Join the Journey

Photo by Ross Hamilton

I’ve always loved the high country of the Olympic mountains. I backpacked a lot as a young adult and rather prided myself on being a strong hiker. My good friend, Ross Hamilton, was also an avid backpacker and a top notch photographer. He was a few years older than I, much more experienced but not quite as quick on the trail. I always enjoyed hiking with Ross and learned much about the wilderness from him. However, I also secretly enjoyed hiking ahead on the trail – blazing my own way.

The picture shown was taken by Ross many years ago. The figure you see hiking in the distance is me, once again striding out ahead on the journey. What the picture fails to capture is what happened over the next few hours. Ross had hiked that trail before. I had not. He knew a fork in the trail that I missed. That mistake cost us both a lot of wasted steps.

All of us are on a life journey full of twists and turns and forks in the road. Some forks lead only to minor detours. Others can reset the trajectory of our lives. One of those life-changing forks in the road is the choice to follow Jesus. That is more than simply choosing to agree with things Jesus taught. Rather it is a personal choice to leave behind the trails I have been blindly blazing for myself and, in an act of faith, choose Jesus to be the leader of my life. That is a simple step but a big one.

If you have never taken that step, I would like to invite you to carefully consider the evidence that points to Jesus as so much more than just a historical figure. We believe He really is God’s Son, sent to save us from a dead end trail and lead us to the kind of full life God always intended. If you’d like to hear about my journey from doubt to faith click here.

One of the great things about joining the journey with Jesus is that we do not make it alone. From the very start Jesus brought His followers together to love and help each other. Not only that, but together they were called to show God’s love to those around them. That band of fellow travelers is what we call “the church”.

There are lots of churches, big and small, all over this world. Dungeness Community Church is one of them. Our deep desires are to grow in our faith, learn to love each other better and serve our community and beyond the way Jesus told us to.