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Sabbath rest is important. Rest written in letter tiles.

The Gift We Resist: Learning to Practice Sabbath

Written by Kay Stonecypher on . Posted in Resources, Sermon Highlights. No Comments on The Gift We Resist: Learning to Practice Sabbath

This week’s teaching explored why Sabbath rest is important in a world that constantly pushes us to do more. We were invited to rediscover rest as a gift from God—one that brings peace, trust, and deeper joy into everyday life.

This Week’s Sermon: Finding Rest

Key Takeaways

  • God designed us with a rhythm of work and rest, not constant productivity.
  • Sabbath is not a burden but a gift meant to bring delight and renewal.
  • Stopping reminds us that God—not us—is holding everything together.
  • Even small steps toward Sabbath can transform the rest of our week.
  • Protecting time for rest requires effort, not just good intentions.

Sermon Highlights: Why Sabbath Rest Is Important

Most of us don’t need help filling our schedules—we need help slowing them down. There’s always one more thing to do. One more task, one more responsibility, one more reason to keep going. And even when we do stop, our minds often don’t.

That’s why the conversation around why Sabbath rest is important feels so relevant right now. Deep down, many of us long for rest—but we’re not sure how to actually take it.

Big Idea of This Week’s Teaching

At the heart of this week’s message is a simple but powerful truth: why Sabbath rest is important is because it aligns us with how God designed us to live—working, stopping, resting, and delighting in Him. Sabbath isn’t just a suggestion. It’s a rhythm built into creation itself. And when we live within that rhythm, life works better.

Key Scriptures

  • Genesis 1–2
    The creation story shows God working for six days and then stopping to rest and delight in what He made. This establishes Sabbath as part of the design of the world.
  • Deuteronomy 5:12–14
    Here, God commands His people to observe the Sabbath by keeping it holy—setting it apart as a day to stop working and rest.

These passages show us that why Sabbath rest is important isn’t just about self-care—it’s about living in alignment with God’s intention for life.

1. Sabbath rest starts with how we are made

From the very beginning, God modeled a rhythm: work, then rest. Six days of creating, followed by a day of stopping, resting, and delighting. This wasn’t because God was tired—it was because rest is part of what makes life good.

“Your goals are good. Productivity is good. But they’re not who you are.”

There’s something deeply human about this rhythm. Even research and lived experience confirm it: more work doesn’t always mean more productivity. In fact, it often leads to exhaustion and diminishing returns. Understanding why Sabbath rest is important begins with recognizing that we are not designed to run nonstop.

2. Sabbath rest reminds us we are not in control

One of the hardest parts of Sabbath is simply stopping. We often feel like everything depends on us—our work, our responsibilities, our to-do lists. But Sabbath gently confronts that belief. When we stop, the world keeps going.

As the sermon reminded us, Sabbath is a weekly opportunity to remember that God is the one holding everything together. It’s both humbling and freeing. This is a big part of why Sabbath rest is important—it teaches us to trust God instead of carrying everything ourselves.

3. Sabbath rest is important because it includes delight

Sabbath isn’t just about doing nothing—it’s about enjoying something. The Hebrew word Shabbat means to stop, rest, and delight. That last part matters more than we often realize.

“Sabbath is like ice cream. It’s really, really good.”

What brings you joy? What makes your heart feel alive? For some, it might be sitting outside with a cup of coffee. For others, it’s time with family, reading, or simply being present with God. These moments of delight are not distractions from spiritual life—they are part of it.

That’s another reason why Sabbath rest is important: it reconnects us with joy.

4. Sabbath rest requires intentional practice

Sabbath doesn’t just happen. It has to be chosen. The teaching encouraged us to start small if needed—maybe an hour, maybe an afternoon. The key is to set that time apart and protect it. That might mean turning off your phone, stepping outside, or creating a simple ritual to begin and end your Sabbath time.

At first, it may feel difficult or even unproductive. But over time, it becomes something you look forward to. Learning why Sabbath rest is important is one thing. Actually practicing it is where transformation happens.

Practicing This Week

Here are a few simple ways to begin:

  • Choose a specific block of time this week to set aside for rest.
  • Turn off distractions like your phone during that time.
  • Do something that genuinely brings you joy and peace.
  • Pay attention to how you feel before and after.
  • Protect that time like it matters—because it does.

Remember, this isn’t about perfection. It’s about starting.

Questions for Reflection

  • What makes it hard for you to stop and rest?
  • Where do you feel like everything depends on you?
  • What activities bring you true delight and peace?
  • How might your week look different if you practiced Sabbath?
  • What is one small step you can take toward rest this week?

Sabbath is not another task to add to your list. It’s a gift. A reminder that you don’t have to hold everything together. A chance to rest, to breathe, and to rediscover joy in God’s presence.

If you’ve been running nonstop, maybe this is your invitation to pause. Not because you’ve earned it—but because God designed you for it.

Finding true connection through God’s peace in relationships and faith.

Why We Struggle With Connection—and Where Peace Begins

Written by Kay Stonecypher on . Posted in Resources, Sermon Highlights. No Comments on Why We Struggle With Connection—and Where Peace Begins

This week’s teaching explored why we long for connection but often struggle to experience it, and how God’s design—and His peace—leads us back to wholeness. It matters because in a world full of relational tension, God offers a better way forward through shalom, a deeper kind of peace that restores connection.

This Week’s Sermon: I Desire Connection

Key Takeaways

  • We were created for connection, but brokenness often leads us to withdraw or attack instead.
  • Real relationships require vulnerability, even though it feels risky.
  • Every person carries brokenness, so grace is essential in every relationship.
  • God’s vision for relationships is shalom—deep, interconnected peace.
  • We can actively bring peace into our relationships by becoming “shalom makers.”

Sermon Highlights: Finding True Connection Through God’s Peace

Most of us want deeper connection in our lives—but we also know how complicated that can be. Relationships can feel risky. We’ve all experienced moments where opening up led to hurt, misunderstanding, or disappointment. So we learn to protect ourselves. Sometimes we pull back. Sometimes we push back. Either way, we end up stuck in a tension: we want connection, but we’re not sure how to get there without getting hurt.

That’s where this week’s teaching meets us—with an honest look at that tension and a hopeful path forward by finding true connection through God’s peace.

Big Idea of This Week’s Teaching

We were created for deep, meaningful connection, but because of brokenness, we often struggle to experience it. The good news is that God invites us into finding true connection through God’s peace—a kind of relational wholeness the Bible calls shalom.

Key Scriptures

  • Genesis 1–3 — These chapters show God’s original design for connection, the introduction of brokenness, and the relational tension that followed.
  • Genesis 2:15–25 — Highlights that humans were created for meaningful work and deep connection, including vulnerability without shame.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17 — Points to the hope of becoming a new creation, moving us toward restoration.
  • Philippians 4:7 — Describes God’s peace as something that guards our hearts and minds.
  • Matthew 5:9 — Calls us to be peacemakers, or “shalom makers,” in the world.

1. Finding true connection starts with God’s design

In Genesis 2, we see a powerful truth: even in a perfect world, God says, “It is not good for man to be alone.” That’s not a flaw—it’s a clue. We were made for connection. Before anything was broken, there was relationship. Not just between people, but within God Himself. The Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit—reflects connection at the deepest level.

“Is there anybody I can love and who will love me? I just want somebody to love.”

Finding true connection through God’s peace begins by recognizing that connection isn’t optional for us. It’s foundational. When we ignore that, we feel it—loneliness, disconnection, or a sense that something isn’t quite right.

2. Finding true connection is hard because of brokenness

Genesis 3 introduces the reality we all live with now: broken relationships. Shame enters the picture. Hiding becomes normal. Vulnerability feels dangerous.

The sermon described this through the “porcupine dilemma.” Like porcupines, we have ways of hurting each other—through words, actions, or withdrawal. So we either pull away or lash out. And yet, even with all that, we still long for connection.

Finding true connection through God’s peace means acknowledging this tension honestly. We are all, in a sense, “as is”—each carrying our own wounds, patterns, and imperfections. Recognizing that doesn’t make relationships hopeless. It actually opens the door for grace.

3. Finding true connection through God’s peace requires vulnerability

One of the most striking images in Genesis 2 is this: “They were both naked and felt no shame.” It’s not just about physical vulnerability—it’s about emotional and relational openness. That kind of openness feels almost impossible now. We’ve learned to guard ourselves. We carefully choose what we reveal and what we hide.

But finding true connection through God’s peace involves moving, even slowly, toward that kind of honesty again. Not recklessly, but intentionally. It means allowing ourselves to be known—by God first, and then by others in safe, healthy ways. It’s not about perfection. It’s about trust, built over time, rooted in grace.

4. Finding true connection through God’s peace leads to shalom

The Bible’s vision for relationships isn’t just “getting along.” It’s something deeper: shalom. Shalom means peace—but not just the absence of conflict. It’s a sense of wholeness, harmony, and connection between God, people, and creation.

“Blessed are the shalom makers, the peacemakers.”

Finding true connection through God’s peace is really about stepping into that kind of life. A life where we are at peace within ourselves, which allows us to bring peace into our relationships. This is what Jesus invites us into. Not perfect relationships, but relationships marked by grace, safety, and growing connection.

Practicing This Week

  • Take a few minutes each day to ask God for peace in your inner life.
  • Notice where you tend to withdraw or attack in relationships, and pause before reacting.
  • Choose one relationship where you can take a small step toward honesty or openness.
  • Practice being a “shalom maker” by responding with patience instead of defensiveness.

Questions for Reflection

  • Where do I tend to withdraw or attack in my relationships?
  • What would it look like for me to experience more of God’s peace internally?
  • Is there a relationship where God might be inviting me toward greater openness?
  • How can I bring peace into my family, friendships, or workplace this week?

We don’t have to figure this out perfectly. The invitation isn’t to become flawless—it’s to become open to God’s work in us. As we move toward finding true connection through God’s peace, we can trust that He is already at work—restoring, healing, and reconnecting us, one step at a time. There is grace for the process. And there is hope for deeper connection than we may have thought possible.

Abiding in Jesus and finding a place of peace and belonging

Abiding in Jesus and Making Your Home in God

Written by Kay Stonecypher on . Posted in Sermon Highlights. No Comments on Abiding in Jesus and Making Your Home in God

This week’s teaching was about abiding in Jesus and what it means to make our home in the love of God. In a world where many people feel anxious, disconnected, or alone, this message reminded us that Jesus does not leave us on our own and invites us into a steady, ongoing relationship marked by peace, belonging, and love.

This Week’s Sermon: Connected to God

Key Takeaways

  • Home is not mainly about a place, but about being known, loved, and welcomed in relationship.
  • Abiding in Jesus means staying connected to him, not through performance, but through love and trust.
  • Jesus promises that we are not alone, because the Holy Spirit remains with us forever.
  • Spiritual growth is less about mastering rules and more about learning to love God and love others.
  • Intentional practices like prayer, Scripture, and gathered worship help us deepen our awareness of God’s presence.

Sermon Highlights: Abiding in Jesus

Sometimes the deepest ache in our lives is not about success, money, or even answers. It is the longing to know that we belong somewhere. We want to know that we are loved, that we are not alone, and that when life feels uncertain, there is still a place where we are held.

That longing showed up clearly in this week’s message. Through a practical teaching, we were invited to see that the life of faith is not mainly about rules or religious performance. It is about relationship. It is about home. And that is exactly what abiding in Jesus offers us.

Big Idea of This Week’s Teaching

The big idea this week was simple and deeply comforting: Abiding in Jesus means making our home in his love and trusting that he makes his home with us. We do not have to earn our place with God. In Jesus, we are welcomed, loved, and never left alone.

Key Scriptures

  • Matthew 22:36–40
    Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, and he answered by centering everything on love: love God and love your neighbor. This passage helped frame the whole message by showing that the Christian life is rooted in relationship, not a checklist.
  • John 14:16–20
    Jesus promised that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to be with his followers forever. This passage was used to remind us that even though Jesus is no longer physically present, we are not abandoned. God is still with us.
  • John 15:4–17
    Jesus called his followers to remain in him, or abide in him, just as branches remain connected to a vine. This passage showed that Abiding in Jesus is how we stay rooted in his love and learn to live as his friends.

1. Abiding in Jesus means finding home in relationship

One of the strongest images in the sermon was the idea of home. Home is not always about a familiar building or a room filled with our things. Sometimes home is simply the place where someone lights up when we arrive. It is the place where we are received with love.

That is part of what makes Abiding in Jesus such a powerful picture. Jesus does not invite us into a cold religious system. He invites us into relationship. He invites us to dwell with him, to remain with him, and to know that we belong to him.

Many of us know what it feels like to be busy, uncertain, or emotionally tired. We may even be surrounded by people and still feel alone. This teaching reminded us that in Jesus, we have more than an idea to believe in. We have a person who welcomes us, stays with us, and calls us friend.

2. Abiding in Jesus and the comfort of the Holy Spirit

As Jesus prepared his disciples for his death, he knew they were afraid. They were worried about what would happen when they could no longer see him. Underneath all of that fear was a very human question: Will I be left alone?

Jesus answered that fear with a promise. He said the Father would send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to be with them forever. That matters because it means the presence of God is not distant, occasional, or fragile. Abiding in Jesus is possible because God has chosen to stay near.

The sermon highlighted that comfort is more than a soothing feeling. It is the security of having a place to belong. It is the peace of knowing that God has not walked away from us. Even when life is painful, confusing, or full of grief, the Holy Spirit remains with us. We are not spiritual orphans. We are loved children and trusted friends.

3. Abiding in Jesus is more about love than rules

At first, words like “command” can make us nervous. We may assume Jesus is about to hand us a list of religious demands. But this week’s teaching helped us hear his words more clearly. When Jesus speaks of his command, he says this: love each other as I have loved you.

That changes everything.

Abiding in Jesus is not about trying to impress God with our effort. It is about staying rooted in the love Jesus has already shown us. His love is not abstract. He tells his disciples that he calls them friends, and then he goes on to lay down his life for them. That is the shape of divine love.

You do not have to earn a place with God. In Jesus, you are welcomed, loved, and not left alone.

When we live from that kind of love, we begin to extend it to others. We become more welcoming. More compassionate. More attentive to the lonely and overlooked. We start to embody the kind of home we ourselves have received.

4. Abiding in Jesus takes intention

The message also gave us a practical challenge. Relationships grow through intention. Even when love is steady, closeness still needs attention. The same is true in our life with God.

Abiding in Jesus is not something we force, but it is something we practice. Making space for prayer. Reading Scripture slowly. Gathering with the church. Paying attention. Pausing long enough to breathe, settle our thoughts, and remember that God is here.

Abiding in Jesus means making your home in his love and learning to live from that peace every day.

The pastor offered a simple and meaningful pattern for prayer: gratitude for the past, honesty about the present, and hope for the future. That kind of intentional prayer helps us reconnect with the God who is already near. It trains our hearts to live with greater peace.

Practicing This Week

  • Set aside a few intentional minutes each day to practice abiding in Jesus through quiet prayer.
  • Read John 13 through 16 over the course of the week and notice what Jesus says about love, peace, friendship, and the Holy Spirit.
  • Pray one prayer of thanks for the past, one prayer for help in the present, and one prayer of hope for the future.
  • Welcome someone this week with warmth and kindness, especially someone who may feel unseen or new.
  • When anxiety rises, pause and remind yourself: I am not alone, and God is with me.

Questions for Reflection

  • When do you most deeply feel the longing for home, belonging, or peace?
  • What makes it hard for you to practice abiding in Jesus in everyday life?
  • How does it change your view of God to hear that Jesus calls you friend?
  • Where do you need the comfort of the Holy Spirit right now?
  • Who in your life might need to experience welcome, hospitality, or care from you this week?

The invitation of Jesus is not pressure. It is presence. He does not ask us to prove ourselves before coming near. He welcomes us to remain in his love, to receive his peace, and to trust that we are not alone. As you move through this week, may abiding in Jesus become more than an idea. May it become a place of rest, honesty, and hope.

How to find self-control

From Appetite to Freedom: How to Find Self-Control in Everyday Life

Written by Kay Stonecypher on . Posted in Sermon Highlights. No Comments on From Appetite to Freedom: How to Find Self-Control in Everyday Life

This week’s teaching explored how to find self-control when our appetites start to run our lives—whether it’s substances, food, sex, shopping, screens, or the need to be right. We were invited to rediscover fasting as an ancient, practical, Jesus-shaped way to strengthen our ability to say no to destructive cravings and yes to God’s life-giving freedom.

This Week’s Sermon: Finding Self-Control

Key Takeaways

  • how to find self-control starts by naming the appetites that are trying to take the driver’s seat in your life.
  • Self-control is like a muscle, and fasting is a consistent workout that strengthens it over time.
  • Fasting helps reorder our desires so that our hunger for God becomes the deepest hunger again.
  • In Scripture, fasting creates space to seek God, repent honestly, and surrender control to the Spirit.
  • Lent is an ideal season to start small, practice with grace, and let God form real freedom in you.

Sermon Highlights: How to Find Self-Control

Most of us don’t decide to lose control. It happens gradually: a habit that starts as a comfort, a craving that becomes a pattern, a “just this once” that slowly becomes the default. One day you’re choosing something. The next day it feels like it’s choosing you.

That tension is exactly where this week’s teaching met us: how to find self-control when you suspect something inside you is sometimes more in charge than you are. For some, that struggle is obvious and costly. For others, it’s subtle and socially acceptable. But the question is the same for all of us: do you want to be free?

Big Idea of This Week’s Teaching

How to find self-control is not mainly about stronger willpower. It’s about training your desires with God, so that your appetite for God becomes the deepest desire again—and your other appetites take their proper place.

Key Scriptures

  • Proverbs 25:28 — A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls. This image framed self-control as protection and stability, not restriction.
  • Matthew 4:1–2 — Jesus prepared for temptation by fasting forty days and forty nights. Fasting was presented as training that strengthens the self-control muscle.
  • 2 Chronicles 20:3 — Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast to seek God when fear and pressure were overwhelming. Fasting was shown as a way to quiet noise and listen.
  • Jonah 3:5–8 — Nineveh fasted as part of repentance and turning from violence. Fasting was connected to sincere change, not performative guilt.
  • Galatians 5:22–25 — Self-control is fruit of the Spirit, not a product of sheer willpower. This grounded self-control in partnership with God.
  • Romans 12:1 — Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. Fasting was framed as an embodied way to surrender, not just a mental intention.

1. How to find self-control by naming what is ruling you

The teaching began with a story many of us recognize in different forms: a talented, successful person who still becomes a slave to an appetite. The point wasn’t to single out one kind of addiction, but to name a reality: appetites are powerful. They can be good servants, but terrible masters.

So the first step in how to find self-control is gentle honesty. What appetite do you struggle to say no to? Food, alcohol, substances, sex, shopping, screens, drama, approval, control, comfort, being right—what tends to pull you off-center? The goal isn’t shame. The goal is clarity, because you can’t regain the driver’s seat if you won’t look at what keeps grabbing the wheel.

2. How to find self-control by understanding your appetites

A key part of the message was that appetites live at different layers of our being.

Some appetites are bodily and loud: hunger, thirst, sleep, pleasure. Others are mental and emotional: approval, admiration, control, winning, comfort. But beneath those is something deeper: the appetite of the spirit, the heart, the will—the place of ultimate desire.

When that deepest desire is for God, the rest of life finds its order. But when something else takes that place—when a good thing becomes the ultimate thing—everything starts to bend around it. That’s when life feels chaotic, compulsive, and out of control.

This is why how to find self-control is not just behavior management. It’s spiritual formation. It’s learning to reorder desire so that God is at the center again.

3. How to find self-control through fasting as training

If self-control is a muscle, it makes sense that it grows through practice. You don’t get stronger by wishing you were strong. You get stronger by training.

That’s why fasting mattered so much in this teaching. Before Jesus began his public ministry, he fasted in the wilderness. He didn’t fast because food is bad. He fasted because he was preparing to face temptation without being ruled by it.

How to find self-control starts with naming what keeps grabbing the wheel and choosing training over shame.

Fasting is the choice to say no to a basic appetite for a time, so you can say yes to God more clearly. And because food is concrete and immediate, practicing restraint there can strengthen your ability to practice restraint elsewhere. Over time, fasting forms you into someone who can pause, choose, and respond—rather than react and spiral.

That’s a hopeful vision of how to find self-control: not instant transformation, but real formation.

4. How to find self-control by seeking, repenting, and surrendering

The sermon showed three biblical reasons people fast that connect directly to self-control.

First, we fast to seek God. Fasting reduces the mental noise that constantly demands attention and creates space to listen. And when you actually hear from God, obedience becomes less like white-knuckling and more like walking with guidance.

Fasting is not about proving strength to God; it’s about making space for God to form strength in you.

Second, we fast to repent. In quiet and discomfort, patterns rise to the surface. We see what we’ve excused, minimized, or ignored. Fasting doesn’t earn forgiveness—Jesus already secured that. But fasting can help us take repentance seriously, and repentance breaks the grip of sin.

Third, we fast to surrender. Here’s the paradox the sermon named: controlling yourself is not something you can do alone. True self-control grows when you yield ultimate control to God. Galatians 5 calls self-control fruit of the Spirit. That means it’s produced through relationship and partnership, not performance.

Practicing This Week

  1. Choose one simple fast during Lent: skip one meal per week between now and Easter.
  2. During that meal time, do something relational with God: pray, read Scripture slowly, take a quiet walk, or sit in silence.
  3. When hunger hits, use it as a prompt prayer: God, I want you more than I want comfort right now.
  4. Add one act of repentance: write down one specific thing to confess before you break your fast, then bring it to God with honesty.
  5. Keep it small, consistent, and private. This is training, not proving.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Where in your life do you most feel the struggle of how to find self-control right now?
  2. Which appetite feels loudest for you lately—comfort, approval, control, distraction, food, something else?
  3. What might it look like to make space to seek God in the middle of a busy week?
  4. Is there a pattern you sense God inviting you to repent from, not with shame but with hope?
  5. What would surrender look like in one specific decision you’re facing right now?

If you hear the invitation to fasting and feel intimidated, start where you are. God is not impressed by heroic hunger; God is forming willing hearts. The good news is that you were created for freedom, and Jesus is not only your Savior—he is also your teacher. As you practice how to find self-control, you are not doing it alone. The Spirit is at work, growing something real in you, one small, faithful step at a time.

Lent at The Journey Church a season of reflection generosity and hope

Lent at The Journey Church: A Season of Reflection, Generosity, and Hope

Written by Kay Stonecypher on . Posted in Latest Events. No Comments on Lent at The Journey Church: A Season of Reflection, Generosity, and Hope

Lent at The Journey Church is a season of reflection, generosity, and spiritual growth leading up to Easter. During these forty days, we slow down, remember the sacrifice of Jesus, and practice simple ways of growing in faith together as a community.

Refocusing Our Lives

Each year, the Christian calendar invites us into rhythms that help us pause, reflect, and refocus our lives on what matters most. One of the most meaningful of these seasons is Lent. At The Journey Church, Lent is a time when we intentionally slow down, reflect on our faith, and prepare our hearts for Easter.

Lent at The Journey Church begins on Ash Wednesday and continues through Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This season traces its roots back to the early church. In the earliest centuries of Christianity, believers would spend time fasting and reflecting between Good Friday and Easter as they remembered the sacrifice of Jesus and anticipated the celebration of his resurrection.

Over time, this practice expanded into the forty-day season we know today. For centuries, Christians around the world have used this season as an opportunity to step back from the busyness of everyday life and reconnect with their faith. At The Journey Church, we continue this tradition in ways that are simple, meaningful, and accessible for everyone.

Slowing Down During Lent

One of the central invitations of Lent at The Journey Church is to slow down. Life moves quickly, and it is easy to go weeks or even months without intentionally reflecting on our spiritual lives. Lent gives us space to pause and remember what our faith is really about.

Throughout this season, we encourage people to take time to reflect on the life and sacrifice of Jesus. This reflection helps us approach Easter not just as a holiday, but as the celebration of the resurrection that sits at the center of the Christian story.

This year during Lent, our Sunday teaching series is called “Spiritually Formed.” Through this series, we will explore what it means to grow in our faith and allow God to shape our lives from the inside out. Each week we will look at practices and perspectives that help us become more rooted in the love of God and more aware of how our faith shapes our everyday lives.

Giving Something Up

One of the most well-known traditions during Lent is the practice of giving something up. At The Journey Church, we invite everyone to consider setting aside something meaningful for the forty days leading up to Easter.

The purpose is not simply self-denial. Instead, it is about creating a small but intentional reminder of our faith. When we give something up for Lent, it helps us pause and remember the sacrifice of Jesus and the love that led him to the cross.

For some people, this might be giving up a certain food or drink. Others might step away from something like social media, entertainment, or another daily habit. The specific choice is personal and flexible. The goal is simply to choose something that helps you pause and reflect whenever you notice its absence.

During Lent at The Journey Church, each moment of that reminder becomes an opportunity to reflect on what Christ gave up so that we might experience life and hope.

Giving Something Out

Alongside giving something up, we also practice giving something out. Lent at The Journey Church includes an opportunity for generosity through our annual Rice Bowl project.

Rice Bowls are small containers that people take home during Lent. Throughout the season, you can place spare change or bills inside them. At the end of Lent, these gifts are collected and donated to support vulnerable children and orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Globally, there are more than 160 million orphaned children, with many living in extremely difficult circumstances. Through the Rice Bowl project, our church partners with organizations working specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa, where many children face challenges like poverty, hunger, and limited access to support.

Most of the compassion projects we support as a church focus on our local community. Rice Bowls give us the opportunity to extend that compassion globally and support children who need care and resources. Our goal this year is to raise $1,000 to support this work.

If you would like to participate, simply pick up a Rice Bowl at church and place your donations in it throughout the season.

Good Friday Agape Feast

Another meaningful tradition during Lent at The Journey Church is our annual Good Friday Agape Feast.

The word “agape” is a Greek word used in the New Testament to describe self-giving love. In the early church, believers would gather for a shared community meal called an Agape Feast. This meal reminded them of the love of Christ and the unity of the church.

Each year on Good Friday, we continue this tradition together. Our Agape Feast is a potluck-style meal where everyone is invited to bring something to share. It is a simple and meaningful evening that includes food, conversation, and a short reflective service as we remember the sacrifice of Jesus on Good Friday.

This gathering also helps us prepare our hearts for the joy of Easter Sunday, when we celebrate the resurrection and the hope it brings.

Join Us for Lent at The Journey Church

Lent is not about perfection or pressure. It is about creating space to reflect, reconnect with God, and walk together as a community of faith.

Whether you participate by giving something up, contributing to the Rice Bowl project, attending the Good Friday Agape Feast, or simply engaging with the Spiritually Formed teaching series, Lent at The Journey Church offers a meaningful way to slow down and focus on what truly matters.

As we move through this season together, we invite you to take small steps that help you reflect on your faith and prepare your heart for Easter.

Lent at The Journey Church is ultimately about remembering the love of Christ, growing in faith, and walking toward the hope of resurrection together.

Trusting in the Character of God

Trusting the Character of God: What It Means to Believe

Written by Kay Stonecypher on . Posted in Sermon Highlights. No Comments on Trusting the Character of God: What It Means to Believe

This week we began our “Spiritually Formed” series with Jesus’ repeated question: “Do you believe?” The teaching reminded us that belief isn’t primarily about rules, perfection, or total certainty—it’s about trusting the character of God, even when we feel like we’re “floating in the air” with real doubts.

This Week’s Sermon: Believing

Key Takeaways

  • Belief is not the same as rule-following; following Jesus forms the heart so that a moral life grows from love, not pressure.
  • Belief is not perfection; it’s ongoing trust and dependence on God, even after decades of faith.
  • Belief is not certainty or knowledge; God is bigger than what we can figure out, and faith can include unanswered questions.
  • trusting the character of God means turning toward Jesus in the middle of fear, doubt, and weakness.
  • Repentance is an ongoing practice of rethinking our lives—returning to relationship with God and love for others.

Sermon Highlights: Trusting the Character of God

If you’ve ever wished your faith felt simpler, cleaner, more certain—you’re not alone. Many of us carry the quiet pressure to “have it together”: to believe without questions, to live without mistakes, to feel confident without fear. And yet real life has a way of putting us in midair—between what we can control and what we can’t—wondering what will catch us.

This week, as we began our new series Spiritually Formed, we heard Jesus’ repeated question: Do you believe? Not as a threat. Not as a test you can fail. As an invitation into something deeper—trusting the character of God.

Big Idea of This Week’s Teaching

Being spiritually formed starts with belief—but belief isn’t rule-keeping, perfection, or certainty. Spiritual formation begins when we practice trusting the character of God, turning toward Jesus again and again, even with honest doubts.

Key Scriptures

  • Mark 1:15 — Jesus begins his ministry with a clear invitation: the kingdom of God is near; “repent and believe the good news.” Repentance was described as “rethinking” our lives—an ongoing return to God.
  • Mark 9:23–24 — When a desperate father asks for help, Jesus says “Everything is possible for one who believes,” and the father replies, “I believe; help my unbelief.” This became a central picture of faith that is real, imperfect, and honest.
  • John 11:25–26 — Jesus tells Lazarus’ family, “I am the resurrection and the life… Do you believe this?” Even close friends who loved Jesus were still invited deeper into trust.
  • Matthew 22:36–40 — When asked for the greatest commandment, Jesus centers faith in relationship: love God with your whole self, and love your neighbor as yourself.

1. Trusting the character of God begins with Jesus’ question

Jesus asked it to people who wanted healing, to disciples who had walked with him for years, to grieving friends standing at a graveside: Do you believe? The point wasn’t to shame them into the “right answer.” It was to bring belief out of autopilot and into the heart.

That’s part of what spiritual formation looks like: letting Jesus lovingly press on the places where faith has become assumed, inherited, or purely intellectual. Not to condemn us—but to draw us closer.

2. Trusting the character of God is not rules, perfection, or knowledge

The sermon named three common misunderstandings of belief—and why they don’t hold up in real life.

First, belief is not simply following rules. Rules can matter, but a life with God is not meant to be a checklist. The teaching shared an example of trying to perfect morality through disciplined self-improvement, only to discover how exhausting and impossible it can feel. The takeaway was freeing: following rules is not the same as following Jesus.

Second, belief is not perfection. That’s good news for anyone who feels tired, guilty, or behind. Even a long life of faith doesn’t produce flawless people—it produces dependent people. People who know they need God. People who keep returning.

Third, belief is not knowledge or certainty. Many of us chase certainty because being human can feel so uncertain. But God is not small enough to be fully understood. And spiritual formation isn’t about having every answer—it’s about learning to live with trust when answers don’t come.

Trusting the character of God doesn’t require certainty—it requires turning toward Jesus in the middle of real life.

In other words, trusting the character of God is sturdier than trusting your own performance, clarity, or control.

3. Trusting the character of God like a child trusts a parent

One of the most memorable images from the message was a dad catching his toddlers as they jumped from the stairs—asking, “Will you catch me?” That moment in the air is a picture of faith. We all live there sometimes: between the step we left and the ground we haven’t touched yet.

And that’s where trust is formed—not when we feel certain, but when we choose to lean into who God is.

That’s why the father’s prayer in Mark 9 feels so honest: “I believe; help my unbelief.” It gives words to the mixed reality many of us carry: faith and fear, hope and hurt, trust and trembling—together.

Faith can coexist with weakness, because Jesus honors our dependence and meets us with hope.

trusting the character of God doesn’t require a doubt-free life. It requires a turned-toward-Jesus life.

4. Trusting the character of God leads to repentance and love

If belief is trust, what do we do with that trust? Jesus’ first call in Mark 1 is clear: “Repent and believe.”

Repentance was described as a logical, ongoing practice—rethinking our lives. Reconsidering what we’re forming ourselves around. Releasing resentments and bitterness. Rethinking how we treat people. Returning to what is truly life-giving.

And Jesus keeps it simple in Matthew 22: love God, and love others. Not as a new rule system, but as a relationship-shaped life. The teaching invited us to pray this as a daily practice during Lent: a wholehearted love that becomes a commitment—not just a feeling.

Practicing This Week

  1. Pray once a day: “Jesus, help me practice trusting the character of God today.”
  2. Name one place you’re seeking certainty and offer it to God—without forcing a quick answer.
  3. Practice repentance as rethinking: choose one habit, resentment, or judgment to reconsider this week.
  4. Pray the love-centered prayer daily: love God with your whole self, and love your neighbor as yourself.
  5. When doubt rises, borrow the father’s prayer: “I believe; help my unbelief.”

Questions for Reflection

  1. When you hear Jesus ask, “Do you believe?” what rises in you—peace, fear, resistance, longing?
  2. Where have you confused faith with rule-following, perfection, or certainty?
  3. What does living without certainty look like in your life right now?
  4. What might repentance-as-rethinking look like for you this Lent?
  5. How could you practice trusting God’s character in one specific relationship or decision this week?

The good news is not that you can achieve perfect faith. The good news is that Jesus has come near—and the veil is torn. You are invited into relationship with God, now and forever. So if your faith feels small, mixed, or unfinished, you’re still welcome at the table. This Lent, may you find steady hope—not by having every answer, but by practicing trusting the character of God, one honest step at a time.