agreed that was not option being that this would be for many of our seeking friends the first impression of our church in which we spelled Wednesday incorrectly.

So we scrambled trying to find a printer to get it re-done no small task given the holiday and then there was the nature of getting the cards put in the holders -- we had a team ready to go on Tuesday, but now the cards would not be done until Friday -- thankfully.  So here is why I am so grateful and why I serve with arguably the best volunteer teams!  We put the word out to some of our existing teams to meet extra early at 7:30am to put the invitation pieces together.  I had estimated a 2 and 1/2 hour window of time to get it done with different people rotating in.  Instead people got there before 7:30 and a big team showed up and it was done in less than 45 minutes.  The load was lightened also by two incredible people -- our LIT leader Alex Layson and cafe Leader who took on the task to jump start the process by taking some of the work home on Friday and Saturday.

What was particularly meaningful was how those involved and those who showed up to see the task completed really saw this as a significant win. 

Rod Bell to speak at New Format Tonight

Rod Bell, not Rob Bell the famous author & speaker will be speaking at New Format -- the college gathering of Journey Community Church tonight at 7pm.  This is by no means a comparison or commentary of my speaking or oratory skills instead it is the college programming teams way of  making fun of my enjoyment of the Twilight series.

So the "Bell" part of the name is really shortened  form of "Bella" and my first name is Rod so hence Rod Bell.  Now it does help that there is famous speaker that has only one letter difference.

I was tipped off to this by one of the college students who attends the gathering who showed me this (below) in their programming team planning room.

 

Weekend Update from Thanksgiving to Christmas

This Sunday at Journey Community Church coming off of our Thanksgiving holiday we will be taking time in our service to receive communion to remember the One whom are all thanksgiving is due.  

Then like the rest of the world  we will be turning our attention toward Christmas.  When you drive up onto the Journey property you will notice that we have our Christmas service banners up displaying our service times.  In addition a good portion of the service will given toward envisioning all of us for the season ahead.  We will also be giving out what we believe is an effective invitation tool to invite people to a Christmas service.  In addition there is still great opportunities to sign up for a "FIRST SERVE."

Just a reminder that we are not meeting on Friday, in view of the Thanksgiving holiday, and are meeting on Sunday only at our regular times of 9:00 & 10:45am.  We will be resuming our Friday service on Dec. 4 as we kick off a new series called "Hello, God."

See you this Sunday and Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

As You Approach Christmas ... "First Serve!"

 I was first  introduced to the concept of First Serve through a teaching series put together by the Willow Creek Association (WCA) called “Living Beyond Yourself.”

What First Serve is, and we modified it a bit for best application in our setting, is giving those currently uninvolved in a volunteer role have an opportunity to get involved in a short-term one-time experience.

It serve a few purposes.  One being it shores up teams with extra help needed during a high impact events like Easter and Christmas services.  Second, it gives those uninvolved in weekend serving roles an opportunity to participate.  Third it gives the uninvolved a positive introduction to a serving experience.

It is also positive because our team leaders and team go out of their way to make sure the serving conditions are optimum and the volunteer knows they are not tied into a long term commitment.  The results of this process is incredible!  The team leaders also do a follow-up with each first serve volunteer to get feedback on their experience -- it almost always is very positive.

Yet here is where the real benefit of “First Serve” is.   Many of these volunteers become long term, regular team members.  Why?  I believe it is the sampling effect.  If they just try it -- you know they will like it.  And when it doesn’t work out for the specific team they did a first serve with for whatever reason maybe it just was not for them, it did not match their personality or skills.  We still try to point them in the right direction.  Though the team did not work out their commitment to get involved still is. 

And the ultimate beneficiary is the volunteer.  So many comment they had no idea how being a part of team could change their life.  For most their involvement is the highlight of their week.  And they are grateful to get in the game.

A great picture of the effectiveness of first serve was seen at our Technical Arts Team Christmas Party.  At the part the Jim Hammond, the leader of the ministry, asked each team member to share how they became a part of the team. Of 30 or so people there -- 75% first became introduced to the team through a first serve experience!

So over the next few weekends you will see team members wearing shirts that say “FIRST” and others wearing shirts that say “SERVE” to promote the serve First Serve opportunities for our Christmas services.  This great idea was made by our Lasting Impressions Team (LIT) leader Alex Layson.  If you are currently not involved in a weekend role First Serve is a great opportunity -- see the church program this weekend for details.

This Halloween Was a Real Treat!

In my previous post "No Family Fall Festival This Year -- It's A Good Thing" I mentioned that one of the indicators that not doing this event was a good thing was because people were choosing to celebrate Halloween in their own neighborhood.  What really help seal my conviction for not doing the event anymore was the insight I gleaned from reading the book Making Room For Life by Randy Frazee.

In the book (to summarize his point) Frazee mentions how distant we have become from our neighbors with many of us never meeting them even though we have lived next to each other for a long period of time.  Now this insight is nothing new, many studies have proven similar results. 

However the next bit of insight is where I had my "a-ha" moment.  Frazee shared that there is one night when barriers are broken down and an opportunity to meet and connect with our neighbors just makes sense and is very easy to do, the night Halloween.  However he further mentions that on that night when all of our neighbors our out and it gives us (the church) the perfect time to meet our neighbors none of us our home because we are at our Family Fall Festivals.  

So this year -- the first in the nine that I have lived in our neighborhood -- I was able to take our kids trick or treating!  And we had a blast!  It was incredibly cool to meet our neighbors whether it was us going to their homes or staying at home giving out candy.  My wife and I swapped responsibilities back and forth.  I kept internally slapping myself on the side of my head saying,  "This is what I have been missing."  I had such a great sense of connectivity to those who live by me and no longer do I simply see idle homes around me, but rather people that God cares and loves deeply.  

This Halloween was a real treat!

No Family Fall Festival This Year -- It's A Good Thing

Since year one of our church’s 16 year history we have put on an annual Halloween event called the Family Fall Festival that over the years has grown to be quite an undertaking involving hundreds of volunteers, thousands of pounds of candy and thousands of people in attendance. And for all-intention purposes was a pretty successful event in the life of our church.

However, in the past two years including this one -- we have not had this event and it is a good thing. I will explain shortly, however let me first explain what I have deemed as some positives of the event in years past.

1. It served as a great way to introduce ourselves to the community. In 1997 we relocated our church to a new community and with a name change to our church in 1998 we were relatively unfamiliar. This event served as great way to introduce ourselves by providing a “give” community event completely free to all participants. I liken the FFF to a better, more strategic open house. I have been a part of a church open house in the past where over 50,000 direct mail pieces were sent to neighbors to come and check out the newly built church in their area. In an eight-hour span -- I believe 50 people showed up -- with the majority of the people being attendees of the church who wanted to get an early look at the property.
2. It served as a great invite opportunity for our church. Whereas inviting people to a weekend service may have been a little more risky -- inviting friends to a free event for their kids where they were sure to get tons of candy and participant in a whole slew of games and rides was a no brainer. It also gave to our guests a positive first impression of Journey or maybe church all together.
3. It mobilized people into action. For many their serving at the FFF on a one time basis was the first step to committing to an on-going serving role. 

Now there were many other positives, but these were the main ones that stood out. Now like most things -- terms lose meaning over time and practices lose its effectiveness over time. Such as the case I believe with the FFF.

Now here are some of the main reasons why I feel not having this event anymore is a good thing.

1. After about 5th year we did this event in the La Mesa community we were pretty well established as a presence in the area. So if the purpose was to introduce ourselves to the community this is no longer a reason.
   
2. The crowd that we were drawing changed. More and more this became a Christian community event versus an outreach event. It was not uncommon to see another church bus’ show up to drop of its members. In fact one church pastor (of a huge church) said that they actually xeroxed copied our flier and put in their church program and encouraged them to attend our event. Now I am all for events that unite the big C church and I all for serving other churches -- yet this was not the purpose and focus of the event.
   
3. Volunteer involvement continually decreasing. Now this is no reason to stop an event yet some of the reasoning for is valid. Often people chose to do their event in their own neighborhood (expect a follow-up post on this)
   
4. Overall effectiveness is in question. Though some have acknowledged that the FFF was the initial introduction to our church over the years these stories have become less frequent. In addition I also believe seekers are changing as well and these methods do not necessarily address where they may be.
   

 (Please note these opinions do not necessarily of Journey Community as a whole -- it is one person’s opinion.)