Highrock Church

What makes a good leader? What qualities and skills should we expect? And with regard to those qualities, to what degree should we all desire to grow in those ways? After all, isn't a spiritual leader simply someone who has traveled further than others along the way with Jesus? One thing should be clear, and that is that spiritual leadership is different from leadership in the world, especially wh...

Paul encourages Timothy to pray for all people, interceding with God on their behalf. This call to prayer also applies to all who are in authority, which might not seem like a special request until you realize that Paul was likely writing at the time when the emperor was Nero, the infamous persecutor of the Church and killer of Christians. But Paul is clear that Jesus came to give his life for eve...

Paul writes to Timothy, the young pastor that Paul has left to shepherd the church in the great city of Ephesus. In this opening, he emphasizes that the importance of knowing the Bible is not just to know facts about Jesus but to know Jesus intimately and to love others deeply. Furthermore, perhaps to shore up Timothy's apparent lack of confidence, Paul emphasizes that he himself started as a pers...

In closing his letter, Paul addresses the issue of believers who were selfishly choosing to live off the charity of others. He said about such people that those who are unwilling to work should not eat and that the community should even remove such people. This discipline might sound cruel but he insisted that these measures were to be done as a kindness, always hoping that these sisters and broth...

In his previous letter, Paul praised the Thessalonians for their faith in the return of Jesus. By the time of this second letter, something had gone wrong. So Paul sets out to clear up some questions and issues that were leading them into confusion. This passage reminds us not to be swept away by fear, speculation, or deception. Instead, we are encouraged to stand firm in the truth of the gospel,...

Most of us would say we’re the kind of people who would stop to help . . . until we’re late, overbooked, and one more thing away from burnout. W hat if our calendars say more about what we believe than we’d like to admit? And what would it take to leave enough room in your life to notice what God is doing around you? · · · 👉🏻 Check out other Highrock sermons 👉🏻 Check out Highrock's 15-min dail...

If you were to read a story but then skip the final chapter, you might not understand the story at all. Death is not the end of our story. The Jesus saga ends with us all joining together to cross over into glory. Paul praised the Thessalonians for believing in the Lord's return and he returns to that idea here. When we live in light of the conclusion, we can control our passions rather than hurt...

Have you ever seen a parent worry about their children when they go away for the first time? Perhaps it's to a sleepover, or a summer camp, or maybe when they go to college or move out. Paul expresses how worried he was when the young Thessalonian church was on their own and facing a difficult trial. Were they ok? Did they draw closer to God in their trials or did they perhaps walk away from the f...

Paul moves from praising the faith of the Thessalonians to an apparent defense of their character and ministry. Paul and his companions had poured out their lives while they were with them, insisting on paying their own way through hard work rather than accepting any financial support. Rather than seeking personal gain, they worked only for the good and the growth of the Thessalonians. We sometime...

This letter is the first and oldest we have from Paul, and it is written to a congregation filled with new believers, a church that may have been only months old! What do you say to such spiritual infants? Paul begins by sharing with them his praise and his prayers. He praises them for the faith, love, and hope that he sees in them, and he thanks God for the way their faith had become an inspirati...

The church in Colossae was filled with new believers and Paul's final words invite them into deeper engagement. Though they are just starting on the walk of faith, Paul invites them to partner with him in prayer, and a very challenging prayer at that. He also invites them to partner with him in sharing the good news with their neighbors, but in a way that is winsome and inviting rather than dismis...

Have you ever felt like the work you do at home, at work, and even at church, goes completely unnoticed leaving you angry or frustrated? What if attention, applause, and a few likes were never going to be enough anyway? And where might the affirmation you’ve been looking for actually be hiding? · · · 👉🏻 Check out other Highrock sermons 👉🏻 Check out Highrock's 15-min daily devotionals

To a city filled with the power of Rome and the mystery cult of Cybele, Paul starts with the supremacy of Christ. Christ is the ultimate power in both heaven and earth, and the fullness of God is present in him. In light of these challenges, Paul prays first that they would be filled with the knowledge of God's will through spiritual wisdom and understanding. While knowledge may show us the way, i...

Paul brings this letter to a close with an appeal for peace. First, he asks for peace between two church leaders, women named Euodia and Syntyche. Paul then invites us all to pursue peace — whether through kindness to all, rejoicing, surrendering our anxieties to God in prayer, remembering God's faithfulness, or through choosing to focus on what is good and right rather than just on what is wrong....

Suffering can rob us of many good things. In Paul's case, it robbed him of freedom and forced him to write from prison. Even so, suffering could not rob Paul of joy and he encourages us to rejoice as well. What is Paul's secret? How can he live out such joy even in prison? He shares with us his firm foundation for joy and also a secret opportunity for joy that is hidden in our suffering — that wha...

When you're a child in Sunday school, you know that "Jesus" is going to be the answer. It's less obvious that "Jesus" will still somehow be the answer even long after. For Paul, Jesus is the answer to "What is God like?" and "what are we to be like?" and all the questions and issues that flow from those far-reaching inquiries. We see a God worthy of our trust in Jesus and we also see a clear examp...

Paul writes to the believers in Philippi from prison, yet his letter is filled with joy and gratitude. He thanks God for their partnership and expresses confidence that God will continue the good work he began in them until it is complete. Paul knows that they will soon face persecution and hardship, so he encourages them through his own example, sharing all that God has accomplished through Paul'...

Have you ever had to choose between being liked and doing what's best for someone you love? A teenager storms off. A friend stops returning your calls. A truth you can't change. What if love has never been about making people happy in the moment? And what does it look like to love well when you can't be sure how? · · · 👉🏻 Check out other Highrock sermons 👉🏻 Check out Highrock's 15-min daily de...

Paul urges believers to live lives worthy of the calling they have received in Christ. This new life involves speaking truth, dealing with anger appropriately, working honestly, using words to build others up, showing kindness and compassion, and forgiving others just as God has forgiven them in Christ. This calling is the way we are invited to participate with God's plan to bring all things into...

Have you ever been ready to throw a stone before you even realized you were holding one? An email that made you furious. A person you've already written off. A mistake you can't let go of. What if compassion isn't a feeling you have but a stone you're willing to drop? What's the stone in your hand right now? · · · 👉🏻 Check out other Highrock sermons 👉🏻 Check out Highrock's 15-min daily devotio...

Paul wants to let us in on a secret. It's a secret that God has kept since the beginning of the world, a secret revealed only with the life of Jesus. And what is that secret? That God wants to unite all people as one, into one family of grace. Whatever else might divide us, Jesus seeks to bridge that gap to bring us together. And that united family is supposed to be the Church, but does the Church...

What do we need to do in order to earn God's approval? How should we look at others who do little or nothing to please God? Human beings are great at dividing over our differences, especially if we feel we look better in the comparison. But we all start from the same place, utterly powerless and in absolute need of God's undeserved love and favor. In this aspect, we are all the same — united by ou...

Writing from prison, Paul sends a letter to describe God's ultimate purposes for all of Creation and for our lives — to bring all things into unity in Christ (Eph 1:10). Paul emphasizes that this plan is rooted in God's generous heart for us. He then prays that believers would grow in their knowledge of God, understand the hope of their calling, appreciate the riches of their inheritance, and expe...

In closing his letter, Paul encourages us to help carry one another's burdens but then encourages us to carry our own burdens. Which is it? Do we carry one another's burden or just our own? In-between independence and codependence, Paul maps out a space for interdependence, or community. The goal is to help one another become full, participating members of a community who walks through life togeth...

Paul here challenges the Galatians for abandoning the gospel of grace and turning back to a system of earning God's favor through obedience to the law. He reminds them that their own experience points to the truth — they received the Holy Spirit by believing the good news about Jesus, not by obeying a set of rules. In addition to their own experience, the very writings of Moses point to Abraham's...