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Christmas at The Journey

Christmas at The Journey Church (Westminster, Colorado)

Written by Kay Stonecypher on . Posted in Latest Events. No Comments on Christmas at The Journey Church (Westminster, Colorado)

The Christmas service at The Journey Church is always meaningful, but this year’s gathering felt especially vibrant—alive with people, music, food, and hope. Gathering at Front Range Community College in Westminster, Colorado, we were reminded why Christmas and community matter so deeply.

Spending Time With Friends

From the moment people arrived, the morning felt special. High attendance filled the room with conversation and laughter as longtime friends reconnected and new faces were welcomed. Some had been part of The Journey for years. Others joined us for the first time—neighbors, family members, and friends seeking a place to celebrate Christmas together.

The energy in the room reflected what we hope Christmas always brings: connection, warmth, and a sense of belonging.

The Christmas Service

Our Christmas service at The Journey included rich music that shared the story of Jesus’ birth and its meaning for us today. Carols like “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “Silent Night,” and “O Holy Night” highlighted the beauty and mystery of Christ coming into the world. Songs of joy such as “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Joy to the World” invited everyone to lift their voices together in celebration.

The music did more than set a mood—it drew us into the Christmas story and allowed its message to take root in our hearts.

The Scripture reading from Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 1) grounded the service in the story of Jesus’ birth. The angel’s words to Joseph—“They will call him Emmanuel,” meaning God with us—shaped the message of the morning. Throughout the sermon, we returned to this truth: the greatest miracle of Christmas is not only the angels, the star, or the manger. The greatest miracle is that God comes near.

God does not remain distant from human struggle. Instead, God enters ordinary life, bringing grace, light, and hope right where we are.

As we reflected on the past year and looked ahead, this message resonated deeply. For some, Christmas feels joyful and bright. For others, it carries grief, exhaustion, or uncertainty. The reminder that God remains with us—in joy and in pain—offered comfort and reassurance. The Christmas story reminds us that even in darkness, light shines, and darkness cannot overcome it.

Taking the Eucharist Together

We closed the service by taking the Eucharist together, returning to the heart of the Christmas story. As we shared bread and wine, we remembered that the child born in Bethlehem would one day give his life so that brokenness could meet hope and love.

Christmas calls us to more than remembrance. It invites us into a way of life shaped by grace.

As the final songs were sung and the benediction spoken, we left reminded of what truly matters. The Christmas service at The Journey Church celebrated more than a full room or beautiful music—though both were gifts. It brought the community together to remember that God is with us, to rejoice together, and to carry hope into the year ahead.

After worship and communion, the morning naturally flowed into fellowship. Guests and regular attenders enjoyed plenty of special food, a simple but meaningful expression of hospitality and care. Conversations continued, laughter filled the room, and people lingered to reconnect. Moments like these remind us that church is not just about a service, but about people walking life together.

Annual Christmas Drive at The Journey

This Christmas service also marked the conclusion of our annual Christmas Drive, one of the clearest ways we live out our commitment to loving our neighbors. Through the generosity of our church family, we provided Christmas for two families in need.

Tables held gifts, gift cards, and essentials—each representing dignity, care, and the promise that no one is forgotten. As we celebrated the birth of Jesus—the One who came to serve—we shared that same spirit of generosity with others.

We are deeply grateful for everyone who joined us, served, gave, sang, and shared this Christmas season. May the message of Emmanuel—God with us—continue to guide and comfort us long after the decorations are packed away.

Advent Hope for Difficult People: Trusting the Farmer

Written by Kay Stonecypher on . 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

  1. Who is a “Gaius” in your life, and what story about them have you stopped seeking to understand?
  2. When have you been surprised by someone you’d earlier judged? What changed?
  3. Where are the weeds (patterns of evil or hurt) entangling your own roots?
  4. What would it look like to trust the Farmer in one specific relationship this week?
  5. 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.