Values

Desire to be Obedient – Value: A life lived in Personal & Corporate Obedience.

“Christian” is not a Christian simply by self-diagnosing themselves with that label. Obedience is a mark of someone who has had their lives changed by Christ and has given Him their lives (see Lk. 9:23-26; 14:25-35). Christians respond to God in obedience. We here at Life Journey know that God is at work in our world & we desire to hear and respond to Him on a daily basis. This is as “easy” (though the reality & practicality of this oftentimes isn’t easy) as doing what God wants me to do…nothing more, nothing less. Happiness in this life is not contingent upon the dollar signs in the bank account or toys in the garage. Meaning is not dependant upon titles or how high I climb the corporate ladder. We believe that a significant, productive and full life can be measured in connection with obedience.

Opportunity to Respond to the Gospel – Value: A life lived in Partnership with God.

God is the One who does the saving and calling (Jn. 6:44; Acts 13:48; 16:13-14; 1 Cor. 1:26-31) but He partners with us in the opportunity of sharing that with the world (Matt. 28. 19-20; Jn. 17:11-23; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:17-20). Therefore it is our privilege to share what we know with those God gives us opportunity. It is the responsibility of each individual, as to what they do with the Gospel (information). We do not desire to force anyone to do or believe anything but we do desire to give people the opportunity to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

Whatever we can – Value: A life lived with a Maturing Perspective.

A phrase that means what it says. We want to use whatever resources, influence & opportunity we have/can to bring glory to God and be a blessing to people. We want to be people (individuals & together corporately) who think outside of ourselves. We know that this will cause some inconvenience in our lives. We understand that this will lead us to do things that are uncomfortable (see Acts 20:17-25) but our #1 priority is to be obedient to God and bring Him glory and honor. Being a Christian is a lifestyle (Acts 2-7; Rom. 12:1-2; Gal. 2:20) and not just a title or something we do a few hours a week…and we accept that privilege and the responsibilities that come along with that. Living this way, we believe that we will be living the fullest life we can live. There will be times where it will be exciting and thrilling and there will be times where it will be scary and difficult. Doing this in partnership with our Creator and with our friends (people with like-mind and heart)…what more could we ask for?

Resources, Abilities & Influence – Value: A life lived in Worship & for the Glory of God.

We have a strong desire to make a difference for Christ…to exert whatever influence we have for Christ and to be around people who share that (see Lk. 12:48). People who are unwilling to settle and unwilling to accept not making a difference. Thus their lives are lived accordingly, daily (this is a big word)! These are people that see that there is “more” that can happen than what is happening now and what to push on that with their lives. The reality is that God has given each of us differing levels of these 3 things. But when combined and used together, it can produce significant results. God has blessed each of us with these things not for our own selfish interests and personal gain BUT for His glory and for the building up of the church (see 1 Cor. 12 & Eph. 4:11-13).

So EVERYONE is needed to do their part. And when God opens doors of greater opportunity we need to respond with greater responsibility and obedience. The “ministries” that we have will be birthed out of what God is doing in people (passions, desires, opportunities, giftedness…) Lastly, how we use our resources is a big deal to us and we want to put these to use in the greatest, most significant way possible. We desire to be the best stewards of what God has entrusted to us as we can (Matt. 25) – both individually and collectively. What this practically looks like will be determined as God reveals the answers to some very important questions. Questions like…

• God, what are you doing?
• What are the greatest needs of this community and how can we respond to those?
• Worldwide, what are needs that we feel God calling us to respond to?
• What groups and folks are already doing good things and how can we partner with them?
• Is there a way to greater maximize what God has given us in a more effective way?

Choose / Set up Shop in Milwaukie – Value: A life lived as Faithful & Loyal Servants.

We understand God’s desires to be more important than “my” desires. As a result, we want our thinking and living to be influenced in a more significant way by our relationship with Christ than by the culture we live in. Unfortunately, when it comes to joining a Body of believers, In our American culture it has become the norm to select a church that best suites our needs. Therefore it is not out of the norm to drive long distances (mileage or time-wise) to attend a service that has the “best worship” or “best preaching” or “best children’s ministry” or whatever need it is that we are looking to fill. Life Journey does NOT desire to be one of these destination churches. We desire to be intentional with our lives…even down to where we purchase a home, what schools our children go to & what church we belong to.

Oftentimes Milwaukie isn’t a place that people purposefully choose to live or to become a member of a local Body of Christians…but we want to intentionally choose this place. We want to set up shop here in this community and allow for God to use us through relationships, time and intentionality. We desire for our influence to extend beyond our community BUT it first starts here…then as God enables us, it will grow (see our mission statement). We desire for our church to own this community and to daily be a positive example of the truth of the Gospel. Therefore, our membership will come from within this community…and we will not be apologetic about that.

Partnership – Value: A life lived in Partnership & Unity in the Body of Christ.

We (the church) need to understand that we are in this together and it is not a “competition” thing. Therefore it is our heart and desire to help solidify & bring together the church in Milwaukie. We will seek to see where we can help and join in as a part of the Body. We will seek to determine the areas where other churches are kicking tail and the areas where things aren’t going so well. Then we will determine how we can come alongside them and help. This will determine what “we” (Life Journey) need to do. We will work together with other churches & organizations to benefit people & share the Gospel. This is a John 17/1 Cor. 1:10 principle of being one as Christ & God are one. We can not allow our pride and worrying about who gets the credit to continue to breakdown the church…we want to be a part of resolving those issues not contributing to them!

What does this community need? – Value: A life lived in relevant Service & Witness.

This will be an important question that we will continually press on. The needs of this community will change and the reality is we will not be able to be the answer for all of the issues and problems. But we will ask the question and as God reveals the answer(s), we will do whatever it is that is within our power, influence and ability to do (see #4). We want to start at the areas of greatest need, where God is currently at work and then work our way out from there. Therefore, what are the greatest needs that the community of Milwaukie has? And is there anything that we can do to be an answer to any of those?

In the world but not of the world – Value: A life lived with Maturing Kingdom Focus.

This is the “God-stuff” not the “me-stuff.” The truth is that one of the biggest issues that we have as Christians is the fact that we live in a world that desires to push us away from God. As a result one of the biggest struggles that a Christian has to deal with (on a daily basis) is how to live, interact, make decisions, correctly prioritize and the like as a Believer…all the while living in a fallen world. It is something that we must continually push on and ask God to bring wisdom and discernment to…because we know that God wants us to live in this world but not be “of” it (Jn. 17). He wants us to be transformed by Him and not conformed to the world (Rom. 12:2-3). But in practicality…what does that look like? That is a good question and one that should be continually pressed on & taken before the Lord! If we fail to ask this question or spend adequate time letting God speak into our lives concerning it…we risk getting caught up and carried away by the worries and concerns of this world (Matt. 6:19-34; 11:28-30).

Living Intentionally – Value: A life lived Intentionally.

There is a way to live where you are asking the right questions and thus having the opportunity at arriving at the right answers AND there is a way of living where you live, more or less, confused, drifting and without purpose. All of us can be people who live significantly and with purpose…we just might have to make some adjustments in our priorities and/or values. At Life Journey we understand that this life is…a journey. Sometimes we will completely miss it, we’ll make mistakes, blunder, fail and fall. But the journey is a key part of the process of God changing us to make us more like Him…and more than anything else, we want to look more like Him.

Therefore it is our heart to be intentional with the decisions that we make. Understanding that sometimes we will have to sacrifice some personal freedoms for the benefit of the Kingdom or the betterment of the church (which by the way is the most important group of people that we belong to!) What neighborhood I live in, what kind of car I drive, when I go on vacation, where my children go to school, etc… are decisions that I want to make intentionally not arbitrarily, carelessly or selfishly. The decisions that I make do affect others, sometimes my decisions have positive implications for others…other times they negatively affect them. Our desire is to be in tune with God’s Spirit in this and to make our decisions accordingly.

This will take some time & effort but the journey will be exciting and the end result will be worth it (Matt. 25:14-30). We don’t want to simply “oops” our way into things…significance comes as we partner with God in intentionally choosing the right things (see #1), asking the right questions and as He leads…arriving at the right answers.

Doing the next right thing – Value: A life lived to Bless Others.

It is of great importance for us to be a part of a group of people who desperately desire to live their lives for Christ, to see people have the opportunity to respond to Him and then actually seeing people transformed by Him (like they have been transformed). To make a difference…! In obedience…doing the next right thing. Not under compulsion or because they “have” to or to “earn” anything from God… But simply because they are responding to God and the gift that they have been given. They are following the leading & prompting of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we will do whatever is in our power to do in regards to helping & loving people to the Kingdom of God. Doing the next right thing…loving people as we love Christ.