Author: Kay Stonecypher

Free Meal in Westminster Colorado | SEVENS Ministry at The Journey

Written by Kay Stonecypher on December 12, 2025. Posted in Latest Events, Resources. No Comments on Free Meal in Westminster Colorado | SEVENS Ministry at The Journey

Providing a free meal in Westminster Colorado is more than an idea for us at The Journey—it’s a calling we live out each month through our SEVENS ministry. We believe people should practice faith in practical, tangible ways, especially alongside those experiencing homelessness and food insecurity in our community.

SEVENS takes place on the second Thursday of each month at 5:30 pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Each month, volunteers from The Journey come together to prepare and serve a hot, homecooked meal—not just food, but dignity, hospitality, and care.

Free Meal in Westminster, Colorado: December’s SEVENS Dinner

On December 11, our SEVENS volunteers served a comforting winter meal that included meatloaf, mashed potatoes, rolls, fruit, and cookies. It was the kind of meal many of us associate with home—warm, filling, and made with intention. These meals are more than filling; they’re an expression of welcome and worth.

Serving a Free Meal in Westminster Through Volunteers

People who are willing to show up and serve make SEVENS possible. In December, 10 volunteers cooked or purchased meal items and transported the food. They also set up the space, served guests, and cleaned up afterward. It was an evening of work, connection, and shared purpose.

Scripture reminds us that serving others is central to following Jesus. In Matthew 25:35, Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.” SEVENS is one small way we respond to that invitation.

Why We Do This

The Bible consistently calls God’s people to care for those in need. Proverbs 19:17 tells us, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.” This isn’t about charity from a distance—it’s about relationship, compassion, and shared humanity.

Those who attend the SEVENS meals as guests are our neighbors. Our team welcomes, greets, and serves each guest with respect. As Isaiah 58:10 reminds us, when we “spend ourselves on behalf of the hungry,” light breaks into places of darkness—for them and for us.

Join Us

SEVENS happens every month, and there is always room for more hands and hearts. Whether you enjoy cooking, serving, or simply being present with people, this ministry offers meaningful ways to participate. It is a wonderful way to live out God’s love in our community.

SEVENS provides a free meal in Westminster, Colorado. We welcome every guest into a space of dignity and hope. If you’d like to join an upcoming SEVENS meal, we’d love to have you with us. Together, we bless others—one warm meal at a time.

Inner Peace in Real Life: Why Peace Begins Inside Us

Written by Kay Stonecypher on December 7, 2025. Posted in Sermon Highlights. No Comments on Inner Peace in Real Life: Why Peace Begins Inside Us

This week’s teaching explored the Advent theme of inner peace through Isaiah’s prophecy and the birth of Jesus. We learned that while we long for peace in the world, true peace always begins with God’s presence transforming us from the inside out. When we experience inner peace with God, we become people who carry peace into our homes, relationships, and communities.

This Week’s Sermon: Finding Inner Peace

Key Takeaways

Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would bring peace—not only to the world one day, but to us personally right now.
Lasting peace cannot come from human systems or governments; it comes from walking in the light of God.
We become peacemakers in our families and communities only after we cultivate inner peace with God.
Jesus’ birth is the arrival of peace on earth—peace given to those who rest in God’s love.
Advent invites us to choose practices that move us out of self-pity and into God-shaped peace.

Sermon Highlights: A World Hungry for Peace

We don’t need anyone to tell us that the world is chaotic. Global conflict, political tension, fractured relationships, and the everyday stress we carry can make peace feel almost impossible. Many of us try to find peace by fixing what’s happening “out there”—in the news, in society, or in situations far beyond our control.

But this week at The Journey, we were invited to zoom in. Instead of starting with the world’s turmoil, Pastor Michael encouraged us to explore where peace truly begins: in our own hearts, with God’s presence anchoring us from the inside out.

This is the second week of Advent—the week of peace—and Isaiah’s ancient words still speak straight into our modern anxiety.

The Big Idea: Inner Peace Begins With God, Not With Us

The heart of this week’s message was simple and freeing:
Jesus is the source of peace, and the peace He brings starts internally long before it shows up externally.

Isaiah told the people of Israel—exhausted, scattered, and hopeless—that a Messiah was coming who would bring lasting peace. And when Jesus arrived 700 years later, the angels declared, “On earth, peace to those on whom His favor rests.”

The message for us is the same:
We cannot be peacemakers anywhere else until we are at peace with God inside ourselves.

When we walk “in the light of the Lord,” as Isaiah puts it, we stop trying to muscle our way into peace and start receiving it as a gift that reshapes our inner life, our homes, and eventually the world around us.

Key Scriptures

Isaiah 2:1–5 — Isaiah describes a future where God’s presence brings stability and peace, and he calls the people to “walk in the light of the Lord.” Pastor Michael used this to show that peace begins with returning to God rather than fixing external circumstances.
Isaiah 40 — A reminder that God brings comfort and hope in dark times; highlighted as a chapter worth soaking in during Advent.
Luke 2:8–14 — The angels announce that Christ’s birth brings peace to those who rest in God’s favor.
Matthew 5 (Sermon on the Mount) — Jesus blesses the “peacemakers,” calling us not only to receive peace but to create peace around us.
Colossians 3:15 — “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” This was emphasized during communion as a picture of letting God’s peace govern our inner life.

1. A Hopeful Promise in a Hopeless Time

Isaiah spoke into one of Israel’s darkest seasons—a time of oppression, fear, and national turmoil. Instead of offering quick fixes, he gave them a vision of God as a towering mountain: stable, solid, and drawing people from every nation.

That image still matters today. We often feel hopeless when we focus on our own hurt, our own story, or our own unmet expectations. Like Israel, we drift into self-pity instead of self-reflection. Isaiah’s invitation to look up—to God’s mountain—redirects us toward hope and steadiness that doesn’t depend on circumstances.

2. Human Efforts Will Always Fall Short

Pastor Michael contrasted Isaiah’s vision with modern attempts at peace, like the United Nations monument depicting a man turning a sword into a shovel. Despite noble intentions, the world has seen nearly 500 armed conflicts since the UN was formed.

Why? Because, as Isaiah reminds us, fragile and broken humanity cannot fix itself. Governments, systems, and institutions—even the good ones—can’t bring the lasting peace our souls crave.

But Jesus can. And He does.

3. The Messiah Brings Peace at Every Level

The angels’ announcement in Luke 2 wasn’t just poetic—it was deeply personal: “Peace to those on whom His favor rests.” That peace starts in the heart, then moves outward.

“You cannot be a peacemaker anywhere else until you are fundamentally at peace internally with God.”

Pastor Michael described four “layers” where peace shows up:

The World – big, overwhelming, mostly outside our control.
Our Community – workplaces, schools, neighbors.
Our Homes – families, holiday gatherings, places where old wounds live.
Our Inner Life – the place where peace actually begins.

We often obsess over the top layer (the world) because it feels easier than dealing with the places where we actually hold influence. But Jesus calls us to start small, where peace is real, personal, and transformative.

4. Becoming Peacemakers Starts With Inner Peace

Once we receive peace from God, we’re invited to participate in His work as peacemakers. But this requires intentional inner work. Pastor Michael named several shifts that help us live as people of peace:

Moving from needing approval to resting in God’s love.
Choosing self-reflection instead of self-pity.
Exercising self-control instead of living on emotional autopilot.
Practicing gratitude instead of entitlement.
Lowering expectations of others instead of demanding perfection.
Calming our spirit in emotional moments—especially during the holidays.

This isn’t behavior modification. It’s the fruit of God’s Spirit shaping us as people who can carry peace into places that desperately need it.

“When you are at peace internally, you become a peacemaker externally.”

Practicing This Week: Starting Within, Spreading Outward

Try one or two of these simple, grace-filled practices:

Sit quietly with God for five minutes each morning, asking for inner peace before the day begins.
Read Isaiah 40 or Matthew 5–7 sometime this week and let the words wash over you.
Identify one relationship—in your home or family—where you could bring peace through a gentle conversation, lowered expectations, or a soft response.
Pause when anxiety rises and pray, “Jesus, let Your peace rule in my heart.”
Practice gratitude by naming three blessings each day, especially when you feel pulled toward frustration or self-pity.

Questions for Reflection

Where in your inner life do you most need God’s peace right now?
What situations or relationships pull you into turmoil or self-pity?
How might walking “in the light of the Lord” look in your daily routines this Advent?
Is there one person in your home or extended family to whom you could bring peace this season?
What would it look like to let the peace of Christ “rule” in your heart this week?

As we move deeper into Advent, remember that Jesus doesn’t ask us to manufacture peace. He gives it. The Messiah came so that even in turmoil, we could rest in His presence and carry His peace into our families and communities. You’re not walking this path alone—we journey together, held by a God who loves you deeply.

Advent Hope for Difficult People: Trusting the Farmer

Written by Kay Stonecypher on November 30, 2025. Posted in Sermon Highlights. No Comments on Advent Hope for Difficult People: Trusting the Farmer

This week’s sermon used the parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13) and the story of Gaius from The Chosen to challenge our tendency to sort people into “good” and “bad” buckets. John invited us to trust God’s timing, focus on our own spiritual growth, and practice seeing others as God sees them—wheat that is being grown, not weeds to be uprooted.

This Week’s Sermon: Letting Go of Judgment

Key Takeaways

We are not reliable judges of who is “good” or “bad”; only God sees the whole story.
The kingdom of God often allows good and evil to grow together until the harvest—rushing to remove evil causes more harm than good.
Our primary job is to grow: cultivate love, joy, peace, and the fruit God has planted in us.
When judgment rises, use simple practices (visualization, lists, community) to reorient toward compassion and growth.
Advent reframes waiting: we live in hopeful patience, trusting the Farmer who will one day make all things right.

Sermon Highlights: When Wheat and Weeds Grow Together

We all have a “Gaius” in our life: someone whose name pops into our head when we think of pain, offense, or ongoing conflict. Maybe they wronged you years ago. Maybe they keep making life harder. It’s tempting to mark them as “bad,” file them away, and stop loving them. That impulse—easy and secretly satisfying—was the heart of this week’s teaching.

At The Journey this Sunday (the first week of Advent), we listened to Jesus’ parable about wheat and weeds and watched how Jesus treated even the worst-seeming people with kindness. Instead of sharpening our stones, we were invited to take a different path.

The Big Idea: You’re not built to be the world’s judge. Your job is to grow.

Jesus’ parable (Matthew 13) shows that weeds—poisonous darnel—and wheat are sometimes indistinguishable until harvest. Trying to uproot “weeds” too early destroys wheat. God, the Farmer, sees the whole field; we see only a few rows. Trust him. Tend your own growth. Love without exception.

Key Scriptures

Matthew 13:24–30 (Parable of the Wheat and Weeds) — Used to show the kingdom’s surprising patience: God allows good and evil to grow together until the harvest so that the wheat won’t be destroyed by premature judgment.
Ephesians 6:12 — Quoted to remind us that our struggle is not against people (“flesh and blood”) but against the spiritual forces of evil; people are not the enemy.
Reference to Jesus’ encounters (Gospel narrative) — Illustrated how Jesus treats even the oppressive and violent (a Roman centurion like “Gaius”) with compassion, offering a model for us.

1. You’re a Bad Judge — And That’s Okay to Admit

We are often terrible at judging character. Even someone as obvious as Gaius the centurion carried hidden motives, pain, and complexity. We only see slices of people’s stories, and arrogance in judgment harms both others and ourselves.

Real life tie-in: At work or in family conflict, the urge to label someone simplifies complexity—but it also cuts off opportunities for reconciliation and growth.

2. The Farmer’s Wisdom: Let Them Grow Until the Harvest

Jesus’ farmer doesn’t rush to pull the weeds because doing so risks uprooting wheat. The harvest will reveal who is what. This requires patience and trust in God’s timing—hard things in an instant-gratification culture.

“Trust the Farmer: God sees the whole field even when we can only see a few rows.”

Real life tie-in: Instead of launching social or relational “revolutions” against people we dislike, we can steward patience, pray, and trust that God knows the full story.

3. Our Job Is to Grow Fruit, Not Sort People

We are called to produce love, joy, and peace—fruit that serves others. When we focus on our own growth, we become people who attract God’s work and model kingdom living.

“You are not the world’s judge—your job is to grow, to bear love, joy, and peace.”

Real life tie-in: Join small groups, find mentors, and practice spiritual disciplines that help you grow—because transformation is communal, not solitary.

4. Practical Tools

A visualization exercise: picture yourself and those you judge as wheat growing together in God’s field, surrounded by the weeds (evil) that entangle all of you. Make a list of people you’ve judged and remember those who surprised you later. These practices shift perspective from condemnation to compassion.

Practicing This Week: Stop Playing Judge

Visualization: When you’re tempted to judge, imagine that person and yourself as wheat plants growing together in God’s field.
Make a “Judgment List”: Write the names you’ve put in the “bad” bucket; beside each, note one fact you don’t know about them (or one way God might be working).
Grow intentionally: Connect with someone you admire spiritually and ask for their guidance.
Small mercy: If safe and appropriate, reach out to one person you’ve labeled and offer a small act of kindness—a message, prayer, or listening ear.
Practice presence in communion: Remember Jesus’ presence in the bread and cup as a sign that God is actively growing us.

Questions for Reflection

Who is a “Gaius” in your life, and what story about them have you stopped seeking to understand?
When have you been surprised by someone you’d earlier judged? What changed?
Where are the weeds (patterns of evil or hurt) entangling your own roots?
What would it look like to trust the Farmer in one specific relationship this week?
Who can you invite into your growth—someone to pray with or learn from?

Advent reminds us we live between Christ’s first coming and the final harvest. In that between-time, God is patient, persistent, and at work in every life—even those we find hardest to love. We don’t need to be judges; we get to be growers. Trust the Farmer. And remember: God is working with you, and you don’t have to carry the sorting—only the growth.