Good Thursday morning everyone and hopefully a beautiful one for you today!
Last Sunday we began our series, "Beauty Will Save the World" which is based on the Brian Zahnd book of the same name. We will stay with this theme through Easter, and perhaps one week beyond. To celebrate the theme and put some things into practice, we have some unique opportunities as a church family.
#1 I am working to get Peter Mayer back, virtually, to do a livestream concert for us. Many of us know and love Peter and our High Places relationship with him goes way back. For those who don't know his music, you're in for a treat. (Note this isn't the Peter Mayer who plays guitar for Jimmy Buffett, but the Minnesota native, https://www.petermayer.net/). I will keep us up-to-date on which Sunday he will sing for us. If you would like to contribute a special offering to help us bring Pete, please let Marilyn know.
#2 On Sunday, April 10 (Passover) we are tentatively looking at a special time after our main meeting to learn about butterfly and flower gardening from Rebecca Rupp. If you've ever been interested in supporting pollinators in your own yard, stick around that Sunday afternoon to learn a few tips and take a few seeds! Thank you Rebecca for offering this to us as we celebrate beauty in this message series!
#3 Also on Sunday, April 10 we have a great opportunity to make beautiful music as Tom Giles will be hosting harmonica lessons in the lobby at 9:30 AM. Bring your harmonica (in the key of C or G) and get ready to have a blast making music with Tommy!
#4 On Saturday, April 9 we will have a beautification day at the Grove to get this polished up for Easter. We will need lots of hands as we clean up and clean out some needed areas, as well as hands to help prepare our flower beds. We will plan to get moving around 10:00 AM and hopefully be wrapped up by lunch. Make plans now to help us out if you would please!
#5 Does it get much more beautiful than Norris Lake in the springtime???!!?? April 1-3 is our adult retreat and we still have room for those who'd like to attend. We will have some great fellowship time, good conversations, and some deep dives into our faith journeys. We truly WANT you to be there! Please let me know ASAP if you can come!
Lakeside views, Flowers, Harmonicas, Great Music from Pete, and a Grove beautification day make for EXCELLENT opportunities to 'practice what we're preachin' for the next several weeks! Let's shake off any lingering post-pandemic malaise and get back to celebrating life together at High Places.
Finally, just a reminder that Monday thru Fridays the community is invited to pray for Ukraine at the peace bell from 11:45 -12:00. Different pastors are leading each day, and today's my day - so come see me in about an hour if you read this in time!
Much love to each of you. And may the beauty and wonder of Christ fill you today!
David
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11
News and Notes - February 17, 2022
Good morning High Places,
As we wind down our current theme, “Unless a Seed Falls” we hope you’ll join us for the concluding messages this Sunday and next. Culture is so often adrift with despair, narcissism, anger, and greed that we need the re-telling of Christ’s call to take up our own cross and follow. While pick-me-up messages do our souls good at times, and all of us need to be reminded of how incredibly beautiful we are in the eyes of God, we also need to be reminded that this life really isn’t about us, nor was it intended to be. We’re here to enjoy the majesty of God, surrender to his calling on our lives, and sacrificially co-create the Kingdom of God in partnership with the Holy Spirit.
As I move in and around our community, I am forever grateful for a church that has been organized around this idea, and one that is bearing real fruit in our community, even if often unnoticed. As we consciously make efforts to “decrease” (as we saw in John’s Gospel), we see the awesome presence of God “increase” in our lives and ministries. I pray for you today, and your ministries, which I know are ongoing well beyond the boundaries of a Sunday morning attendance. And I trust that even within those I miss and haven’t seen, the abundant fruit of all you offer those in your circles day in and day out is bringing glory to God.
News and Notes for Your Prayer and Consideration –
1. Speaking of beauty, our next message series begins in March, and is based on a quote from Dostoevsky, “beauty will save the world.” I hope you will eagerly anticipate opening God’s word with us in the month of March because this theme, I believe, is not only is a perfect match for Springtime, but will also prepare our hearts for Easter.
2. Speaking of Springtime, we have a great opportunity to enjoy it for a weekend at our annual adult retreat. (Yes, we are back – covid be gone!). April 1-3 we will retreat to a house on Norris Lake for a weekend of bible study and fellowship. I need a clear count of who is planning to attend in the next couple of weeks. Please see the attached flyer.
3. On Saturday, March 5 we will host our annual “Friends of the Grove” champagne brunch for our community partners who use the theater. If you are interested in helping with that brunch, or just want to attend and meet some of our friends in Oak Ridge, please let me know by replying to this email.
4. On Saturday, April 30 we will hold our 2nd Quarter community concert with proceeds going to the “Oak Ridge Fund for Achieving Community Excellence.” There’s some talk about whether we call this a “Blues and BBQ Concert” or a “Bluegrass and BBQ Concert.” I think it will really boil down to who I can find to play for us. If you have any band connections in those two genres, let me know by replying to this email.
5. We have some benevolence needs that could use a little time and financial resources applied. If you have either, or both, please let me know and I can connect you to those needs.
Easter is on the way as well folks, so be in PRAYER about who God might be leading you to invite to join us on that celebration Sunday. It’s an incredible opportunity for outreach, and may God lead you precisely and His power and timing to those in your circle who are unchurched and in need of the great HOPE we have in Jesus.
Blessing to you all,
David
News and Notes - March 10, 2022
Good Thursday High Places,
If you'd like to scroll down to the section of our news and notes, I have them in bold below. The following section I offer my thoughts on Ukraine and encouragements, on how we as the people of God, can pray for peace. I want to begin by saying that I do not feel as though I am making political statements here, rather theological ones. Mentoring and leading a church to think theologically about the power of Christ in our modern world feels like part of my job description. If you see or feel this differently, I am always open to coffee and discussion.
I want to begin with the acknowledgment that Jesus took three occasions to bring theology to bear on the political world he lived in, the Roman Empire, which was perhaps the most corrupt and violent in human history. Given how corrupt and violent the politics of his day truly were, we should begin by giving ourselves pause as to how we engage in our political lives. Clearly, political comments were LOW on the agenda of Jesus. His primary focus was to "do what he saw His father doing." The three times that I am aware of Jesus making a seemingly political statements were, 1) His denunciation of King Harrod (a public outcry, as his cousin John had made, about the morality of the Jewish king), 2) An admonishment to not get wrapped up debates about taxation (give Caesar what is Caesar's and give God what is God's.), 3) An open invitation to Pontius Pilate to explore the nature of God's truth in relationship to human power.
I encourage the church to examine these three instances because I believe they speak to us a timeless truth about God's view of human political affairs. Those being chiefly that we need not be afraid to voice immorality in leadership when it is encountered, that the business side of government belongs to the temporary kingdoms of men and hardly worth our time, and that at every opportunity we are encouraged to speak eternal truths to human power, even at the risk of execution.
No one looking at Ukraine can do so honestly without recognizing the complexities of time, history, and the progressive revelation of God's great unveiling of human worth through the mechanism of historic democracy. That we "hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable human rights" is as much a spiritual statement as it is a political one. When we think theologically about the opening lines of our bill of rights, we see God's ultimate hope of 'shalom,' or peace, in the center of a democratic belief system.
This is not to say that the lines between good and evil are all that clear, mostly because within all of us there lives the propensity to live our lives independently of God and His great hopes for us all that were revealed in Jesus Christ. We know this to be true simply by looking at the Russian treatment of their own soldiers in this conflict. Each division of Russian troops is accompanied by a crematorium prepared to burn the bodies of their dead on the spot, as opposed to returning them to their mothers and fathers to be buried. The Russian soldier, who bears the brunt of his country's systemic evil, is as much the victim in many ways as the Ukrainian he seeks to kill. And the soldier's family is intrinsically reminded of the low value their dead soldier's life is worth in a system arranged and organized by a governance that does not reflect the value of human life.
Likewise, with indiscriminate shelling and bombardment of civilian centers, terror has become a tool of the Russian state, which places little value on the sacredness of life, not for its own soldiers, and certainly not for the enemy it fights against. All of those lives wrapped in the conflict are reduced in their humanity and placed under the shadow of an evil system of governance. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, "We do not fight against flesh and blood (people), but against principalities and powers and authorities in our dark world, and against the spiritual forces that abide in heavenly places."
The core concepts of warfare are revealed here in that the Russian soldier is quite likely just as much a victim of the worldly and godless power of his government as in the Ukrainian. It is from these spaces that we too look to our own entrapments in free societies, and to our own abuses of humanity, and we together accept and realize that each of us is likely in some way bound up in systems of violence and injustice for which we seek constant confession, healing, and transformation. The darkness, while perhaps not each individually owned in a conscious way, still guides all of the human race when it operates apart from Christ Jesus and the transcendent love he provides.
As we pray for Ukraine, we begin in earnest recognition of our own shortcomings and need for healing. Then we pray for the innocent to be protected. I heard from a friend who knows a pastor in Ukraine who texted him to say, "Tell the American Church that their prayers are working. Russian tanks are breaking down. Vehicles running out of fuel. Entire divisions being stopped in their tracks. Tell your church to keep praying." And this we will pray, that somehow in God's supernatural provision, He will intervene to protect the innocents in the line of slaughter wrought by a godless system of government which does not recognize the dignity of each person. Just as, I hope and trust, many were praying for our nation as we slaughtered the Native American people and held fast to three centuries of brutality in slavery, thus compromising the teachings of Christ and violating our own founding documents as a people.
We pray also for the aggressor in this war, most likely a common Russian teenager or young adult, who by no will of his own, has been placed into the arena of suffering. We pray that their commanders recognize the sinfulness of this brutality and turn their aggression upon the real evil at work in their nation, which are the very powers and principalities of which Paul wrote 2,000 years ago. We pray for both sides to lay down arms and flee the violence to pursue the path of Christ.
In the event that these prayers seem to remain unanswered, we are left with the heartfelt request to God about how to respond. Those responses are varied in the Scripture, and there is evidence for a variety of them to be employed. We pray for wisdom as to which of these to pursue. Personally, I subscribe to the "Just Peace" theology of conflict (as opposed to the "Just War" theology). A Just Peace theology holds at the center that justice and peace are intertwined, and that when one is removed, the other is lost. A Just Peace theology is not against war, but instead will only see war as an instrument of maintaining peace and justice. It does not see combatants as the enemy, but rather sees systemic and organizational structures as being enemies of the Gospel, of God's Shalom, and it responds in any number of ways necessary to re-establish the link between justice and peace as God directs.
I recognize that your mileage may vary on these, and perhaps other issues. My only prayer is that we, as the redeemed of God, move as He commands, and in the order He commanded in Micah 6:8 -- that we first seek justice, a second that we love mercy (because mercy cannot exist without justice), and that we do all this by "walking humbly with our God."
I pray for all parties involved in this conflict, and pray for God to bring swift resolution for HIS name sake. Amen.
NEW AND NOTES
We've been blessed to have Orion Wilson working with our staff for this past year. As his grant time comes to a close, I've asked if he would share with us this Sunday about his journey. Orion has been immensely faithful and available in all he has put his heart into this last year (and before that too!). We've spent time working through our core beliefs and growing teachable to round off the High Places FAT metaphor so many of you have heard so often. Please come and lend him your support this Sunday as he shares.
April 1-3 is our adult retreat. If you plan to attend, please let me know. I am again attaching the flyer to this email. It's going to be a great weekend and I certainly hope you'll prayerfully consider being a part.
Much love to you all. Please pray for God to continue moving in the hearts of so many in our broken world. And pray for those displaced and suffering because of this egregious act of violence on the civilized world.
In Him,
David
News and Notes - March 4, 2022
Good Friday morning High Places,
We welcome March with some beautiful weather and we hope you're enjoying some of the best that East TN has to offer when the sun first begins to show off after a long winter. Soon, the colors will return and Spring will be sprung! We offer praise to God for the seasons and the cycles of life, all reminders of how life, death, and rebirth are woven into His creation and reveal His nature, making all things beautiful in His time.
Tony South Celebration this Sunday. This Sunday we will remember Tony with some of his favorite songs, a skit, popcorn (I hope!), and a message on the Scriptures that captured Tony's life. We continue to pray for Pam in this time of loss. I hope everyone will be out to celebrate this special Sunday as we honor, remember, and celebrate Tony.
Community Partner Brunch this Saturday. At 10:30 AM tomorrow, we're hosting many of our community partners in the lobby at the Grove. Our friends from the symphony, ballet, numerous local dance troupes, cub scouts, Sound Company, Secret City Improv festival, and more will be in attendance. If you've ever wanted to meet some of the folks that High Places ministry touches, feel free to come on down!
Also Tomorrow! "Snowed In!" Our Mountain Movers Children's ministry will have a winter close-out party from 2:00 - 4:00 PM. Kids can enjoy a winter "escape" game, treats, and fellowship as Kady and volunteers lead them through a fun Saturday afternoon. If you'd like to volunteer, please come on down there is always room to love on our HPCC kids, and typically lots to do for setting up and tearing down afterward.
Next Sunday, March 13, Orion Wilson will share. Our year-long grant from the Forum on Theological Education ends April 1st. That grant has enabled us to pay Orion a little bit each month to attend our staff meetings, learn our theology and philosophy of ministry, and practice some of it with our young adult population. We look forward to hearing from him next week and are grateful for the many gifts he brings High Places in service to God.
On Sunday March 20, we begin our series that will carry us through Easter, Beauty Will Save the World. The messages will be loose adaptations of Brian Zahnd's book of the same name. If the concept grabs you, feel free to read ahead in preparation, you can grab the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Will-Save-World-Rediscovering/dp/1616385855
Adult Retreat April 1-3, we have a wonderful spot reserved on Norris Lake for the first weekend in April and we would love you to join us! Our theme is "Canoeing the Mountains" and because someone asked, "No" we won't really be canoeing! The theme is based on a book by Tod Bolsinger and is subtitled, Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory. It seemed fitting as we emerge from COVID-19 and in the changing landscape of church culture and attendance, to look at some of the key concepts Bolsinger presents in a uniquely High Places fashion. I have attached the flyer with more details below.
April 30th "Bluegrass and BBQ." Our second quarter non-profit benefit concert will be held the last Saturday of April. Our friends from Dark Hollow Band will be helping lead the way, with additions from Carteret (who you may have heard open the January Jams show), and our own Sebron Taylor Coleman. Proceeds will benefit the Oak Ridge Fund for Achieving Community Excellence. Stay tuned for more on this exciting event coming soon.
Also coming soon, a High Places clean-up / work day. Or as one of our members put it this week, "Let's gather up what we don't want and put in High Places purgatory for week, if no one claims it let's haul it off" day. We want the building in tip top shape for Easter, so look for a lot of opportunities to paint, clean, plant flowers, and tidy up in the coming weeks.
As you can see, we are beginning our Spring quarter with LOTS happening. As we move forward, please be in prayer about how you might serve, or be served, by these opportunities. Also be in prayer for the many we have not seen during covid outbreak, and pray for opportunities for our whole church to be together again post-pandemic. I read an interesting article last week from Tish Harrison Warren in the NY Times entitled, "Why Church Should Drop Their Online Services" that I found interesting. The basic premise was that holding church in person brings the embodiment and love that we all need as human beings while eliminating isolation and echo chambers that can be created when we aren't actively creating community with others. She also pointed out that ministering to homebound and shut-ins has never been something new for churches and that by counting "virtual" services as that ministry we miss opportunities to train trustworthy servants in ministry to help reach these populations.
We have no plans to cancel our virtual streaming, but I confess that I have considered it. Currently I view the online platform as another opportunity to reach people -- many of whom watch us regularly from far away places, even some of us when we travel! We are going to continue broadcasting, but I do ask, that if virtual attendance has become a substitute for gathering together if you are able to come in person, that you prayerfully consider the impact that has both on you and your family, but on us as well. The gift of your smile, your voice, or your embrace are gifts that don't pass back through the computer monitor. And the overall spirit of the small auditorium is fuller and more complete when you are present. There's certainly no shame in not attending in person, but please prayerfully consider all that you add when you are with us in person.
We also continue to pray for Pam in the loss of Tony, and for Katie Fischer in the passing of her father. Let each of us pray about how we might be comforters to them in this time of loss. Pray for our "touching, teaching, training" ministries this week as well, most especially pray that God would continue to send those He desires to both be discipled, and to disciple others. Look for a new bible study series soon... as God leads. Pray for our staff and the many we serve, and know that our staff is praying for you.
Much love to you all,
David
See attachments....
News and Notes - January 26, 2022
Happy Wednesday High Places!
I am hoping that everyone is over the covid hump, I knew of several of us who've been out the past two weeks due to the illness, and of course, I was out the first two weeks of the month with it myself. Feels like I haven't seen some of you since before Christmas.... cause... well, I haven't! I am beyond ready to be past this miserable virus!
January Jams
We are moving ahead with our January Jams concert on Saturday knowing that attendance may very well be affected due to covid, but also knowing that there are a lot of people coming out of quarantine and isolation with natural immunities and a great excitement to just be out of house again.
The show begins at 7:00 PM and will run until about 10:00 PM. This is a great opportunity to meet new faces, share some joy, and build a better community together. Our proceeds from this quarter's concert will benefit the Anderson County Family Justice Center. So we hope you will come out and enjoy a great show for a great cause!
No amount of advertising works better than word of mouth and personal invites. So if you know someone who loves good music, would enjoy a night out, and wants to benefit a local non-profit while having a good time, please personally invite them to come to the show. It's also a great segue into inviting them to a High Places main meeting one Sunday and closing the gap between church and community work. Believe it or not, we actually design things this way! We want folks to feel comfortable, to know who were are and what we're about. We see building the community as Kingdom work and when people get to know us, our hope is they realize that underneath it all is a real passion for maximizing the GRACE and PRESENCE of GOD in Oak Ridge and beyond!
A word about alcohol at our events....
I was extremely disappointed to read a comment on the FB page "What's Happening Now in Oak Ridge" that the Grove Theater only hosts events that serve alcohol. The comment was made and quickly taken down after I replied some core facts:
1. On the 23rd, 23 days into 2022, the Grove had hosted 37 events, groups, or activities. Only seven of those were formal High Places Church gatherings. First of all, praise God! Our doors have been open to the community 37 times in 23 days. That is truly amazing and something worth shouting about!
2. Of those 37 events, groups, and activities -- only two had a beer stand, and of those two, one of them, The Knox School of Rock, donated all the proceeds back to the theater. That's a far cry from stating that all the events we host serve alcohol.
3. Our staff is always open to discuss this sensitive issue with any member of our church or our community. We recognize how divisive this issue can be, and want to be especially careful in how we communicate what we do and why we do it. We certainly understand, and even appreciate, when people have reservations about alcohol in a public event. I probably have as many reservations as most people, but habitually take those to prayer.
4. Finally, it's good to remember that Jesus encountered a great deal of criticism in His day for his stances on any number of hot-button issues, including alcohol. We aren't Jesus, but we have been given a measure of His goodness and grace through the Holy Spirit. Our movement in this world will always be subjected to criticism, and our aim is to remain "wise as serpents, but innocent as doves" as Jesus instructed. Jesus was a master tactician when it came to stretching comfort zones for the sake of the Kingdom. He's our General, we take marching orders from Him, and our deepest desire is to be like Him. That requires freedom to be open, and to have an openness in our freedom that always ensures it aligns with God's word.
Like I mentioned, the post was taken down pretty quickly. It still bothered me, and it served as a reminder that some folks are always watching us. Let's be prudent and wise this Saturday, demonstrating grace and integrity in our walk with Christ. In all things, let's be an example for those who don't believe, as Paul stated, while letting no one try to shackle the freedom we have in Christ. Our profile quality states this as being "wise and principled people," which is exactly what we aim to be in Him!
This Sunday
Part two of "Unless a Seed Falls." I would say that I miss you guys, but I think that's how I opened this note. Instead, let me say that things are churning around inside me with this series, and that above all else, I covet your prayers.
If you have some time to arrive early Saturday and help with set-up, or if you can stay later and help with clean up, it is much appreciated. Pray for this weekend, pray for the Holy Spirit to be at work as we work to build bridges and make connections that we pray will impact eternity.
In Him,
David
News and Notes - January 20, 2022
Good Thursday Morning High Places!
I think about one third of everyone I talked to this week has a covid in their home (or they have it themselves). This includes both church and community conversations. We’re in the middle of what I hope will be our last big wave of illness as natural immunities begin to build and take hold in the population. In the meantime, if you are immune compromised or have a pre-existing condition that puts you at greater risk from this virus, please stay home this Sunday and watch us virtually.
If this isn’t you and provided you aren’t currently sick, well –
WE WANT TO SEE YOUR FACES, FEEL YOUR HUGS, AND SHARE A SMILE!
This Sunday we begin our new winter series, “Unless a Seed Falls.” It’s one that I have been wrestling with since before Christmas and kept in prayer about whether to share. As we head into what I trust and believe will be a supernatural year at High Places, it became increasingly clear to me over these past weeks where such things begin.
I can’t know for sure, but I imagine being a seed is a comfortable thing provided you aren’t being gobbled up by crows (more on that in a few weeks). A seed that hasn’t fallen to the ground doesn’t really have to do much, has no real requirements or obligations, and can pretty much just ‘hang around’ (pun intended) for as long as it likes.
A couple of weeks before Christmas, I went over to Orange Hat in Hardin Valley with a pastor friend Brent and we do what always end up doing, which is talking about Christianity in our world, our country, and in the communities we serve. We started talking about the Christmas season and how it is so often misunderstood in our culture, and we discussed our responsibility as faith leaders to communicate the Gospel effectively, and clearly, so it could be better understood.
We ended up hovering around John 12:24 for most of our conversation:
“Truly, truly I say to you, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But if that seed dies, it bears much fruit.”
We talked about the one thing that maybe burdened us both, not only in 2021, but for most of our journeys as pastors. It was a thing we both struggled to articulate and find language for, but that somehow in this verse, we recognized that burden. Jesus mostly captured it in a verse about seeds. We started applying the verse across a variety of situations we’d experienced and applied it even more broadly to the sphere of our community work, national scene, and global realities.
For me, it was a rich conversation. Like a chain of dominos linking the best possible outcomes our lives backward to this one single event of a seed falling to the ground. The concepts started crystalizing for me and consumed my next several weeks.
Although they all felt good and true, I wasn’t sure about doing a message series on it. Mostly because people don’t want to fall to the ground and die. I know I don’t want that, and yet I also know in my deepest places I need that. And the world needs it.
I hope you’ll join us this Sunday as we begin looking at this core teaching of Jesus revealed most fully in His life, death, and resurrection.
In other news –
We will be moving ahead with our January 29 concert series, JANUARY JAMS, benefiting the Anderson County Family Justice Center which serves victims of domestic violence and elder abuse. Blue Willow is a rock band from Nashville with Oak Ridge roots, serving up some nice beats and killer lead guitar. Silver Trailer are long time friends of High Places, describing themselves as “psychedelic hillbilly rock.” Together they’re going to fire up the big theater with some great sounds.
Volunteers are appreciated for this event and needed in five primary areas:
1. Food / Kitchen assistance with Regina Wilson leading.
2. 21 & up beverage tent with Chad O’Neal leading.
3. Ticket table shifts needed, with Kady Marcotte leading.
4. Clean-up crew, with David Allred leading.
5. AND… to make things fun…. I am looking for a few folks to make homemade jams to spread on breads for a fun jam contest in which voters can vote for their favorite jam with a dollar donation to the Family Justice Center. If you make jam, or you know someone who makes good jellies and jams, would help me secure a few jars of jam for this?
Really looking forward to this event, and excited for the connections we will make and the good we can do just by coming together and having a good time.
Stay healthy out there, take your Zinc, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D!
Much love to you all
David
PS: If you're bored today, I am being interviewed at 11:00 AM on preaching as part of First United Methodist's podcast. You can watch it on their Facebook page, or on Youtube at https://youtu.be/qX6gcGawSMs
News and Notes - January 13, 2022
Good morning High Places,
It seems like a good opportunity, with the possibility of potential snow this weekend, to remind us of how we communicate changes in our main meeting schedule as needs arise. Typically, there are not too many instances which require us to postpone our service, but when we do, these decisions are normally made the morning of and an email will go out to everyone by 9:00 AM. You can also check our Facebook page for updates if you have an account there.
Generally, our policy has been to meet with snow on the ground or even the roads provided they aren't overly slippery. We strongly encourage any who are uncomfortable driving in those conditions to stay home and to never take unnecessary risks. We will make every attempt to stream what we are doing live, which can be viewed from our website -- www.highplaceschurch.org/livestream
Again, this is doubtful to ever be a major issue for us here, especially these days as our winters have become increasingly warmer. But just in case, it seemed good to remind us.
With the omicron variant blowing up and spreading everywhere, I want to encourage everyone to be careful and for those particularly worried about the virus, we certainly understand if you feel the need to watch from home. These are frustrating times for all of us and I pray that we get beyond them sooner rather than later. Over the past months, our policy has been that when the hospitals become overburdened, especially our local hospital at Methodist Medical, then we would take measures to either go all virtual, or spread out in the large auditorium.
I keep up pretty well with some staff at Methodist, and so far, this massive uptick in cases has not led to the same level of severity in the hospital as previous variants. This is due in part to omicron being less severe, as well as the demonstrated efficacy of the vaccines. The vaccines have been especially helpful in cases of compromised immunity (example: my asthma) and have reduced hospitalization and death for those with potential comorbid conditions. Provided these factors stay in place, we will not adjust our main meetings.
We do encourage everyone to spread out in the auditorium, practice good hand washing, mask if you are comfortable doing so during this outbreak, and by all means -- stay home if you feel sick! Even if it feels like a simple cold, or a mild headache, if you aren't feeling well, please watch us virtually.
In the meantime, this Sunday we will talk a little about last year with some very brief highlights, as well as review our 10-Year Vision plan briefly with updates. We will tie these to a few passages from Isaiah 46, and from Psalm 42, if you would like to read ahead.
Sunday, January 29th is our "January Jams" concert benefiting the Anderson County Family Justice Center. An event page has been created and is up on Facebook, on our Historic Grove Theater page. Please like and share if you are so inclined. I hope to have a sign-up sheet in the lobby this week for any who are looking for places to plug in and serve.
Again, thank you all for the prayers, soups, texts, and encouragements during my covid quarantine. I happy to be back 100%, and happy to have covid behind me personally, at least for the near future.
Take care out there, and know that this time will pass, and that however it is you navigate the current outbreak, our hearts are with you and we are here for you if you need us.
Much love,
David
News and Notes - December 30, 2021
Happy Almost New Year High Places!
I don’t know of too many people who are going to miss 2021, or look back on it too fondly given the craziness of the pandemic era, but we certainly can look back with wonderful times worth remembering. High Places grew in spirit and deepened in a whole lot of ways during 2021. We’ve met several new people this past year, bringing new hearts and new hopes into our faith family. God brought healing to many in our midst who had been afflicted with cancer and other health concerns; and He has been restoring us and providing for us in ways that are making us stronger and more devoted to Him.
We begin the New Year as we did last year, by casting an eye (singular – meaning ‘vision’) toward all that God would have us do in 2022. He is leading and our job is to simply follow. I pray that you begin this new year looking and listening eagerly to how God will lead you in practicing His presence and building His kingdom in our community. And I ask that you pray for our staff at High Places as we do the same.
This Sunday – we return to our regularly schedule main-meeting time, 10:30 AM at the Grove, and we will be looking at our God’s incredible power to restore strength to the weary and to give His people the power they need to ‘soar on wings as eagles.’ I believe firmly that this activity of restoring our strength is exactly what God intends to do in our church during 2022.
Whatever bumps or hurdles you may have encountered in 2021, my prayer is that you arrive this Sunday with the humble expectation of God’s restorative power for the coming year!
Thursday, January 6 – We will be hosting our community for a community conversation on student health and wellness. Please help me spread this word as you are able! I am not sure what to expect regarding turn-out because this event has in many ways been lost in the shuffle and bustle of the holidays. You can read more here https://www.oakridgeperiodictables.com/jan6 and by all means, please share this link with friends and family, and on your social media pages.
We look forward to gathering together again in the New Year, and we look with gracious anticipation to all God will accomplish with us as we seek Him first for the coming year.
Love to you all,
David
“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better person.” ― Benjamin Franklin
News and Notes - December 8, 2021
Hello everyone! We hope December is treating you wonderfully and that your spirits are getting prepared for Christmas. This year's Christmas service will be held on Sunday, December 19 at our usual 10:30 AM time. There will be singing, children will read the Christmas story followed by a short kid-centric message that I hope will speak to all of us = both the young and the young and heart.
Additionally, we will serve communion to close out this special time together and close out our 2021 year.
This Saturday from 12:00 to 3:00, our children will have their annual "Comfy Christmas" party, which is designed to create spaces for them to just relax after a semester of school, while becoming increasingly familiar with the joy that is found in the Christmas story. We are grateful for Mrs. Kady and all she does in our Mountain Movers Ministries at High Places.
This Sunday (the 12th) we will have a baptism service shortly after our main meeting. Our friends across the street at Highland View Church are letting us use their baptristy this week. We plan to begin the baptism no later than 12:15. If you or someone you know would like to be baptized, or have questions about baptism, please see David (or just reply to this email).
Also this Sunday, to accomodate our baptism service, Carmen is asking our choir folks to show up early and practice, rather than doing practice after our main meeting as we have been. Look for an email or text from her in the coming days.
Finally, as a reminder, there will not be a "formal" High Places gathering on Sunday, December 26. We have traditionally given the Sunday between Christmas and New Year's as a day off to our staff. Often there are informal gatherings around coffee that morning however. If something is in the works, I will be sure to pass that information prior to the 26th.
Bible study will be happening tonight at the Grove at 7:00 PM and again next Wednesday, after which we will break until the new year. We have a couple of books that have been suggested for study and we will get that information out as soon as we have narrowed it down.
Thank you all for the TREMENDOUS spirit that has been circulating around High Places these past weeks. It has been wonderful to experience. Thank you for your service, your prayers, and your faith. Great things are happening all around, and even greater things are to come as we enter the advent of Christ, being born daily, in our hearts and in our midst as a FAITH FAMILY.
Love to you all,
David
“This is the homely heart of Incarnation, this meeting of God in man with men and women, this simple face of divine graciousness in ordinary life rather than in the hymns of church fathers or in the dry elaborations of theologians.” ― Eugene Kennedy, Joy of Being Human
News and Notes- December 1, 2021
Hello December!
We hope everyone’s Thanksgiving was meaningful and that families were able to connect and strengthen relationships over the holiday week. We want to especially lift up the Sloan family as long-time High Places friend Cathy Sloan died on Tuesday last week. Please pray for her husband Don, and for children Jennifer, Amanda, and Adam, and for all the grandkids and the many who lover her and will miss her until the day we are all reunited in heaven.
Cathy’s obituary can be found here: https://www.knoxnews.com/obituaries/kns042179 and her celebration of life service will be held this Saturday at 6:00 PM at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville. High Places will be donating to the Love Kitchen, where she often volunteered, in memory of Cathy.
On Monday this past week, several ladies gathered for some relaxing, relationship building time at the Grove. Thank you, Anna Childs, for organizing this gathering and we look forward to having more opportunities in the coming year.
Our men will be camping on Friday night at Robbie and Molly Lewis’ place in Dutch Valley. We have picked out a really nice spot in the multiacre valley. Men should dress warmly (even though it isn’t really going to be that cold!), bring your own grub and beverages (a cooler will already be available), and bring a lawn chair. We have no formal agenda other than enjoying nature and each other. I will have a limited number of tarps already set up for those who plan to sleep on the ground near the fire (which is recommended).
The walk to the campsite from where you will park is about 500 yards or more, so plan ahead if you’re packing a whole lot of items. If something is extremely heavy, or you are limited physically, we will use four wheel drive to get you and your stuff down there. If plan to attend, Chad or I need to know so we can text you addresses and such. Carpooling is preferred to limit the number of vehicles in the Lewis driveways / pasture.
Bible Study is back this week (tonight) as we will take 2-3 Wednesdays to look deeper at the Nativity of Jesus. We meet in the movie room at 7:00 PM.
Our annual Christmas Program is Sunday the 19th and you are still welcome to join the choir. Our theme this year is “You Can’t Always Get What You Want… But You Get What You Need.” We’re excited for this season and encourage all to celebrate the birth of Christ, not only in a manager 2,000 years ago, but also in our hearts today.
A Baptism Service is being discussed with a sister fellowship near the Grove to held before year’s end. More details will follow, but if you have been contemplated following the example of Jesus by being baptized as an expression of your faith, please see me within the next week. We have two children potentially looking at baptism, and being winter, we have to plan ahead since we normally do this outdoors. If you have questions about baptism, or our church’s position on the sacrament, please let me know and we can discuss over coffee.
January 29th we will again be organizing and promoting a concert series as part of our ongoing efforts to support the Oak Ridge Community. Fulton Lee will be headlining the show out of Nashville. His music is available on Spotify and other places. Stay tuned for more on this opportunity to serve in the coming weeks.
Finally, a huge THANK YOU to all who organized, cooked, served, and cleaned after our annual community Thanksgiving meal. We didn’t quite serve as many as last year, but every expression on every face that I witnessed was one of deep gratitude. By the time the day was over, we had given out around 200 meals. Thank you to all, and especially to Trina, for the hard work organizing and making this happen. I feel a little guilty in that I was able to see the people’s joy on their faces when they took a meal, while so many others were working in the assembly line of food prep inside. Trust me though, their faces were illuminated with gratitude and happiness. Thank you all for making this happen.
Enjoy the next few days of sun and warmer temperatures. And fellas, come sleep on the ground Friday. :)
Many Blessings,
David