And now, Kirstin Jackson tells the story of her salvation, which led to a recent baptism at Sojourn Gathered:

I grew up in the church my entire life. I believed in God and thought I understood the price Christ paid on the cross to save me from my sins. But I never truly grasped the extensiveness of God’s grace, mercy and love for me until I was 29 years old. Up until this time, I was a rebellious young person who sought gratification in the world. I wanted to have fun and live life as I pleased.  I believed in Jesus but I did not walk in daily faith with my savior, nor did I call upon Him except in times of need.  I could “talk the talk” but was definitely not “walking the walk” of a true Christian.

Before I was saved, I was going through many changes. I lived out of town and was having second thoughts about past decisions I had made. Upon the advice of my mother, I started attending a local church every Sunday. Each time I attended service I would sob through the entire praise and worship time. The repentance I had in my heart was so compelling that I knew it was time for me to surrender my life completely to Christ. He loved me despite my transgressions and for the first time I allowed the presence of the Holy Spirit to burn brightly and live in me.

The seed of faith my parents had planted so early in my childhood had finally emerged from hibernation and began to grow. My walk with Christ started slowly and there have been plenty of potholes along the way. But with each day my pace grows faster and steadier. I now live each day for Christ and know that the Holy Spirit is my compass on this journey.

Rather than striving for worldly riches and status, I look for daily opportunities to share Christ’s message of salvation and find ways to be His humble servant.  Each time I think I am running the race at a good pace, God brings me to my knees and challenges me to move from my comfortable pace to the next level. There are times when I question these requests and remain stubborn, but in the end the Holy Spirit softens my heart to hear God’s plan for me. For I know that “Everything is possible to those who believe (Mark 9:23)” and “I can do everything through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13).”

Baptism is the final affirmation of my complete surrender and repentance from my old life of sin. Today I am born again and washed white as snow by the blood of my dear Savior Jesus Christ. I want all to know of God’s unending love, grace and mercy for all of us.

Click Here To Get A High-Res Version Of This Card Design, Then Print!

Watch this video (less than two minutes) and Art Director Michael Winters will show you how to turn it into an Invite Card in short order!

Last Sunday we kicked off the A.D. sermon series.  If you missed it, you can listen to Pastor Daniel’s sermon on the baptisms of John and Jesus (from the Gospel of Matthew) at sojournchurch.com.

This Sunday we’ll continue in Matthew.  Specifically, Christ’s call for us to be on mission, from Matthew 10. If you’re new to Sojourn, it won’t take long to figure out that this is a church that takes vision and mission seriously.  Find out why this Sunday.

Oh, and don’t forget to set your clocks forward one hour when you go to bed Saturday night, for Daylight Savings Time.  Otherwise you’ll be sauntering into the service an hour late.  I did that one year.  It’s a tad humbling but don’t let that keep you from entering and worshiping with us if it comes to that.  Best plan though, is to set your clock back. No, really.

We’ll be singing “Solid Rock (My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less)” this week.  You can familiarize yourself with it by catching this video below.  It’s one of our Sojourn bands, leading worship at the LEAD conference in St. Louis, from 2008:

We’ll sing these songs as well, among others:

“Lead Us Back,” from our Before The Throne CD (Listen to this modern hymn of confession for free at Last.fm).

“Mission’s Flame” (hear songwriter Matt Redman’s version for free at Last.fm).

“Abiding City” (hear songwriter Sandra McCracken’s version for free at Last.fm)

If you don’t know these songs like the back of your hand, listen to them once or twice so you can sing with confidence this Sunday.  Let’s make a big sound, together.  It doesn’t have to “sound good.”  The band will sound good, and they’re the ones with the mics and amps.  We just need to sing enthusiastically.

Mandy Groce:

My friends let me know that my concerns over the state of the world, our nation in particular, had started to be seen as anxiety. I am so thankful for a community that spurs me on to pray for my leaders without losing hope in my one true king.

Hilary Noltemeyer:

When Willow was born a couple months later, we had only attended Sojourn a few times, but the outpouring of support and love was crazy! We had meals provided for us, people we had never met were calling to check on us, to see what they could do to help. Now she wasn’t the only kid, but she was the 1st baby and none of us, especially me, knew what we were doing. However, that didn’t stop the love and support that flowed from strangers to support us in our time of need.

Simon Groce:

Reading through the Old Testament, God repeatedly calls us to care for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. James 1:27 tells us that “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress”. Through SEED, Sojourn Counseling and the growing Adoption Ministry, Sojourn has seen many orphans adopted, widows provided for, and the hurting embraced. Praise God!

And check out these photos, from among the 50+ that Sojourners have already uploaded to our “I Want New” section of vision.sojournchurch.com. Then go tour the whole photo gallery (NOTE that the photo gallery on the site is Flash-based.  To view it, make sure that Flash is installed on your computer, and you’re using a platform that can support Flash):

One of the challenges that Pastor Daniel and the other teaching pastors feel is to adequately cover the text during Sojourn Gathered.  Of course this is why we provide free daily devotionals in print form on Sundays, and on the web at devo.sojournchurch.com.

They’ve got a little something extra in store for us this year: beginning the end of this month you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions that come to mind during the sermon and your devotional reading during special Q&A times after the services.  The pastors will hold these “Q&A Sunday” about every second week.

Here are a couple other opportunities coming up to ask questions about the gospel and the vision of Sojourn:

• The first SojournKids “Ask Class.” This is a new class that parents and kids will take together.  It’s geared up to answer questions that children may have about salvation and about baptism at Sojourn.  This is a “pilot” version of the class, so we’ll only hold it at the Midtown campus this time.  We will expand it to the East campus in the future.  You can attend this two-week class at 11:15am on Sunday, March 21 and 28.

• Vision Catalyst meetings.  We’ve been talking about these for a few weeks now.  On March 15, 17 and 31 the pastors will lead Vision Catalyst meetings for the Midtown campus, at our potential new building (the Cathedral on the corner of Shelby and Oak).  Then on the 24th we’ll hold a Vision Catalyst meeting at the East campus. This will be your opportunity to ask questions about the Vision Campaign and to hear, first-hand, the pastors vision for the future of Sojourn over the next ten years.  To tide you over, read through our General FAQ page at vision.sojournchurch.com.  You’ll find the basic answers to 25 questions that Sojourners have asked about the Vision campaign.

We have four Community Groups now in Southern Indiana and approximately 100 Sojourners live across the river. Our goal is 15 Community Groups within the next year in Southern Indiana. With this growing presence and many leaders that have moved or emerged from Southern Indiana, this step seems simple enough and the next logical location for a campus of Sojourn. New Albany is a vibrant community desperately in need of the gospel. It is also a context very similar to the Highlands and Germantown – two communities in Louisville from which Sojourn emerged and planted roots in and have been critical to the development of our identity as a church.

And the hundred or so Hoosier Sojourners are ready to go.  Check out this quick sample of “I Want New” photos from “the other side of the bridge.”  Of course you can watch the entire “I Want New” slide show at vision.sojournchurch.com:

Here are some more quick things you can check out online this weekend (when you’re not spending some quality early-Spring outdoor time):

• The Seed blog is giving away a new book every Friday.  Check it out!

• We’ve beefed up the individual campus pages on sojournchurch.com.  We’ve got service times and an interactive map on the Locations & Service Times page, and tons of campus-specific info (plus cool photos from our great Sojourn photographers) on the individual campus pages.  If you know of someone whom you’d like to bring or invite to one of our campuses, and if they have questions, clue them in on where the pages are:

sojournchurch.com/east

sojournchurch.com/midtown

• Many of you have asked questions about the vision of Sojourn over the next ten years, and our current Vision Campaign.  If you haven’t checked out vision.sojournchurch.com in a couple days, you can read answers from our pastors to the “Top 25″ most frequently asked questions.

Also check out a bunch of “I Want New” photos, taken by Sojourners

And read all the short testimonies from Sojourn members and others who have been blessed through the Sojourn community.

“I Want New” photo above courtesy Clint Todd, Sojourn member

For the rest of 2010 we enter into the New Testament.  This is the part of the Bible that everyone agrees is all about Christ — even though people have many different opinions about what it all means.  Pastor Daniel will begin at the beginning — the Gospel of Matthew.  We’ll learn about the baptisms of John and Jesus, and we’ll hear how this story speaks to us today to get in the Word and get in the water.

Speaking of baptisms, this will be the final week for anyone who would like to follow Christ in baptism at our March 14 Baptism Sunday.  If you’d like more info or to start that process now, email baptism@sojournchurch.com.

We’ll sing a few songs from our These Things I Remember, Over The Grave and Before The Throne albums this week.  Listen to them and practice along this weekend.  If you don’t have the CDs or mp3s, listen to the songs at the LastFm links below:

“My Maker And My King” from Before The Throne

“Psalm 57″ from These Things I Remember

“We Are Changed” from Over The Grave: The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume One

(the East campus will substitute “Only Your Blood Is Enough” for “We Are Changed.”  Hear it at this link)

Among other songs we’ll sing, prepare for the song of confession “Nothing Without You.”

Hear singer-songwriter Bebo Norman’s version now at Last.fm.

Let’s come with an attitude of praise and expectation.  And speaking of praise, if you haven’t seen the 50-second video from one of last week’s Sojourn Gathered services, check it out here:

Kristen Mast:

But the difference at Sojourn was so eye-opening for us…people were being real about confessing sin and desiring to live gospel centered lives. This was a totally new concept for me-no church I had ever been to before had ever forced me to examine my sin like in that first community group we attended. It was unbelievably refreshing for me at the time, and I grew to love my Sojourn Community very quickly.

Mary Ellen Moody:

I had worked at Java Brewing Company (4th Street Live!) the year before with Sojourner Erin Ferguson. At some point I went to a party for her where a number of Sojourners were gathered. I was in awe at the community I saw. I would tease with my friend that I had developed a “crush” on Sojourn. Boy oh boy, I wanted in. I would randomly visit Sojourn, hear the gospel message in word and song, watch people “pass the peace” and LONG to be a part of it. After seeking the Lord and counsel, me and a dear friend, Lauren Doty, decided to make the switch together. I didn’t think I would survive otherwise, and she felt the same. I remember weeping at my first Sunday at Sojourn. I hardly knew a soul, but I felt like I was already part of the family.

Jessica Rexroat:

Eventually I began “cutting” or what is now called self-mutilating. I didn’t know how to cope with the anger, rage and depression I was feeling. I didn’t even know those were the emotions I was dealing with. I just knew I felt a world of turmoil, hurt and confusion …

As my faith grew and my relationship with God grew Sojourn became my home. Since my baptism, the healing and growth have continued. I have a beautiful marriage and my wonderful children. I have been medication free for over three years and have had no issues with the bipolar. I long to tell people of Christ’s redemptive love and forgiveness.

Pastor James Santos:

An area in my life that I have received great encouragement and challenge is being a faithful, loving pastor in my home. With so many godly and gospel centered husbands in our congregation, I am always provoked to love my wife well and disciple my kids well. Sojourn has been a great place to learn and be challenged to be deliberate with my family. I’ve learned I should not do marriage and parenting “on the fly”.

Church planter Todd Robertson:

When considering how Sojourn has been a blessing to Antioch Church, the first and foremost thing that comes to mind is people.  When a church blesses and encourages some of their best and brightest to leave in order to benefit a new plant, it is one of the best gifts that can be given.  At a part of Antioch’s core are some amazing people who grew and matured as members of Sojourn.  We are now blessed to have these mature believers, ready to serve and lead.  Among the people-gifts to Antioch there is a former elder, deacons, ministry leaders, community group leaders, musicians and more.  The value of this investment is certainly priceless.

Read these stories in full, and see more today.  We encourage you to add your own story as well, using the easy-upload feature at vision.sojournchurch.com.

This was an interactive art exhibit, where people could record their own prayers.

This art piece used wrapped cakes to represent manna from heaven. Attendees were invited to “take only what you need.”

Stairway to heaven? Led Zeppelin did not show up …

People of all ages crowded the gallery space, inspecting each installation.

This green-turf bed represented Psalm 23 “he maketh me to lie in green pastures …”

There was so much to look at.

Yes, there were real birds in there.

Inside this guitar: a miniature fishbowl with a goldfish. This signified “Let everything that has breathe praise the Lord.” Although one bright attendee pointed out to 930 Director Michael Winters that fish don’t technically breathe …

Helpful descriptions, posted near each installation, gave us a sense of what the artist felt as he or she created each piece.

Who is that sharp dressed man?

It’s singer-songwriter Dave Moisan.

Dave’s stellar band opened the show with originals and some cool covers.

The entire Dirt Poor Robins band dressed as “Alice In Wonderland” characters.

This is an Alice that you don’t want to trifle with.

Unless you can make her laugh.

The Mad Hatter. Neil Robins. It all makes sense …

They nearly blew the roof off the place with songs from Last Days Of Leviathan

They also played a few songs from their last record, The Cage.

Many of us crowded the stage.

Good times.