Weekly Update
Mr. Alexander Barber
Highland,
As we discussed Sunday, here are the details for our dear Alexander Barber. There will be a Memorial Service held Saturday at his family’s church: Springfield Baptist Church in Waverly Hall, Georgia, at 12pm. If you need a ride, please contact the church.
We celebrate with Jonny and Alana the birth of their daughter, Sunnnie! Beck (pictured) will be a great big brother!
This Sunday, I look forward to seeing everyone at the Tent Gathering. As we gather this Sunday for our Tent Gathering, I wanted to go over the schedule with you. This Sunday, our schedule is as follows:
9am-10am: Coffee and Conversation. As you arrive, grab a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Enjoy having conversation with one another and the chance to be together. Also, if you’re willing, some will be setting up for the 10 am service. We welcome your help, if you’re able.
10am-11am: Tent Gathering Service. *At 10am, bring your camping chairs or blankets to make for yourself a place outside, underneath our tent. We will gather to worship as we set our eyes upon Jesus. Highland, I ask that we would be in prayer for the name of Jesus to be exalted in our corporate gathering; that those who wander, or are deceived throughout our streets, would hear that Jesus saves, and repent! We will conclude and dismiss following this service. So, breakfast will be offered but not lunch.
We are strongly encouraging social distancing and masks will be available for those who would feel most comfortable wearing one. If you have a mask, please bring one for yourself to use. We ask that you stay home when you are sick. We also ask that you cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Also, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands. Finally, keeping your hands clean using sanitizer or by washing them with soap is vital. If you have a personal bottle of sanitizer, bring it and keep it on you for your personal use throughout gatherings.
Van route riding requirements: windows down, masks worn and no more than 10 on a van.
Wednesday night studies, Pillow Party and prayer sessions have been canceled.
Children’s Ministries, Life Class & Breakfast will not resume until a later date.
*All proposed plans remain contingent upon medical information available to us throughout the foreseeable future. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us. I rejoice over you, Highland. I look forward to being with you Sunday.
I love you, Highland,
Rob
“‘You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…’”
Highland, below is a recap of Sunday’s sermon. This sermon-series is centered on understanding generational sin, our personal relationship with the Lord and the character of God. Here is the framework of our series:
Our Overall Emphasis: An In-House, In-Heart look at Highland. Through Ezekiel 18, our purpose throughout this stint is for us to take an in-house look at our hearts, Highland; our personal relationship with the Lord, as it relates to the outworking of HIS righteousness in our lives.
Our Hope: Lord, give Highland a spirit of repentance so that we can experience a season of refreshing.
Often, we will confuse jealousy and envy. To envy is to crave what someone else possesses, which leads to coveting. To covet is to become envious of another or another’s possessions, resulting in our personal bitterness or hatred. I was at a kid’s birthday party a few years ago; at this party, it was time for the birthday boy to open gifts. We all sat at the table watching this child open one great gift after another and the children were all in awe! Eventually, one child became so envious over all of the great gifts that the birthday boy was opening that he began to get upset and sob. To envy to the point of coveting always sours joyous moments, leaving us bitter over someone else’s possessions. The 10th Commandment, ‘Do not Covet’ is in place to reveal this form of sin lurks within our hearts and the Lord directs us to turn from a life of coveting.
But, let’s examine jealousy in the proper context, Highland; let someone speak ill of one of you, or mistreat you, you will quickly see me act jealously. Additionally, Carrie and I have a solid marriage but if someone were to handle her in an inappropriate fashion, my jealousy will fiercely defend her and our marriage - there is a proper form of jealousy that comes from being a defender for just causes. This is the form of jealousy that the Lord is using to describe Himself in this command.
The Lord describes Himself as “jealous” because He is committing Himself to these people and He maintains a proper sense of belonging. Typically, we see jealousy as a negative outworking, mostly, because people who are jealous are dealing in sinful situations while, probably, wrestling with sin and insecurity themselves throughout that situation, too.
Scripture shows that us that the Lord is jealous over His name, His glory and His righteousness. At Sinai, He offers each of these to the Israelites, by entering into a covenant with them. In so doing, they become His people and He becomes their God. In being a covenant-keeping people, they take on His name (His covenant), they display His glory and they share in His righteousness.
To those who repent, declaring Jesus to be Lord, Romans 8 tells us that they receive a ‘spirit of adoption’ - meaning that the Holy Spirit, indwells those who repent, making us sons and daughters of God which also brings us into covenant with Him. Like the Israelites, we then declare that we belong to the one, true God and that He belongs to us. Again, through repentance and Christ-crucified, we become heirs sharing in God’s name, glory and righteousness.
As a shepherd properly oversees His sheep, or, as a father properly cares for his family, so our Heavenly Father is a jealous God; He maintains a proper sense of belonging toward His children. He jealously desires for us to find our salvation, our rest, and purpose in Him and in Him alone!
The Lord’s jealousy of us is His pursuit of us! He pursues us because He loves us and He knows our every need and desires to satisfy our every need in His presence. He designed us; He knows our inner-workings even better than we understand ourselves. Even when we leave Him for lesser things, He chooses to come after us! Why? So that He may offer us Himself because He is and will always be our greatest good. When we submit to Him as Lord, His life-giving spirit produces in us “life-abundant!” His jealousy of us, or, His pursuit of us, results in us finding our life’s most meaningful purpose - to know Him and to glorify Him, our Defender, our Redeemer.
We must understand that God’s jealous pursuit of us is meant to be for the purpose of offering us our greatest good. Our greatest good is found when we are in covenant with God. When our heart’s declare, “I am my beloved’s and He is mine!” This results in the cultivation of faithfulness within our hearts. That faithfulness then has the opportunity to be cultivated in our children, our grandchildren, and to a thousand generations.
Highland, let us always rejoice over our “spirit of adoption” that is offered through the redeeming work of Jesus, then sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Highland, I love you. I rejoice in serving you, in honor of our Lord. May we continue to glorify our Lord together and may the Lord respond by continuing to offer us His goodness - the only form of true “good” we could ever know.
Grateful for you,
Rob
Each Saturday from 10:30am-1:00pm, we serve our streets a meal of Chicken & Rice, along with the Gospel. Volunteers are welcome to join us. Chicken & Rice Ministries is our flagship work. It serves as the invitation to all in our streets to come and know Christ. If you would like to come and serve, please contact us.
This Sunday, I look forward to seeing everyone at the Tent Gathering. As we gather this Sunday for our Tent Gathering, I wanted to go over the schedule with you. This Sunday, our schedule is as follows:
9am-10am: Coffee and Conversation. As you arrive, grab a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Enjoy having conversation with one another and the chance to be together. Also, if you’re willing, some will be setting up for the 10 am service. We welcome your help, if you’re able.
10am-11am: Tent Gathering Service. *At 10am, bring your camping chairs or blankets to make for yourself a place outside, underneath our tent. We will gather to worship as we set our eyes upon Jesus. Highland, I ask that we would be in prayer for the name of Jesus to be exalted in our corporate gathering; that those who wander, or are deceived throughout our streets, would hear that Jesus saves, and repent! We will conclude and dismiss following this service. So, breakfast will be offered but not lunch.
We are strongly encouraging social distancing and masks will be available for those who would feel most comfortable wearing one. If you have a mask, please bring one for yourself to use. We ask that you stay home when you are sick. We also ask that you cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Also, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands. Finally, keeping your hands clean using sanitizer or by washing them with soap is vital. If you have a personal bottle of sanitizer, bring it and keep it on you for your personal use throughout gatherings.
Van route riding requirements: windows down, masks worn and no more than 10 on a van.
Wednesday night studies, Pillow Party and prayer sessions have been canceled.
Children’s Ministries, Life Class & Breakfast will not resume until a later date.
*All proposed plans remain contingent upon medical information available to us throughout the foreseeable future. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us. I rejoice over you, Highland. I look forward to being with you Sunday.
I love you, Highland,
Rob
Highland, here is a recap of our current sermon series. I want to keep the Lord’s Word before your eyes so that you can continue to desire and delight in His ways, Highland. This sermon-series is centered on understanding generational sin, our personal relationship with the Lord and the character of God. Here is the framework of our series:
Our Overall Emphasis: An In-House, In-Heart look at Highland. Through Ezekiel 18, our purpose throughout this stint is for us to take an in-house look at our hearts, Highland; our personal relationship with the Lord, as it relates to the outworking of HIS righteousness in our lives.
Our Hope: Lord, give Highland a spirit of repentance so that we can experience a season of refreshing.
“The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel:
‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?'
“As I live” —this is the declaration of the Lord God— “you will no longer use this proverb in Israel. 4 Look, every life belongs to Me. The life of the father is like the life of the son—both belong to Me. The person who sins is the one who will die.”
About the sour-grapes statement: The Israelites were allowing this saying to circulate throughout their days. This saying/proverb picked up a lot of traction because it’s based on how they felt about God’s Word, however their feelings were not based on truth, hence they were misguided by their feelings.
What the statement means: The proverb means that the sons and daughters who were in captivity felt that they were having to pay for their past generations’ sin. When you see someone eat something sour, then as you observe, typically, onlookers will whence and recoil at the thought of being offered that which is sour. Furthermore, the statement indicates that the sour grapes were an inevitable and unavoidable option, hence, the children’s teeth are set on edge, meaning that they are expecting to receive the sinfully-offensive and hostile nature of their father’s relationship with the Lord.
Our Biblical Journey: This then begs us to look more closely at the passage that speaks to the nature of generational sin. To start this closer look, we must take a trip back to Sinai and look back at the 10 Commandments.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
’You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything…’
As we look closer at this command, note that we are told not to make a carved image. To create or make for ourselves an idol is not simply a common wrestling with temptation from sin, or dealing with the difficulty of our former sin-nature, it is an intentional act of defiance of the Lord’s renown.
To create or make an idol is to rob the Lord of worship due to Him, alone. The Israelites knew the Lord as Deliverer from slavery and had encountered His holiness and power. To create and worship a graven image would be a violation of His Lordship and character, demonstrating our heart’s posture toward the Lord is intentional to deny Him as Lord.
We will continue to look at the rest of this passage throughout this series, hinging back over to Ezekiel 18 as well, plus tying in the new covenant work of Christ Jesus on our behalf. Stay tuned.
Finally, Highland, as we maintain the fruits of repentance, it is my desire that we, as the Highland-tribe, be defined as people who hunger and thirst for His righteousness. May we continue to forsake any other god, cast down idols and yearn to be unhinged from our sin-nature; pressing on to exalt the Lord throughout every circumstance within our lives. He is God! For those who know Christ Jesus as Lord, He is also our Father and He loves us! Let us love Him back with all of our hearts by allowing Him to take His rightful place within our hearts - as Lord!
Honored to serve you, Highland,
Rob
Highland,
Last Sunday, we had someone at service who has tested positive for COVID. To keep from spreading the virus during this spike, canceling our Tent Gathering this Sunday seems to be the most responsible move at this time. Chicken & Rice will continue as planned this Saturday. We will plan to hold our next Tent Gathering Sunday, August 29th.
I love you, Highland,
Rob
Each Saturday from 10:30am-1:00pm, we serve our streets a meal of Chicken & Rice, along with the Gospel. Volunteers are welcome to join us. Chicken & Rice Ministries is our flagship work. It serves as the invitation to all in our streets to come and know Christ. If you would like to come and serve, please contact us.
Thank you for your patience. We have been watching the weather. Given the forecast, we will proceed with holding services tomorrow. This Sunday, I look forward to seeing everyone at the Tent Gathering. As we gather this Sunday for our Tent Gathering, I wanted to go over the schedule with you. This Sunday, our schedule is as follows:
9am-10am: Coffee and Conversation. As you arrive, grab a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Enjoy having conversation with one another and the chance to be together. Also, if you’re willing, some will be setting up for the 10 am service. We welcome your help, if you’re able.
10am-11am: Tent Gathering Service. *At 10am, bring your camping chairs or blankets to make for yourself a place outside, underneath our tent. We will gather to worship as we set our eyes upon Jesus. Highland, I ask that we would be in prayer for the name of Jesus to be exalted in our corporate gathering; that those who wander, or are deceived throughout our streets, would hear that Jesus saves, and repent! We will conclude and dismiss following this service. So, breakfast will be offered but not lunch.
We are strongly encouraging social distancing and masks will be available for those who would feel most comfortable wearing one. If you have a mask, please bring one for yourself to use. We ask that you stay home when you are sick. We also ask that you cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Also, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands. Finally, keeping your hands clean using sanitizer or by washing them with soap is vital. If you have a personal bottle of sanitizer, bring it and keep it on you for your personal use throughout gatherings.
Van route riding requirements: windows down, masks worn and no more than 10 on a van.
Wednesday night studies, Pillow Party and prayer sessions have been canceled.
Children’s Ministries, Life Class & Breakfast will not resume until a later date.
*All proposed plans remain contingent upon medical information available to us throughout the foreseeable future. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us. I rejoice over you, Highland. I look forward to being with you Sunday.
I love you, Highland,
Rob
Parker is baptized.
“What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin’s claims” (Romans 6:1-7, HCSB).
Parker Sturgeon (in the gray) has made Christ Lord of his heart and will be baptized Sunday.
Each Saturday from 10:30am-1:00pm, we serve our streets a meal of Chicken & Rice, along with the Gospel. Volunteers are welcome to join us. Chicken & Rice Ministries is our flagship work. It serves as the invitation to all in our streets to come and know Christ. If you would like to come and serve, please contact us.
This Sunday, I look forward to seeing everyone at the Tent Gathering. In honor of the start of a new school year, we will invite our Truth Spring Academy families to attend service! We will celebrate and pray over all students (those represented by Truth Spring Academy and various other schools). As we gather this Sunday for our Tent Gathering, I wanted to go over the schedule with you. This Sunday, our schedule is as follows:
9am-10am: Coffee and Conversation. As you arrive, grab a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Enjoy having conversation with one another and the chance to be together. Also, if you’re willing, some will be setting up for the 10 am service. We welcome your help, if you’re able.
10am-11am: Tent Gathering Service. *At 10am, bring your camping chairs or blankets to make for yourself a place outside, underneath our tent. We will gather to worship as we set our eyes upon Jesus. Highland, I ask that we would be in prayer for the name of Jesus to be exalted in our corporate gathering; that those who wander, or are deceived throughout our streets, would hear that Jesus saves, and repent! We will conclude and dismiss following this service. So, breakfast will be offered but not lunch.
We are strongly encouraging social distancing and masks will be available for those who would feel most comfortable wearing one. If you have a mask, please bring one for yourself to use. We ask that you stay home when you are sick. We also ask that you cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Also, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands. Finally, keeping your hands clean using sanitizer or by washing them with soap is vital. If you have a personal bottle of sanitizer, bring it and keep it on you for your personal use throughout gatherings.
Van route riding requirements: windows down, masks worn and no more than 10 on a van.
Wednesday night studies, Pillow Party and prayer sessions have been canceled.
Children’s Ministries, Life Class & Breakfast will not resume until a later date.
*All proposed plans remain contingent upon medical information available to us throughout the foreseeable future. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us. I rejoice over you, Highland. I look forward to being with you Sunday.
I love you, Highland,
Rob
