Good afternoon High Places!
October arrives with a tease of cooler temperatures and my last fishing trip I saw hints of the season appearing in the leaves on the trees. Such a beautiful time to be living here in East Tennessee.
At High Places, our autumn begins with many of our students enjoying two weeks of fall break. Some of our families are traveling, so our thoughts and prayers are with you. We hope that if you are, you will keep a good eye on the happenings in and around HPCC through these news and notes, as well as potentially tune in live to our main meeting time through Facebook, which we are testing all this month.
This Sunday we will be looking specifically at the three crosses on Golgotha, where Jesus died. These three condemned men each had different responses to their tragedy. Our responses to the bad things we have to endure in life really matter. In our story, there are three crosses and disguised in them, I believe, are our three psychological responses to pain: denial, shame, and strength. If you're bearing a cross of any sorts this week, I hope you'll join us at the Grove on Sunday, 10:30 AM.
REMINDER Ladies: tomorrow evening (Thursday), our women’s ministry will begin a new series entitled “The Cure for the Common Life” which is based on the book by Max Lucado. The fun begins at 6:30PM at the home of Laurel and David Richmond, 103 Evans Lane in Oak Ridge.
REMINDER Leaders: We will be meeting Sunday, October 16 immediately after our main meeting at 1:00PM. Mike is making chili and grilling wings, yummy! Look for an email to follow this one for more information.
REMINDER: Mountain Movers! Our children’s ministry is having a Halloween celebration on Saturday, October 29 from 1:00-3:00 PM. There will be friendly monsters, crafts, games, food and more! Kady Marcotte has asked me to remind everyone that many needs still exist for this event. We need volunteers for all areas, prizes to give-away, and financial donations to help purchase needed crafts, food, and supplies. Please see Kady for more information and how you might be able to assist.
Friday & Saturday, October 21-22 will be a two BIG nights for High Places and the Grove Theater. The Arts Council of Oak Ridge is holding a concert benefit with a lot of bands and activities happening all weekend long with events kicking off Friday night. It would be great to have lots of High Places folk out in support! Besides it is my birthday (which I share with Rebecca Halperin!), so let’s get out and have some fun! Also of interest -- the United Nations will officially deem October 21 as International Wonder Woman Day in honor of the famous superhero! Yet another reason to celebrate… Ha!
Finally, Marilyn has asked me to remind everyone that our last 90-Day Faith Challenge of 2016 officially begins this month (see attachment). In case you missed it, she shared from her heart on Sunday regarding our church finances, which are behind for the year. She said the amount we’re behind seems large and can feel overwhelming for her at times. Yet, when we look at it, we see that we’re only behind a very small amount when we each give faithfully and consistently… only $1.89 each week to be exact! Faithful giving is about trusting God with what is already His and what may seem like a small commitment of faith is actually the kind of thing that God uses to do great things with. She’s asking for 100% participation for this 90-day stretch, so let’s please prayerfully consider what God leads us to do.
Lots of great stuff coming this month and next at High Places, stay tuned! And as always, please keep our church, its staff, and our ministries in constant prayer.
Also, please pray for those in the path of hurricane Matthew, which include many of our own High Places friends and families.
Much love,
David