Highland Church Podcast

None of us are promised tomorrow. Each day is a gift. In our lesson today, Highland teen leader, Dagan Hatcher shares a message of the importance of not delaying focusing on your relationship with God.

Part of our time of worship each week is dedicated to taking the Lord's Supper, or Communion, together. This week Highland Elder, David Jackson, led us in a longer time devoted to reflecting on Christ's sacrifice on the cross to die for our sins.

What do Christians do? They make disciples. In this series we have been talking about things that Christians do when they give their life to Jesus. This last lesson of the series focuses on what Jesus commands us to do in Matthew 28:18-20- "go and make disciples".

What do Christians do? They Serve. We get this directly from Jesus. Jesus doesn’t just say this to us. He lives it. Every person he comes across, he stops to receive. To help. To serve. When he’s touched, he doesn’t recoil. When there is a need, he never turns away. The Son of Man—above all others—somehow puts everybody else above himself.

Turning is an essential Building Block. By “Turning”—we mean repent. Turning from Sin, and to God. Today we look at what that means in a very practical sense and how we can set up some ways to fight sin daily.

We think we can do things on our own, but that’s not God’s design. His design for His people has always been to form the church. In todays lesson Eric explains why we should go to church and be part of the Church. You need it. Every Christian does. This is what Paul is talking about when he talks about the body. Different parts, hands, feet, eyes, ears. So Christians “JOIN” together. That’s what we do. By God’s design and for God’s glory, but also for our sakes.

What do Christians do? We Give. In fact, the early Christians gave so much that they had joy in poverty. In crisis they gave even beyond what they were able to. And nobody made them, it was on their own. They said it was a privilege. In today's lesson we look at why Christians give generously and what the Bible tells us about the way we use our money.

What do Christians do? We worship. Worship is a matter of the heart. There are lots of ways we express our worship, but today's lesson Eric talks about worship through singing.

Our lesson today comes from Colossians 3:16- “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. What would life be like if you didn’t have the Bible? Not just your Bible. Really makes you wonder—what do I get from or have in the Bible, I don’t get anywhere else. How does God’s word dwell in us richly? By reading daily and reading deeply.

At the beginning of this year we are talking about the idea of a worthy life—in balance with the good news of our King/Savior Jesus. This series is going to explain the actions we do, as Christians to live a worthy and life and produce fruit for the Kingdom of God. Today's lesson is about prayer and how it can unlock deep meaning and empower a life of action.

What are you thinking about right now, as we head into the New Year? Resolutions about your life. What do we aim for? Scripture tackles this head on. It doesn’t shy from the real questions we are asking. Today we will look at Colossians 1:9-14. Through this passage we might think about our own lives as we head into the new year and ask this question- Does the fruit of my life really show that I understand God’s grace?

Today's passage is from Luke 1:26-38. Jesus is not the result of our effort, strength, labor or worth. He is the Father’s choice. The product of the Father’s initiative. He’s the fruit of Father’s loving favor for those who could not ever free themselves. The light of Jesus comes to us in the darkness. This is what our Father chooses. And this message gives us great joy today and everyday.

John 1:6-8, 19-27. This is the assigned Advent reading for today. Advent is preparation for Christmas—the coming of Jesus Christ. Admittedly a bit confusing that a Sunday dedicated to preparing us for Jesus directs us to a story about John the Baptist. This passage tells us more about who John isn’t than who he is. It’s John’s list of all the things he is not. In this we find one of the most important messages of Christmas and it’s one of the most relieving messages in the Bible.

Advent is a time to think about what’s coming, and what it means to wait. The way that advent does this, is it makes us look two directions at the same time. Backwards and Forwards. At Advent we remember what it was like for God’s people to wait for Jesus for thousands of years. From the beginning, they waited for the coming, conquering son. Advent also reminds us that we too are waiting for Jesus. His future return. We see in both situations that God is patient and we will talk about why that is in this lesson.

Today we finish our Acts Series in Acts 28. This passage makes us ask the question- Is my heart right with God? That’s THE question Acts ends with. As we end Acts, the story of Jesus has been told again and again and heard again and again (much like it is at Christmas time!). And Acts ends by acknowledging—for some that story never makes it to the heart. That’s the case for some of these Jewish leaders. Never made it there. That’s not us! We are here today, probably, because it did make it there at some point. To our hearts! Today we will check on the status of our hearts when it comes to our desire for God.

Smith Hopkins from the Oikos Church in East Memphis joins us today to discuss one of the most powerful tools for God's transformation...asking deeper questions. The life and ministry of Jesus was filled with questions. We will look through Scripture and see how Jesus used questions to change the destiny of others.

Why missions? Why plant more gospel churches in more places for more people? Paul had a grasp on this reason. He saw it as the reason for his whole life, and it shows up repeatedly again and again at the end of Acts during Paul’s trials— “the resurrection of the dead”. We look at Acts 23-26 for our lesson today as we think about our Outreach Contribution that supports ministry in Memphis and all over the world.

Today's lesson comes from Acts 23. Paul is in prison. And if that weren't bad enough, there were 40 men waiting to kill him when he would be released. Sounds like the odds were stacked against him. But God doesn't allow his will to not be done in Paul's story. He wants Paul and us to be courageous in every situation.

Todays lesson is from Acts 21:12-14 and it is a story about sacrificing our own desires and comforts for God’s plan. Paul is heading towards Jerusalem (and ultimately to Rome). All of his friends are trying to stop him. Agabus comes to Caesarea and tells Paul that he will suffer so he should stay with them instead. But Paul is ready to do the Lord’s will, no matter what that costs him. We should all be as ready as Paul was.

Paul says the essence of the good news about Jesus is God’s grace. And this grace has the power to change us. So, if I’m to understand the good news of Jesus, and if I am to be changed by it I must ask: What is this grace, and how does grace work?