Tag: spiritual growth

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

Written by Kay Stonecypher on February 23, 2026. 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

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

Questions for Reflection

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

Written by Kay Stonecypher on February 23, 2026. 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 the Character of God: What It Means to Believe

Written by Kay Stonecypher on February 16, 2026. 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

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

Questions for Reflection

When you hear Jesus ask, “Do you believe?” what rises in you—peace, fear, resistance, longing?
Where have you confused faith with rule-following, perfection, or certainty?
What does living without certainty look like in your life right now?
What might repentance-as-rethinking look like for you this Lent?
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.

Your life has a mission serving others in Westminster community

Your Life Has a Mission: Launch Into Blessing Others

Written by Kay Stonecypher on February 15, 2026. Posted in Resources. No Comments on Your Life Has a Mission: Launch Into Blessing Others

This week at The Journey, we were reminded of something simple but powerful: your life has a mission. You are not here by accident, and your days are not random. We zoomed out to the big story of Scripture and heard a simple, life-giving mission from Genesis 12: you are blessed to be a blessing. No matter how ordinary your days feel—or how limited you feel—God can use your skills, your sacrifice, and even your weaknesses to bring hope to the people around you.

This Week’s Sermon: Find Your Mission

Key Takeaways

The Bible’s big story moves from creation, to brokenness, to God launching a mission of blessing through everyday people.
God’s call to Abraham (“Go”) is an invitation to live with purpose—not just comfort or safety.
Our mission is simple: we are blessed so we can bless others.
Being a blessing can happen through our skills, our sacrifice, and even our weaknesses.
Faithfulness often looks small—but small acts of hope can transform a whole environment.

Sermon Highlights: When You’re Not Sure Your Life “Counts”

Some weeks, life feels meaningful and energized. Other weeks, it feels like we’re just getting through the calendar—work, meals, errands, relationships, stress, repeat. And somewhere underneath all that motion, a question can quietly follow us around: Is this it? Is my life really making any difference?

This Sunday at The Journey, we were reminded that Scripture doesn’t treat your life like a disconnected set of moments. It places you inside a much bigger story—one where God is still creating, still healing what’s broken, and still calling ordinary people to live with purpose.

And the invitation was refreshingly simple: you are blessed to be a blessing.

Big Idea: Your Life Has a Mission

If you follow Jesus, your life has a mission—not someday, not when you feel ready, but right now. God’s mission for your life isn’t reserved for the “impressive” or the “especially gifted.” It’s for you—right where you are. After naming the brokenness we all recognize in the world (and in ourselves), the teaching turned to Genesis 12, where God calls Abraham to go—to launch into a life of purpose.

That same pattern becomes a picture for us: God blesses us, and then sends us to bless others. Your life can become a daily adventure with God—not necessarily loud or dramatic, but deeply intentional and full of meaning.

Key Scriptures

Genesis 1–2 – The story begins with God creating, forming a good world with intention and beauty.
Genesis 3–11 – A series of stories showing how the world breaks: rebellion, violence, apathy, and humanity trying to replace God.
Genesis 12:1–3 – God’s turning point: calling Abraham to “go,” blessing him so that all peoples on earth will be blessed through him.
Matthew 25:14–40 – Jesus’ teaching that we’re meant to use what we’ve been given—our abilities, opportunities, and compassion—to serve others rather than bury what’s in our hands.
The Cross & Communion (Eucharist) – Jesus takes humanity’s worst and turns it into blessing—offering his body and blood to bring life and hope.

1. Your Life Has a Mission in a Broken World

The message began with a “zoomed out” view of the Bible’s storyline. Genesis 1–2 shows creation: God as the One who made everything—and who is still at work forming people into his image.

Then comes Genesis 3–11: not just “bad things happening,” but a clear picture of how humans drift from God and harm each other. The teaching named four movements of brokenness we still recognize today:

Rebellion (humans turning from God)
Violence (humans hurting each other)
Apathy (ignoring God even if we believe he exists)
Self-worship (treating ourselves as our own god)

And right there—at the height of the mess—Genesis 12 becomes a turning point. God chooses a person (Abraham) and starts something new: a mission that would eventually bless the whole world.

Not because humans suddenly became better, but because God decided to intervene with grace and purpose.

2. Living Like Your Life Has a Mission

In Genesis 12, God’s first word to Abraham is simple: Go. The teaching pointed out that the sense of that word is like launch—get moving, get adventuring, don’t stay stuck.

That doesn’t mean reckless decisions or chasing adrenaline. It means refusing to live as if comfort is the goal. It means remembering you were made for more than self-protection and survival.

The pastor acknowledged something many of us feel: even when we sense an idea—something we could do, something we could try—we hesitate. We assume it’s for someone else. We fear failure, embarrassment, criticism, or simply getting it wrong.

But living on mission requires movement. Not perfection—movement.

3. Your Life Has a Mission: Blessed to Be a Blessing

Here’s the heartbeat of the teaching:
God blesses us so we can bless others.

If you’ve ever wondered, What does it mean to follow Jesus? What should I do with my life?—this is a sturdy place to start. Your story, your personality, your experiences, even your pain can become a channel of blessing in a broken world.

“You are blessed to be a blessing—your life is meant to bring hope to others.”

The pastor put it plainly: the world is not how it’s supposed to be. And we don’t fix that by waiting for “better people” to show up. God’s plan has always been to send ordinary people—people like us—to bring hope, generosity, and the love of Jesus into everyday spaces.

4. If Your Life Has a Mission, Where Do You Begin?

To make this concrete, the teaching offered a simple structure: if we’re going to “go,” what does it look like to actually bless people?

a. Serve with Your Skills

You are good at something. Maybe it’s your work. Maybe it’s listening well, organizing, building, cooking, teaching, creating, encouraging, problem-solving, noticing people, showing up consistently.

The invitation wasn’t to brag about strengths—it was to use them. Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25 reminds us not to bury what we’ve been given. Over time, we can even grow those skills so we can become more useful and more generous in the ways we bless others.

Not for our ego—but for our neighbor.

b. Serve with Your Sacrifice

A lot of blessing has nothing to do with talent. It’s about willingness.

Sometimes love looks like giving time, energy, attention, money, or effort when it would be easier to stay comfortable. Sometimes blessing looks like being the kind of person who helps—not because it’s your “thing,” but because it’s needed.

Sacrifice can be simple and quiet. It can also be holy. The cross reminds us that your life has a mission rooted in grace, not pressure.

c. Serve with Your Weaknesses

This may have been the most tender part of the message: your weaknesses don’t disqualify you—God can use them.

The pastor named things many people carry: struggles, past mistakes, broken relationships, addiction, grief, illness, mental and emotional burdens, financial failures, seasons of feeling like a “bad parent,” shame, regret. And then offered a surprising hope: God often works through people who know they need him.

“Don’t forget your limitations; let God use them. Your hurts can become hope for someone else.”

In God’s hands, our hurts can become hope for someone else. Vulnerability can become a doorway to connection. And the places we thought made us “less than” may become the very places where God’s strength shows up most clearly.

A Picture of Ordinary Faithfulness: Johnny the Bagger

To bring it all down to street level, we heard the story of Johnny—a 19-year-old grocery store bagger with Down syndrome who wanted to bless customers in a simple way. Each day, he brought a positive saying to work and placed it in customers’ bags, looking them in the eye and telling them he hoped they’d have a great day.

What happened next was the point: his line became the longest, not because he was fast, but because people wanted to receive hope from him. And the culture of the store began to change—florists, butchers, cart attendants—others started adding their own small acts of kindness.

It was a reminder: you don’t have to be “special” to be a blessing. You just have to be willing. Remember: your life has a mission, and even small acts of faithfulness matter deeply to God.

Practicing This Week

Here are a few simple, grace-filled ways to live this out in the next seven days:

Ask one honest question in prayer: “God, how can I be a blessing this week?” Then stay alert for small opportunities.
Choose one lane—skills, sacrifice, or weakness—and take one step. Offer help using what you’re good at, give time where it’s needed, or share your story with someone who needs hope.
Bless one “ordinary place.” Your workplace, your street, your gym, your classroom, your online space—pick one and decide to bring kindness there on purpose.
Try the “regret” question: If I don’t do this, will I wish I had? Let that help you move past fear into faithful action.
Connect it to communion: When you remember Jesus’ sacrifice, let it re-center you: we don’t bless to earn love—we bless because we’ve received it.

Questions for Reflection

Where have I been living more for comfort than for mission—and what might “go” look like in that area?
What are some blessings in my life right now that I often overlook? How could those become blessings for others?
Which comes more naturally for me: serving with skills, with sacrifice, or with weakness? Why?
Is there a small idea I’ve been dismissing because it feels “too small” to matter? What would it look like to try it anyway?
Who might God be inviting me to bless this week—specifically, by name?

The hope of this message isn’t that we’ll try harder and finally become “good enough” people. The hope is Jesus—who took the worst of humanity at the cross and turned it into blessing, life, and resurrection hope. We’re not alone in this mission. God is with us, and we get to learn, practice, and grow together—one small step of blessing at a time. As you step into your week, remember: your life has a mission, and God is already at work through you.

erson rock climbing outdoors, symbolizing faith and risk and trusting God beyond comfort

Faith and Risk: Why Comfort Can Keep Us Stuck

Written by Kay Stonecypher on January 27, 2026. Posted in Resources, Sermon Highlights. No Comments on Faith and Risk: Why Comfort Can Keep Us Stuck

Most of us don’t think of ourselves as risk-takers—we’re just trying to make life feel a little more manageable. But this week at The Journey, we explored how faith and risk are often deeply connected, and how our pursuit of comfort can quietly keep us from the growth God is inviting us into.

This Week’s Sermon: Challenge Over Comfort

Key Takeaways

Comfort can feel safe, but it can also slowly shrink our lives and our sense of purpose.
God’s call often comes through our gifts, strengths, and the places others affirm what we’re good at.
Fear isn’t a sign you’re doing it wrong—it may be a sign God is inviting you into growth.
Courage isn’t about personality; it’s about trusting God’s presence and taking the next step.
A changed life usually begins with one small act of faith, not a dramatic leap.

Sermon Highlights: Getting Honest About Faith and Risk (and Why It Matters)

Most of us don’t think of ourselves as “risk people.” We’re just trying to get through the week: work, family, relationships, bills, health, routines. And if we’re honest, a lot of what we want is pretty simple—we want life to feel a little easier, a little less stressful, and a little more manageable.

But what if the thing we reach for—comfort—has more power over us than we realize?

In this week’s teaching at The Journey, we explored how comfort can quietly shape our decisions and limit our growth, not because comfort is evil, but because comfort can become a chair we sink into—where our lives start to shrink and our faith stops moving.

Big Idea of This Week’s Teaching

God doesn’t major in comfort. Instead, God calls ordinary people into courage—inviting us to step out of what’s safe and into what grows us, shapes us, and blesses others.

The invitation isn’t to do something reckless or impulsive. It’s to take the next faithful risk—whatever “risk” looks like for you—trusting that God is with you.

Key Scriptures

Hebrews 11 — A long “hall of faith” that tells story after story of ordinary people saying yes to God, often in the face of fear, ridicule, suffering, and uncertainty. The point isn’t that they were fearless; it’s that they acted in faith anyway.

Joshua 1:9 — God’s words to Joshua in a moment of enormous responsibility: “Be strong and courageous… for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” In the teaching, this was a direct reminder that courage grows from God’s presence, not our personality.

1. Faith and Risk: Where Do You Land on the Curve?

The message began with a simple exercise: imagine a bell curve showing our predisposition to risk. Some of us are on the “risk-taking” side. We don’t feel much anxiety, we get bored easily, and we’re energized by action, adrenaline, and novelty.

But, others of us are on the “risk-avoiding” side. Even the word “risk” makes us tense. Our brains feel highly sensitive to stress, and we can worry for days over something that seems small to someone else.

And many of us live somewhere in the middle—generally steady, but with certain situations that spike our anxiety.

Here’s what mattered most: your place on the curve doesn’t make you spiritually superior or inferior. It doesn’t prove you have “more faith” or “less faith.” Instead, it just means you’re human, and you’re wired a certain way.

The question isn’t, “Am I brave like someone else?”
The question is, “What would faith look like for me—right where I am?”

2. Why Faith and Risk Feel Uncomfortable

The teaching named something most of us relate to: that “chair” feeling—the place where we shut the world out, dial down our stress, and sink into comfort. Maybe it’s literal: your favorite chair, couch, bed, or screen-time routine, but often it’s internal: our patterns of avoiding anything that might feel hard, uncertain, or exposing.

“There is no growth in comfort—and God is calling us to take the challenge over the chair.”

Comfort can look like:

Staying in an unfulfilling job because uncertainty feels scary.
Holding back honest feelings to avoid rejection.
Shrinking a meaningful goal because failure would hurt.
Over-preparing because mistakes feel unbearable.
Staying silent because we don’t want to sound wrong or be judged.

The hard truth is that comfort doesn’t just soothe us—it can shape us. And over time, it can quietly train us to live small.

The pastor put it plainly: there is no growth in comfort.

3. Faith and Risk in God’s Calling

One of the most practical parts of this message was how it described “calling.” Certainly, for many of us, the word “calling” can sound mysterious—like we’re waiting for a dramatic sign, a booming voice, or a lightning-bolt moment.

But the teaching reframed it: often, God’s call begins as we recognize the gifts, skills, and strengths God has already placed in us—and as other people confirm those gifts.

You might not know your “passion” yet, and that’s okay. In fact, the message offered a counter-cultural idea: don’t start with chasing passion. Rather, start with what you’re genuinely good at. Give time and energy to developing that. And often, passion grows as you see that God can use your gifts to serve others.

So here’s a question we were invited to carry:
“What is the subtle but unmistakable reason God made me the way he did?”

If that’s hard to answer alone, the pastor encouraged us to ask a couple trusted people—the ones who are truly for you—and simply listen to what they see in you.

4. The Most Common Response to God’s Call Is Fear

When it comes to faith and risk, fear is often the first response. If God is calling us to serve, grow, and step out of comfort… why don’t we? Because fear shows up.

The teaching was honest: most people don’t respond to God’s calling by saying, “Great! This is exactly what I’ve always wanted!” Most of us respond with resistance.

And we often tell ourselves stories like:

“God wouldn’t call me to something that scares me.”
“God wouldn’t ask me to do something I can’t handle.”

But the message pushed back gently: a loving God challenges us. A good Father doesn’t only soothe—He strengthens. God often invites us into things that stretch us, because stretching is how we grow.

And here was a surprising reframe: if there’s a challenge in front of you that could grow you and help others—but you feel afraid—there’s a good chance God is in that challenge.

Fear doesn’t always mean “stop.” Sometimes fear means, “This matters. Pay attention.”

5. Courage Comes From Presence, Not Personality

This is where Joshua 1:9 landed like an anchor: God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous—not because Joshua feels ready, but because God promises to be with him.

That’s the heart of Christian courage. It’s not self-confidence. It’s not pretending you aren’t afraid. It’s trusting you are not alone. Living out faith and risk doesn’t mean being reckless—it means being willing.

“Don’t compare your faith to anyone else. Ask God: ‘What challenge do you have specifically for me?’”

God invites each of us into faith and risk, not comparison or performance.

The teaching also named something freeing: inadequacy isn’t disqualifying—it’s normal. You may feel like you don’t have what it takes. In a way, that’s true. Most callings are bigger than us.

But that’s where faith begins: we lean on God, not on our ego. We move forward while still feeling small. We take the next step while still feeling fear.

Practicing This Week: Simple, Real Steps

Here are a few grace-filled ways to live this out this week—without pressure, comparison, or trying to prove anything.

Name your “chair.”
Where do you default to comfort when life feels stressful—emotionally, relationally, spiritually? Just noticing it is a powerful first step.
Ask God one honest question each day:
“God, what challenge do you have specifically for me?”
Say it with curiosity, not dread. You’re not trying to force an answer—you’re opening your heart.
Take one small risk to serve.
Not a dramatic leap. A small act of faith: offer to help, volunteer once, have a hard conversation, reach out to someone who’s struggling, share your story, pray with someone, invite a neighbor.
Talk to two people who are “for you.”
Ask: “What do you think God has shaped me to do? Where do you see me come alive?” Listen without arguing.
Come back to Jesus at the table.
If you’re not sure where to start, start here: you receive Christ—and then you carry Christ into the world. Let communion remind you that Jesus meets you with grace before you ever “get it right.”

Questions for Reflection

Where would you place yourself on the “risk curve,” and how has that shaped your choices lately?
What’s a meaningful goal you’ve shrunk or delayed because you’re afraid of failing or being judged?
When fear shows up, do you usually interpret it as “stop” or “pay attention”? Why?
What do you sense might be God’s invitation for your next small step—right where you are?
Who are two people you trust enough to ask, “What do you see in me that God might use?”

The hope of this message isn’t that we would become fearless people. The hope is that we would become people who trust Jesus enough to move—even a little—when God calls. You don’t have to compare your faith to anyone else’s. You don’t have to prove yourself. You can simply take your next step with the God who says, “I will be with you wherever you go.”

How Christians live by the Holy Spirit and experience freedom

Freedom Over Rules: Living by the Spirit

Written by Kay Stonecypher on January 12, 2026. Posted in Resources, Sermon Highlights. No Comments on Freedom Over Rules: Living by the Spirit

To live by the Holy Spirit is not about following more rules—it’s about freedom shaped by grace. This week at The Journey, we explored Galatians 5 and how Jesus invites us to release rule-based faith and learn a Spirit-led way of living.

This Week’s Sermon: What Are the Rules of Life?

Key Takeaways

We all create “fence rules” to feel safe or right—but they can replace grace with judgment.
Paul warns that trying to be “justified” by rules leads to a new kind of slavery and an “us vs. them” posture.
Christian freedom isn’t “do whatever you want”—it’s learning to live led by the Holy Spirit.
The real contrast isn’t “my rules vs. your rules,” but flesh vs. Spirit—self-centered living vs. Spirit-shaped character.
The goal is visible fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—“against such things there is no law.”

Sermon Highlights: The Rules We Live By

Most of us are rule-followers… even if we don’t think we are. Put us in a new job, a new relationship, a new community—even a new hobby—and we start asking: What are the rules here? What’s expected? What’s allowed? What counts as “doing it right”?

And the tricky part is: the same rule can mean totally different things to different people. “I’ll see you at 7:00” can mean “arrive at 6:45,” “arrive at 7:00,” or “7:20 is basically the same thing.” We all live with unspoken rules—and we often assume our version is the correct one.

This week at The Journey in Westminster, we started a new series by talking about rules, grace, and the freedom Jesus offers. Because when it comes to faith, the stakes feel higher—and the confusion can get louder: What does it mean to live like a Christian? Which rules matter most? And what do we do when people disagree?

The Big Idea of This Week’s Teaching

The heart of the message was simple and freeing: Jesus didn’t set us free so we’d just find a new set of rules to obsess over. Jesus set us free for freedom—so we can live by grace, led by the Holy Spirit.

Rules can be good. Standards can be good. The problem is what happens when rules become our identity, our measuring stick, and our way of judging ourselves—and everyone else. That’s when “faith” can quietly shift into something else: fear, self-righteousness, and “us vs. them.”

Paul’s invitation in Galatians 5 is not to throw out morality, but to stop being enslaved by rule-keeping as the way we prove we’re okay. Instead, we learn to walk with God’s Spirit—so our lives become shaped from the inside out.

Key Scriptures

Exodus 20 (The Ten Commandments) — The pastor pointed out that the commandments are good “codes of community,” but people often add “fence rules” around them that become the real rule—and a new basis for judgment.
Galatians 5:1 — “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” This anchored the message: grace frees us from being yoked to rule-based righteousness.
Galatians 5:4–6 (themes in the passage) — Paul warns that trying to be “justified by the law” alienates us from Christ and moves us away from grace—not because God stops loving us, but because we lose our way.
Galatians 5:13–18 — Freedom isn’t permission to indulge selfishness; it’s an invitation to be led by the Spirit rather than controlled by the flesh.
Galatians 5:19–23 — The contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit shows what life looks like when we’re driven by self vs. shaped by God.

1. The “Fence Rule” Problem: When Extra Rules Replace the Point

One of the most relatable parts of the teaching was how easily we create rules around rules. Sometimes we do it because we want clarity. Sometimes we do it because we want control. Sometimes we do it because we’re anxious—and extra rules help us feel safe.

The pastor gave a modern example: “Don’t drink and drive” is a good rule. But someone might add a fence rule: “Don’t drink if you might drive.” Then another fence rule: “Don’t drink at all.” Eventually the fences become the focus—and the original purpose gets lost.

This same thing happened historically around the Sabbath command. “Do no work” became “don’t carry objects,” which became “don’t lift anything heavier than a dried fig.” The point wasn’t rest anymore—it was rule management.

“Jesus didn’t set you free so you could obsess over the rules—He set you free for freedom.”

And here’s where it gets personal: we may not write our fence rules down, but we still live by them. We build expectations for ourselves—and for others—and then we silently grade people based on standards God never actually assigned us to police.

2. The Trap of “Being Right”: When Righteousness Turns into Self-Righteousness

Paul uses strong language in Galatians 5 because he’s naming a real danger: when we try to be “justified” by rules, we end up yoked to a new kind of slavery. We start believing, If I follow the right rules, I’m right. If you don’t, you’re wrong.

That’s where “us vs. them” takes root. We may call it theology, conviction, values, or “being biblical,” but the posture underneath can become self-righteousness: Look how right I am.

The pastor offered a humble and needed reminder: all of us are wrong about some things—even things we feel confident about. It’s okay to not be perfect. It’s okay to be learning. And it’s okay to let other people be learning too.

Paul’s warning isn’t meant to scare us into shame. It’s meant to wake us up: when rule-keeping becomes the center, we lose power and effectiveness. We stop living with grace. We can still look “religious,” but we become less like Jesus in the process.

3. Freedom Isn’t “Anything Goes”: It’s Spirit-Led Living

A big misconception Paul addresses is this: if we’re saved by grace, does that mean we can do whatever we want?

Paul’s answer is no—not because God wants to control us, but because selfish living always leads to breakdown. It fractures relationships. It feeds addiction. It fuels resentment. It creates conflict. It leaves us restless and unhappy.

So Paul reframes the entire battle. It’s not “my rules vs. your rules.” It’s flesh vs. Spirit. Not “me vs. them,” but what’s happening inside me: am I being led by God, or led by my impulses, ego, and appetites?

And the pastor took time to explain the Holy Spirit in a simple way: God is not far away. In Jesus, God came near—“Emmanuel, God with us.” And through the Holy Spirit, God is not only with us, but in us. If you’re a follower of Christ, you’re never navigating life alone. You can ask for wisdom. You can ask for help. You can ask God to reshape your character from the inside.

4. What It Means to Live by the Holy Spirit

Paul’s list of the “acts of the flesh” is long—and honestly, it’s sobering. But the pastor pointed out something important: Paul isn’t just handing us a new rule list. These lists vary from letter to letter because they’re diagnostic, not performative. They reveal what kind of life we’re living.

Then comes the hopeful contrast: the fruit of the Spirit.
Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control.

“When the Spirit shapes your life, the fruit becomes obvious—and against such things there is no law.”

This is what grace produces when it’s actually shaping us. Not perfection, but transformation. Not an “image,” but fruit—visible, tangible, recognizable.

And Paul ends with a stunning line: “Against such things there is no law.”
In other words, when the Spirit is forming your life, you don’t need a fence. You don’t need to build an “us vs. them” identity. You’re not trying to prove you’re right—you’re learning how to live like Jesus.

Practicing This Week: Walking with the Holy Spirit in Everyday Life

Here are a few ways to respond this week, rooted in what the pastor invited us to do:

Ask for freedom in prayer.
Take a few quiet minutes and pray honestly: “Holy Spirit, where do I need freedom right now?”
Notice your “fence rules.”
Where have extra rules become your measuring stick—either for yourself or for others? Ask: Is this leading me toward grace… or toward judgment?
Pick one fruit of the spirit to practice on purpose.
Choose one: patience, kindness, self-control, gentleness, etc. Ask God for help, then look for one real-life moment to practice it.
Trade “us vs. them” thoughts for a Spirit-check.
When you feel judgment rising, pause and ask: What would it look like to respond with grace? What might the Spirit be forming in me right now?
Make one “kindness in action” move.
Send the text. Offer the help. Give the encouragement. Do something concrete that looks like love.

Questions for Reflection

Where in your life do you feel most tempted to turn faith into rules—either for yourself or for other people?
What “fence rules” have you absorbed over the years that may not actually be the heart of Jesus?
When you feel the pull of “us vs. them,” what’s usually underneath it—fear, insecurity, anger, past hurt?
Which fruit of the Spirit do you most want others to experience when they’re around you right now? Why?
What is one area where you want to ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and change this week?

When we live by the Holy Spirit, our lives slowly shift from rule-keeping to grace-filled freedom, and the fruit becomes visible over time. The hope of this message isn’t that we’ll finally follow the rules perfectly. The hope is Jesus—who meets us with grace, even when we’re confused, stuck, or wrong. And as we learn to walk with the Holy Spirit, we don’t have to carry the burden of proving we’re “right.” We get to live free—together—growing into a life that looks more and more like love.