voyage blog
What is "an authentic faith community" anyway?
April 3, 2010
At Voyage, we want to do more than talk about being Christ followers, we want to grow in an authentic relationship with God.
We value maintaining a balance between discovering God?s truth, growing and thriving in our relationship with God, and living out our faith in practical ways. You will find that we emphasize all three as vital parts of our experience here at Voyage.
Being authentic means we will apply ourselves to discovering God's Truth.
At Voyage, we teach the truth of the Bible. We learn directly from God's Word, we don't dress it up or focus on what other people SAY about the Bible, we go straight to the Word itself. The Bible is a transforming book! In our effort to be authentic followers of Christ, we don't only learn and follow the parts that we want to hear, and skip over what is inconvenient to our life, we allow ourselves to learn the whole truth of what God intends for our good.
Being authentic means we will be growing in our faith.
We creatively design our Sunday gatherings to help you grow at your own pace in a relationship with God. You can simply observe and learn, or you can participate as little or as much as you want. We provide thrive stations around the room if you would like to take part in communion, write in the community journal, or worship God by leaving prayer requests and praises. You may get up at any time during our singing time to visit the thrive stations. You may sing during the music time, lift your hands, or simply shut your eyes and sense God's presence.
We often times have take home study sheets or Bible verses for you to meditate on and study during the week. You can find them at a thrive station or the
welcome table. We don't want to be followers of Christ only on Sundays, we want to be growing through the week. If you want to meet with Pastor Jerry personally for encouragement in your faith, feel free to contact him!
Being authentic means we will pour out love to others.
As an authentic faith community we give up our regular Sunday format one time a month to pour ourselves out to other people. That is what being an authentic follower of Christ is about, we not only take the time to learn God's word, but we live out what we learn by sacrificing for other people. We call that corporate time of serving our Impact Sunday. We encourage everyone at Voyage to participate and grow with us as we learn to be more like Christ.
Our goal in all we do is to be growing in love with God and others.
Linger
November 14, 2009
Do you ever read the bible and it is pretty much a dry, cerebral kind of experience? You might understand the words and the concepts well enough, but nothing is really touching your heart or taking your breath away.
The other day I was reading in 1 Corinthians 15 and I had just the opposite kind of experience. I read through verses 1-11, which talk about the resurrection of Christ. I have read these verses hundreds of times, nothing special was jumping out at me. Then I felt troubled that something as significant as the resurrection of Christ seemed so academic and dry to me. So I decided to read those verses again, but this time I wasn't going to rush, I was going to linger and ask the Lord to show me something, to take my breath away.
I read about how our resurrected Lord appeared to Peter and to the twelve disciples, but still nothing moved me. "There must be something here if I just linger and look closer," I thought. When I came to the part where it says that Jesus appeared to "more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time" something strange happened in me. Suddenly, it was like I was transported back in time 2000 years to that very moment. I felt what they must have felt. It was as if the resurrection had just occurred and I was a part of all the excitement. I found myself saying out loud what is often said on Easter ... "He is risen, he is risen!"
I don't have experiences this intense every time I read in the bible. I wish I did! I believe that if we linger, meditate and pray for "open eyes" while we are reading, we allow the Spirit of God to show us things that we would ordinarily overlook or take for granted. The bible has that kind of power, but we must situate ourselves in a way that our hearts can receive it.
I went on to read about how most of those five hundred witnesses to the resurrection were still alive when Paul was writing. Why did Paul point that out? It was as if Paul was daring people to investigate the resurrection. Was he saying, I dare you to ask around and see what they all say? That was a bold statement for Paul to make if it was all just a lie, but Paul could make such a statement with confidence because he and many others had seen the risen Christ and could testify to its truth.
I wonder if you know why Jesus resurrection is so incredibly important? Jesus resurrection is significant for a lot of reasons. You've probably heard that the resurrection verified that Jesus was the Son of God just as he said he was (Romans 1:4). We hear that one a lot, don't we?
But I want to throw out two other very important reasons for the resurrection that you may have never even considered:
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 that Jesus' resurrection was the firstfruits (a foretaste) of the resurrection that Christ followers will experience when Jesus returns. Don't miss this: Jesus has conquered death and has now gone before us into the very presence of God. He has blazed a trail to the Father that we can now follow! That is huge! If we repent, trust in his atoning death and continue in our faith we will join our trailblazer at his second coming and will receive glorious resurrected bodies just like the body Jesus had after the resurrection (we're talking walking through walls, no more pain or sickness and who knows what else)! What's the point? If there was no resurrection then none of this would be possible!
Here is one more thought to blow your mind:
Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:20 Behold, I myself am with you all the days to the very end of the age. That word behold is really significant. Did you read right past it as if it were just a filler word or some unnecessary old fashioned word? The word behold (or as some translations unfortunately render it "look") means to stop and gaze at something that is really mind blowing! What is so amazing here? The fact that Jesus is alive right now and is with you even as you are reading this! He is with his followers day after day. He goes through everything with you. Are you beholding this fact? Are you seeing the wonder of it? He is with you right now!
--Pastor Jerry
Are you God's Servant?
October 15, 2009
It is funny how there are certain words in the bible that we tend to see as special words that describe only special people at special times in history.
I'm thinking of the words that only Apostles, Prophets, Pastors and Evangelists and Teachers and special guys like that are supposed to use to describe themselves.
Not regular people.
I'm thinking of words like "saint," "holy man" or "servant of Jesus Christ."
Admit it, if someone today started talking like that about themselves you would look for either a halo over their head or a light blue hospital gown draping their body.
But in Romans 1:1 Paul calls himself "a servant of Christ Jesus" and in Philippians 1:1, he writes that he and Timothy are "servants of Christ Jesus."
He thought it was a great way to describe how he viewed his life as a Christ follower.
Maybe we are not ready to use the words themselves as self-descriptions in public like Paul did, but I do think the concept behind the words is very important, that it is not something reserved for special people in special times, and that we desperately need to see ourselves as "servants of Christ Jesus" today.
Many modern Christians have no idea what it means to live like a servant of Jesus.
The best way to describe their lives is that Jesus is their servant. After all, he does so many great things for them. He died on the cross for them, he saves them, he keeps forgiving their sins, he is there to listen to their prayers and to speak to them from the bible, and he will take them to heaven when they die.
What a great servant he is!
The bible itself says that Christ took the very nature of a servant when he became a man to save us from our sins (Philippians 2:7).
But God wants us to live as more than mere recipients of the serving work of Christ on our behalf.
The bible teaches that Jesus became our servant for a certain purpose. He did it all so that we would become his servants! He wants to transform our lives so that we no longer live for ourselves but live our lives extravagantly for the kingdom of God and for the needs of those around us.
He wants people who will wake up in the morning with words like this on their minds:
"How can I be your servant today, O Lord? How can I show my love for you? Who will you bring across my path today that I can demonstrate your love to? Here I am, your humble servant ready to serve you with all of my heart."
Personally, I've been using that word "servant" to describe myself for some years now, usually just in my prayers. Using that term gives me a sense that I am not just a mere man, but have a special assignment in life from God.
Do you know your special assignment in life?
I encourage you to begin thinking of yourself and describing yourself as "God's servant." The term, even if used only in prayer, can begin to transform the way you perceive your life and purpose.
Let's live as true servants of God so that our world is transformed just as Paul and Timothy transformed their world wherever they went.
--Pastor Jerry
What are you living for?
October 3, 2009
At last Tuesday's Tattooed Revelation at the RockIt Roost, we looked at a fascinating Scripture that says some pretty surprising things.
Check this out:
"What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away." 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
You might be asking, "What was Paul thinking?"
What kind of a marriage would you have if a husband lived as if he had no wife?
Is it fair to ask someone who has suffered a loss to refrain from mourning?
Is there something wrong with being happy?
Is it wrong to have possessions?
It is wrong to be excited about anything in this life?
These statements seem rather absurd until we see them in their context and, even then, they are not easy for many of us to swallow.
It seems from the first and last sentence of the passage that Paul is saying these things in light of the fact that he feels the promised return of Christ (See Acts 1:9-11) could occur at any time.
If the second coming is so close, why live for mundane things?
We were told by Christ in Matthew 24:42-44 to be ready because his second coming could occur at any moment.
Peter says that when Christ returns everything will be destroyed (2 Peter 3:10,11). In other words, someday everything that we felt was so important in this life will not seem important at all. The ultimate reality of the new heavens and earth will show how temporary the life we are experiencing now really is.
So, what Paul is saying is that when you live your life in light of the Kingdom of God and in light of the fact that this world in its present form will soon disappear, you will naturally adjust your priorities.
He is saying somewhat hyperbolically (in deliberately extreme terms to arrest our attention), "Don't let the things of earth so distract you that you do not give proper place to the things that matter most...don't get so caught up in family, mourning over the losses of life, happiness over prosperity, possessions or the things that tend to be engrossing that you forget about the things that matter most."
And what are those things?
1. Loving God - living life as his servant placed here on this earth to be his representative, making the purposes of God more important than your personal purposes, spending time in prayer, bible reading, memorizing and meditating, growing in moral purity, etc.
2. Loving others - laying down your life for others, being kind, gracious and patient, forgiving others when they hurt you, caring for the needy of this world, helping people who are far from God to find God as they see him at work in and through your life.
So, let's get engrossed in the things of God more than anything else in life! Let's live full-throttle for him. The return of Christ will make it clear to everyone that God's things are what really mattered.
--Pastor Jerry
Voyage: Our First Gathering!
September 26, 2009
Last week we had our first official Voyage gathering! The response has been phenomenal! We have a fantastic kids' program, cutting edge equipment and music for our gatherings, a hip cafe to get to know each other while drinking fresh brewed coffee, and community groups that are forming so we can go through life together!
Most importantly, we have a place for everyone to come, wherever you are at spiritually, to learn about Jesus and explore a relationship with Him. Voyage is a unique place that offers substance, authenticity and creativity all in one gathering. We think you'll love it here.
We are very excited about this Sunday! The gathering starts at 10:30 AM but I encourage you to arrive early for a cup of coffee and to watch music videos! If you can come really early (this week we are arriving at 6:30AM), we'd love to have your help setting up!
I hope to see you there! Come introduce yourself and make yourself at home.
Peace,
Pastor Jerry
Welcome to the Voyage Blog!
September 15, 2009
This is the first post on the Voyage Blog! Are you on the Voyage?
