Journey to The Journey

In an effort to better introduce John and I put together a little interview via blog that you can check out below. John and Lindsay have already been a tremendous blessing to us at The Journey and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to have them doing ministry here in the MOV! - Cody Parman

Church plants and planters can often be stereotyped as just angst young people who want to do things different, look cool while they’re doing it and rage against the proverbial “machine” (or typical church experience in this case). Church planters probably all think they’re the ones that will get “church” right unlike their piers in the surrounding communities, right? Church planters want to be revered as trendsetters or as more relevant than any inferior ministry near by, right?

In a nutshell, this hope had two different angles. First of all, we prayed that The Journey could be a church for people who have never had a church before in their life. In this neck of the woods there aren’t that many people who have never been to church. Almost any and everyone I’ve met can at least share with me a time in their childhood in which grandma used to pick them up on Sunday mornings or for a week of vacation bible school in the summer. However, there are a ton of people in our communities who have never had a church to call home in their adult life for whatever reason.

This is the second of four posts celebrating answered prayer and the work of God and The Journey. Last August we prayed that The Journey would be a place where Scripture was held as our highest court of authority.

This week, leading up to our Vision Sunday & Business Meeting, I wanted to take some time to celebrate how by the grace of God we’ve seen these hopes come to fruition.

With excitement I've been anticipating the arrival of chapters 14-17 of John's gospel. Teaching the deep doctrinal content of these passages is nothing short of intimidating. With that said, we're upon some heavy teaching from Jesus in John 14:12-17.

Sunday morning we'll see the tension and opposition to Christ's ministry continue to build as we walk through John 7:1-24. In the midst of turmoil Christ's commitment to truth and obedience is something that should grasp our intention and inspire us. Though those around him continually proposed other routes to glory Jesus' obedience to the Father is unwavering.

The lessons we'll learn in the story of Jesus healing the Official's son (John 4:43-54) are crucially significant for us to understand while living in this fallen world. This story of affliction needs to be cataloged in the mind of every believer to be remembered during the inevitable moments of affliction that we will face.

Our time together in the book of 1 Timothy was such a blessing to us at The Journey. As mentioned at the beginning of the series, anywhere that the advancement of the Gospel has been compromised by worldly behavior, the letter of 1 Timothy has profound relevance. With that said, this letter is useful and applicable... well, anywhere. So if you're looking for a book of the Bible that calls us to a godly lifestyle for the sake of the Gospel, look no further.

With that said, on December 23rd we are starting through the Gospel of John! Perhaps we can view this new venture as a Christmas gift to our church family. Though any book of the bible would be profitable, after much prayer, thought, and counsel I’m thrilled about the treasures of wisdom that await us down this path.