Journey Church Looks Back on 2023 and Ahead to What Comes Next

[Music] hey Journey Church it's your founding and Lead pastors Keith and Kara may we be the first to usher in a New Year by saying Happy New Year we want to look back at all that God's done we want to look forward to what he's going to do and M just say to God be the glory amen hey that's going to be our theme today to God be the glory so whenever you hear that phrase today to God be the glory I want you to shout amen can we try that here we go ready Kara Yes to God be the glory amen come on y'all could do better than that when I shout to God be the glory you shout amen ready to God be the glory amen hey you're going to hear from a number of our pastors today about what God's done and what he's doing so every time you hear that today just shout amen We Are Better Together We Are car as we

look back on 2023 man this has been an exponential year for growth I mean numerically in person attendance online Also spiritually what have been some highlights for you this year yeah this has been a just just a really uh profound year for us I feel like spiritually we've had some breakthroughs and we've seen God do I mean the salvations that we've seen this year the baptisms uh marriages restored we've seen physical healings I mean we have just seen so much and I have been really blessed by it um and then beyond that the generosity of you guys has just been really amazing I've watched you guys step up and help people with tangible needs that really need help like cars I mean we have just seen you guys be so generous over so thankful oh I am too Kara I mean

you get me excited talking about all those things because we launched a more generosity initiative and I believe God's going to actually honor that that as we are generous with what God's given us he's going to be generous back to us and we've already just gotten a taste of what that looks like now I'm believing The Best Is Yet To Come we witnessed it over and over this year and you know the promise that's in Ephesians 3:20 now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or think is a reminder that we ought to pray boldly that God could do more than we ask or think and I just think about that with this property what would happen if we're generous what would happen in this city what would happen in our day in our time if we take god seriously if we ask for more and that gets me excited I mean looking back at this year thinking about all the baptisms all the salvations

we're going to have more in the New Year we already have baptism planned for Sunday January 21st so if you've not been baptized and you've given your life to Jesus come on we want you to take that next step this is just the beginning of greater things car we read the entire Bible in a year together for the first time together you could be a part of that as well starting tomorrow oh it's going to be a great day as we look back and we look in and we look forward all I can say is to God be the glory amen come on so enjoy this service God bless you and we look forward to what God's going to do to God be the glory you're awake you're alive I'm so excited so I'm Pastor Chelsea I am the kids Pastor here at journei in 2023 has been an incredible year I have to say

that I am honored to witness what God is doing in the lives of you in this room and the ways that you are impacting our city it's obvious it's tangible and it's amazing I know that I can speak on behalf of the entire Journey staff when I say we are encouraged by you the ways you are living out the call on your life by spreading the gospel inviting people to church interceding in prayer and serving in the remarkable ways that you do here at journey and in our community 2023 I have some really exciting stats are you ready all right we have had 1,087 salvations to God be the glory come on we have had

205 bapt baptisms to God be the glory amen at church in the park we had over 3,000 in attendance in the heart of our city we are witnessing immeasurable growth and it's amazing but ultimately most importantly lives are being transformed in this city to God be the glory amen okay I've got to share testimony are you guys cool with that okay awesome so in 2023 we started this year in Journey kids ministry with only 53% of our needed volunteers who we call superheroes we took two months we fasted many of you in this room joined us we fasted we prayed get this in two months we increased our journey kids team by

42% it was incredible that is the power of prayer and fasting and now we only need about 40 more Journey kids volunteers to fill our Sunday needs so I want to invite you when we start our prayer and F fasting you're going to be joining us in prayer you're going to be joining us in fasting and hey you might even sign up to serve in Journey kids because lives are being transformed we are on Mission and journey kids and we are seeing it and witnessing it like never before prayer has been the heart and the priority in this church we've seen so much fruit from that this year including in kids ministry we have witnessed kids powerfully praying over other kids inviting their friends and their family to church witnessing and sharing testimony of Miracles and healings and jobs and just so many incredible things that we' have gotten

to be a part of these kids are real followers of Jesus and many of you are in this room today you are real passionate followers in Jesus and Jesus is going to use you immeasurably to change this city come on this generation is on fire for Jesus and God is just getting started many of you filled out impact cards writing down the name of those who don't know Jesus yet get this in 20 to or sorry in kids ministry your kids wrote down 339 names of those who don't know Jesus and there are thousands in this box right here and we have already heard testimony of them coming to church being transformed by Jesus experiencing Jesus saying yes to Jesus and we know that God

is not done with that that has been so powerful and kids Ministry we had one little boy ask us what about my dad who was in prison and our leader told him yes Jesus loves him he then asked well what about my mom who does drugs and our leader said yes Jesus loves her these are just two of the thousands of names in this box right here this is going to be a powerful Year you guys God knows the depth of every person's story your story and every story that you're impacting he hears every prayer that you're praying so do not give up because God is not done we've heard incredible testimony of your long shots too those you wrote down thinking man I don't know

if they'll ever say yes we've heard incredible testimony of them being hey somebody might be in this room today it's very powerful and amazing God is doing such powerful powerful work in the lives of your family your parents your estranged children your siblings and your friends that are maybe struggling with addictions and so much more we have eager expectation for more more in our time more in our city more right here at joury we are Beyond excited to expand next store into our West Wing because we know God has so much more for people within this city to know the hope of Jesus yet we can only move at the pace of your generosity so church we are going to do more this year in this city and it's going to be amazing we want to

give more we want to just see God do more here to God be the glory all right you're still with me Ephesians 3:1 18-21 in the NLT says may you have the power to understand how wide how long how high and how deep his love is May you experience and know the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully may you be made complete with all the fullness of life and the power that comes from God all glory to God who is able through his mighty power and work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think we are ready for more in 2024 to God be the

[Music] [Music] glory hey friends it's Pastor Keith the fearless leader and founder of Journey Church from our Inception we dreamed of being a church for people who don't like church I know it may sound like an oxymoron like something doesn't make sense we want to be a church for people who don't go to church but from the beginning we sought to be a church like Jesus constantly Jesus hung out with people who were not like him yet they liked him our dream has always been to see hope for everyone not just the few but that we would reach the people who are far from

[Music] God God is calling us to more more in our city more in our day more in our time we are taking God at his word in Ephesians 3:20 it says now to him who is a able to do more he's able to do abundantly more we're believing that that our city needs more faith more hope more love in Jesus we're believing that more lives are going to be saved by Jesus we're believing more marriages are going to be restored by Jesus we're believing that God has just gotten started with journey and with you so what does that mean we are starting a two-year generosity initiative called

more we're believing that God is going to call us to more in our day and in our time we've got a three-fold goal number one we want to strengthen our ministry currently we're witnessing God do so much in different areas we're witnessing God work through our kids and we are overc capacity our services are full every single Sunday we are seeing God move within our teenagers where they're getting baptized and they're serving Jesus we're seeing God do so much much we're in the prisons at deeridge prison and we're believing God's going to get us into every prison but to do that it takes money our current operating budget is $2.5 million so for two years that's $5 million we need to strengthen our ministry second is we want to seize

Ministry God has given us the opportunity for 10,000 additional square feet in our current location that will allow us to expand our Sanctuary to get more than a 100 new seats in addition that all new kids classrooms this will help us grow our families to do more Ministry with our kids and small groups throughout the week but to do that there's a cost it's going to be $2 million for construction costs for City fees and all the renovations that we need to do this ministry not only do we want to strengthen Ministry and seize Ministry we want to secure Ministry God has been so faithful in allowing us to purchase 38 acres in the fastest growing location in Bend we currently owe $4.6

million on our mortgage on the 38 acres we're believing we're going to pay it off even more we're believing that God's going to do great work on this property we're not just going to be a church in our city we're going to be a church for our city so over the next two years we're going to strengthen Ministry we're going to seize Ministry and we're going to secure our future believing God's bless that he's going to do more imagine the opportunity ities that are going to happen right here so to secure our future we need to eradicate that debt of $4.6 million over the next two years I believe God can do it but what we're asking is 100% participation and I literally mean that we want every child teenager and adult to be a part of more we're asking you to

pray more to give more to engage more to sacrifice more and believe more that God is able to do this so would you join me join us together to see God do more in our city through our church so I'm asking you to pray I'm asking you to seek God what is this going to look like for us what is this going to look like for me to sacrifice and see God work through us as a church in this more generosity [Music] [Applause] initiative [Music]

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] to God be the glory woo that was loud I love it man I believe God has already begun to do so much more than anything we could ever ask or think part of that 2023 we have stepped into what it would look like to be a Praying church and what I want to do is share with you guys a couple of testimonies of what God has done through the power of prayer are you okay with that awesome okay just right here one

woman God has healed from a eye infection on the spot just the other day a man named Brian had had his back healed miraculously healed after surgery did terribly worse God has healed that people like Jan and Val have had God miraculously heal them from cancer as well as so many others I can't even find the all the names now people like will through the power of prayer have God has miraculous iously dissolved his brain tumor through prayer to God be the glory through the power of prayer Catherine has become a conqueror in Christ she threw away two big boxes of crystals and

over 30 decks of tarot cards and now is serving Jesus to God be the glory amen but not only go has God been working through prayer 2023 we have step into what it looks like to be the hands and the feet of Jesus and what I first want to do is read out of God's word what it looks like to be the hands and feet of Jesus Matthew 25: 35-40 says for I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink when I was a stranger you welcomed me and I was naked and you clothed me and I was sick and you visited me and when I was in prison you came to me then the righteous will answer him saying Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty

and give you drink and when did we see you a stranger and welcome you and naked and clothe you and when do we see you in sick and prison and visit you and the King will answer them truly I say to you whatever you done to the least of these youve done for me also in James chapter 1:27 it says True Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this to visit the orphans and the widows in their Affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world and I want to recognize and give God the glory how he's used families here at Journey Church to hear the word of God and do exactly that I want to give recognition to the families who have been obedient

and to love on the families who've gone into the foster care system and to support one another families like the angle and the woodfords and the O'Neal and the harrises guys you are doing the work of God to God be the glory but not only this God has opened up the door for us to have church services on Saturday nights in deeridge the prison over in madris and since the beginning he has done just such amazing things prisoners have come out to pray over one another some have come up to receive prayer believing in the power of Jesus there have been an estimated of 60 salvations within the prison and four of

those guys being baptized within as well to God be the glory lives are truly being changed and God is just getting started but not only is God working at through baptisms in the prison he's doing it right here at Journey Church so when you guys see someone get up and be obedient and follow Christ and get baptized you are literally watching the physical evidence of a life Changed by Jesus you are seeing we hear story after Story of a child's obedience that get up in front of everybody on a Sunday and get baptized resulting in the rest of the family being obedient and getting baptized amen

amen but we've also seen God work through his presence dwelling here on Pursuit nights as well through the power of prayer people's strongholds are being broken addictions are being broken people are being set free are being strengthened in the Holy Spirit we've had two cases right over here where the baptism tank was on a Pursuit night people coming out of the water with their shoulder being healed on the spot as well story after Story of God's merciful work we have seen the fruit of intercession and prayer for one another on Pursuit nights there have been waves of forgiveness waves of repentance and people learning how to follow Jesus divine healing and people learning the

what it looks like to walk in the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given each and every single one of you to God be the glory so let's take a look at what God has done through pray suit nights this year the room you're here and I know you moving I'm here and I know you will me [Applause] [Music] up I know you will fill me [Music] up come on say ho Holy Spirit Come rest on us you're all we

want you're all we one sing it out oh Holy Spirit Come rest on us you're all are you're all holy spirit Holy Spirit W to God be the glory amen hey isn't God great uh Pursuit nights start again next week and so we want to invite you back five o'clock Sunday nights such a powerful time with God just changing Hearts changing lives as we just give ourselves to him I'm Brad I'm the community life Pastor here at Journey Church and what that simply means is I try to help create and try to help plug people into

meaningful Community within the body all right and it's just a powerful thing I I truly believe we can have the Great greatest preaching and the greatest worship which I think we do uh but without the glue of community you know we're missing something so important you know God created us we're better together right and and so we just believe that fully in the year 2023 we unleashed a a new way of doing groups and it's really called a free market system and what it is is simply this it's this idea that says if you can come up with an idea that fulfills a few requirements uh that we ask of a group then let's come alongside you and let's see what we can do about see if that can be a place where people can plug in and build relationship and find something meaningful and so this year we've offered groups from sewing groups to painting groups to disc golf groups to workout groups uh Divorce Care groups bible study groups age specific groups

men's groups women's groups rooted groups New Freedom groups young adult group 60 plus singles group uh and many sermon based groups and then there's a ton more just beyond that isn't that amazing and so I'm so excited about it uh because we I sat down and tried to figure out what have we offered in the past and what are we doing now and what I kind of came up with we didn't keep great numbers in the past but before the year 2023 I think we were offering about 20 to 30 groups a year that that reached about 200 to 300 people this year uh we offered over5 groups uh to people that allowed about 700 people to be in groups to God be the glory amen thank you I I I think it's just a an incredible thing as we start to see people get connected and

build community some of those groups are short-term groups some of them are long-term groups either way people are growing they're getting connected and they're growing closer to God and that is what we're trying to do that is the goal and so we're so excited let me read a couple emails really quick uh from from leaders just in the last month or two one said hi Brad we had five families at our group tonight you this is a brand new group and they said and it's incredible how God built this group we even have a grandma of one of the members who is keeping the kids a second hour she did a little little bible study with all of them and it was truly amazing we felt so overwhelmed with Joy about our group isn't that awesome I got another one that uh uh from another person that started a group early this year and she said this just a month or two ago she said hi Brad I just wanted to let you know how thankful I am for my small groups this time last year I was

thinking of relocating home and church just wasn't connecting with anyone at church and felt lonely when I did attend or even serve I prayed about it and I feel God has so filled the voice with these amazing ladies I have visited with others and they are saying the same type of things I could go on about how all this has changed my heart but it would be a very long email to God be the glory right amen you know we're truly trying to lead people on a journey of transformation in Christ uh but it's not only our people uh but with others that are not yet connected to a church or journey I had one of my small group leaders say can I invite somebody that doesn't go to Journey or isn't going to church yet I said I sure hope so is it's our goal is to reach Beyond these walls it's our goal to do that and so we see that going on all over the place we you know we started a Ukrainian group this

fall isn't that awesome um we we've done things like uh the gorilla love where people have just invested and and on our Pursuit and I just laid money down at the altar to send a student to Bible School uh we've had people offer cars do you know I've had six to seven of you offer me offer cars to give to other people just in the last five months that that blows me away that's amazing and so I'm just so uh encouraged and blessed we even sent a man uh that that's his name is Ole back to the Ukraine here just a couple months ago where he went in and he put in uh water filter systems in churches where he had already put in generators so those that are still left in warar Ukraine have a place to go and it happens to be the church and he went into multiple communities and he said I could just share story after story after Story of what God is doing there and it's because of what you do and I'd also

just say we give monthly to is Israel uh we see people saved every month in Israel because of what you're doing right here and so what happens here goes far beyond our walls and so I say thank you I say thank you I say thank you also uh just mention this we have for years uh uh supported a church in Uganda um it has planted churches now it has a Ministry called stars that reaches out to uh to uh kids that have uh special needs thank you I was I was lost on that word we're to show a video here and you can watch us and uh see what God is [Music]

[Applause] [Music] doing [Music] [Music] amen [Applause] here Journey we have a mission that's to lead people on a journey of transformation in Jesus but we also

recognize that God's heart is for all people and all places and so this year we got to continue our partnership with City Church in Uganda as well as the Stars Ministry and they are doing incredible work and this year we got to send a team to see firsthand the power of God that is working through our partners over in in Africa and I'll tell you lives are being transformed forever they are hosting revivals they are doing things that here in the west that we just it blows our mind they see them healing people casting out demons bringing people into the church freeing them from witchcraft it's an amazing and powerful thing that we get to be a part of here at journey and bend that all the way across the world we are partnering with people who are doing the Lord's work so to God be the glory amen all

right another organization that we are partnering with globally is called one for Israel and this is an organization whose sole purpose is to bring the good news or the gospel to the nation of Israel and those around it and they said that this has been one of the most powerful years that they've witnessed in their time there meaning that they are seeing people come to Jesus like never before they're one of the only Hebrew teaching schools that are presenting Yeshua to the people of God God and they are seeing people come to know Jesus that is power that is Revival and that is another way that jurny church is partnering globally Around the World to See Jesus proclaimed because we say right it's all about Jes amen you got it

well another area that we are focused on this year was was getting an international trip not just for other our adult teams but also for our youth so in 2023 we started launching our first International mission trip to enata Mexico uh that we'll be going to here in a few months in 2024 it's been about 5 years since we've done a trip like this with our youth and I'll tell you missions is such an important thing because it gets you outside of your world your comfort your culture and shows you that this God that we talk about that we worship and that we we come to know every Sunday is alive and working all across the world that it's not about language and culture that God transcends all of that and that you can go into places that are foreign to you and still see the same God changing

lives and so this year we will be going into that and taking a team of students and adult and adults to to be a part of that experience finally man we we come to this generation now I've gotten to be a youth pastor for 15 years now and I'll tell you every every season I hear people say man the youth more and more they're just they're lost cause it's just getting harder and harder there's no hope for this generation I don't believe that I believe that this is a generation that God has a plan for that God has called that I doesn't matter how many Tik toks or Instagram or reals or whatever it is I believe that the identity of our youth today will not be transformed by culture but will be transformed by

Jesus and so here at Journey we don't aim just to have another youth group we just don't want a place where kids get Babys sa for 2 hours no instead we want to be a a discipl making machine where kids come in they hear the truth proclaimed and that we see lives transformed this year alone we had 65 students commit their lives to Jesus that's powerful 35 of them got baptized and then we saw our our adult leadership grow by 50% and so we are growing on Wednesday nights and as great as that is as much as I get to be up here and celebrate with you my heart is not content until we see every lost student in this city encounter Jesus and that's what we're going to be aiming for we want to be on every campus we want to see every student have the opportunity

to raise their hand and say I surrender my life to Jesus because if he can get a hold of their heart now man it'll change their life because that's what God did for me I was 16 and lost and Abandoned and hurt and broken and God took a broken young man who is on a path of destruction and he said I have a plan a purpose and I'm not going to just change your life I'm going to change your children's lives and your marriage and everything that was in front of me and I believe God will do that today so for the kids who don't know who they are or youth who are struggling to find their place in this world there is a God who has a hope for them who has a mission for them and I believe in what Paul said to Timothy that no one to look down on you because of your youth but get ready to be an example for all of the church so Journey let us join together let's make Wednesday nights great not because

it's just another youth group or because it's fun or they play games but because we are seeing students transformed for Jesus like never before because we see lost kids come to know Jesus and that's a hard thing to live out so so Church would you join me in being a church that says we don't just acknowledge our youth as a church of the future but they are the church now and that we want to see them empowered we want to see them discipled and we want to see them live for Jesus more boldly than anyone else that's ever come before him because we will not be satisfied as long as there is one student on any campus or any home here in Ben that does not know Jesus so here's a little look at what JSM will be doing this year searching far and wide for something that feels real I

need something that feels real and I don't want to lose my soul chasing out the things that don't leave me straight to you with all heart oh I'm lost in a feeling the oh came from this world the go back to Heen ain't going to be easy but Lees me straight to you now I'm running like theal Che God be the glory amen I am Pastor Leanne I am the women's Pastor here at journei and I

have a question for you does anyone love Superman yeah oh I got one I got one perfect well hey I watched Superman over the break over Christmas this year not not the current Superman but the old Christopher reev Superman you know and I was cap amen I was captivated by the fact that Clark Kent he was discovered ing his superpowers his ability to have supersonic speed his ability with x-ray vision and man he could fly well he was born with all of those abilities but he didn't know it until he discovered that he was Superman and you know what that's what I love about growth track at Journey

Church I get to watch men and women come through growth track and they begin to learn about their spiritual gifts they begin to operate in them and they begin to fly to God be the glory amen we have hundreds and hundreds of Journey superheroes that serve behind the scenes up on stage serving with coffee with worship with prayer with kids ministry with our middle schoolers so many people serving that we are so grateful for and in fact is there anyone out there can I just have our journey superheroes raise their hands in the audience do you serve as a j Journey look at all the hands in the room Amen to God be the glory for all of you yes thank you so much for being a journey superhero I'm going to encourage you if

you have not attended growth track if you haven't had the opportunity to sit with us for two weeks in growth track we meet one Sunday and then the second Sunday just for an hour um during week one you're going to learn about what Journey Church believes you're going to get to hear the history you're going to hear and ask questions about who we are how we were founded and really what we believe I encourage you to come and learn about this church in week two you're going to learn about how you can be long at journey through serving through small groups through getting connected we want you to find a place to belong at Journey Church growth track is for every single one of you sitting here today if you haven't been through it I encourage you to go through it our next class starts on January 14th well I have been the newest member

on staff at joury church for really the last four months and I will tell you that in the few short months that I have served as women's Pastor here I have seen the heart of God on display in the women of this church we are living out Hebrews 10:2 24-2 that says we begin to stir one another up to love and good works not neglecting to meet together as at the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day Drawing Near I would describe the women of Journey Church with two words the first one is the women are encouraging these women are real we get together and we talk about our marriages that are failing we talk about the finances that we're dealing with we talk about the grief that we feel um how

we're struggling how we are overcoming we are being redeemed because we're reading the word of God the women of this church are encouraging if you need encouragement you come you come and be a part of what's happening with women's ministry and then secondly the women are engaged they are engaged in studying the word of God and it's not just happening here it's happening at homes all across central Oregon where women are meeting to study the word of God in September we had over a hundred women come and sit in the growth track room every Monday to study the word of God and be changed by it and just recently over 250 women filled this room during our Christmas event women who are part of Journey and women who are not and we are excited to

see what God's going to do in women's ministry um in 2024 to God be the glory amen ladies if you are not involved in women's ministry why not if you are not reading the word of God come join us and particip ate with us as we start our next study January 8th we are starting a study called sacred Battlegrounds well in speaking of battles marriage can be a battle can't it marriage is blessed and marriage is tough all at the same time and I don't care if you have been married for 30 minutes three years or 30 years I want to invite each one of you to come to a marriage conference that we are hosting hosting on February 99th and 10th ladies

if you remember our friend Emily Jameson who came to speak with us probably about a year back she is coming with her husband to do a marriage conference for us I would encourage you um to sign up so that you can be a part of marriages that are strong and healthy as we move into 2020 by the grace of God lives are being transformed if you want to participate in growth track in Journey women's min his or in the marriage conference sign up at journey and ben.com on our website and you can get connected I want to introduce you to my friend Callie and her husband Cayman um they're going to talk to you and share with you how their marriage has been transformed and renewed this year at Journey

[Applause] Church uh my name's Cayman my name's Callie I'm the service producer and Pastor Keith's assistant here at Journey we've been coming to Journey um since high school so five or six years um but really the last year or two we've built our own relationship coming without our parents um really just to build community and and um have gotten really plugged in the last couple years I wasn't a huge believer uh when I first started coming here um but the more I came the more I learned and eventually I am now where I am because of it I mean this last year we went from beginning of the year um both plugged in at Journey both superheroes both volunteering we go to Easter and that that decision happens

and full surrender happens and then now we're at church in the park and he got baptized so this year it went from nothing and just kind of living in that comfort and and just like kind of where we have been for the last years being together and it was just a full uh transformation of you letting just Jesus in really I didn't really have too much of a calling I did have a little bit of faith in in that sort of stuff I didn't truly want to believe it until I saw something in the end I I started growing in faith and even since making this decision together or that he made and how it's impacted our marriage together we've um been trusting God financially and giving and we've even just seen transformation and and God's showing up since um releasing that to him which has

been really beautiful before any of this we never prayed together I mean um this year I got to experience him praying for me for the first time which is really cool um never had that before so just um seeing that change prayer LifeWise and then even you look at the bright side of things and you trust God a lot more which is just uh completely different for how I even been handling any problems or struggles in life is now seeing him take that like leadership role yeah I can recognize more more attacks from the enemy and it's a lot easier to hear what God's telling me in different situations now

that I'm I put all my faith into him and and even as it's been harder our marriage and just the life and struggles that you have as a couple um we have Jesus right there behind us and with us and guiding us through it we're excited to see how much more growth that can be made both in US individually and in our marriage this year we're we're super grateful for what God's given us and um just looking forward to what he's got for us in the future to recap everything God's done this year for our marriage is it's just it's all him so to God be the glory amen to God be the glory so good I love transformation stories I love hearing about the gospel taking root below bearing fruit above where lives are different because of what God has done is doing and will

continue to do it's just what God does and it's happening all around us baptisms Miracles salvations lives being changed one by one this is our testimony this is how we overcome the evil one scripture says by the blood of the lamb and the word of Our Testimony these there have been a few there are so many more I'm going tell you a couple more I'm playing today one of them this it might sound silly to some to some might sound like this is this is important what about YouTube for example like what our YouTube channel this year had 880,000 viewers that's like that's pretty wild uh the subscriptions have grown by over 50% since the beginning of the year with over a half million impressions that have happened that's like that's a lot of people uh those viewers have happened have taken place in 40 States and 30

countries so isn't just local but this is beyond let's talk about about you for just a minute for the first time since the pandemic in every measurable uh uh metric journey is bigger numbers on Sundays small groups superheroes averages across the bo for the first time this year journey is finally above where where it was pre pandemic numbers tell about your sister for the first time what we have a sister her name is Journey Redmond Journey Redmond was launched 2020 and a few weeks ago they had over a thousand people at journey and Redmond come on let's discuss your cousins for a

minute what this is getting weird now your cousins we're a part of what's called The Ark Network the ark Network just simply stands for Association of related churches and in partnering with Arc we've helped plant dozens of churches just in this year and one of them is a little important special to me see my parents live in postf Falls Idaho they've been pastors for 50 years and they are a part of one of the newest Ark plants taking place in January of next year it'll be plant number 1,98 of our plants and they're a part of it and we're supporting it it's just super fun this is our cousin now you might wonder why they talk about numbers and why it kind of feels a little bit self- gratuitous those self

self-promoting well I I want to I want to remind you that in just a couple months actually in March we're going to all read a book of the Bible that God named numbers just FYI and for us every number is tied to a person every Instagram viewer is is a soul every person who finds a parking space or a seat is someone God loves desperately everyone who goes through growth track is a world changer every child who eats a goldfish is being personally invited into God's arms every middle school and high school student is the story of God's grace so to God be the glory for numbers to God be the glory for the

stats to God be the glory for the lives that are being changed by the power of God in this room do you know how many Miracle stories have happened in this room do you know how many marriages are being rest rescued in this room do you know how many sons and daughters have found their way home in this room the medical Miracles the cancer testimonies The Backs the necks the unexplainable the God's provision stories in this room but sometimes the stories are deep and sounded a little more like I walked through what I thought was the Valley of the shadow of death but the tangible presence of God in the

room was real maybe the end didn't look how I wished it to but the presence of God was tangible so what's your story what's your testimony I'm going to be honest speaking for myself but I think we are probably many of us would agree we want stories of God's faithfulness we do I want to see God's faithfulness but here's what I know of faithfulness begin when my faith gets involved we want stories of God's provision but God's provision stories follow our chooes to trust we want to be used by God and being used by God might start by holding a greeter sign or a baby or offering a

cup of cold water to someone in need see 224 could be a banner in year spiritual growth for you if you want it to be I want you to know how I want you to know how see here's what we know we grow most when we're involved in small groups and involved in service it's just true it's about human nature we grow most when we're involved in small groups when we're involved in service so if you want to grow get in a small group get on a team if you haven't gone through rooted give us 10 weeks to change your life that's a bold statement yeah it is see we interviewed dozens of people over this last 6 months and asked them about their faith journey and by a mile the

number one answer given by the people that we talked to was my experience in rooted changed my life by a mile it wasn't even close if you've gone through it before you might want to go through it again with someone with you we truly believe we grow the most when we're involved involved in community small groups and involved in service so you want to grow get in a small group get on a team God hasn't designed you to fill a seat until you make your way to heaven that wasn't his plan he's uniquely designed you to get out of the stands and on of the field but tomorrow I will spend hours watching my favorite football

team give their Blood Sweat and Tears to Wi a trophy in the Fiesta Bowl but I really want to spend 2024 mobilizing a th000 adults who regularly call journey home into meaningful places of service for a much better trophy than that so if you're not serving regularly in this house you're missing out and so are we