Posted on Friday, May 9, 2014

What Summer Really Thinks About Marriage

Today is a post by my wife Summer. She is a pretty big deal, so you should read this…

Josh and I have been married for 18 years, 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days. That’s 6,719 days, 1.84 decades and 129 dog years. Now matter how you look at it, that’s a long time! (Unless you’ve been married for 18 years, 5 months or longer, to you, we are rookies.) Please don’t ask me what our secret is. I don’t believe in formulas. I loathe conferences. Self-help books make me angry. I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to relationships. But, if you were to twist my arm and demand that I tell you what works in our marriage, I would say something about maintaining the friendship, keeping a sense of humor, discovering new things together, making date night a priority, blah, blah, blah…

The Family is the backbone of our culture and it’s time for an adjustment.

“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Matthew 19:6

But, lately I’ve been asking myself that question. What does make our marriage work? When I look a bit deeper it seems that a theme emerges. We live our life by a couple of cliches. You may have heard them. The older cliche is, “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” The newer one is, “Happy wife, happy life!” My husband likes to say, “I married up.” My husband is my best friend. My husband likes to take care of me. He encourages me in my dreams. He listens to me when I’m down. He knows when I need some space, or when I need a hug. He’s not perfect. Sometimes he gives me a hug when I need to be left alone, and leaves me alone when I need a hug. But, we work through it.

I can already hear the internet ask, “What do you mean he ‘takes care of you’? Are you talking about ‘traditional roles’? I don’t need a man to take care of me!” I’ll tell you what I mean. My husband loves to serve me. He likes to surprise me with gifts and flowers when I’m not expecting it. He does housework and enjoys spending time with the kids. He likes to plan date night and the occasional weekend away. He brings a cup of coffee to my bedside table every morning. Lucky me!

I believe there are a lot of good men out there who love their women and want to see them happy. I also believe it’s very easy for us, as women, to take advantage of that. It’s easy for me to demand my way and be selfish. If I really wanted something, I know he would do everything he could to try to get that thing I wanted.

But, there’s another cliche I’d like to address. “Behind every successful man stands a strong, hardworking and wise woman.” We live in an age where we want to empower women. I’m all for women empowerment. But, I hate to see men being pushed down under that same umbrella. I see too many men lose sight of their unique contribution to this planet because their wives decide they want something different in life.

Marriage is a partnership and requires sacrifice. This is not a new thought. It can oftentimes clash with “I deserve to be happy.” What is your husband’s dream? Are you encouraging it, or discouraging it? Are you lifting him up, or belittling him? Are you pushing the brake pedal when he feels he needs to step on the gas?

Imagine all the sacrifices made by the First Ladies of the U.S. before they were able to call themselves that. It takes a strong woman to support her husband in the risks he takes to put himself out there as a candidate. It takes a hardworking woman to take care of the family while the husband has his focus on other things. It takes a wise woman to overlook the massive criticism about her husband and the open window into their private lives.

Who was your husband when he first caught your eye? Was he an adventurous thrill-seeker? One who was willing to take risks? One who had big dreams? Did he have a desire to help others? Who is he now? Is he different? Those qualities don’t go away, but they can become squelched. He can be easily discouraged from taking a risk on a new business venture. He can be tamed from his adventure seeking. His dreams can become squelched. We women have that power. That’s the ugly side of women empowerment.

I once had a woman ask of me, “Please pray for us. My husband needs a new job. It needs to be within (this specific line of work), near (this specific side of town), with (this specific amount) of pay. Because we need to be near family, and I don’t want to sell the house, and blah, blah, blah…” Are you kidding me? I never want to be that woman. I never want to limit God. I never want to justify my wants with excuses. I never want to limit my husband. Do you want to know what I prayed for this girl? I prayed that God would open her heart to any possibility He might have for their family. I prayed that God wouldn’t allow their limitations to stifle His possibilities. I prayed that I would always be open to God’s leading in our life…no matter what. Does God want to move us across the country from Oregon to New Jersey? Ok. Does God want us to step out in faith and plant a church? Alright. Does God want us to open our homes to an orphan? I’m open. Does God always ask me to make minor adjustments, or does He challenge me with situations that I think are outside my realm of comfort? When I read the Bible I see a theme. I see people being challenged beyond what they think are comfortable. I see people who have to rely completely on God, because only He could make a bad situation good. I see people that have to depend on only Him…anticipating that only He can predict the outcome?

Don’t limit God…and don’t limit your husband. I strongly believe that when we try to control situations, that we miss out on possibilities beyond our imaginations.

My Husband Likes 3 points, so Here’s my attempt at the three point marriage advice –

#1 Encourage Him – Choose to focus on his strengths, and not his weaknesses. Give him permission to be who he was created to be. Let him know you appreciate him and value him as your life partner.

#2 Trust Him – Don’t try to control him, but trust that he’s going to do what he feels is right. He will fail, just like you fail. Failure is an opportunity to learn and grow. Never throw his failures back in his face, but encourage him to keep moving forward.

#3 Pray For Him – Every day. Right now. Pray for his health. Pray for his mind. Pray for your relationship. Figure it out and make it happen.

I could probably come up with 12 more points, but I’ll just stick to three at this moment. Just remember, in the end this is your love story. In the end, I want to know that I married a man who lived exactly how he was suppose to live. Every marriage is different and has its own unique set of challenges. Embrace yours.

Summer

Join us at 217church for our series Live Differently…

May 11- Family Health (Mother’s Day)

May 18 – Physical Health

Join us at 217church, a multi-site, contemporary church in Mercer County NJ. 217church is a family with small groups in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that meets Sundays in the Hamilton AMC24 Theater 9:30 & 11am and Grace Rogers School in East Windsor, NJ at 10:15. Our new East Windsor Campus meets every Sunday. If you are looking for a church in East Windsor NJ, Lawrenceville NJ, Ewing NJ, Robbinsville NJ, Hightstown NJ, Hamilton NJ, Mercer County, Middlesex County or Bucks County, PA, don’t miss our weekend services. Visit www.217church.com for more information. Celebrate mother’s day with us Sunday May 11.

Posted on Friday, April 25, 2014

5 Strategies To Increase Spiritual Health

So how is your Spiritual Health, really? I remember a time not to long ago when I sensed I was getting sick. Not physically sick, spiritually sick. I had a bad attitude, was doubting God’s call on my life and I was tired. I was working seven days a week and I didn’t even want to go to church for a season because everything just seemed empty. I – WAS – SICK.

Salvation is free but discipleship will cost you EVERYTHING.

“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12

Whenever I ask people how there spiritual health is, it is usually a very ambiguous answer. One of the reasons for this is because we really don’t know how to measure spiritual health. Let me give you five strategies to increase and measure your spiritual health. I know there aren’t any perfect formulas, but following Jesus is supposed to be joyful, not a chore. The whole theme of the book of Philippians is JOY.

Five Strategies to Increase Spiritual Health –

#1 Sabbath – Do you take a sabbath? If God rested on the seventh day, what makes you think you can work 28 straight days and then get away with it? Your body was not created to work seven days a week. You were designed with a whole day of rest in mind. Jesus redefined the sabbath and worship. Heck, it is even a commandment: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, TAKE A SABBATH! This must be important to God. #REST

#2 Listen – Do you know how to listen and hear the voice of God? This happens many different ways for many different people, but the principle is sound. If you aren’t LISTENING to God you will get sick, discouraged, troubled, confused. A great question to increase spiritual health, What was the last thing God told you to do? Did you do it?

#3 Prayer – How is your time where you talk to God? Here is a three prong strategy to learn to pray. Divert daily, Withdraw weekly, Abandon annually. This means you are going to set aside focused time every day, week and year to talk to God. The priority of prayer = progress

#4 Community – Are you faithful to your friends who are Christ followers? Are you living as a family as the body of Christ. This means you have to be committed to the church in your local community being inspired, shaped and encouraged by others. Don’t get duped by angry, hurt Christians, The church matters to Jesus, engage in it 100%!

#5 Serving – Some people try and limit spiritual health to learning, reading and consuming God. It just doesn’t work that way. Do you have a constant output and passion for serving those whom you come in contact with? Serving might just be the thing you need to kick that nasty spiritual virus you have been carrying around.

Our small groups are kicking off and these next four weeks will be teaching us to totally DEPEND on God. The Gospel is worth it.

Leave a comment below of what is ONE Action STEP you will take to increase your Spiritual Health?

Josh

Join us at 217church for our new series Live Differently…

April 27 – Spiritual Health

May 4 – Financial Health

May 11- Family Health

May 18 – Physical Health

Posted on Sunday, April 20, 2014

Easter 2014 – My 10 Favorite Moments

Easter 2014 is behind us 217church and I had a blast! But there were some incredible moments that made it all worth it to me. 650 people worshiped with us and combined with the 800 people we served yesterday, we came in contact with over 1400 people in a 24 hour period! That is AWESOME! I talked to so many people who were personally invited and as a result, they heard the resurrection story of Jesus in a fresh way, some for the first time from the bible!

We are a restored family sent on mission. We experienced this vision Easter 2014.

Jay and Steve praying 25 minute before the 1st service in Hamilton

I always take time on Monday and reflect on the weekend. Here were some of my favorite moments I wanted to share with you…

My 10 Favorite Moments This Easter –

#10 My Time in the Car with Jesus Early in the Morning – Before a message was preached, anyone was greeted or a guitar hit a chord, I loved my time with Jesus at sunrise. It was a 2 hour period of peacefulness, worship and Jesus filled me with his Joy (Nehemiah 8:10) Yes I screamed my lungs out!

#9 Praying with the team for the impact of Easter – Every Sunday 30-40 minutes before services, we pray at each campus for the day. I can never get enough of watching people pray for Jesus to heal and transform lives.

#8 Meeting a family from one of our egg hunts who came to services – I love interacting with our 1st time guests and people who are new to the church. They heard of the egg hunt through the internet, then were invited to come at the event. Well, they came! Invitations work! (And by the way they have really NEVER been a part of any church, just looking for something for their kids)

#7 Sprinting from my car to the theater for the final service – Man, the Sunday Easter slow drivers were out in force today! I made it back to the theater with about 30 seconds to spare, I literally sprinted from the car as the Easter video was ending :). It was exhilarating!

#6 Feeling the electricity in the rooms during worship – Getting a lot of people together to worship is a unique and empowering experience. I loved seeing our largest crowd ever sing and proclaim our RISEN, VICTORIOUS, JESUS!

#5 Asking someone who was new to the church to serve – Yep, that happened. He happened to be early, ran into me, I said hi and then just asked if he wanted to help us welcome people. He said yes, and I said “welcome to the team.”

#4 Seeing people receive communion together – I love watching people encounter God. I saw families together, people spontaneously praying for each other and the presence of God was felt.

#3 Watching my family walk into the theater to worship together – There is nothing quite like seeing my beautiful wife and 3 kids walking together. my 5 year old didn’t want to let go of me!

#2 Gathering around the table and watching my kids open gifts from grandparents – Since our parents live so far away, they send gifts for Easter. I love that my kids know that the grandparents love them and are thinking about them.

#1 Watching my kids play outside with the neighborhood kids – For whatever reason, God has placed us in a neighborhood with a ton of kids. I love that my kids are building friendships and learning to love their friends. My family is my greatest Joy!

Thanks for being an incredible church family. What about you? I would love to know your favorite moments…

Josh

Join us at 217church Next Sunday as we continue our Live Differently Series…

April 27 – Spiritual Health

May 4 – Financial Health

May 11- Family Health

May 18 – Physical Health

This Easter Sunday April 20th join us at 217church, a multi-site, contemporary church in Mercer County NJ. 217church is a family with small groups in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that meets Sundays in the Hamilton AMC24 Theater 9:30 & 11am and Grace Rogers School in East Windsor, NJ at 10:15. Our new East Windsor Campus meets every Sunday. If you are looking for a church in East Windsor NJ, Lawrenceville NJ, Ewing NJ, Robbinsville NJ, Hightstown NJ, Hamilton NJ, Mercer County, Middlesex County or Bucks County, PA, don’t miss our weekend services. Visit www.217church.com for more information.

Posted on Saturday, April 19, 2014

Easter is Tomorrow – But Today Was AWESOME

Tomorrow marks the largest celebration of the year for most churches, EASTER! We look forward to this day all year because it is when we get to celebrate HUGE our resurrected savior. But the reality is, Monday is just as important as Sunday, and as Friday and as, well you get it, Today! That is why I am so pumped today. TODAY we served over 800 people in the Bromley Neighborhood in Hamilton and at the Grace Rogers School in East Windsor. For those of you who were there, you know it was absolutely incredible seeing all of us connect with the people we love so much and were called to plant 217church for.

Today was AWESOME because it was our largest serving event we have ever pulled off.

Even our own 217kids were getting into the act of serving by face-painting at our free Egg hunt events.

Today just felt right! This is what we are about, who we are as 217church… SERVING RELENTLESSLY and rebuilding lives one person at a time. It was exciting on so many levels because we saw the fruit of 4+ years serving the Bromley neighborhood and the relationships that have been built as well as the possibilities that are before us in East Windsor. But How do we make the most of this Easter?

Here Are 5 Ways To Make The Most of Your Easter –

#1 Serve Someone – You’d be surprised how easy this is. My friend Matt’s wife did an egg hunt in for all the neighborhood kids. You could still probably pull that off! Maybe no one will see your act of service, but nevertheless, Just do it because JESUS IS ALIVE!

#2 Leave a HUGE TIP – If you go out to eat on Easter Sunday and call yourself a Christ Follower, TIP LIKE JESUS HAS JUST BEEN RESURRECTED! Tip like Jesus owns your money. Tip because most likely, that person serving you tomorrow, had to sacrifice time with family. How about a 100% tip. Make them smile when you leave. JESUS IS ALIVE!

#3 Make Things Right With JESUS – You’ve been attending church for years for once a month. You know stuff about Jesus. Truth is, most of us are educated far beyond our level of obedience. But today, it’s time to make things right. YOU NEED FORGIVENESS. Guilt, gone. Shame, done. Pain, healed. Discontentment, smothered by the peace of Jesus. JESUS IS ALIVE!

#4 Focus on Monday – One of the biggest mistakes we make is blowing by Easter and changing NOTHING, ZERO, ZILCH in our behaviors. Don’t just get caught up in the emotionalism and the crowd worshiping Jesus. Have a plan for your Monday transformation. Start a new habit, write a letter, forgive your family, release the grudge. JESUS IS ALIVE!

#5 Tell Your Loved Ones How You Feel – Don’t let this Easter pass by without reaching out and grabbing the hand of that Dad, mom, husband, wife, daughter, son, or friend, and tell them how much you LOVE THEM. This may be a HUGE act of courage, but JESUS IS ALIVE! It’s worth it.

Easter Celebration WILL BE INCREDIBLE tomorrow. For my out of town family and friends who read this, I love and miss you all, BUT I know I will see you again SOON! Here is an excerpt of My preaching text tomorrow.

“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ” Matthew 28:1

In Just 12 short hours, we start setting up the theater…This is going to be fun.

Josh

Join us at 217church for our Easter celebration and for our new series Live Differently…

April 20 – Easter – A Life Transformed

April 27 – Spiritual Health

May 4 – Financial Health

May 11- Family Health

May 18 – Physical Health

Posted on Friday, April 11, 2014

What To Do When You Are STRESSED

The other night I was thinking about a couple of situations my family is facing and I couldn’t sleep. What keeps you up at night? Have you been there? As we enter into Holy Week, there is a common thread running through our western culture. People are STRESSED OUT all the time. Whether it’s finances, marriage, family, job, or moving, all of these cause mental, emotional and can even affect our physical health. The sad thing is, even our children are stressed out!

You will get stressed! But what should you do?

“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” Matthew 26:28

I lead a church and daily hear of and spend time with people who are at a crossroads in their lives. Death, marriage, birth, moving, bankruptcy, moral failure, I have seen it all. We can learn much from Jesus’ moments before he suffers crucifixion, one of the greatest physical and emotional stresses known. Jesus understands your stress.

4 Things To Do When You Are Stressed –

#1 Separate Yourself – When stress hits it is often because I don’t see a pathway forward. As Jesus was preparing to die, he knew he needed to get away. Sometimes we are forced into solitude and other times we need to have the foresight and discipline to take a sabbatical and get away, FAST. Jesus needed to feel the support and the love of His Father to have the strength to go forward.

#2 Pray – Maybe this one is common sense, but I am not talking about a casual prayer, I am talking about a desperate prayer. One that calls out to God for deliverance and a miracle. Call out to God, even if you don’t feel close to Him, even if you feel like He won’t listen. If Jesus prayed and sweat drops of blood out of stress, well, maybe that is what it takes.

#3 Rely on Your Friends – When Jesus went to that Garden, He went with his friends, not alone. He specifically asked them to watch. Now, they failed him, but they needed to be present with him. Have you ever thought what you are going through may be to help others gain courage? The disciples learned a valuable lesson on that night. I’m sure they never forgot those moments with Jesus.

#4 Follow Through – If you need courage, you need not to look further than Jesus on the cross. Take the step, have the tough conversation, ask forgiveness, pay down the debt, believe God for your healing. He is there with you. Do it!

Jesus ultimately came to bring peace to all of this chaos. Let this scripture resonate with you today…

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Josh

Join us at 217church for our Easter celebration and for our new series Live Differently…

April 20 – Easter – A Life Transformed

April 27 – Spiritual Health

May 4 – Family Health

May 11- Financial Health

May 18 – Physical Health

Posted on Monday, March 31, 2014

5 Ways To Become A Person of Action

I have a confession to make. Yesterday I had an idea to bring my wife flowers. What a guy! But did I do it? Brace yourselves, NO. Therefore, the idea, although a noble one and one that would bring joy to my beautiful bride of almost 18 years, DIDN’T EVEN MATTER. (As a matter of fact when she reads this, it might work against me). We have all been in situations when we wanted to implement a GREAT, sometimes world changing idea. But if we don’t do it, the idea is worthless. Our best intentions without ACTION equal frustration.

How do we become people that ACT and LIVE our best intentions?

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22

Initiating IS NOT easy. We have many things to overcome in our lives: Fear, laziness, poor planning and doubt can keep us from starting something. But we are to be people of ACTION! If you fail to start, you have already failed.

5 Ways To Become A Person of Action

#1 Believe in Your Idea – Many of us second guess our ideas way too much. Someone needs to feel and sense the outcome of your initiation. Many of us have had a GOOD idea for way too long but we don’t believe in the idea because of perfectionism, some a lack of confidence and others just are insecure about what others will think. NEVER LET FEAR OWN YOUR FUTURE! I’d rather get it wrong then passively sit on the sidelines.

#2 Plan it Out – The best idea that doesn’t show up in your calendar probably won’t happen. The reason the flowers didn’t make it to the table yesterday? I had no plan to get them so it just didn’t happen. The bigger the idea, the longer you need. Write it down, plan it out, and stick to your guns/schedule and make it happen.

#3 See The Outcome – This is the fun part. If your actions are motivated out of love, it will MOTIVATE you to get busy. When I teach, I often visualize the way someone might feel when hearing the material, this encourages me to act in boldness and say what I need to say. Imagine how people will feel and the value you will have added once the task is complete.

#4 Share Your Idea – Nothing is quite as powerful as someone encouraging you in your idea. I spend a lot of time bouncing my ideas off my co-workers family and it actually lets me know if my idea is any good! In addition, they make my ideas better. Once I tell someone I am going to do something, it helps me initiate.

#5 Get off The Couch – Okay, I know this is obvious, but the only way to do it is to, well, DO IT! This means you have to do whatever it takes to start! Eat a big breakfast, run a mile, go to sleep early. In short, No one can make you do the idea, but you know it needs to happen!

Don’t beat yourself up, we have ALL talked too much about what we were GOING to do. Forgive yourself!

Alright, better get the flowers! What do you KNOW you need to do? COMMENT BELOW… I’m interested to know some things that we have all been procrastinating.

Josh is the lead pastor of 217church, a multi-site, contemporary church in Mercer County NJ. 217church is a family with small groups in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that meets Sundays in the Hamilton AMC24 Theater 9:30 & 11am and Grace Rogers School in East Windsor, NJ at 10:15. Our new East Windsor Campus meets every Sunday. If you are looking for a church in East Windsor NJ, Lawrenceville NJ, Ewing NJ, Robbinsville NJ, Hightstown NJ, Hamilton NJ, Mercer County, Middlesex County or Bucks County, PA, don’t miss our weekend services. Visit www.217church.com for more information.

Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2014

How To Optimize Your Total Health

If you want to Optimize your health you must ask this question, How do I define success? Not a new question, but a relevant one. For some it is an amount of money earned and others it is a position obtained. Yet others it is one simple word, happiness. But even of you are happy, make a ton of money, and arrive at your dream job, you could be missing the point, and look back with a ton of regret. What if you could OPTIMIZE 4 key areas of your life and live with no regrets?

If you don’t OPTIMIZE these 4 key areas, you will miss out on opportunity. How Jesus defines success will surely elude you. Optimizing your health has a new meaning in two simple words: LIVE DIFFERENTLY.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,” Romans 12:2

But something has to happen before we see all the results we want to see. We must first be transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus. It is more about dependance on Him and less about performing for others and pleasing ourselves. The story is simple, God created man, there was a great deception of sin, Jesus provided redemption and then He gave us His presence to live a full life. An OPTIMIZED life with no reservations.

4 Areas that MUST be Optimized –

#1 Spiritual Health – What if you and Jesus were like PB & J? What if you prayed constantly and felt the presence of the Jesus? What if the words of the Bible started leaping off the pages at you? What if you were living on mission through your local church? What if you practiced sabbath and experienced true REST with Jesus? It’s time to Optimize.

#2 Family Health – What if everyone in your family never doubted love? The church can get another pastor but my wife only has one husband and my kids only have one person who can fulfill the role of Dad! Man is that sobering. What if your family got top priority in your schedule? What if you forgive and serve your spouse? What if you created a memory with your kids this week? It’s time to Optimize.

#3 Financial Health – What if you actually lived financially like God owned all your possessions? What if you gave at least 10% of your income away? What if you were 100% debt free? What if you only purchased what you absolutely NEEDED? It’s time to Optimize.

#4 Physical Health – What if you lost all that weight and got control of your eating habits? What if you lived to see your grandchildren graduate from high school? What if eating became and meaningful act of worship? What if you were confident in your physical appearance? It’s time to Optimize.

Jesus has already given you success, you don’t have to “try harder”. Each one of these areas of your life needs to be transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus. He is the only path to optimization. This Easter at 217church we start a 5 week series “LIVE DIFFERENTLY” Optimize Your Health. Here is the schedule:

April 20 – Easter – A Life Transformed

April 27 – Spiritual Health

May 4 – Family Health

May 11- Financial Health

May 18 – Physical Health

Anticipating His transformation…

Josh

Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2014

Egg Hunts for Kids in Hamilton & East Windsor, NJ

HAMILTON, NJ- Looking for a great egg hunt to attend with your family that is FREE? 217church will host two large egg hunts in Mercer County on Saturday April 19th. In addition to candy, egg seekers will also find prizes ranging from movie tickets to a family 4-pack of tickets to Six Flags.

The egg hunts will take place from 12-3pm at the following locations:

Farmingdale Park
1220 Nottingham Way, Hamilton, NJ

Grace Rogers Elementary School
380 Stockton St, Hightstown, NJ

The egg hunts are also a great opportunity to give back to the community, says Lead Pastor, Josh Conn, as each participant is asked to bring a canned item that will be donated to a local food pantry. In addition there will be free food as the church seeks to bring community people together.

“We are looking forward to celebrating Easter with two massive egg hunts and food donations for our local pantries, which are still dangerously low on supplies,” notes Conn.

217church will also host Easter church services at their two campus locations on Sunday, April 20th. Local residents are invited to attend services at the AMC 24 movie theater in Hamilton at 9:30 and 11 or at Grace Rogers Elementary School in East Windsor at 10:15 to kick off the church’s “Live Differently” 5-week series.

For more information about 217church’s egg hunt or Easter church services, contact josh@217church.com or visit www.217church.com

217church is a multi-site, contemporary church in Mercer County NJ started in 2010. 217church is a family with small groups in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that meets Sundays in the Hamilton AMC24 Theater 9:30 & 11am and Grace Rogers School in East Windsor, NJ at 10:15. Our new East Windsor Campus meets every Sunday. If you are looking for a church in East Windsor NJ, Hamilton NJ, Lawrenceville NJ, Ewing NJ, Robbinsville NJ, West Windsor, Mercer County, Middlesex County or Bucks County, PA, don’t miss our weekend services. Visit www.217church.com for more information.

Posted on Wednesday, March 12, 2014

4 Simple Ways To Increase Your Faith

Today is a guest blog from Pastor Dan Gay, our 217church East Windsor Campus Pastor.

This week we kicked off our 40 days of Prayer. The first 10 are about praying for God to increase our Faith. I have a confession, it may not surprise those who know me, but my nature is to be in control. Yes I know you are all nodding at your screens now. I try to control events, situations, plans and unfortunately sometimes even people… but I used to be MUCH worse. I don’t like the unknown, so I figure if I can control it, then I can always be prepared. My controlling things would be the way that I would minimize the pain of not knowing what is next or the fear of getting in over my head and then possible failing. The problem is over time, I began to eliminate my need and eventually my desire to walk by faith and to let God control not just the destination but the path as well. I had reduced God to an emergency switch to be pulled when I didn’t know what else to do.

So can you guess what started to happen? Yup, things in every area of my life started to fall apart. It was like God was saying to me, “I want a relationship with you and if you only come to me when there’s chaos and you are out of answers, then okay lets try it this way.” Family, finances, relationships, harmful addiction behaviors, work… it all went into disarray with the very real risk of losing it all. I tell people that in my “pit” experience, when I was at my lowest, I cried out to God, not to deliver or heal me (and I wasn’t even sure he was still listening), but rather because I had no one else to cry out to.

That day was the beginning of my life transformation, where I realized, I couldn’t, He could and I needed Him in every area of my life.

“The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you” Luke 17:9

4 Simple Ways to Increase Your Faith

#1 Let Go – Control and Faith are in direct opposition to each other, they can’t coexist. To walk in faith is to step out when you don’t know where, how and sometimes even why, but you know you are supposed to.

#2 Pray Often / Listen Constantly – Be open with God on how you’re feeling especially if your feeling down or angry. He already knows but wants to hear it from you. Learn to tap into the Holy Spirit within you, that voice will get stronger as you learn to listen.

#3 Simple Obedience – This means you need to instantly obey God. Excuses come and go, just obey. My wife, Bonnie has been an amazing example of this. She has the gift of faith, so when God ask her she does it. She doesn’t rationalize it away or water it down…Just DO it.

#4 Take A Risk Be Willing to push outside your comfort zone. God will probably not call you in the direction or the way that you want to go. I tell people that if you are willing, His spirit will make you ready.

Increasing your faith is a journey not a destination; one that will draw you closer to Jesus and will change you forever. Hard at times, but worth every ounce of sweat, blood and tears.

Pastor Dan

In case you missed it, here is our 40 Day prayer focus. Its not too late to start praying!

The Prayer Guide

Increase Our Faith Readings: March 9 – 18

Day 1: Luke 17:1-10 It starts small
Day 2: Hebrews 11:1-40 Our faith legacy
Day 3: Genesis 12:1-20 Just go
Day 4: Joshua 1:1-9 Faith & courage
Day 5: 1 Samuel 2:1-11 Faith and barren land
Day 6: Nehemiah 1 Desperate faith prayers
Day 7: Psalm 31:1-24 Faithfulness of God
Day 8: 1 John 1:1-9 Gospel & faithfulness
Day 9: Proverbs 3:1-12 A lifestyle of faithfulness
Day 10: John 17:1-26 Jesus Prays boldly (Prayer Night)

Release The Finances Readings: March 19 – 28

Day 11: Exodus 16:1-36 God provides
Day 12: Matthew 6:1-14 The Lord’s prayer & provision
Day 13: 1 Timothy 6:1-10 Finances & contentment
Day 14: Luke 6:27-42 It all comes back to you
Day 15: Malachi 3:6-15 The Tithe and God’s blessing
Day 16: Luke 21:1-4 The all-in lifestyle
Day 17: Psalm 132:1-18 Provision & worship
Day 18: Romans 13:13-14 Jesus as your provision
Day 19: Mark 10:13-31 Provision & perspective
Day 20: Acts 4:32-27 The church and possessions

Give Us Focus Readings: March 29 – April 7

Day 1: Acts 4:23-31 Boldness in prayer
Day 2: Matthew 6:19-34 Priority of the Gospel
Day 3: James 1:1-17 Perseverance
Day 4: 2 Chronicles 7:11-22 Do one thing (Prayer Night)
Day 5: 2 Peter 3:8-13 Holy living
Day 6: Romans 8:1-17 Freedom from guilt
Day 7: Romans 8:18-39 God’s promise
Day 8: Colossians 3:1-25 Family focus
Day 9: Colossians 1:1-29 Jesus & disciple making
Day 10: Mark 2:13-17 Priority of sharing our faith

Grant Us Favor Readings: April 8-17

Day 11: Luke 2:22-40 Jesus and the favor of God
Day 12: Genesis 18:1-21 The favor of God for Abram
Day 13: Luke 1:1-25 Mary receives favor
Day 14: Jeremiah 29:1-23 Plans for good
Day 15: Philippians 1:3-18 Completion of God’s plan
Day 16: John 1:1-34 Jesus defined
Day 17: Galatians 2:15-21 Participation in the favor
Day 18: Matthew 27:1-31 Jesus and stress
Day 19: Matthew 27:32-66 Jesus crucified
Day 20: Matthew 28:1-20 Jesus resurrected

This is going to change us…

Josh

Josh is the lead pastor of 217church, a multi-site, contemporary church in Mercer County NJ planted in 2010. 217church is a family with small groups in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that meets Sundays in the Hamilton AMC24 Theater 9:30 & 11am and Grace Rogers School in East Windsor, NJ at 10:15. Our new East Windsor Campus meets every Sunday. If you are looking for a church in East Windsor NJ, Hamilton NJ, Mercer County, Middlesex County or Bucks County, PA, don’t miss our weekend services. Visit www.217church.com for more information.

Posted on Sunday, March 9, 2014

40 Days of Prayer

We just baptized 4 more people today! That makes 195! There are only seven short weeks until Easter (April 20) and we are preparing for another incredible celebration. In this time when we are welcoming Spring and new beginnings, we are praying in four specific directions for the next 40 Days. Below is our prayer focus and at the bottom is the prayer guide. Before I share the plan let me share this: God is doing something deep inside of my own heart as it relates to prayer and seeking His direction for our church. It’s changing me, I want to invite you on this encounter with me.

“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”.” Luke 17:5

How Will the 40 Days Work?

#1 The Prayer Guide – Every day read the text from the prayer guide below and pray in whatever direction God leads you. This means you will need to set aside some time away from everything everyday! Imagine if 500+ people called out to heaven at the same time about the same thing! God is about to move. The Guide goes from March 9 – April 17.

#2 Two Prayer Nights – These will be two special prayer nights on March 18th and April 1st from 6:30-8:30 PM at the youth center (200 Whitehead rd in Hamilton) These are not worship services, but open prayer times when you will have the opportunity to come and pray and be prayed for. I am anticipating people being healed in miraculous ways.

#3 Weekend Prayer focus – We will continue preaching on Sundays through the book of 1 John. Every week you will have the opportunity in the services to pray for other and be prayed for. Every Sunday God is moving, It is time for us to make worshiping with the church family our HIGHEST priority.

Our Four Prayer Focuses…

#1 Increase our FAITH – Jesus takes convicts and turns them in to converts. That is right, this is what we are all about, restoring people in their relationship with Jesus. He came that we would have faith and that He would die and be the ultimate sacrifice so we would have eternal life and know and follow HIM. RESTORED! This is our word. Jesus rose from the DEAD and while pointing to Jesus, we have baptized in the last month! Many of them were youth and teens. Why? Our church is investing people, time, energy and love in the next generation. Join me in praying that the faith of the people would INCREASE in Jesus!

#2 Release the FINANCES – What we invest in we value. We just concluded our Next Generation offering and you gave $84,000 towards the vision! I have talked with more people these last two weeks that have lost their jobs and my heart goes out to them. When you can’t provide for your family there is uncertainty, fear, confusion and even insecurity. We need to continue to pray for God’s provision for the people of our community. Especially the elderly, the disabled, the widows and the single moms. When we begin praying these prayers God will move us to realize that we are to be generous and help one another through difficult times. I love being a part of a church and community that believes in taking care of those who are going through rough times. We do this because it is an example of the Gospel of Jesus in action. Giving is not about a legalistic percentage, but a heart that is transformed as a reflection of the Gospel. A FAMILY takes care of one another and advances the Gospel with its finances.

#3 Give us FOCUS – Be more afraid of missing an opportunity than failing. We as a church are to be SENT ON MISSION as carriers of the DNA of the Gospel of Jesus. It is what matters and what we are to be pursing as our FIRST priority. We are to renew the community through serving it relentlessly! This starts with the church. Who has Jesus sent you to? The most logical place to start is your own nuclear family, your co-workers and your neighbors. These are the people we are to be inviting into our lives to share experiences with. It isn’t about arguing or convincing them, but about loving them, having conversations, and showing them the good news of the Gospel of Jesus. The church is at it’s best serving the community, loving people, taking care of one another, pursuing the common good, sharing meals together and speaking out as a peaceful voice of reason. We have to focus on the right things.

#4 Grant us FAVOR – We are HIS children – Let me say that again. You have a seat at the table with Jesus and he calls you, “brother, sister and friend.” I tell my children they bear my last name and they need to act like it! When you realize whose family you are in and that the Father has lavished the greatest gift of love and favor on your life, It changes how you PRAY. Through forgiveness of sins, repentance, privilege and honor to be called the church and a life in heaven with HIM, he has given us favor. This changes our perspective. We need to pray for the favor of God that he would be merciful and gracious, especially with those who don’t know Him yet. We are the church for people who aren’t here yet.

The Prayer Guide

Increase Our Faith Readings: March 9 – 18

Release The Finances Readings: March 19 – 28

Give Us Focus Readings: March 29 – April 7

Grant Us Favor Readings: April 8-17

This is going to change us…

Josh