Good morning everyone!
We're happy to welcome back Robbie Lewis this Sunday to our main meeting hour to be a part of our music team and guiding our hearts and minds toward the joy we have in Christ and in each other. Robbie is immensely talented with a heart to share his gifts with others in service. We're honored to have him step in and "learn our jam" a little bit, so please make plans now to attend and lend your support!
This week we will continue looking at Peter's life and transformation in a message I am calling "Becoming Faithfully Faithful." It's part one in a three part series on getting FAT -- Faithful, Availalbe, and Teachable in our service to God and His Kingdom. Peter demonstrated time and time again that he was a faithful person -- you could count on him most of the time be where he said he would be, do what he said he would do, and to follow Jesus. His major failure at the crucifixion when he denied Jesus was part of bringing Peter into a "teachable moment" that was necessary to free him up to rely fully on God.
One lesson along the way was the story of Jesus walking on water, and here we will see that Jesus (again) takes Peter to the place where he feels most comfortable and in control in order to work in humility and reliance on God. These are themes that repeat often in the Gospels, and we have them passed on to us so that we too can learn to trust, not in ourselves, but in the Creator who knows us and loves us more than we can ever imagine.
We sure hope to see you this week! Our large auditorium seats a great many, so there is plenty of room to space out and remain socially distanced. The more voices we put in the room the better the singing gets (the livestream doesn't always capture the fullness of the music), so bring your hearts on down to the Grove as we slowly round out the month with a new message series.
On Saturday morning, April 24, Peyton Jolly and I will be gleaning from our local farmer's market through a food program run by the Society of St. Andrews, which takes leftover produce to needy communities. There's room for one or two more volunteers, so if you would like to be a part of this ministry, or learn how we do it, then please send me an email. And by all means, start growing something in your own yard if you are able. There are few joys that can match handing someone you love a delicious fresh vegetable that you grew in your own backyard! As the decade unfolds at High Places, I hope we see more and more of us applying our hands to labor and our hearts to love as we address food scaricity issues in Oak Ridge.
On Monday, May the 3rd we will be hosting a livestream "Q&A" session in the lobby of the Grove. Participants as well as those tuning in virtually will be given opportunities to present questions about God and the Bible for one hour, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM. This idea comes from Micheal Lyons who stopped me on Easter and suggested we do a question / answer time for folks wanting to learn more and apply it in their spiritual lives. If you cannot come in person, be sure to tune in! And be thinking of a question that you've always wanted to ask a pastor, but haven't. I won't promise to know the answer, but I can promise to give you my very best thoughts about it as someone who has spent a lifetime reading and studying about God.
On a personal note, I am reading "The Word Made Plain" by James H. Harris, which traces the history and the power of Black preaching in America. It's been very inspiring to me and opening me up to unique avenues of the Holy Spirit's work in the American Church. Pray that my time spent produces fruit, and the God continues to mold and shape me into the servant He desires.
We send love to all you, miss many of terribly, and stay in steadfast hope that the pandemic's shadow fades soon and the light of all our combined faces once again fills the bricks and mortar of the Grove Theater in joyful fellowship. God has called our church to serve, which means He has called us to be servants. We pray that His work, His timing, and His power continue to deepen us, stretch us, and lead us to the purposes He has for our community.
All the best,
David
News and Notes - April 9, 2021
Happy Springtime Friday to you all!
We had a wonderful Easter time together in 2021, and although I really, really hoped we would be on the otherside of this pandemic we still have a tiny lingering shadow of it here. I trust by this time next month, things will be approaching normal -- or maybe a NEW normal for High Places Community Church. So many exciting things happening, I am looking with a deep, spiritual optimism toward the remainder of this year.
This Sunday, we sure hope you'll come! We are going to take a deep look at Peter's transformational VISION -- and the slow end to his spiritual blindness -- that happened between his time with Jesus (in the body) and his time with the Holy Spirit (after the resurrection). What changed? How did the change happen? Can it happen to me?
Those are the questions that seem to me to be pressing against the church in our modern world. Very excited to share, and even more excited to see your smiling face! We love and miss you all terribly and long for the day that we are back together again.
Thank you so much to the many who showed up during the week preceding Easter to clean and work. Perhaps most impressive were the numbers of new families that plugged in and made a difference... (You know who you are!). And special thanks to Kathy Monger, Tim Fischer, Jason Herrera, Carmen Fischer, and Don Fleischer who all work around the clock week after week to make our shared spaces just a little more pleasant. From our new faces to our "old hats," High Places really does offer "a view on life at its best."
FYI -- I still need a volunteer or two at the end of the month to help me pick up and deliver food to needy Oak Ridge families via the "Society at St. Andrew's" gleaning program, which will have us at the farmer's market here on the last Saturday of the month for the Spring / Summer season, picking up leftovers and getting food to households in need.
Love to you all. I am beyond happy and excited for all this post-pandemic season is going to bring to our church!
David
News and Notes - April 1, 2021
Happy Maundy Thursday!
A little trivia as we get started... the word "maundy" in Maundy Thursday of Holy Week means "mandate" or "command." It comes from this verse,
"A new command I give to you, love one another. Just I have showed you love, so you must love one another." - John 13:15
Jesus said this immediately after washing the disciples feet. It was his last act of ministry (service) before being arrested and crucified, and he chose it on purpose. He said if he was willing to do this as Lord, that we should be willing to show love, humility, and service to each other. So on this Thursday, we remember this commandment that Jesus left us with. Somewhere along the way, the Latin word for mandate became how we describe this Thurday before Easter. Kind of cool, huh!
Sunday we celebrate the day that echoes through history as love's final say over the powers of selfishness, shame, and sin. On the cross, Jesus took the worst we had to offer and made something beautiful in it, restoring us to our ourselves and to God in love. About two and a half billion people will be celebrating with us worldwide this Sunday. It's kind of a big deal! :)
I love Easter best and most because of the hope and joy it brings. Our world needs more of this and I am already excited about Sunday and what it means to the planet. All of us at High Places want to wish you and your family a FABULOUS Easter weekend. And we would love to SEE you this Sunday, even if we are still a little short on the ability to embrace due to the pandemic.
The auditorium we will be in holds 550 people and we will surely be well under that number, so social distancing will be extremely easy. We will strongly urge everyone in the building to wear a mask, even if they've been vaccinated. We want you there, but we also want you to feel safe and we are still protecting our most vulnerable. I have a feeling that sometime in May things are going ease way up and a sense of "normalcy" will return to us all. Hopefully even by Mother's Day.
We will sing and have a brief message before allowing our kids to have a GREAT Easter experience during an egg hunt. We also have a gift for all our Mountain Movers (Pre-K thru 5th Grade) that I think they're going to love. We sure hope you'll come out!
For any interested in helping prepare for Easter, Kathy Monger is heading up some spring cleaning Friday at 5:00 PM. Several of us have already been hard at work replacing ceiling tiles, sprucing up some, and getting the Grove ready. We will put all the finishing touches on the work Friday, so come on out and lend a hand you'd like.
We will also stream virtually on our website www.highplaceschurch.org/livestream so if you can't be with us in person, please tune in on the screen.
Much love from us to you this season. We miss you all terribly and long for the time when we are all back together again singing joyfully and being present with each other in the Spirit.
Have a happy, happy, super-happy Easter!
--------------------
“Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the very life of heaven.”
- N.T. Wright
News and Notes - March 25, 2021
Good morning everyone!
Easter is coming -- the absolute best day of any year! Everyone probably has their own personal "take-away" on Easter and how it impacts them personally and I would love to hear your stories. For me, Easter marks an eternal moment in time with message that echoes through the ages: God's love is unstoppable and His goodness will always win out over the worst that you or I can ever do or even imagine.
With the terrible shootings our nation has endured these past 10 days, I believe the Easter message is needed now more than ever. It tires me a little to watch the news and hear people scramble for answers and solutions, when I know the answer has always been the Church recovering her true mission on this planet, which is bringing this unstoppable love of God to all people, everywhere. We have a message of hope that can reach any soul, even those who hide in the cover of darkness with terrible schemes of hurting their neighbors. The message of a true, loving, grace-filled Jesus Christ doesn't always reach into these spaces.
One of the key High Places founding Scriptures over the years says, "I live in a high and holy place, but also in the lowly places with the contrite and humble. I will restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courgage of those with repentant hearts." Isaiah 57:15
Because God defines Himself this way, we believe in He who is larger, bigger, and better than we can ever imagine -- but also the One who can meet us in our lowest places to heal, revive, and embolden us so that we might live our best lives in Him! That's an exciting thing in which we can place our TRUST day after day!!
This Sunday is Palm Sunday, which marks the day Jesus entered Jersualem on a donkey. Recognized leaders in this time rode powerful horses to show their weath and influence, even their military success. But Jesus rode a donkey! The Writing Was On the Wall: Jesus never came to be an earthly king and had no interest in changing people through top down approaches. Jesus came to transform us from within! Unfortunately, most of those cheering him on that day could not see it... they were still blind to the power that comes from a humble life. They still wanted the wrong kind of power -- and so these same voices who cheered him on Palm Sunday, were shouting to have him crucified a week later.
But up from the grave, He arose! Signifying the power of Godly love. We hope to see you this week and then to see you again on Easter for this great day of celebration.
In the meantime, we could use some more Easter candy, Easter eggs, and Easter Egg Candy Stuffers. Lend a hand if you can!
And don't forget if you can help with the cleaning, let Kathy Monger know this week. We're running out of time.... and yet, we have all the time in the world. We have ETERNITY in Christ!
Love to you all -- EXCITING things are happening fast! Can't wait to fill everyone in after Easter!
David
News and Notes: Doubling Down on Easter & More!
Good morning everyone!!!
Easter is just three short Sundays away and after a staff meeting yesterday, we decided we're doubling down on the celebration for our kids! All of us missed out on Easter last year in the pandemic, but we were especially burdened that our kids missed out on such a monumental church holiday and event. So to compensate for being closed last year, our hope is to double their fun this Easter!
Mrs. Kady will be collecting candy and eggs for the next TWO SUNDAY'S with the hopes of hiding twice as much as usual! We need candy purchasers, egg buyers, egg stuffers, and some volunteers on Easter Sunday to help make the occasion super-special for our Mountain Movers kid ministry. If you can assist, please email Kady.
We also hope to include a gift for every child on Easter Sunday. Right now we are looking at a few kids devotional books that are fun, easy to understand, and tell the story of Jesus. If you would like to help contribute to these gifts, just add a note in the appropriate line on the giving app at our website: https://highplaceschurch.breezechms.com/give/online - we are very thankful for the faithfulness of your giving during these trying times which enables us to do the work of God's Kingdom here in our community!
Clean, scrub, sweep, and shine! We are asking for any families who can work together in their own group (rather than doing one big work day) to get with Kathy Monger (who is amazing!) and pick a time to help polish up our building in preparation for Easter. We want to get into corners and spaces we might not normally have time to clean and try to do a "top-to-bottom" spring cleaning by doubling down on the elbow grease applied! If you can help get us ready for Easter and are willing to take a cleaning slot for just an hour or two between now and Easter, you can help make a big difference! To volunteer contact Kathy. Thank you!!!
Double Down on Feeding our City! High Places has a unique opportunity to take one Saturday per month over the late Spring / Summer months to glean from our local farmer's market and distribute that food to needy families. Through the Society of St. Andrew's Farmers Gleaning program, a small team of us will visit the farmer's market in Jackson Square on the last Saturday of the month, beginning in April, and deliver this food to needy families. I volunteered last year and it takes no more than an hour or two, and it is very rewarding. I am looking for 2-3 volunteers to assist in this ministry this Spring / Summer. Reply to this email to help.
Prayers for Comfort. Many of you may have already heard that our beloved Don Kittrell passed away yesterday. Don and Kathy have been members of High Places for a long time, bringing support and encouragement to us all faithfully for many years. Don will be sorely missed, but we celebrate his relationship to Jesus and the eternity he is enjoying now in God's presence. Please pray for Kathy, their children, and grandchildren as they walk through this valley of loss. Our extra touch team is working to share the love our church with them during this time. If you would like to volunteer to join the extra touch team at High Places, email Carmen.
Thank you all for being such a great church family. I love and miss you all, and while I do understand why we have all needed to stay apart during this pandemic, just know how deeply you are missed. I am holding out hope for a beautiful reunion time for our faith family very soon. God is doing some incredible things right now, He has truly been working in and through our church.
Love to you all,
David
News and Notes - March 4, 2021
Good morning everyone!!
The sun has been pushing through and I can feel Spring on the way -- it is marvelous!! Just a quick reminder that leaders and interested others are gathering TONIGHT at 7:00PM virtually to discuss a few upcoming items, most importantly our Easter celebration.
This Sunday we begin a new theme that has me really excited and will take us all the way up to Easter Sunday -- "The Writing is On the Wall." It comes from the book of Daniel and has everything to do with how we see and experience God, when He speaks and leads, and when others try to do the speaking for Him, which often doesn't end well! Seeing the "writing on the wall" is a spiritual practice that begins with humility and self-examination as we will see this week in the life of Job (and more specifically, Job's friends).
I hope you will join us the entire month of March, either live (in the large theater, socially distanced with masks) or virtually.
On the virtual streams, we are trying to determine the issue with the connection. We apologize that it has been choppy at times, and has fully disconnected once or twice these past weeks. Hang in there, we will get it figured out!
Great things are happening, including a brand new grant we received this week! We will discuss that in our leadership meeting, so please make plans now to attend.
Love and appreciate you all.
David
News and Notes - February 25, 2021
Good morning friends!
This Sunday we will wrap up our series, "Maturing Spiritually in Love" by looking at the transforming power love has in our lives. Our text will be from the Gospel of Luke where we read one of the recordings of a woman, so moved with love and wonder, that she washed Jesus' feet with her tears and dried his feet with her hair. While there is no definitive evidence that it is true, I have often wondered inwardly if perhaps this was the same woman that the Pharisees brought to Jesus to be stoned.
As we said last week, the world is not short of critics perhaps the worst of all being the self-criticism that we carry sometimes. In the story this week, we will see the exact opposite as the host of this dinner party Jesus attends is appauled at the idea of sinful woman even touching him. If we don't see ourselves in need of grace, we cannot be transformed by the love of God. And deeper we move into God's grace in our own lives, the most powerful the transformation.
I hope you will join us.
Easter is coming and I am hopeful that the many among us who have been nervous about attending will be in a better spot by then as the vaccine rollout continues are our county numbers keep falling. Until then, we are honored that you choose to join us virtually as you are able. The links to our virtual broadcast are the same every week --
1) www.highplaceschurch.org/livestream
2) www.facebook.com/highplaceschurch
Please join us however you are able this week. We will again meet in the large auditorum, appropriately spaced out and practicing social distancing. This is how we openly practice loving our neighbors in the pandemic and I appreciate all those who've been in compliance during our re-opening this month. It has been wonderful to see all of you each Sunday!
And believe it or not, I really could hear you all singing through your masks this week. It was wonderful!
Much love to you all. See you soon, and please stay safe out there!
David
News and Notes - February 5, 2021
High Places will resume in-person meetings this week in the large auditorium on Sunday. Please space out in theater 12, make sure you wear a mask, and let's get our first in-person gathering going for 2021! Until the case count drops below 100 and test positivity drops below 5%, I am going to strongly encourage that we arrive on time and depart promptly when dismissed as opposed to lingering inside.
We're seeing a sharp decline in active cases in our county after the holiday surge. Active cases are about 1/3 of what they were this time last month and positive test rates have fallen below 10% for our seven day average. Approximately 1 in 10 residents have already contracted CoVid-19 and we are approaching 5% of the county vaccinated.
Unfortunately hospitalization numbers have not dropped significantly. They usually lag 3-4 weeks behind a surge. Let's keep our frontline health care workers in prayer.
If all goes well, we will continue to stream live on our website www.highplaceschurch.org/livestream, as well as Facebook.
This week we begin a new four part series on maturing spiritually, starting with the theme "Love Makes us Inventors." Creativity often flows from a place of love as we learn to lean into God's Spirit for provision, protection, and care when our faith deepens. We have music, a skit, and share together God's word for the week.
I hope you'll join us at 10:30 AM on Sunday. High risk individuals are encouraged to tune into the livestream. Parents should encourage children to practice the same prevention methods they are using at school.
In other news, our kids will have a socially distance Valentine Party on Saturday, February 13 from 2:00 - 4:00 PM at the Grove. Please RSVP with Mrs. Kady as soon as you can!
“The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.”
― Barbara Kingsolver
News and Notes - January 28, 2021
Hey everyone!
This week we have a different kind of "state of the church" featuring your thoughts, creations, and hearts. I've received some great creations and additions and could use a few more... if not it might be a short service. :)
Here are the five commitments (bullet summary) for our 2030 Vision again:
1. Creating an online presence to share the love of Jesus far and wide!
2. Ensuring that we create space for "device free" connections with each other.
3. Keep our decision making focused on promoting well-being among all people.
4. Work diligently to protect the wellbeing of our environment and planet.
5. Be open to the Spirit's leading as seasons of ministry change and develop.
I hope that at least one of these speaks to you and that you can find a way to join us in expressing your heart. Pick a quote, take a picture, paint, write a poem... I even have something knitted / sewn that has already been submitted, so if working with cloth is your thing (John G.!) then send it on over! Really anything you'd like to do to contribute to the conversation is welcomed!
Saturday is the last day to submit, so reach out if you want to drop something off. we will be able to collectively BE THE CHURCH in creativity, love, and togetherness as we think together about the next ten years.
This Sunday I will broadcast from the Grove, however it won't be open for general use. Our CoVid numbers are DOWN, praise the Lord! Beginning next week (February 7th), we will reopen for in-person worship on Sundays. We will also continue to broadcast. If anything in this plan changes, I will let us know next week in News and Notes.
Sorry about our broadcast this Sunday... it just crashed and that was it. Facebook captured it, but that is the only place you can see it unfortunately -- www.facebook.com/highplaceschurch
This week we will be back on Vimeo (I hope!) and Facebook, as well as hopefully streaming on our website -- www.highplaceschurch.org/livestream
Thanks everyone and don't forget to jump in on this year's "State of the Church" -- after all the church is people, the church is YOU.
Love you all,
David
Love and miss you all. Please keep the many in our church family who are struggling with health in your prayers. Pray for comfort and healing as winters are often difficult on the health of so many.
News and Notes - June 12, 2020
During these difficult times in our nation, I wanted to pause a moment to describe how God has been speaking to me and directing my spirit (breath). As I shared this past Sunday, the metaphor of 2020 for our nation seems to be centered around breath. Both the coronavirus and the events surrounding the murder of George Floyd share the commonality of not being able to breathe. I only ask the question as a matter of prayer, but wanted to share it here for us to pray together.
Could God be trying to unite us as a people around the idea of breath itself in 2020? If so, what might that mean for us as the people of God?
As an asthmatic, I know what it means to be unable to breathe. When my lungs are triggered, an inflammatory response happens that constrict my airways and cause more of a "gasp" rather than the calm intake of air. As a minister, I have also come to appreciate the Spirit of God in the way He describes Himself, which is often as "breath."
In the Greek the word is "pneuma" and in the Hebrew the word is "ruach." The "breath" of God is both literal and spiritual. It is literal in that we are reminded in Genesis that God "breathed" life into Adam. It is spiritual, in that Jesus described God as "Spirit" -- and He said that those who "worship God must worship in Spirit (breath) and in truth (meaning).
I've seen and experienced what it means to breathe this way, but I have also seen what it means when the people of God begin to gasp, that is to say to take in this breath unevenly.
Worshipping God is the combined result of allowing God's goodness to breath into us and provide meaning for our lives. This combination leads to a life of service to one another and aligns us in the garden of God's love so that we might produce fruit that is readily identifiable in acts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, and self-control.
Breath is slow and deliberate. In the cases that we are literally breathing well, we don't even notice we're doing it. So it is with God. Whether in our individual lives, our church lives, or our political lives as citizens in our democracy, it is when we are not breathing slowly and deliberately that we notice our lack of God's breath, and that is when we begin to gasp for it. The gasp is uneven, desperate, and often rash. It tends to be reactive rather than proactive and it doesn't always bring the best out of us as Christians.
For the remainder of this month, I am asking HPCC members to breathe slowly and deliberately. In our spiritual breath, let's truly seek God for His solutions to what our communities are experiencing. I believe that He will show us where we fit in the fabric of His Kingdom in these moments. And I believe that I know each of you well enough to know you will respond to His leading in the fruits of the Spirit, which run deep in you and have sprung up from a fertile soil of a healthy church family. Pray for God's leading, for your staff, for the grace of God upon us all, and for our country.
I am attaching to this email a very general sketch of last Sunday's message and this Sunday's direction. I thought it might make our time together easier to follow as so many of us are streaming the main meeting live.
Love to each of you, first from Christ Himself, and also from me.
David