Details for This Sunday.

Highland family,

This upcoming Sunday, Carrie and I will be taking part in a Missions Conference, hosted by St. Andrews Presbyterian. We are so thankful to represent our church and Truth Spring at this conference!

In light of us being there, Chris Dubose will be preaching and Stephanie, his wife, will be facilitating Communion. They both are doing a terrific leading the charge over at Porter Memorial Baptist Church. I am grateful for their devotion to the Lord and to those who make up the local-body of Porter! Chris and Stephanie bring such a richness to the life our church and I am thankful that they are willing to serve us this Sunday.

Billy will lead us in worship. Billy is a man that has talent beyond words! Yet, he steadily and joyfully offers those talents to serve our Lord, and our church family. He, along with our team, will carry us through a time of offering praise and adoration to our Lord.

When I return, we will work toward completing our In-a-Word Series.

I love you,

Rob

Today's Service.

“YET there will be a portion (remnant) in it,
and it will again be subject to burning,
like an oak whose stump remains when it is felled.
The holy seed is its stump.”
— Isaiah 6:13, NASB

Jescykah’s Smith submitted her life to Christ this past Wednesday at Women’s Bible Study! Jescykah is 17 years old and has been attending our church with her mother, Sandra, since she was 3 years old. Her life has had many struggles and difficulties, but Wednesday night the Spirit of the Lord prevailed in her life and brought about the fruit of salvation. Be encouraged Highland! The Lord does indeed have His ear turned toward us and is responding to our prayers for 2019: “ … sow (righteousness), reap (the loyalty and faithfulness of God), plant vineyards and eat their fruit (harvest). The surviving remnant will again take root downward and bear fruit upward (fruit, much fruit, and fruit that remains)…the zeal of the Lord will perform this” (Isaiah 37:30-32). The Lord is cultivating a mighty harvest of righteousness within our church! Jescykah’s testimony is below:

Today’s sermon’s is entitled: “In-a-Word: Mature.'‘ This is where the rubber meets the road for us - Do we desire mature fruit from our lives as our Lord does? The tempting-trend is to use our relationship with our Lord get a better day, a better outlook, a better life - to use our relationship to grow our personal happiness.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be happy! But, when we share in our Lord’s desire for maturing, then we get so much more! We gain confidence in our God-birthed identity, stabilizing our fragile lives; we gain an endurance from the power of the Holy Spirit’s authority over our lives, which makes unshakable, no matter the circumstances or conditions we’re facing, and serves as part of our battle-mentality against Satan.

In-a-Word Series: Mature

Highland family, we continue on in our series entitled: “In-a-Word.” This series is about getting a better grip on meaningful words in the Bible. Join us as we begin looking at this critical word: mature.

Cannot wait to see you tomorrow! Oh yeah, Forum For the Future is tomorrow morning, 10am, in the sanctuary.

I love you,

Rob

Today's Service.

Highland, here are the details from our service today. Carrie led Communal Prayer. Here is the way in which we are corporately praying through 2019:

“YET there will be a portion (remnant) in it,
and it will again be subject to burning,
like an oak whose stump remains when it is felled.
The holy seed is its stump.”
— Isaiah 6:13, NASB

We continued on with our series entitled: “In-a-Word: Generosity”. Click here for sermon slides. To hear our service, click link below (Available for 30 days. To save file, please download it.)

Recap of Service Last Week.

Due to technical issues, our service was not recorded last Sunday. So sorry for any inconvenience! I would like to share with you an overview of our service last week so that we can all move forward in a coordinated stride.

Carrie led Communal Prayer. She offered to us direction for how we are praying moving into 2019. More to come on that this Sunday.

Our Sermon Series for the Month is called: In-a-Word: Generosity. This study is about getting a better grip on meaningful words in the Bible. We started by looking at some of the over-arching facts of the word:

Generosity

  1. Defined as: (of a person) showing a readiness to give more of something, as money or time, than is strictly necessary or expected. Origin: a word characteristic of nobility or courageousness (Google).

  2. The word generosity is used 27 times in the Bible (Holman Christian Standard Bible). It is also used as ‘generous’ and ‘generously’. It is generally used as to explain the motivation behind giving both from the Lord and man. It is used to explain matters of disposition.

I then offered my personal journey with this word. I reflected on how the Lord has been working to mature me. Here is the overview:

Generosity is a word I studied because I lacked it greatly 3 years ago. It was at that time that Carrie wanted to discuss with me our tithing and giving. She wanted us to give more money out of our budget to the church and to other ministries.

My initial response to her asking to give more money was one of fear and anxiety. I was unsure as to why I reacted that way. I always thought of myself as a generous person. Using Scripture, I began evaluating my heart and this word (God’s Response: Psalm 112:5-8). In light of this passage, I could not understand the root cause of my fear.

Realizing that 1 Timothy 3 states: Church leaders ‘cannot be greedy or lovers of money', I was then questioning how to move forward. After reflecting, it remained clear to me that money was not an object of my affection. However, while I was not greedy for money, what made me feel fearful was my need to feel safe from money. Her request to be more generous threatened my personal feeling of safety that money seemed to be providing for me. My sense of personal safety was the object of my affection.

For me, fear served me as a mirror. It reflected my truest convictions and affections. Upon Carrie’s request, I feared not having enough money, therefore I gripped onto it for dear life. I idolized the feeling of safety money provided me (God’s Response: Psalm 37:25-29). I now find great rest in this passage referenced that, at the time, pricked me deeply.

We then closed our time of gathering around God’s Word by looking at this developing theory from Scripture:

““Everything our Lord taught about the role of man to man might be summed up in the law of giving generously. It is as if He set Himself to contradict the natural counsel of the human heart, which is to acquire and keep.”
— Oswald Chambers, “Conformed to His Image”

Growth can lend itself toward toward Greed.

In essence, the need for (fill in the blank) growth has a natural bent toward becoming self-indulgent. Case in point: “My growth is threatened by meeting the need of another…” Even if the growth is good for us, perhaps it came at the cost of the good of another.

Generosity can lend itself toward Cultivation.

Cultivation is the imparting of our strength and resources in order to gain a result from which many benefit. The Gospel refashions our disposition toward being and becoming more and more generous, which results in our cultivation. As the Lord matures us, we then see the fruitfulness that flows out of our generosity. More to come tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing you!

I love you,

Rob

Starting the Year Together.

Highland.

Throughout the month of January from the pulpit, we will be spotlighting a word a week from Scripture and working to get a more Biblical grasp on that word. This is one of my favorite ways to study God’s Word personally! So, I look forward to sharing one of my “hobbies” with you. This Sunday, our first word will be: “generous.”

Starting in February. we will journey through Philippians. As the Lord allows, we will tackle the entire book. Bring your Bibles. Be ready.

We will also continue to pray. We will continue to seek the Lord together, earnestly, on behalf of our families, asking for revival. The Lord is stirring us. Stirring results in agitation, which we have seen in the spiritual realm. But, as His remnant, we will see His glory rise. The defining role of the church is prayer - ‘For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’ (Mk 11:17). Highland, let us position our hearts to receive the response of our Lord.

See you Sunday.

I love you. I am grateful for each of you.

Rob

Thank You!

To All Who Took Part in our Christmas Season,

Thank you so, so much for being part of our Christmas season! Billy Graham once said: “The love of Christ compels us to love our neighbor, then grants us the capacity to do so.” I am so thankful that I get a front row seat to see Christians throughout our community do just this. I am humbled and honored to serve at this station in my life; humbled beyond my ability to express it in words.

I am so grateful to share in this life with each of you. My only hope is that I can bring you all as much joy as you bring to me. May way we all press on to know the Lord in a richer way this upcoming year; for His counsel is sure and right. May His delight be our deepest desire.

Along your side,

Rob

Location & Mailing address

3408 5th Avenue, Columbus, Georgia 31904

phone Number — (706)249-9424