Week 1 • Monday

Camping

by Abby, Caleb & Seth Hill (children of Roy & Faith Hill)

Hebrews 7:25 Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Our family enjoys camping trips, the kind with tents, sleeping bags and a fire that always blows smoke in your face no matter where you sit. One of the first times we went camping a funny thing happened. Seth got lost in his sleeping bag! He really likes to snuggle down into it, but he got so far into it and he was still pretty sleepy, so he couldn’t find the opening and he panicked. Mom came to help him, but he was still so scared and frustrated that it took him a couple of minutes and some coaxing from Mom before he would finally let her take his hand and lead him out. We are a little like that when we are still sinners. We are lost and frustrated and trying frantically to find our own way. God just keeps calling to us, saying “Calm down, it’s okay, I can help you, just take my hand.” We have to choose to take His hand and let Him take charge. He does this because He loves us so much, and He seeks each of us individually, in a unique and personal way. He calls to us in a way that shows He already knows us inside and out.  It is also a personal decision. No one can make it for you, and God doesn’t force you. But once you choose to take His hand, it changes your course and gives you the right direction to go to be free. It is the most important decision you can make, because until you do, you are just trapped in the dark like in a sleeping bag.

Prayer: Father, thank You for reaching out to us when we are lost. Help us to be able to stop, listen, and take hold of the freedom You offer us so freely.

Week 1: "Are We There Yet?"

“ARE WE THERE YET?” What family hasn’t heard those infamous words echo across the car as it travels along the road? Perhaps you can even remember uttering those words during your childhood as you eagerly awaited your destination, or maybe you’ve seen the exasperation on your parent’s faces as they told you it has only been five minutes since you last asked?

Life is a journey. That is why it is so important to enjoy every moment of life, rather than focus too much on future destinations. The danger of only living for the destinations is that so many of life’s best moments can be missed if you aren’t looking for them.

In our spiritual journey as well, there are many of these significant mile markers: our first call to follow Christ, a blessing that came at just the right time, moments of God’s forgiveness, times when we shared Christ with others, and many more. While these are not our end destination, they are important points along our journey we should celebrate and remember. God longs for these spiritual mile markers and He celebrates them with us. This week’s authors will share some of their own spiritual mile markers with us. So take the time to watch out for them in your life; learn from them and thank God every mile of your journey.

—Pastor Dan

Introduction

Do you remember your last road trip? Did you pack your bags, plan your stops, and maybe even fill a cooler with cold soda and snacks for the road? Do you recall long hours of conversation or singing along to the radio? Perhaps you played your favorite road games with your kids in the back seat? A road trip is much more than just a distance you travel to reach your destination; it’s an opportunity to enjoy the journey, to make an adventure with friends or family.

Our lives are like a road trip. In life, we set our eyes on a goal or a destination, but maybe equally important is the journey of life along the way and the people we choose to live it with. Our spiritual journey is just the same. There are many landmarks along the way and many people who journey along side us. We ultimately reach our destination when our life on this earth ends (and our life in the next world begins).

What goes on between now and that moment is an adventure, but an adventure of which God wants to be part. God designed us to live and learn and grow. But real spiritual growth is firmly rooted in Him. It requires a foundation of God’s Word and prayer, and it is spurred on by the work of the Holy Spirit along side a community of believers.

Sometimes life’s road trip is full of wonderful and fulfilling moments and sometimes our spiritual journeys are more difficult than expected, full of unexpected turns and hills to climb. But our spiritual journey should be a process that brings us closer and closer to God, celebrating in the good times and learning from the bad times.

Paul wrote a letter to the Church in Ephesus, and ultimately to all churches, sketching out a road map to help us make the spiritual journey from grace to glory. If we follow God’s Word and learn to live out His will for our lives, our experience will surely be full of unexpected adventure, unwavering hope, conditional love, and unlimited power in Christ.

This is your Road Map. Let the journey begin.

Pastor Dan Miller

Get Ready!

The Road Map devotional starts this MONDAY, Memorial Day. If you don't have your books, they will be available again on Sunday during our services, at the front door display.

We'll be posting the Introduction to the Book this weekend. The Weekly Introductions will be posted every Sunday (this week's is "Are We There Yet?"). Remember to use the blog and post comments for the authors all week long.

Where will you ROAD TRIP this summer?

Summer is a great time for changing pace, enjoying the outdoors, and taking family vacations. We want to know where you're headed this summer. So to have a little fun with our summer travels we've created a Road Trip board where you can label your summer destinations. It's a fun way to see what everyone else is doing. We hope it will open up conversation and encourage people to share some of their vacation stories and experiences. Check it out this week!

Take a numbered dot and place it on the map in the proper location. Then on the board, fill in your name next to the correct number so we can put a name to the destination. Don't forget to to see where others are headed as well.

Books Are IN!

The devotional books for the Road Trip are in, and will be available beginning Sunday, May 23.

Each book contains 17 weeks of devotions (5 days a week). You need to pick up your book by May 30, because they begin on Monday, May 31.

These books cost nearly $6 each to print, but we're only asking for $5 each! -- Because we really want you to pick one up and use it. We recommend one copy per person. Couples, pick up one for each of you. Families, do this daily as a family. Everyone, pick up an extra copy and give it to a friend, coworker, or family member.

These books are a compilation of 75 devotions written by various members of the First Missionary Church congregation. Our hope and prayer is that these stories of faith will inspire you each day of your journey and help you to live out your faith daily.

Invite Cards & Posters

Beginning May 16, we'll have cards that make it easy for you to invite your friends to take part in our series. It gives people all the information they need and directs them to our blog to check things out further. It's a great and easy way to let people know what we're doing. If you want to take a stack, you can pick them up on a Sunday or anytime during our office hours. For those of you who own businesses or work in a place that has high traffic, we also have a limited number of full-color posters. If you know a great place for a poster email Pastor Caleb, and he'll get them to you. Our church can't reach our community unless we've got your help. Let's get the word out to our community about the Road Trip.