My Journey to The Journey: Andre and Tylaine Coppin

Everyone one of us has arrived at The Journey a different way. Everyone’s story is different —even your spouse’s—but that is what makes the body of Christ so beautiful.

We all have a different story, but we all worship the same Jesus. Below, Andre and Tylaine share their unique story about how and why they ended up making The Journey

their home and some lessons God has taught them through the process. Tylaine’s Journey My journey to The Journey is like a homecoming. It has been awhile since I truly felt like a part of the body of Christ. My husband, André and I met at Western Washington University. We were both very involved with Campus Christian Fellowship, leading small groups, assisting with music and elderly ministry. After we married in 2000, we moved to his island home, Barbados. Church is very different from what I was accustomed to. Music was based on the organ and all we sang were hymns. We attended his childhood church and he was instantly on the board of the church, serving as the secretary. We led a couples Bible study for a short time, but there just weren’t a lot of couples our age. I never felt at home there and after a few years serving at this church we starting visiting other churches. This was a difficult time for us spiritually; we wanted so much to belong to a church and fellowship with other believers. The last year we were in Barbados, we became involved in with a church through some coworkers and began to really enjoy fellowship again. When we left Barbados in 2005, we were thirsty for God’s Word and longing for his body. We lived with my parents for awhile and attended a church at a school. We had just started meeting people and getting involved when we bought a house and moved. We visited a few churches that first month and attended The Journey’s first service at Gateway Middle School. For us the music was a little different (I guess all those hymns had finally gotten to me), but we liked the feel and decided to keep going. I’m really glad we did. Soon I felt called to serve, all the while I was in Barbados, I was not involved in ministry and I felt it was time. I was praying about serving in kids when Erin asked me if I’d like to be a kid’s volunteer. I guess that was Jesus saying “Yes, we need you!” I have really enjoyed being in the 2 – 3 year old classroom, teaching the very basics of the love of Jesus and the Bible. It has been a blessing watching our son, Azavier, learn about God. I feel like The Journey is part of my family and have enjoyed fellowshipping with other believers and sharing my life with others. The women of the journey have become my friends and make me feel at home. I really feel like Christ has brought us home and we are grateful to serve with such a caring group of believers. Andre’s Journey Our move to Seattle from Barbados was a new start for our family. In my eyes, coming to America was seen as leaving a stagnant cesspool of sin and moving on toward the call of God. It was while on the plane from Bridgetown that Tylaine and I talked about this new beginning. We both wanted a new start in life and a consistency that we felt could be had here in her home state. A very big part of this refocus was to find a church-home. Being poor and broke, we moved in with Tylaine’s parents to save money and find jobs. God provided a job for me within a month and I was off to work. Tylaine began to work part time at a tutoring club and we began to save towards a house. It was while living with Tylaine’s parents that we found a small church that met in a school in Redmond. We Continued on Page 6

A Welcome To First-time Readers Published on the first Sunday of every month, The Vibe is the “voice of the people” known as The Journey. The Journey is a church based in the north end which brings people together for events, activities, and small groups that meet throughout the church community. For more information, teaching, music, and more, visit our website at www.joininthejourney.com.

The Journey Church Administration Office Address 914 164th Street SE #413 Mill Creek, WA 98012 phone: 425.954.4071 fax: 206.260.3958 Email info@joininthejourney.com **Address for Gatherings** Gateway Middle School 15404 Silver Firs Dr - Everett, WA 98208

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My Journey to The Journey 2 How Gateway Middle School Becomes The Journey 3 Thank You for Serving and for Eating 3 Show HE the Money 4 Dates to Remember 5 How Can You Serve The Body of Christ? 7 Money@The Journey 7

NOVEMBER 2007

There are a lot of different areas where we could use your help. We work because we love our God and we want others to have a great place to learn about Him. So what are you doing for your God and what are you doing for His body known as The Journey? ————————————- Thank You . . . for Serving

If you serve at The Journey, then you’re a part of the leadership at The Journey. And if you’re a part of the leadership then you have something to be proud of. Just look at where we are, espe-cially for those of you who have been a part of this from way back at Cedarwood Elementary when we were still meeting on Sunday nights. For those of us that were there that seems like such a long time ago. For those of you that weren’t there, we’re so glad you’ve become a part of our family. Without the work that each of you do, The Journey wouldn’t be what it is. You might say, “Well I just light candles,” or “I just hand out the guides at the door,” but like Paul says in I Corinthians 12:14-20

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that rea-son cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

So regardless of the type of work you do at The Journey, and regardless of how many “Thank you’s” you do or do not receive, the work you do is noticed, necessary, and appreciated by the rest of us. More importantly, the work you do, when done with the right heart, is presentable to God as a loving sacrifice, and God will use it to spread His glorious name and to further His Kingdom. To show, in a small way, the huge amount of the gratitude that exists for all the hard work you do, The Journey would like to in-vite all of you who serve to a “Thank You” Dinner on November 19th at 7 PM at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Lynnwood. . . . and for Eating Any of you who serve are aware that we don’t always get to visit very often with those we serve with. There’s so much to do on Sunday mornings that, no matter how hard we try, sometimes it becomes a little impersonal. So we want to invite you to join us for dinner—on The Journey—and take advantage of an evening where you can relax and get to know some of the people that help make The Journey what it is. Obviously, we could not exist without the work that is done, but we definitely want to emphasize that the people and the relationships we have with them are what matters at The Journey. We hope you’ll join us. The “Thank You” Dinner will be held at The Old Spaghetti Factory on Monday November 19th at 7 PM. If you are planning on attending please sign up online (www.joininthejourney.com) or send an email to serve@joininthejourney.com.

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How Gateway Middle School Becomes the Journey by Eric Wollan The set up/tear down teams are an integral part of what you see each week here at the Journey. There is a lot that goes into it that many people never see or realize. A group of very dedicated people show up each week to make sure that the church is ready to go when all the attendees show up. Would you like to know what goes on? If you do, I will fill you in a little and then hope you find me to see how you can be a part of it. My name is Eric Wollan and I have been working with the set up/tear down teams for about a year. I started off just doing the tear down after each service and my wife was part of the set up team each week. The Journey has since switched things around so there are teams that alternate each week for both parts instead of having people show up every week. Every Sunday morning, the set up teams arrive at Gate-way at 8am to begin the transformation. We meet for a quick prayer to help everyone know they are here for the right reasons and then begin the hour and a half process of getting things set up. We now have 4 different gentlemen who will pull trailers containing all of the differ-ent pieces that are needed to provide for our church set up. (We are al-ways looking for more help, so if you have the ability to pull a trailer, we would love for you to be willing to help out!!) The first thing to do is unload the trailers and make sure that all of the containers get to where they need to be. Once that happens, the band begins to gather their instruments and assemble the stage, there are a few guys who set up the lights and the sound equipment, the HUB is set up by a few people, the Journey kids crew go to their re-spective classrooms to organize a safe and fun environment for your kids, and the over-enthusiastic guys go to the gym to help set up for the older kids. We get to set up tents, the stage, the back drop and several mats. When we are done with that, we get to go into the main area and set up all of the rails along the side of the seats so no one will accidentally fall over listening to Chris’ message for the day. All of the signs that you see as you enter the building and walk around are set up by each group. After each group is done setting things up, we double check with everyone to see if they need any help. When everything is done, we have a little time left before church begins so we are able to fellowship with others. It is a great way to be-gin to learn about other people who attend our church. After church is over, we get to hang out and visit with our friends or meet new people but we also get to take everything down so the area can get ready for school the next day. Tear down usually lasts about 1 hour. We get to have a little bit of a work out while enjoying the company of the other people that are there to help. In all, it is about 3 hours of work. Some people are there every week while others are able to help out once a month. If you have some time and would love to help your church, please let me know. No one gets paid but the rewards are far greater than money. I love working with the teams because of the fellowship. It is a great way to learn about others but you will learn far more about yourself. Come and give it a try. If you like it, we would love to add you to one of the teams. Here is what one of our team members had to say: “I do it because I want to do it. I start with the mantra, “Jesus, please give me strength” and guess what? The rails seem light and with his help, it becomes a joy rather than a task. The key, for me, is to keep it a joy rather than a burden. If it is a burden, you are bringing the wrong type of energy. As Marley says, ‘If you are not bringing good vibes, keep on walking’; find something else in the church to focus your energy on.”

Show HE the Money by Chris Mayfield Warning: What you are about to read is going to challenge you in saying you truly love God with all of your heart. For members and regular attenders committed to The Journey, giving cheerfully and sacrificially of our finances is part of how we worship. Because everything we have is really God's to begin with, we see giving as an opportunity to be good stewards of what God has given us. Our work is an effort to serve our Father in all things, and one of the primary ways we serve God is by cheerfully giving God our "firstfruits" (2 Corinthians 9:7; Proverbs 3:9). We call our members to give, not by meeting some petty, obligatory percentage, but by digging deep and sacrificing for the sake of the gospel because Jesus sacrificed for us, and all we have is His anyway. Here are some things to think about when it comes to tithes and offerings: -25% of Jesus words in the Gospels are related to our resources and stewardship of them -In the Old and New Testament there are over 800 verses on the subject—dealing with a wide variety of financial topics including, planning and budgeting, saving and investing, debt and tithing -Money is one of the greatest idols in the world, especially in American culture -Money is a critical component to the growth and health of the church. Here is tithing in the Bible; first Old Testament. 10% of your money given to the church would go to the Levite priests ministry, 10% paid for the festivals to build community and for celebration, 3.3% was given to the poor, and then occasional tithes above and beyond regular giving, so there was a total “mandatory” giving of over 25% of ones family gross income. Can you imagine that now? Then came the New Testament giving which is simply this: grace centered giving, not law centered giving. Pretty simple huh? But is it? Here is a portion of a message on giving that John Piper gave to his congregation about giving that would benefit us in understanding Biblical reason on why we tithe and offer: Seven Biblical Reasons to Tithe 1. Honoring an Old Testament Principle Tithing honors an Old Testament principle of how God provided for the ministers he called and the expenses of their ministry.

You recall that in the Old Testament God designated the tribe of Levi, to be the tribe that would have the ministry of the tabernacle and the temple. So instead of giving them a portion of the land, God said that these vocational ministers of the tabernacle should live off the tithes of the other eleven tribes. In Numbers 18:20–21 God said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel. And to the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.” When we tithe today, we honor a principle found here. Some of God's people are called not to do moneymaking business in the ordinary ways. They are called to be pastors and ministers and missionaries and ministry assistants, and so on. The rest of God's people (call them "lay ministers") are to be gainfully employed and support the "vocational ministers"—and the costs of that ministry. In

the Old Testament God laid down that this be done by tithe. If the question is raised whether Jesus continued this principle for the sake of his church, one of the strongest arguments that he did is Matthew 23:23 where he says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.” So Jesus endorses tithing: don't neglect it. It is not as essential as justice love and mercy; but it is to be done. Yet one might say that he is only talking to Jews in an essentially Old Testament setting. But there is another pointer that the principle was preserved in the early church. In 1 Corinthians 9:13–14 Paul says, “Do you not know that those who perform sacred services [in the temple] eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar [of sacrifice in the temple] have their share with the altar?” In other words he reminds the church that in the Old Testament economy there was this system in which the Levites who worked in the temple lived off the tithes brought to the temple. Then he says in verse 14, “So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.” The least Paul is saying is that those who spend their lives in the service of the Word of God should be supported by the rest of the Christians. But since he draws attention to the Old Testament as the model, it seems likely that tithing would have been the early Christian guideline, if not mandate. In other words when we tithe today, we honor a principle and plan of God that sustained the ministry in the Old Testament and probably sustained the New Testament ministry as well.

2. Honoring the Creator as Owner of All When we release a tenth of our income and give it over to the ministry and mission of Christ in the world, we honor the Creator rights of God who owns everything, including all our income. One objection to thinking of a tenth of our income as especially belonging to God is that ALL our money belongs to God. Psalm 24:1:The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. That is absolutely true. It's why my main way of talking about money year in and year out at Bethlehem is not to focus on tithing, but to focus on lifestyle. What you do with every cent says something about your view of God and what he means to you. And what your values are in this age. And what you think your few years on earth should be spent for. That's true. But God is wise and knows us deeply. He knows that there is something wrong with the husband who answers his wife's complaint that he doesn't give her any time by saying, "What do you mean, I don't give you my time? ALL my time is yours. I work all day long for you and the children." That has a very hollow ring to it if he doesn't give her any "especially time." Giving her some evenings together and some dates does not deny that all his time is for her, it proves it. This is why God declares one day in seven especially God's. They are all his, and making one special proves it. And this is the way it is with our money and God. Giving God a tenth of our income does not deny that all our money is God's, it proves that we believe it. The tenth is yours, O, Lord, in a special way, because all of it is yours in an ordinary way. I believe the tithe should be the first check we write after the income deposit is made in the bank. And when you write it, you put a seal over what's left: GOD'S. The tithe reminds us of that, and proves that we really believe it.

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3. The Antidote to Covetousness Giving away a tenth of our income to the mission and ministry of Christ is an antidote to covetousness. The last of the Ten Commandments says: "Thou shalt not covet." Jesus said in Luke 12:15, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of covetousness [or greed]." Wanting things too much is incredibly dangerous for your soul. Hebrews 13:5 says, “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have.” Every time you give a tithe, you must deal with the desire for what you might have bought for yourself. To give is not to buy. And that weekly crisis is utterly important to maintain. We must fight covetousness almost every day. And God has appointed an antidote: giving. He tests us again and again: what do we desire most—the advancement of his name or 10% more security and comfort and fun? As Jesus says, You know where your heart is by where your treasure is. Tithing is one of God's great antidotes to covetousness. 4. Governing Ever-Expanding Spending The fourth reason is almost the same as the last one, but not quite. When we go to the tithe and beyond, as I am suggesting we should, it puts a governor on ever-expanding spending. There is an almost infallible human rule: spending expands to fill the income. If you make more, you buy more, and the things you buy have to be stored and repaired and insured. Spending begets spending. If you have less at your disposal, you spend less. And most of the time you don't even think about it. I spend absolutely no time thinking about world cruises and $30,000 cars. But if I made two or three hundred thousand dollars a year, things like that wouldn't seem any more strange to me than all the stuff I buy now—because I could afford it. If this is true—if expenses almost inevitably expand to fill the income—how shall we restrain ourselves from accumulating more and more stuff and more and more expensive stuff, and looking to the world like we have all the same values they do in our little earthly prelude to eternity? The answer is that as our income grows, we move beyond the tithe. We resolve to give a greater and greater percentage of our income to advance the kingdom. This puts the brakes on our natural impulse toward luxury. Illustration: John Wesley –Take John Wesley for example. He was one of the great

evangelists of the 18th Century, born in 1703. In 1731 he began to limit his expenses so that he would have more money to give to the poor. In the first year his income was 30 pounds and he found he could live on 28 and so gave away two. In the second year his income doubled but he held his expenses even, and so he had 32 pounds to give away (a comfortable year's income.) In the third year his income jumped to 90 pounds and he gave away 62 pounds. In his long life Wesley's income advanced to as high as 1,400 pounds in a year, but he rarely let his expenses rise above 30 pounds. He said that he seldom had more than 100 pounds in his possession at a time. This so baffled the English Tax Commissioners that they investigated him in 1776 insisting that for a man of his income he must have silver dishes that he was not paying excise tax on. He wrote them, "I have two silver spoons at London and two at Bristol. This is all the plate I have at present, and I shall not buy any more while so many round me want bread." When he died in 1791 at the age of 87, the only money mentioned in his will was the coins to be found in his pockets and dresser. Most of the 30,000 pounds he had earned in his life had been given away. (Quotes from Mission Frontiers, Sept./Oct. 1994, nos. 9–10, pp. 23–24.) The last three reasons for moving to the tithe and beyond are all found in one text, 2 Corinthians 9:6–8: Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. 5. God's Way of Bringing About Good Deeds The fifth reason for going to the tithe and beyond in our giving is that this is God's way of bringing about many good deeds for his glory. Paul says that when you sow bountifully and cheerfully, you will "have an abundance for every good deed." The goal is good deeds. Excess money is for good deeds, which make your light shine and cause people to give glory to your Father in heaven. If you lay up treasures on earth, people have no reason to think your Father in heaven is glorious. You look like you love Continued on Page 6

November 7th Men’s Breakfast 6 AM November 19th Thank You Dinner 7PM November 22nd Thanksgiving Day December 24th Christmas Eve Service 7PM

My Journey Continued attended that church for about 6 months and had every intention of staying there, but God had another purpose for us. We were blessed to find a house in Silver Firs. The first weekend we moved in we absented ourselves from church and painted. The next weekend we visited an established church in the neighborhood – we did not like it, and stayed home the following week. During the course of that week we received a flyer in the mail inviting us to the launch of The Journey Church – raw, real, relevant. A place for imperfect people. Well shoot, that was me. Imperfect in everyway. But God had a plan. We visited The Journey that first Sunday and have never stopped coming - except for the occasional weekend get-away. God had answered our prayer – my wife and I were able to recommit our lives to Christ and as time went on we began to serve. The “Texans” thought they were coming up here to start a church for Seattleites, but instead it was for a Bajan man who needs a place to heal. ————————————-

Show HE the Money Continued what everyone else loves. According to Titus 2:13 Christ died "to purify for himself a people who are zealous for good deeds." Second Corinthians 9:8 says that the aim of material bounty is "for every good deed." Verse 11 says, "You will be enriched in everything for all liberality." Excess money is given to us so we can show where our treasure is by giving it away. So the fifth reason for going to the tithe and bountifully beyond is that this is God's way of providing for many good deeds.

6. God's Way of Providing for You The sixth reason for pressing to the tithe and beyond is that it is God's way of providing you, the tither, sufficient money for your needs. Giving is a way of having what you need. Giving in a regular, disciplined, generous way—up to and beyond the tithe—is simply good sense in view of the promises of God. Verse 6 says, "He who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully." Then verse 8 says, "God is able to make all grace abound to you that always having all sufficiency . . . " In other words the "bountiful reaping" promised in verse 6 is explained in verse 8 by God's pledge to give a sufficiency for us and an abundance for good deeds. This seems to be Paul's way of expressing Malachi 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” This is an amazing challenge from God. Test me, he says. You think you can't afford to tithe? Well test him. And what we will find when we test him is that we cannot afford not to tithe—and beyond! This is the only safe way to handle our money. Jesus once said, in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap.” This is not a guarantee of getting rich. It's a guarantee of "an abundance for every good work" and sufficiency for yourself. 7. Proving and Strengthening Our Faith Finally, in our giving we should press toward the tithe and beyond because it will prove and strengthen our faith in God’s promises. There is an absolute correlation between faith in the promises of God and peace of mind in giving away what we may think we need but don't. Hebrews 13:5 puts it like this, “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; [why? because of a promise] for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.’” Every time you doubt that you can live on 90% of your income, let the glorious promise of God strengthen your faith: "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

In closing think about this; the Bible says in II Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” The word in the Greek for cheerful is “hilarious.” So ask yourself when you give do you get a kick out of it, or is it an obligation that you are fulfilling. God doesn’t want it to be a burden He wants it to be a blessing, so what’s in your heart?

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About our stuff - Very simply, everything we have comes from God. Our money is a blessing and a tool we use to worship Him by giving to the church (to further the Gospel), providing for our families and enjoying God and the grace that He gives us. You may have a lot and you may have a little, but the real question is: are you worshipping God with your stuff and do the first fruits of your checkbook reveal that? About how much I should give - The Bible says that giving is for Christians and should be directed first to your local church. The Bible does not say how much you should give but rather seeks to deal with the heart behind your giving. II Corinthians 8 and 9 says that our giving should be cheerful, regular, sacrificial and generous. The Bible does not prescribe a percentage; through prayer we must seek to have a clear conscience in regards to our giving. Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21). About who should give - Christians should give faithfully to their local church. If you are not a Christian, don’t give—seek to deal with the larger issue: your sin and Jesus’ forgiveness of that sin. We are not concerned about the amount people are give but about the number of people who are giving. God is building His kingdom through the church, and He asks that all believers share in this joyous responsibility. This mission is bigger than just a few of us and takes everyone’s effort and faithfulness; no matter if you are a college student who can give only 10 bucks a month or a millionaire who can give thousands. How can I give at The Journey?

• By check or cash placed in the offering basket during the service

• By mailing a check to the church office (contact the office if you would like some self addressed envelopes or you can send it in your own envelope)

• By donation of stock • www.journeygiving.com

Starting in January 2007 we need $15,000 a month for our operating budget. Up to this point these costs have been provided by outside supporters who invested in the planting of The Journey. We must begin the process of becoming a self sustaining body of believers.

Date Goal Giving # of Givers

October 7 $3,750.00 $2820.00 16

October 14 $3,750.00 $1051.00 12

October 21 $3,750.00 $3920.00 19

October 28 $3,750.00 $2477.95 13

Total $15,000.00 $10,268.95 38

church financial information/weekly giving trends

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Is God doing something amazing in your life? Would you like to share it with The Journey Community? Or would you like to use your creative talents on The Vibe to write articles or create ads? If so, then send an email to Adam Sheffield at Achewba@aol.com or Amanda Leighow at musicalxpression@aol.com with your idea.