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Highland Church of Christ

Winners & Losers: Following the Lamb in the Shadow of Monsters (Rev. 12:17-14:5) Brent Hall & Chris Altrock – Aug. 21, 2016

Winners and Losers Website

Introduction – CHRIS

I’m grateful this morning for the opportunity to preach with Brent Hall. Brent is Highland’s preaching and adult ministry apprentice. Many of you have already connected with him in a Wednesday night class or Sunday School class that he’s taught. Brent is helping lead worship at our Night of Praise this evening. He was also a counselor this summer at Camp Highland and has served in a number of other capacities. It’s a joy to have him on staff as part of our commitment to learn from emerging leaders and to be a place where emerging leaders can learn from us. Brent and I are preaching from Revelation 13-14.Read More »Winners & Losers: Following the Lamb in the Shadow of Monsters (Rev. 12:17-14:5) Brent Hall & Chris Altrock – Aug. 21, 2016

Winners & Losers: Fighting Dragons (Rev. 12) Chris Altrock – Aug. 14, 2016

Winners and Losers Website

More Than We See

The Light Between the Oceans is a novel, soon to be a movie, by M. L. Stedman. It tells the story of Tom and Isabel Sherbourne. Shortly after World War 1, the young couple move to Janus Rock, 100 miles off the coast of Australia, to run the lighthouse, where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. Tom and Isabel only receive visitors from the mainland once every three months and only visit the mainland once every few years.

Isabel endures three tragic miscarriages on Janus Rock. After the third, strangely, providentially, a small boat washes up on their tiny shore. It carries a man who has died, and an infant who is, miraculously, alive. Tom and Isabel, partially acting out of grief from their third miscarriage and partially out of what they truly believe is best for the infant, take the child as their own. They name her Lucy and raise her.Read More »Winners & Losers: Fighting Dragons (Rev. 12) Chris Altrock – Aug. 14, 2016

The Call for Elders (Jas 5:13-15) Chris Altrock – July 31, 2016

20160731- Calling all Elders Still

Fredrik Backman is the author of a book I mentioned last Sunday. The book is titled A Man Called Ove. The book centers on a man named Ove whose wife was the love of his life. Backman writes,

“Ove had never been asked how he lived before he met her, but if anyone had asked him, he would have answered that he didn’t.” (Fredrik Backman A Man Called Ove, Chapter 14 (6:05)).

Ove’s wife was his life. And after Ove’s wife died, Backman described the impact this way:

“But if anyone had asked, he would have told them, that he never lived before he met her, and not after either.” (Fredrik Backman A Man Called Ove, Chapter 14 (15:57)).

She was his life. Ove came to life when he met her. And he seemed to lose his life when she left him. And that, Backman writes, is the fear we all have about death:

“We fear it. Yet most of us fear more than anything that it may take someone other than ourselves. For the greatest fear of death is always that it will pass us by, and leave us there, alone.” (Fredrik Backman A Man Called Ove, Chapter 39 (00:44))

What we fear more than anything when it comes to death, the novel suggests, is that death will leave us lonely in this life. What we most treasure in this life is having companionship. Having people to care about and people who care about us. That’s what brings us life. That’s what makes this life worth living. In many ways that’s what the novel is about.Read More »The Call for Elders (Jas 5:13-15) Chris Altrock – July 31, 2016

When God Hides: The Obligation of Celebration (Esther 9-10) Chris Altrock – July 10, 2016

20160522- WHen God Hides Sermon Series

Disenchanted Faith

            Theologian Richard Beck argues that Scooby Doo may be the perfect cartoon for summarizing what life is like for a person of faith these days.[1] I used to watch Scooby Doo when I was up early getting ready for our 6 AM junior high basketball practice. Most episodes unfolded the same way. Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, Velma and Scooby Doo either stumbled into or were called into a mystery. Some ghost, monster or supernatural creature was causing chaos. The kids and the dog investigated. And, after getting the daylights scared out of them, they finally figured out that the creature wasn’t a spook. It was a human pretending to be a creature in order to scare people away from his or her criminal hijinks. Once the gang realized this, the authorities were called in and the person was arrested. And the criminal almost always lamented in the end, “And I would have gotten away with it, if it hadn’t been for those meddling kids!” What started seemingly as an instance of supernatural activity was unmasked and turned out to be an instance of human criminal activity.Read More »When God Hides: The Obligation of Celebration (Esther 9-10) Chris Altrock – July 10, 2016