News and Notes - June 25, 2021

VENUE CHANGE THIS WEEK. This Sunday, June 27, we have an opportunity to do our main meeting on Melton Lake at the home of Lloyd and Stacy Jollay. We will begin and end at our normal time, but those willing can stay and enjoy some BBQ as well as enjoy the water a bit if they like. 

The address is 154 Walker Circle, Clinton TN, 37716 and it is located just over the Edgemore Road Bridge past the steam plant – that’s real close for any of you east-enders! We're beginning our "Sex, Soil, and Showing Up" summer series from Genesis. (Happy 2nd day of summer by the way!), and there will be a breakout area for children during our message time. Rainout, if needed, will be back at the Grove.

FOOD FOR SUNDAY. If you're able to bring a side dish (like potato salad or coleslaw, etc), please do! Also bring a lawn chair if you have one and something to drink, like a water bottle. 

BAPTISMS THIS SUMMER. If you would like to be baptized this Sunday, give me a call. We will also be baptizing on July 15th at Big Ridge State Park. If this is something you would like to do as part of your faith journey, please let me know.

SUMMER CAMP FOOD & DONATIONS. Summer camp is accepting donations – food or sponsorships for campers. I am attaching an Excel spreadsheet that Regina Wilson uses to track our food needs and incoming donations. Look that over and if you’re so inclined, sign up for something, then stick an extra package in the grocery buggy next time you shop. We are always so GRATEFUL for the support we receive every summer for camp. It builds lasting memories and relationships.

PRAYERS.  We lift up Mike Rueff and the Rueff family after the passing of his older brother this week. We also pray for baby Norah and give thanks that the heart procedure at Vanderbilt has seen some early success in her health. We pray for Danny Brannon too who was at Vanderbilt this week undergoing tests. We pray for our summer camp and the lives it will impact.

And of course, we pray for each of you and the many needs surrounding High Places!

We love and miss you,

David

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

News and Notes - June 17, 2021

Good morning High Places,

We're all set for a GREAT weekend of fun and togetherness, starting Saturday at 2:00 PM as our Mountain Movers hold their first post-pandemic party, "Mega Funfest." There will be music, entertainment, games, and art as our children gather for three hours to party and enjoy the summer with each other. For more information, or volunteer to help, contact Kady Marcotte, 865-850-3112.

Then on Sunday, we will return to the smaller auditorium to mix things up a little for Father's Day. We will have music, a children's message from Kady, a video, and then our message. The passage I have selected is from 2nd Samuel 6, which we often describe as David "dancing naked" before the Ark of the Covenant as it entered Jerusalem. In truth, he was only half naked because he wore something akin to underwear, so that's our Bible trivia for the day!

Perhaps more interesting is the criticism David faced when he got home for behaving in an "undistinguished" way before the people. We discuss the pressure men, and especially dads, face in our modern culture and how to value them for their "spiritedness" when they seem not to conform to social expectations.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THIS SUNDAY: Because I plan to show a short Ted Talk, I suspect the Facebook livestream will cut out, and perhaps drop altogether. If you plan to stream, I recommend using our Vimeo site -- www.vimeo.com/highplaces or the stream from our website, www.highplaceschurch.org

Facebook has algorithms that do not allow streaming from any other source to its livestream services. It's algorithms sometimes drop us if a particular song we sing resembles something to close to the original, or seems familiar to the software. So far, we haven't had these issues with Vimeo. For the most part, streaming will always be a dice roll - partly because we don't have enough invested in the technology to do it perfectly, and partly because so many other churches are also demanding bandwidth during that same hour.

In person attendance is always the best way to get the best High Places experience!

Last Week

We had a wonderful time at the lake last week with our graduates, and thank you Chad and staff for all you did while I was away. If you missed news and notes and/or the announcements the past few Sundays, and arrived to the Grove only to find it empty, I apologize.

We will be on the move some this summer, especially in the three weeks following Father's Day, so read carefully if you can. We will also have a sign up each week with the location of our gathering on the mobile Sundays this summer. It will be different and exciting, so plan on extra flexibility, sunshine, and a warm heart shared among friends.

Young Adults to Watch Movie, June 25

On Friday next week, our young adults and recent graduates will have a get-together at the Grove to watch the recently released movie Hosea (which is available on Amazon Prime and EXCELLENT if you haven't seen it). Hosea is a re-telling of the famous book of the Bible set in modern times, but told through a woman's perspective. It is thought-provoking and in my opinion, does maybe the best job I have seen in describing why we needed Jesus to be a bridge to God for us -- and it accomplishes this without be preachy or churchy in any way.

The movie comes with a warning however (it is rated R) and has a few scenes that can be triggering, most especially to those who've experienced violence or sexual abuse. These moments will be marked during the showing of the film and we will pause to allow any who need to step out a moment to do so.

Young adult movie night begins at 7:00 PM with the film, and a discussion to follow.


Post-Pandemic Church

We're back to in-person gatherings, but still mostly trying to figure out what a post-pandemic High Places will look like. We added several new families during 2020 and early 2021. Many of them would love to meet our entire High Places family, but we haven't managed to get us all back together at the same time. We've been slow to return, many for good reasons involving health at the Coronavirus.

We will trust that folks will return on their own time and at their own pace. Just know you're missed, not just by High Places staff and regulars, but by new families too who would like to meet the whole High Places family.

Until then, stay safe and take care of yourselves. Know that you are loved, and that we're still here busy being us... busy being awesome. :)

Love to you all,

David

"Without love, and a little effort, we run the risk of being quarantined by more than a virus."
~ Pastor Dave

News and Notes - June 10, 2021

Summer is here, summer is here!!!! The pools are open, the beach is calling and the sun is well its not shining this week but Sunday looks good. This Sunday June 13, we will be meeting at Clark Park at our regular time to celebrate our graduating high school seniors. It is mind-blowing to me each and every year when these students walk the stage and I see how many of them have a connection to High Places. It is truly a blessing to get to serve our students through High Places. This year we will celebrate our students from 2021 as well as those from last year as we were unable to get together. We will have burgers and we ask that people bring sides to go with burgers and bring a chair. Robbie and Molly will be there to jam out.

With the summer arriving there are so many things going on in the life of High Places. June 20 we will return to the Grove for Father's Day Sunday. The 3 Sundays following Father's Day are still open as we explore two ideas. One is that we meet at a different park each Sunday. The other is that we meet in people's back yards for a back porch Sunday gathering. If you would be willing to host a back porch Sunday then please let us know as we are looking to have a High Place's Highly Mobile Summer. These 3 weeks we will be looking at the first 3 things that God asks us as humans to do. The title is still under works and open to suggestions so feel free to send yours in for our series currently called, "Sex, Soil, and Showing Up".

On Saturday June 19th our Mountain Movers will be having MEGA Funfest for children K-5th at the Grove Theater from 2-5 pm. Kady is still in need of volunteers, as well as various other needs that go along with hosting an event like this that went out to all elementary schools. If you want to help please contact Kady Marcotte.

This summer our youth with be returning to Big Ridge State Park July 12-17 for our much anticipated, because it was the theme last year, Stranger Things Camp 2021. There are always needs such as supplies, kitchen food needs, people to help transport, people to go up Sunday before and prep camp, and prayer of course. This is always a big thing for our students and to keep it affordable for all students at $49 it takes the generosity and love of all our High Places family. You all go above and beyond every year for our camp by showing your love and support and I could not be more blessed to be the youth pastor at a church that invests so greatly in both our children and our youth, and I truly appreciate everything you all do for our students.

Finally, at the end of the summer we will be hosting Chili Dog Days of Summer. A summer ending concert with various performs. There will be many ways to help out and we will let you know more as more details get ironed out. Its going to be a great summer!!!!

Hope to see you all face to face this weekend at Clark Park and love you all. Have a blessed rest of the week and a great weekend.

Remember our fearless leader, David Allred and his wonderful family as the are soaking it up on vacation this week. May you and your family have an amazing time and hope you are getting lots of rest and relaxation cause its bout the get busy this summer. Love you all and we are blessed to have such an incredible family leading the way for us as God leads them.

News and Notes - June 3, 2021

Good morning and Welcome to June!

It's hard to believe this year is flying by so fast! Summer is coming, and with comes all the sunshine and fun associated with swimming pools, the smell of sun screen, garden crops, beach trips, Mega Fun Fest, and of course Big Ridge State Park! We're going to have a great time with our High Places family this summer and we hope you will come and be a part.

This Sunday, Chad O'Neal will be sharing from his heart and giving us a sneak peak into a few thoughts he will share at our annual summer camp, "Stranger Things." Taking the analogy of the "flea and the acrobat" he will share with us about walking in God's world.

Sunday, June 13 we will honor our graduates at Clark Park. So if you have a graduate -- bring them! If you don't, come honor ours and bring a side dish that goes with burgers (chips, potato salad, baked beans, or a dessert). We hope to cook out and kick summer off right with some good outdoors. Pray for good weather!

We will return to the Grove for Father's Day on June 20, before possibly hitting the road again in a return to High Places' Highly Mobile Summer. Plans are still in the works, so be sure to stay tuned to News and Notes this summer so you know where we are and what's going on. We're a church that likes to go and do, so we're bringing worship with us to spaces in Oak Ridge for a few weeks in late June / early July as we explore the first three things God asked us to do in Genesis.

A lot of alternative titles have been floating around for this series that I am calling, "Sex, Soil, and Showing Up," to submit your title just for fun, read Genesis and notice the first three things God asks humans to do... 1) Be fruitful and multiply, 2) Be a steward of the Earth (dominion), and 3) Don't eat from the tree of knowledge and good and evil. Submit your creative title using alliteration by responding to this email, the winner gets something special. :)

Saturday, June 19 is MEGA Funfest for all our children and their friends, hosted here at the Grove Theater from 2:00 - 5:00 PM. If you have a K-5 child or grandchild, be sure to pass this along and invite them to a GREAT day of learning about God's love for them and overcoming fear in the power of Jesus. They will enjoy crafts, games, art, and good food. :)

So excited for this great summer of fun as we crawl out from under the pandemic and social distancing, and get moving into our community doing the things we love.

Prayers for Claire Jollay and husband Peyton who are expecting their first addition to the family this week, baby Nora. We pray for them, for a safe and healthy momma and baby. Be sure to tell them how much you love them the very first days we see them back.

Love to you all!

David


"Be Excellent to One Another!" ~ Bill and Ted

News and Notes - May 28, 2021

Good morning High Places and Happy Memorial Day Weekend. As we pause to honor our fallen this weekend, we will also be continuing in our theme, "No Trespassing." When nations trespass on nations, war is often the end result. War lies outside of God's vision for us as human beings and reflects our fallen nature. Jesus promised us that there would "wars and the rumors of wars" through history, recognizing that inside of all humanity is the tendency to live outside God's wishes. We also know that in the end, when things are finally made right by Jesus and the Kingdom of God is established on Earth, there will be no more war. Until that time, we grieve not only our fallen soldiers, but our fallen state as human beings. And we long for the day that God will establish justice on the Earth.

On Thursday, June 3rd we will host another "Bible Question and Answer Session" at 7:00 PM at the Grove. This will also be broadcast live, so if there are questions you have or things you've always wanted to discuss about the Bible, feel free to stop on by, or tune in online.

On Sunday, June 13, our plan is to meet at Clark Center Park for our annual honoring of High Places graduates. Last night was a wonderful graduation celebration at Blankenship Field and I was, as most years, extremely taken back by the number of students our ministries have reached. Dozens of graduates were either directly connected to High Places, or have attended our church events. It was truly a blessing to see them, and we want to wish all our 2021 graduates a heartfelt "Congratulations."

More details on this gathering are coming soon, but we are hoping to re-embrace the tradition of a cookout and grand fellowship there under the large pavilion. This service will NOT be broadcast, so be sure to come out in person if you are comfortable and able.

Love to you all. Enjoy this weekend, you deserve it!

David


“You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one.”
~ John Lennon

News and Notes - May 20, 2021

Happy Thursday High Places,

We meet again this week for another look into our theme of "No Trespassing." In the Old Testament we read about God's faith family sort of refusing to walk where God said they could. The result wasn't great, to say the least! What lessons can we learn about walking with God as a modern day faith family in Oak Ridge, TN? All this and more on Sunday!

I may need an extra helper the last Saturday in May at the Farmer's Market as we glean vegetables for those in need. The farmer's are always very generous and we have lots of folks in our community experiencing food scarcity. If you have an hour around 11:30 or Noon, please let me know. One additional volunteer should do it!

We'll keep it short and sweet this week. Thank you all for your continued support, in prayer, in presence, and in your giving. It means the world. We have a lot of needs circulating in and around our church right now and it is always a comfort to know we're the sort willing to show up and do what is needed. Personally, I think you are all down right amazing!

As always, please keep our church and the many we serve in your prayers.

We love you!

David

“I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I'm more afraid of succeeding at things that don't matter at all.” ― Bob Goff

News and Notes - May 14, 2021

Happy Springtime Thursday everyone!

This Sunday, we start a new theme: "NO TRESPASSING!" The idea comes from the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:12, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Let's be honest, it is a strange word and it raises some questions for us to dive into like....

-- Why do some Bibles say "debt" and others say "trespass?" Those seem like two really different words.
-- Is trespass the same as sin? If so, why didn't Jesus just say "sin?" He says sin in a lot of other places, almost twice as much as he says "trespass."
-- Does a person always know when they trespass? And who are we trespassing against? If we are asked to forgive others when they trespass, does that mean someone can cross a line, not just with God, but with us?
-- Does God still love me when I get caught trespassing? (Hint: See the email title!)

These questions and more await us, starting this Sunday! We sure hope you will join us in person this week, it can feel a little lonely at times in that big old theater. Why not set the alarm, grab an extra cup of java, bring a friend, and come on down!

Besides -- and this is for all of us old hats around High Places -- we have a BUNCH of new faces to meet who've joined us over the pandemic. Come meet someone new this week, and try not to trespass on them (or else you might get loved in return). :)

Also, on Wednesday we will make our FINAL breakfast delivery of the year to the Oak Ridge High School staff. Would you be willing to bring some bagels, donuts, or other goodies to me on Sunday or early next week so we can shower our teachers one last time for the school year? Thank you so much!

Love you all,

David


The perfect church service, would be one we were almost unaware of. Our attention would have been on God. – C.S. Lewis


Grace is not God saying, "It's OK, I'll be a good guy and forgive you." It's God saying, "I love the world too much to let your sin define you and be the final word. I am a God who makes all things new." ~ Nadia Bolz-Weber

News and Notes - May 7, 2021

Good Friday morning beautiful people!

First of all, happy Mother's Day weekend to all our HPCC moms... and as we will see this week, that includes some of you who've never had children too, as Jesus' definition for motherhood is open and expansive! Those of you beautiful ladies who have had children, may you have an extra dose of love surrounding you this Mother's Day weekend, what you do week in and week out is nothing short of amazing and we want to honor you. 

Our wise-and-principled founding pastor Martin Fischer always taught us that no matter who we are, we all have moms. Mothers are something we all have in common, with some of those relationships going very deep and others filled with longing for better connection. However your life with mom is going, or has gone, we hope you will join us as we look in the Bible for images of what God desires in Mother's Heart. 

This week we will look at Solomon, considered the most wise (although maybe not always principled!) figure in the Old Testament. Solomon has to apply his wisdom to determine the hearts of two mothers who are at odds with each other. In that story, it is revealed to us what the heart of the mother truly is, and as I prayed through these verse this week, my own wife and my mother came to mind, but so did MANY of you High Places women who have loved and nurtured me through the years. 

God has truly blessed us with rich, deeply beautiful mothers' hearts -- proving that Jesus' qualifications for Motherhood are really eternal and do make a difference in the world!

I am super-excited to share this day with you all on Sunday. And in my studies this week, I have been wrestling with my own heart and praying that God will give me a Mother's heart too. He can and He will, I believe, so if you're a man out there reading this, I promise God's Word has something for you too because He has had something for me in the passages we will read together. 

We pray together for the tenderness that comes from God, and the passion of Jesus, who Himself said, "Oh my people, that I could gather you as Mother hen beneath my wings." May we always be a church populated with Mother's hearts!!

Bring mom if you can, 10:30 AM at the Grove on Sunday. If mom has passed on, or happens to live far away and cannot come, then bring something with you that warms your heart when you think of her. 

We love you all so much!

David

• “A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” —Tenneva Jordan

News and Notes - April 29, 2021

We took a side trip down Peter’s life last week, looking at a parable he heard Jesus tell the crowds about what it takes to be a “follower” of Jesus – audacious availability! Jesus’ demand that His followers are 100% sold to the mission to put God above all else can hit us hard in our busy, modern world. On the journey to becoming faithful, available, and teachable was a reminder that sometimes there is a cost, and that Jesus asks us to count that cost before saying yes.

This Sunday we return directly to Peter’s story. We will pick up just a few short days after he denied Jesus three times when Jesus was crucified. Peter is wandering internally, overcome with guilt, feeling lost and confused after Jesus’ death. In fact, we’re told that as disciples were debating back and forth about what the resurrection might mean, Peter just abruptly turns to them and says – “I am going fishing.”

When we stop to think about it, in some ways Peter is telling the group – “I have no idea what’s happening, but before Jesus, I was making my living fishing. I am going back to revisit that life.”

Maybe Peter just wanted to fish… or maybe he was doing exactly what Jesus said not to do when it comes to our availability. Maybe Peter had put his “hand to the plow and looked back again.” Thankfully, Jesus meets Peter right where he is in the moment to softly call him back to work as a disciple. It’s a wonderful teachable moment recorded at the very end of the Gospel of John.

We sure hope you’ll join us this week! Sunday at 10:30 AM at the Grove Theater, 123 Randolph Road. Bring a smile and don’t be afraid to show it!

Reminder: Monday May 3rd at 7:00pm we will meet in the lobby for a Q&A time about the Bible. If you’ve ever had questions that you ever wanted to ask about God, or the Bible and the way it relates to our lives, come on down – or tune into our livestream of this session.

Baby Dedications will be held on Mother’s Day, Sunday May 9th. If you’ve recently had a new edition and want to dedicate your child and family to God, High Places traditionally does this on Mother’s Day. In the time together, we make commitments both as a family unit and as a church family, to lift your journey with your child up to God in prayer. For more details, please contact Kady Marcotte – or reply here to this message and we’ll get that ball rolling.

Thanks everyone! May is here and I suspect by the end of this month most anyone who wants a vaccine will have had the opportunity to receive one. As we close out Spring, we will do so with an increasingly level of freedom with regards to masks and social distancing. Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks!

Love you all, and praise be to God for His wonderful love.

David

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.

Psalms 143:8

News and Notes- April 23, 2021

Good morning High Places,

We continue this Sunday talking about F-A-T, or becoming increasingly faithful, available, and teachable as God prepares High Places for life post-pandemic. Last week we saw Peter's faithfulness, without it God wouldn't have placed so many teachable moments into his life, moments that have been written down for us so that we too can be taught. The storm and Peter's courage to follow Jesus onto the seas, teach us that God will take our faithfulness and use it to teach us a deep faith, a reliance on Him and Him alone in the storms of our lives.

This week, we will talk about "availablity." The kind of availablity that Jesus calls us to is audacious. (See what I did there using assonance you literary types?)... we will be looking at some of the radical sayings of Jesus when it comes to following Him, and taking a peek into one of the most crippling things in the lives of Christ-followers: Busyness!

"We are going as fast as we can, living life at a dizzying speed, and God is nowhere to be found. We're not rejecting God; we just don't have time for him. We've lost him in the blurred landscape as we rush to church. We don't struggle with the Bible, but with the clock. It's not that we're too decadent; we're too busy. We don't feel guilty because of sin, but because we have no time for our spouses, our children, or our God. It's not sinning too much that's killing our souls, it's our schedule that's annihilating us.”

~ Mike Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality

Availability is maybe our biggest challenge in a world saturated with commitments, responsibilities, work, and a culture that is always pushing us for more. Jesus had some super-difficult things to say about busyness, and he issued some pretty hard challenges to those following him. We will look at some of those this Sunday and pray for more availability in our lives to follow Jesus in our time-crunch culture! We hope you will join us!

On Monday, May 3rd at 7:00PM, any who'd like to come are invited to a Bible Question and Answer time for an hour in the lobby. We will stream it live and take questions from the virtual world too. If there is a Biblical idea or a thought, doesn't have to be deep or profound, that always been a head-scratcher for you, bring it to this event. I won't promise to know the answers, but I will promise to be completely honest with us in my responses. My life is full of questions too, and sometimes the questions are more valuable to God than the answers... at least we see Jesus living that way!

This Saturday if there's another person who'd like to glean produce from the Farmer's Market here in Oak Ridge and distribute to a needy population, we want to invite you to join us. It's early in the season so there isn't as much to do as there will be later this summer, but the work is still rewarding! Let's continue to work together and brainstorm ways of helping address food scarcity in Oak Ridge (yes, this is a real thing!).

Finally, let's all be in prayer about the way we show love to our neighbors in these trying times. Smiles are returning from beneath masks. Hugs are returning as we re-gather together. There are painful stories that some need to share, and joyful responses that some are ready to give. Let's continue to BE THE CHURCH in new, exciting ways post-pandemic.

More than anything else, I want to encourage us all to take a quiet walk this week. Feel the breeze of Spring, and as we inhale, allow a spirit of gratitude to overtake us. Life is short, the people and things around us are fragile. But there is a wonderful sweetness to it all that I believe God wants us to take inside and treasure.

Much love to you all,

David