Life Journey’s core values are the guidelines for the trail – the necessary reminders that keep us in the center of the path and prevent us from wandering too far to the right or to the left. Throughout history, people (and churches) have strayed off the path not so much by doing bad things, but by not keeping good things in the proper balance. That’s why our core value statements are “both-and” rather than “either-or.” We value:

 

God’s Word (the Bible) is our trail guide, providing us not only with a map for our journey, but also with stories of fellow travelers who have gone before us. As we travel along the trail, we look to God’s Word for authority, instruction, encouragement, and direction. We look to the Word to guide our next steps, especially when we come to a fork in the path.

We also recognize that God’s Word is an ancient book, originally written thousands of years ago to people thousands of miles away. And while the message of the Bible is unchanging, even the Bible itself acknowledges that parts of it are difficult to understand. At Life Journey we are committed not just to the authority of the Word for our journey, but to expressing the ancient message of the Word in ways that will clearly communicate to our postmodern world.

 

The traditional church measures success by three things: bodies, budgets, and buildings. At Life Journey we believe that success is measured by a different standard: changed lives. We know that God is in the business of maturing: us, changing us from the inside-out, forming and shaping us to be more and more like his Son Jesus. That’s why we help people take their next step toward Him, no matter what that step might be. We also believe that God wants to use us while we mature. We don’t have to be complete before God will use us for His work. We don’t have to be physically mature either; we believe our youth are the church of today, not the church of tomorrow. There is no Jr. Holy Spirit. He works equally through our youth as our adults.

God is also in the business of multiplying. He doesn’t just want us to follow Him more; He wants more of us to follow Him. At Life Journey we want to make more followers, more leaders, more small groups and more churches. We have helped with the start up of one other church (Kaleo Fellowship) and will participate with two more in the coming year.

 

Originally the word “church” referred to a community with a mission – not to a building. At Life Journey we don’t want to just go to church, we want to be the church. We gather together on Sundays to celebrate what God is doing in our lives and to worship Him. We gather in small groups throughout the week to encourage each other and help each person take the next step toward God. But we know that God doesn’t just want to work in us; He wants to work through us also to bring light, love, truth, and beauty to a world that is so often dominated by darkness and despair. So we go out into our community monthly with our Gone for Good events to make a difference and help other people take the next step toward God. We send out people to other countries who are called to missons.

 

We believe that faith is spelled r-i-s-k. God often calls us to step out on a limb and trust Him for our next step. But faith comes through hearing the Word of God and can’t be something we just want or think is good. As we hear God’s prompting we are committed to taking our next step no matter how risky it might appear.

God also wants our lives and ministry to be sustainable. He doesn’t intend for us to “hike” non-stop or to give us more than we can bear. Often we add our own expectations which results in a life out of balance. Rest is a crucial activity on the Journey. We are on this Journey for the long haul and are committed to days and seasons of rest to keep our lives and ministries sustainable.

 

In every journey there is a time to hike – to take the next step, and the next step, and the next – step-by-step moving closer to our destination. But there’s also a time to heal – whether we’ve been injured by our own missteps, by the dangers of the path, or even by fellow travelers. At Life Journey we will be here for you when it’s time to hike and also when it’s time to heal.

 

Life Journey has been a little different from the beginning. As we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit we have ended up in places we never would have imagined (from our worship and teaching format to the people God brings in our doors). We are eager to follow wherever God leads. We’re confident from our experience that His way is best, even when it’s hard. But we are also determined to wait on God’s leading and not take steps that would only lead us off the path or on a long detour. We are willing to move ahead on our personal journeys and our journey as a church to wherever God leads. We wait until He speaks so that we can move ahead with confidence.

Life Journey’s core values are the guidelines for the trail – the necessary reminders that keep us in the center of the path and prevent us from wandering too far to the right or to the left. Throughout history, people (and churches) have strayed off the path not so much by doing bad things, but by not keeping good things in the proper balance. That’s why our core value statements are “both-and” rather than “either-or.” We value:

 

God’s Word (the Bible) is our trail guide, providing us not only with a map for our journey, but also with stories of fellow travelers who have gone before us. As we travel along the trail, we look to God’s Word for authority, instruction, encouragement, and direction. We look to the Word to guide our next steps, especially when we come to a fork in the path.

We also recognize that God’s Word is an ancient book, originally written thousands of years ago to people thousands of miles away. And while the message of the Bible is unchanging, even the Bible itself acknowledges that parts of it are difficult to understand. At Life Journey we are committed not just to the authority of the Word for our journey, but to expressing the ancient message of the Word in ways that will clearly communicate to our postmodern world.

 

The traditional church measures success by three things: bodies, budgets, and buildings. At Life Journey we believe that success is measured by a different standard: changed lives. We know that God is in the business of maturing: us, changing us from the inside-out, forming and shaping us to be more and more like his Son Jesus. That’s why we help people take their next step toward Him, no matter what that step might be. We also believe that God wants to use us while we mature. We don’t have to be complete before God will use us for His work. We don’t have to be physically mature either; we believe our youth are the church of today, not the church of tomorrow. There is no Jr. Holy Spirit. He works equally through our youth as our adults.

God is also in the business of multiplying. He doesn’t just want us to follow Him more; He wants more of us to follow Him. At Life Journey we want to make more followers, more leaders, more small groups and more churches. We have helped with the start up of one other church (Kaleo Fellowship) and will participate with two more in the coming year.

 

Originally the word “church” referred to a community with a mission – not to a building. At Life Journey we don’t want to just go to church, we want to be the church. We gather together on Sundays to celebrate what God is doing in our lives and to worship Him. We gather in small groups throughout the week to encourage each other and help each person take the next step toward God. But we know that God doesn’t just want to work in us; He wants to work through us also to bring light, love, truth, and beauty to a world that is so often dominated by darkness and despair. So we go out into our community monthly with our Gone for Good events to make a difference and help other people take the next step toward God. We send out people to other countries who are called to missons.

 

We believe that faith is spelled r-i-s-k. God often calls us to step out on a limb and trust Him for our next step. But faith comes through hearing the Word of God and can’t be something we just want or think is good. As we hear God’s prompting we are committed to taking our next step no matter how risky it might appear.

God also wants our lives and ministry to be sustainable. He doesn’t intend for us to “hike” non-stop or to give us more than we can bear. Often we add our own expectations which results in a life out of balance. Rest is a crucial activity on the Journey. We are on this Journey for the long haul and are committed to days and seasons of rest to keep our lives and ministries sustainable.

 

In every journey there is a time to hike – to take the next step, and the next step, and the next – step-by-step moving closer to our destination. But there’s also a time to heal – whether we’ve been injured by our own missteps, by the dangers of the path, or even by fellow travelers. At Life Journey we will be here for you when it’s time to hike and also when it’s time to heal.

 

Life Journey has been a little different from the beginning. As we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit we have ended up in places we never would have imagined (from our worship and teaching format to the people God brings in our doors). We are eager to follow wherever God leads. We’re confident from our experience that His way is best, even when it’s hard. But we are also determined to wait on God’s leading and not take steps that would only lead us off the path or on a long detour. We are willing to move ahead on our personal journeys and our journey as a church to wherever God leads. We wait until He speaks so that we can move ahead with confidence.