The first Church Journey to the Heart was held September 30–October 8, 2017. A traditional Journey to the Heart requires the participants traveling to a Journey location. With a Church Journey to the Heart, the Journey staff travels to the host church. This first Church Journey was held in Burnet, Texas—a small town in the beautiful Texas hill country. About a dozen participants eagerly gathered to seek the Lord together. With their ages ranging from 14 to around 83 years old, this was the broadest age range of folks to attend a Journey together. It was exciting to see multiple generations of people with the same desire: to know God more!

The Church Journey began in the early part of the week with a focus on how to have a relationship with God through meditating on His Word. The participants then enjoyed special set-aside times to spend specifically with the Lord, meditating on His Word and drawing nearer to Him. The primary way that we get to know someone is by spending time with that person, listening to and communicating with him or her. It is exactly the same way with the Lord. The only way that we will get to know Him intimately is by choosing to turn from the busyness of life and determining to invest time in setting our minds in reading and meditating on the Word of God. One young man testified that, before the Journey, he had already been taking small steps in his relationship with the Lord. However, he was excited to share that the Journey was a big step in strengthening his walk with God. 

As the Church Journey participants were pursuing a deeper relationship with the Lord, they began to consider things that can be major hindrances in their walk with God. One hindrance that was discussed was bitterness and the need for forgiveness. There were some important breakthroughs as messages where shared on this topic, as the attendees studied the bitter heart in the Journey workbook, and most of all as the Spirit of God worked in lives of the participants. Many of the Journey attendees shared testimonies at the end of the week about how they had forgiven different offenses they had been harboring. One young lady told the group about the amazing wave of relief that she experienced when she verbally forgave someone who had hurt her. A dad testified that his new-found freedom from bitterness was like “a breath of fresh air” in his Christian life. Being freed from bitterness gave these individuals the joyful freedom to draw closer to God.

Another major hindrance to deepening our walk with God is having a fearful heart. This problem was also studied by the Church Journeyers. Very few things will debilitate us in our walk with the Lord more than fear. Fear of man can hold us captive and keep us enslaved to pleasing men instead of seeking to please the Lord. Walking in fear can also keep us from receiving God’s love. One young lady testified that the Lord freed her from a big fear she had in her life. This same young lady also said that on the Journey she felt like she had received a new love for the Lord. Perfect love casts out fear! 

The stories continue of all that God did on the Church Journey in answer to the prayers that were being prayed by many different ones. At the end of the week the pastor joyfully shared that God had done all that he had prayed He would do, and more! The pastor also said that his hope is to see every Sunday become a “Journey to the Heart of God,” where as a church they spend the day seeking the Lord and spending time in His Word. Praise the Lord, for He alone is worthy of all the praise, honor and glory! 

For more information about Church Journeys and how you can host one at a church near you, please visit lifesrealjourney.com. We know that each church will only be as strong as each individual’s personal relationship with the Lord. We believe that, by encouraging each individual to seek the Lord and meditate on His Word, the church as a whole will be built up and encouraged as part of the Body of Christ.