Weekly Update
“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy: To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace. We always thank God for all of you, remembering you constantly in our prayers. We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing your election, brothers loved by God.”
I Thessalonians 1:1-4
During our Tent Gathering, Julie Jordan led our Communal Prayer To listen, click on the link above.
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. We are currently going through 1st Thessalonians as a church together. 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
Our purpose for going through I Thessalonians together is to place a concentration on our sanctification. As a church, we have been asking the Lord to make us a people who, not only desire, but hunger and thirst for righteousness, that we may be filled! To be righteous is for us, submissively, to share in heart-agreement with the Lord - that His desires would be our desires.
As the Holy Spirit convicts, those who repent turn from sin! The repentant know and declare Jesus as Lord, receiving the Holy Spirit; who then renews our desires, our thought-life, causing us to share in heart-agreement with the Lord. This is how the Bible characterizes Salvation - that moment we encounter Jesus as Lord, then being reborn through the Holy Spirit of God, receiving new life.
Now, Highland, the Bible goes beyond receiving new life and also explains walking in new life. The Bible calls walking in this newness of life: sanctification. In this letter, Paul tells believers at Thessalonica that “their sanctification is God’s will.”
Let’s define sanctification to help us better understand - if you look up sanctification, it means to declare something to be holy. So, for those of us who have repented, who know Jesus as Lord, we have received the Holy Spirit - by way of what Jesus has done by paying for our sin on the cross. When we submit to His Lordship, we receive salvation in His name and the Holy Spirit seals our salvation. This results in us being declared holy, as our heavenly father is holy. So, that means that if we are declared to be holy because Jesus paid for our sin-debt, satisfying God’s wrath toward us, then out of a joy over what Jesus has done for us, we will become uncomfortable with unholy living and will recoil at the very notion of sin!
To quote the Apostle Peter, who offers us an “under the hood” look at the outworking of our sanctification: “Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.”
In this series, we are going to turn our attention to our sanctification. We are going to hunger for holiness together, Highland. For this is the roadway to our sanctification.
Grateful for you, Highland,
Rob
Highland,
Here is our heart’s emphasis as we go through our 1st Thessalonians series:
““For God has not called us to impurity but to sanctification.”
”
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. We are currently going through 1st Thessalonians as a church together. 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,
Cathy Crowder, a member of our church, has written us a plan that will help us all get off to a great start as we tackle our new series: I Thessalonians. Please see her post below.
This past year I felt that the Lord was leading me in my Bible study time with Him each day to meditate more on His words. Instead of just reading through a passage and going on to the next, I wanted to spend more time in one passage and just stay there for a while to see what He wanted to say to me. He had impressed on me to read key passages of scripture over and over. So this past year, I have meditated on passages such as the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5,6, and 7), the parable of the Vine (John 15), the gospel as explained in Romans 5, 6, 7, and 8, the letter to the Philippians (Chapters 1-4), and others. I decided to read this passage every day for a whole month. So I read the passage 30 - 31 times. And I cannot tell you how this has blessed me and helped me to understand what He is saying and how He has spoken to me!!!! It has been amazing!!! God has shown me so many things about Himself and taught me so much about His ways and how to walk with Him. He has convicted me of sins that I didn't even know were there. He has given me a deeper love for Him and His word. Was this easy to do? Not always. But if I just took it one day at a time, I was able to do it. If I missed a day? I could start again the next day!!! I shared this with Pastor Rob because last month in August I read 1 Thessalonians chapters 1 - 4 each day. So I was so excited when he announced today that he would begin preaching a series on 1 Thessalonians next Sunday! I believe you will be so blessed if you try this! Maybe you could begin with 1 Thessalonians and see how it enriches what our pastor will be teaching us this month.
God bless you! I love you, Highland Tribe.
Cathy Crowder
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 Fam,
Our family got away last week and made it to the beach. We enjoyed time away and always love the chance to gather, as a family. However, we are excited to be at service this Sunday and look forward to seeing you all at the Tent Gathering!
I love you,
Rob
As you arrive, grab a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Enjoy having conversation with one another and the chance to be together. As weather allows, we will hold a chapel-style service. Billy Holbrook will lead us in worship. Justin Jordan will lead our time of devotion and prayer.
No van route will be offered this week.
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.
Other Related Information
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.
Highland, you are loved!
