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Sermons

Catching Fire: A Community of the Spirit (Acts 1, 8) Chris Altrock – October 14, 2012 – Sunday Morning Message

Recently Highland staff and elders worked through a book which explores the spiritual state of young adults in the United States.  This book is part of what led us to conclude that, as part of Vision 2018, God wants Highland to reach and involve over 200 young adults.  The book we read is the second of a two-book series by David Kinnaman.  His first book, entitled UnChristian explored what non-Christian young adults think about Christianity.  The second book, entitled You Lost Me, explored what Christian young adults think about Christianity. Read More »Catching Fire: A Community of the Spirit (Acts 1, 8) Chris Altrock – October 14, 2012 – Sunday Morning Message

Evan 101: A Study in Sharing with Words (Acts 17:2; 1 Thess. 1:5-8; 2:2; 2:9-12)

A married couple got into a fight.  They got so fed up with each other that they each decided to give the other the silent treatment.  The husband refused to talk to the wife.  The wife refused to talk to the husband.  A week into the silent treatment, the man realized that he needed his wife’s help. In order to catch a flight to Chicago for a business meeting, he had to get up at 5 a.m.  He wanted his wife to be sure that he got up on time.  Not wanting to be the first to break the silence, he wrote on a piece of paper, “Please wake me at 5 a.m.”  He gave the paper to his wife.  The next morning the husband woke up.  His wife was already out of bed and gone.  It was 9 a.m.  He had missed his flight.  Furious, the husband was about to storm off and give his wife a piece of his mind.  Then he noticed a piece of paper.  It was sitting on his nightstand.  It was written by his wife.  Her note read: “It’s 5 a.m. Wake up.” Read More »Evan 101: A Study in Sharing with Words (Acts 17:2; 1 Thess. 1:5-8; 2:2; 2:9-12)

Evan 101: A Study in Sharing Jesus With Pluralists (Acts 17:7; 1 Thess. 1:9)

I’m half-way through a book by John Ortberg called Who Is This Man? The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus.[i]  The thesis of the book is stated in the first paragraph of the first chapter.  Ortberg writes that, “[Jesus’] impact on human history has been unparalleled.”  The book contains evidence after evidence of the ways in which Jesus has radically impacted history.  For example, Ortberg cites the cities on the map which have been named after prominent followers of Jesus, like San Francisco.  He discusses how our calendar hinges on Christ, being divided between the era before Christ’s birth and the era after Christ’s death.  Ortberg shows how society’s view of children has been profoundly changed by Jesus and his followers.  He discusses how Jesus’ treatment of women ushered in a paradigm shift regarding the value and role of women.  Ortberg shows how Jesus’ emphasis on the mind and his followers’ focus on learning led to the establishment of schools and universities around the world.  He reveals how Jesus’ teaching undergirds many of the constitutions and laws of the land.  Ortberg indicates that Jesus is the one responsible for making humility a desired trait when it was once considered undesirable.  He discloses how Jesus’ movement led to the development of hospitals and charities across the globe.  To summarize, Ortberg quotes Yale historian Jaroslav Pelikan: “If it were possible, with some sort of super magnet, to pull up out of the history every scrap of metal bearing at least a trace of his name, how much would be left?”[ii]  Jesus’ impact is unparalleled. Read More »Evan 101: A Study in Sharing Jesus With Pluralists (Acts 17:7; 1 Thess. 1:9)

Ten Minute Mystic: Growing Like Trees (Matt. 7:15-20)

A few weeks ago I attended a retreat in Mobile, Alabama which consisted of five days of silence.  In two weeks I’ll talk some more about that experience and about why silence is important to spiritual growth.  But this morning I want to talk about something I did one afternoon during that retreat.  One of the coordinators of the retreat asked me to spend most of a day trying to imagine the day that I would die.  She asked me to envision a day in the future when I might be lying in a hospital bed with hours left to live; to imagine who might be gathered around me; to imagine what reasons I would have for thanksgiving on that day; and to imagine what reasons I might have for regrets on that day.  She wanted me to spend most of a day thinking about the day I would die.  To say the least, it was not a “feel good” exercise.Read More »Ten Minute Mystic: Growing Like Trees (Matt. 7:15-20)