Journey Christian Church is an independent Christian Church in Tracy, CA. We are part of the non-denominational association of Christian Churches and churches of Christ, build upon the Acts 2:42 structure of a church body. We meet at West High School in Tracy.
Recession Proof My Future
Who we follow will determine what we become.
Paul's exhortation to Timothy reminds us on Father's Day that people are watching, and often become what we live out. To recession proof their future, we must pay close attention to who we are and what we're following.
ListenRecession Proof My Family
The Primary purpose of family is to develop holiness, not happiness.
Many people believe that God wants us to be happy. While He does things that can help us be happy, that's not His main concern. He's more concerned about our holiness than our happiness. That's why God created the family (both nuclear & church family).
Paul's instructions to the church family are ones we can use in our own.
Recession Proof my Faith
Harvest Times can make us fat, but hard times can make us strong.
Two words for helping to grow a strong faith, so that our lives can be more recession-proof.
ListenMy Place - Guitar Hero
God releases the superhero in us through service.
Jesus didn't measure people by their title, but by their service. Deacons are those privileged to serve, and anyone can apply. But in spite of the benefits of what happens when we serve, there is only one important reason to serve - because it brings honor to Christ.
ListenMy Place - iPhone
A look at the Office of Eldership
JCC Ordained its first group of elders, and has Roger Gibson share on the office and the calling of elders in a church. This message preceded an ordination of elders into the office.
ListenMy Place - The Big Screen
Worship is not about gender, but about Jesus
This text is unpopular, as it seems to minimize the impact of women, when actually the women who've left the most impact have modeled its principles. Mothers are women who have learned the value of modesty, submission and influence, and taught that to their children.
ListenMy Place - Wii
God's not interested in the score, but in the mission.
Too often, our competitive spirit can get in the way of the purpose, especially in churches & families. Paul tells Timothy the way to eliminate the competition --- pray.
ListenMy Place - Facebook
God is not concerned about my reputation, but my character (His Design for me.)
Our culture sells and pushes image, and there's no better place to see that than on Facebook (or MySpace). God's not as interested in my image or reputation. He's more concerned about my Character Profile, about whether He is #1 on my friend list, about my Eternal faithfulness. Reputation focuses on Image, but Character focuses on Design.
ListenMy Place - Entertainment Room
We must decide if God is to fit our place, or if we are to fit God's.
The struggle of life is deciding whether faith must fit our desires, or desires must fit our faith. Timothy as a young leader is given 4 instructions from Paul on how to lead people toward a faith that supercedes their plans. A great lesson for all parents, leaders and Christians.
ListenWhispers - Easter 2009
Resurrection Sunday is the day Jesus becomes real to us personally.
The greatest whispers of God are documented throughout the Bible, as the Lord speaks into the hearts and minds of people. Mary Magdeline experienced one of those whispers on the day of Jesus' resurrection, and it still speaks to us today.
ListenOne Heart at a Time
The most important question of our lives - How much do I love Jesus?
At the root of Christianity is not religious doctrine, but the answer to a simple question: How much do I love Jesus? The last story John shares out of his gospel account is one that not only restores Peter, but gives us the chance to be restored in our relationship to God. We love others one at a time because He loved us one at a time.
ListenOne Personality at a Time
Jesus calls us to love people we sometimes don't like
The power of God can help transform our hearts to love people that we struggle with liking sometimes. Jesus took a ragtag bunch of disciples and taught them that the power of the Church lies in loving each other.
ListenOne Grieving Person at a Time
Jesus shows how to love people through their grief
Loving people in times of grief is often the hardest, as we are looking for a fix to the problem instead of a person to carry us through it. Jesus shows in raising Lazarus how to love people in their times of grief, and trust in the one who will carry us into eternity.
ListenOne Sick Person At a Time
Loving People can be difficult when they are hurting
One of the most difficult situations is loving people who are dealing with sickness/disease. Jesus gives us a great example in the healing of a blind man.
ListenOne Immoral Person at a Time
Jesus didn't condemn people, but challenged them to a better life
As believers, we long for others to make better choices, and can come off as condemning or convicting them of their sin... but Jesus didn't love the immoral woman that way. Instead, he chose to challenge her to a better life.
ListenOne Lost Person at a Time
Jesus wants to fill our hearts with the water of Worship
Guest Speaker Elliot Ayala shares a message on the Well and the Samaritan woman, where we discover that loving people means growing a heart open to worship.
ListenOne Critic at a Time
Jesus shows how to L-O-V-E a Critic
Learning to love people is at the core of our Christian walk, and Jesus shows through the book of John how to love people one-at-a-time. In this story, Jesus demonstrates L-O-V-E to a critic named Nathanael.
Listen5th Anniversary Celebration
Celebrating what God has done over the last 5 years...
One decision of obedience can change your life forever. Our lives have been impacted by a decision that happened 7 years ago on this date - and exactly 2 years later, a church was birthed. Celebrating what God does when we obey His commands in that one moment of decision.
ListenPassing IT On
Joshua shares his last message telling the Israelites what IT is
Discovering IT can be the most revolutionary change in a person's life, and when we discover it's within our control - to choose to surrender - IT comes alive. Joshua discovered that God works when we figure IT out...
ListenLiving IT up
How Joshua instructs Israel to live IT up
Our ToDo list for life is often cluttered with stuff to make our lives happy, but we forget to make sure God is always on the top of our activities. Joshua's instructions tell us how to live life to the fullest by placing God at the center of IT.
ListenLosing IT
How to get IT back when you've lost IT
Joshua and the nation of Israel had IT, and then lost IT by a sin of one leader. This passage shows how to get IT back when we've lost IT.
ListenGrowing IT
The only way to keep IT in life is to grow IT.
Most of us get something and try to do what we can to keep it by playing "prevent defense". But the problem with "IT" is that in order to keep IT, we must risk what we have. The only way to keep IT is to grow IT. Joshua 6 shows principles on how to Grow IT in the battle of Jericho.
ListenFinding IT
God gives IT to people who seek Him.
Whatever IT is, we know when we see IT, and want IT bad. But how do we find IT? Joshua learned how to find IT, use IT and pass IT on, and this study from Joshua 1 gives us lessons on how to seek IT for ourselves.
ListenInviting the Prince of Peace
Jesus is the General of Peace - pursuing us, saving us, & leading us.
ListenInviting the Everlasting Father
Jesus is the son who loves us like an everlasting father.
The image of fatherhood can be disappointing to us, especially since we have all seen our imperfect fathers fail us. Yet Jesus redefines fatherhood in a new way, eliminating our desire to rebel, avoid, or perform and showing us how to simply love. He wants to sit at your dining table this Christmas and talk with you like a loving Father ... would He have room at the table?
ListenInviting the Mighty God
Who is the Mighty God on the throne of your life - is it us, or Immanuel?
ListenInviting the Wonderful Counselor
What if the Wonderful Counselor came and visited you this Christmas?
We often talk about the Nativity like it's some historic event, and don't take time to realize the power of IMMANUEL (God with us). He promised us a person in the form of a Wonderful Counselor, and by embracing Him, we have our lives changed.
ListenLessons for our Leader - Overcome Idolatry
Substituting anything in place of God First destroys a nation.
Our world needs leaders who put aside their own "gettingness" and learn to be "generous" in their leadership, by leading with truth, proper love, intercession and sacrifice. Moses learned incredible lessons in leadership when he faced a nation that had turned to idols instead of to God. We too can learn to overcome idolatry by imitating Jesus and His generosity.
ListenLessons for our Leader - Overcoming Comfortability pt1
We need courage to overcome the trap of comfort.
Many poor decisions as leaders come from pursuing comfort over calling. Moses led well by learning how to have courage in the face of discomfort and danger. Exodus 14 shows us all as leaders how to overcome the trap of comfort.
ListenLessons for our Leader - Overcoming Comfortability pt2
Courage helps us overcome comfort and pursue our calling.
Many poor decisions as leaders come from pursuing comfort over calling. Moses led well by learning how to have courage in the face of discomfort and danger. Exodus 14 shows us all as leaders how to overcome the trap of comfort.
ListenLessons for our Leader - Overcoming Insecurity
We overcome our own insecurity by discovering our identity in Christ.
ListenLessons for our Leader - Overcoming Popularity
Popularity may get you a title or position, but accountability places you in the puzzle of God.
We measure success in terms of popularity and "votegetting". Yet God holds the only vote that matters. He sets up and takes down leaders in every position of life, and when we realize we are accountable to Him, we are then prepared for the work He wants done through us.
ListenJust One More Decision
Every Day is an opportunity for us to love people one at a time.
Philip demonstrates that all of our life experiences set us up to love people one at a time.
ListenJust One More Crisis
Overcoming hurt happens by dropping the stone and picking up the cup of Jesus's blood.
Hurt is part of life, and it can either own us or direct us to a greater victory. Stephen's prayers in the midst of personal hurt (stoning) show us how to pray in times of hurt.
ListenJust One More Challenge
We see the power of God in the face of challenges.
God's power happens in the face of challenges, so our prayers should be to welcome whatever challenge God wants to give us so that we can see His power happen in the lives of people.
ListenJust One More Life
Life Change happens in a circle (group).
Most people think of church as "rows", but actually we find out in life that church really happens in circles. That's why Groups are so important in our spiritual growth, as we see in Acts 2 with the initial church. If you've never experienced group life as it was intended - get in a group!
ListenJust One More Miracle
Do we pray for our expectations, or does prayer define our expectations?
The miracle at Pentecost was not in the sign, or the message, or even the many decisions --- but in the start of a chain of life change that impacts us personally 2000 years later.
ListenJust One More Change
Prayer helps us deal with change.
The disciples faced great change, and dealt with it through prayer. It was those early prayers that helped them accept the changes they needed, and gave them courage to stand on the mission they were called to.
ListenHeroes-A Hero worth Following
Great leaders are people who have learned to be great followers.
You can tell much about a person from the way they make choices, and Joseph's lessons on making good decisions as a follower of God formed him into a great leader. Learn about the choices he made in the major tests from Genesis 39.
ListenHeroes-A Hero worth Submitting To
Learning to submit shows us where we must learn to surrender to Christ.
Submission is a negative word in our society, yet it measures our level of surrender. The more I surrender to Christ, the less difficulty I have in submitting to others (Eph 5:21). Jacob's wrestling match with God taught him lessons on submission by teaching him the value of surrender.
ListenHeroes-A Hero worth Obeying
Our obedience demonstrates the level of our Love for God.
Abraham is a great study in the lessons and blessings of obedience. Our level of obedience is in proportion to our level of love for God.
ListenHeroes-A Hero Worth Trusting
Noah demonstrated trust in a God who is fully trustworthy.
Learning to trust is difficult, because we are often hurt. Yet Noah became trustworthy because of his trust in the Lord. We can learn how to be more trustworthy and more trusting by learning to trust God more.
ListenHeroes-A Hero worth Pursuing
What we pursue has ownership of our lives, so choose well.
Adam had many pursuits in life given by God, but all of them were for the purpose of pursuing God. Distraction can pull us away from the greatest pursuit of life. So be careful what we pursue.
ListenEmbrace the Grace in Mission
A Celebration of the work from our Honduras Mission Team
God has called all of us to serve in His Mission, and the Honduras Mission trip demonstrates three blessings of serving. The stories highlight what God does when we serve him with 100% of our lives.
ListenReality? American Idol - The Judges
Learning how to respond to grief is the place where God does His best work in our lives
Job dealt with the slippery slope of grief, in spite of three friends who hurt him deeply. The story of how God ministered to Job encourages all of us to perform for Him alone.
ListenReality? American Idol - The Performer
How can we overcome our fears?
Fear can overcome our lives, or we can overcome fear through courage in God. Job's song reminds us to keep our eyes on Jesus to overcome fears.
ListenReality? Survivor
Surviving Difficulty takes an alliance with the Lord.
The dip of difficulty is a reality in every person's life, but by making God your alliance, it can be overcome. The story of Esther shows how God works when we maintain an alliance with Him.
ListenReality? Dancing with the Stars
We can overcome insecurity by following the lead of Jesus.
Ruth demonstrates how following God as our leader can help us overcome obstacles and deal with insecurity.
ListenGreat Things - The Great Commission
Our lives get out of sync when we are not fulfilling the Great Commission
Jesus is on a mission, and we find ourselves out of sync when we're not supporting that mission in our marriage, family, work, and future.
ListenGreat Things - The Great Commitment
Jesus calls us to be Great through commitment.
Greatness is not measured in results, but commitment.
ListenGreat Things - The Great Commandment
Love is not a feeling, but a choice to live great.
A great life is not measured by how I accomplish my vision in life, but by whether I accomplished God's vision for my life. That's why Jesus' commandment to love God & love others is so powerful - it is a choice to love and let God love us back.
ListenGreat Things - The Great Cost
Never, ever forget the Cross
The Cross was not an obligation, but the choice of a loving God for all people.
ListenSuperNanny-Letting Go
How does Jesus help us learn to let our kids go?
The greatest challenge in parenting is learning how to let go of our kids. Whether it's their first day of Kindergarten or the day they leave for college, we constantly must deal with the challenge of letting go. In this text, Jesus helps us learn how to best address the issue of letting go, and doing it well.
ListenSuperNanny-Schedule
Family provides the foundation of the 3 biggest decisions in life.
The biggest decisions in life are all made in the context of family. Jesus teaches us through 3 great stories in Matthew 19 the importance family plays in making these decisions.
ListenSuperNanny-The Naughty Chair
How would Jesus discipline his children?
Discipline is considered a negative/evil word in our society today, but it is actually the best gift in helping others develop the ability to make good choices. The essence of parenting and leadership is building in them the ability to choose wisely, and discipline (pain) is our best tool.
ListenSuperNanny-Time for a Review
Parents/Leaders are not the standard, but the steward.
Often, we equate positions of authority to give us the right to decide the standard, when actually we are just stewards of the standard given to us. Whether parenting kids or leading an organization, it is our job to be humble, love equally, and live pure as examples for those we lead.
ListenSeizing Your Victory - Easter 2008
Jesus is looking for people who hunger to be His Champions.
ListenEmbrace the Grace over Guilt
Jesus releases us from our mat of guilt so that we can forgive others.
Guilt can paralyze us into despair or immobilize us into hiding, but God wants to use our past to show others His ability to set captives free.
ListenEmbrace the Grace over Worry
Tell the storm how big your God is
A look at how Jesus helps us in times of crisis. With Jesus in our boat, we have nothing to fear.
ListenEmbrace the Grace over Religion
Sermon on the Mount
A Dramatic Presentation of the Sermon on the Mount
ListenEmbrace the Grace over Temptation
A closer relationship with Christ breaks the stranglehold of Temptation
Our decision to never sacrifice our relationship with Christ eliminates the power of temptation.
ListenEmbrace the Grace of Jesus
Jesus came so that we could embrace His Grace.
Grace is not just a gift - it is a person.
ListenThe 10 Most Powerful 2-Letter Words
God gives me opportunity, but I must choose to act.
Our choices determine the outcome of our Way of life.
ListenOut with the Old, In with the New
The only way to get rid of our sin is to Replace It with Righteousness.
We can't quit sinning, we can only replace sin with righteous behaviors.
ListenEliminating a Shadow Mission
Stop looking at the results of our live, and look at the light of our results.
We can't become like Christ by looking at our results. We become more like Christ by looking at the light of Christ. Shadow Missions are those things that distract us from looking at Christ himself.
ListenA Vision to Live For
The greatest hindrance to accomplishing God's Vision for our lives is pursuing our own vision for our life.
Vision is not something we invent, but something God invests in us. When we pursue our own self-centered visions, we miss out on what God wants to do with our lives. This Vision Sunday launch of the near year examines Colossians 1 and how we are pursuing God's Vision for Journey.
ListenJCC Dream Sunday Message
What are the pillars of faith we dream about at JCC?
A look at 4 signs - and the way God directs us through Scripture for our mission & vision. This Dream Sunday set in motion our vision and direction as a church family.
ListenThe Journey Story
A Talk about how Journey Began
This is a reflection on the story behind Journey, how it began, and the way God has brought together people from many locations to make this church a special place to be.
Listen
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