Highland Church Podcast

Sunday April 12, 2020- Eric Gentry preached this sermon on Easter Sunday. If you are questioning Jesus then there is one thing you have to examine. It’s the resurrection. Take a look at it. If you find that you cannot deny the resurrection, then every other question is answered for you. The resurrection is the exclamation point on every argument and every decision of your life. If he is risen, then he is the only way.

This pandemic feels a bit like a dust storm, like a darkness that won’t lift. Many are losing jobs. Some are losing homes. Some feel like you are beating on God’s door, but its locked. Some are hopeless. What do Christians do when we feel that way? We look to the cross of Jesus.

The criminal beside Jesus on the cross asks Jesus to remember him. In the Bible when God remembers someone, he doesn’t just think about them, or recall them to mind. When God remembers someone he goes into action for them. He saves them. He refuses to leave them alone. He does what it takes to reach them. That’s how God remembers.

You were made for hope, the hope to which he has called you. You were made for a glorious inheritance in his holy people. You were made for an incomparably great power for us who believe. And that power is the same as the mighty strength, he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. You were made for Jesus. So wake up. Wake up to what God has for you.

Freedom points us to God. Jesus death on Passover points us to the God of freedom. Jesus’ death frees us. This is an important message while we deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Hindsight is a major advantage. Jesus condemns the temple (and fig tree) because they don’t produce fruit, and we understand that scene via hindsight. However, we don’t have hindsight for ourselves or our congregation here. Without the benefit of hindsight, the focus must be fruit.

We live in influencer culture. Jesus rejects the temptations of influencer culture. His purpose—like ours—is not collecting the world’s honor, but collecting the Father’s honor. What if we—like Jesus—prayed over everything: Father, glorify your name.

Everyone wants to live a worthy life. If you want to live a worthy life go to church. Paul’s description of a worthy life is a life lived in building up the church. Young and not-so-young people alike should give their life to the church, and then will have no regrets.

We associate maturity with knowledge. So does Ephesians. In Ephesians, the mature recognize the spiritual warfare of our lives. That seems immature in our world. But the mature, knowing this, also know how much they need Christ.

I’m saddened to no longer be doing ministry beside my friend Chris. Many at Highland are probably also discouraged. But this is the Father’s church. The Father will tend to our “inner being” through “love,” and I believe that God will do more than we can ask or imagine here.

God’s ways are mysterious, but his mystery is made clear to us: uniting all things. This begins as God unites people of different backgrounds in the early church. God does this to prove God is uniting all things. The church is a witness to what God is doing in and for the world.

Death is a force of separation and determinism in our lives. It makes us desperate for the intervening grace of God. Fortunately, God gifts us true life through his grace.

We all want to be part of something bigger. We are. Our marriages are part of something bigger too. Our marriages show the world that Jesus is faithful. So, let us help your marriage.

God’s will is to unite all things, to fix the broken world. It brings him great pleasure to accomplish his will. We respond by praising his glory. We—the church—owe god praise because he is worthy.

We think we keep our treasures safe, but really they keep us—our hearts. The church cares about your heart. And our responsibility is to challenge you to guard your heart by investing your treasure wisely. Its preventative work (vs. intervention) but its critical.

Joseph is afraid because he lives in the immanent frame, with no expectation of God. When we are afraid, we long for the presence of someone greater. God cares about us in all of our fearfulness, and ministers to our fear by being present. This is THE message to share with a fearful world.

Lesson 5 in the Vital Signs series. There are some vital signs that a church or person reflects to show a real life in Christ. Join us as we visit I John. There is no better way to prepare for the upcoming year (2020) than to check you own vital signs.

Repentance is not a typical Christmas theme. But John instructs us to prepare for the coming Lord by repentance, because the Lord will judge the world. However, the Lord is not only judge, but also helper (by the power of the Holy Spirit).

Lesson 4 in the Vital Signs series. There are some vital signs that a church or person reflects to show a real life in Christ. Join us as we visit I John. There is no better way to prepare for the upcoming year (2020) than to check you own vital signs.

Isaiah has a vision of the mountain of God drawing all people to itself. He longs for that place, but the places of our longings don’t always match those places in reality. Turns out, Isaiah was not longing for a place, but a person. Jesus is drawing all people to himself.