Highland Baptist Church - Sermons

This week, Pastor John launched our new sermon series Practicing with a message from Psalm 34 on the practice of praise. We learned that praise is often a choice before it becomes a feeling, as it redirects glory from ourselves back to God. As we recount God’s faithfulness, praise invites us to step fully into who God is and all He has done.

This week, the Church gathered as one body at one gathering to worship and pray together. Pastor John spent some time highlighting the power of prayer and emphasizing God as the sole recipient of our prayers. Ephesians 4:1–6 1. Unity Begins With Us Living Godly Lives 1, 2   2. Unity Requires Intentional Effort 3   3. Unity Is Found in What We Share in Christ 4-6   4. Unity Is Our Great Witness to...

This week, Jeremy Daniel concluded our Christmas Grace series with a message from Matthew 1-2. In the incarnation, Christ stepped down to bring hope, push back darkness, and establish His eternal kingdom. Because of who Jesus is and what He has done, we are invited to enter in, stand firm, push back in faith, and bow down in worship before our incomparable King.

This week, Pastor John continued our Christmas Grace series with a teaching from Titus 2, reminding us that Christmas is the story of grace appearing in the person of Jesus. In Christ, God’s grace came near to redeem us, reshape us, and give us lasting hope. This appearing grace not only saves us but makes us God’s own people, stirring our hearts toward lives marked by gratitude and good works.

We continue our sermon series Christmas Grace as our NextGen Grow Pastor, Drew Humphrey, preaches from Colossians 1. "The Dawn of Redeeming Grace" Colossians 1:15-20 Colossians 1:15  GRACE THAT IS SEEN  Jesus was not the first being created, and yet Jesus was born. "There is no God in Heaven who is unlike Jesus." - Michael Reeves Colossians 1:19 GRACE THAT IS FULL 1. Grace In Me Colossians 2:6-7a...

This week, Pastor John launched our Christmas Grace series by showing that when grace is missing, everything in life becomes distorted. From John 1, we’re reminded that Christ is God’s answer to our deepest need. In Him, truth and grace come together so we can see the gospel with stunning clarity.

This week, Pastor John led us in our annual Cross of Christ service with a message from 1 Corinthians 11:23–26. As we take the bread and the cup, we boldly declare that we are not ruled by sin, not hopeless in life, and not finished in death. In Christ, our sins are forgiven, our lives belong to Him, our hope is secure, and our King is returning.

This week, Pastor John Durham concluded our Desert Rose series with a message from Mark 15, reminding us that Jesus entered the deepest form of loneliness so that we would never be alone. On the cross, He was forsaken so we could be accepted, and His separation allowed for our connection with God. Because Christ fills our loneliness with Himself, we can live with confidence that we are seen, we ar...

This week, Pastor Jeremy Daniel continued our Desert Rose series with a message from Jeremiah 15 on the cost of faithfulness. Jeremiah’s story reminds us that obedience can be lonely and truth can invite opposition, yet God invites us to bring our pain honestly to Him. In those moments, His faithful presence turns weakness into endurance and suffering into deeper trust.

This week, Pastor John continued our Desert Rose sermon series with a message from Ecclesiastes 4 on the purpose of community. God designed us to form relationships that bring encouragement, provision, and protection. In a world filled with opportunity for isolation, we find our deepest belonging in Christ and in the community of His people.

This week, our Groups Minister Josh Duinker continued our Desert Rose sermon series with a message from Psalm 25. Through this passage, we’re reminded that loneliness is real, but Jesus has the final word. Even in the desert places, God calls us to depend on Him, to wait on Him, and to trust that He can bring life and light where there once was darkness.

This Sunday, Pastor John opened our new sermon series Desert Rose by reminding us that God’s design for healing loneliness is found in genuine community. When God calls us to Himself, He also calls us to one another, inviting us to be a living church devoted to His Word, fellowship, prayer, and shared life together.

This week, Pastor John uses the story of Samson to show how sin disguises itself to draw us in and how temptation patiently targets our weaknesses. While the enemy delights in our downfall, Jesus delights in our forgiveness and transforms what once bound us into a testimony of His grace and freedom.

In this week's sermon, Pastor John reveals how sin pulls us lower when our passions rule instead of Jesus. Through Samson’s story, we see that selfishness and pride ultimately lead to destruction. Yet even in our failures, God is still at work and nothing will stop His redemptive power through Christ.

As we continue our sermon series, Unafraid , we look at the story of Gideon one more week and what that means for us as believers. JUDGES 7:9-11     Judges 7:12-15 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD… 1. DIRECTION 2. PROTECTION 3. RIGHT TIMING 4. RIGHT PEOPLE 5. RIGHT WORDS   Charles Spurgeon The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which a child of God rests  his head at night in peace.     Judges 7:16-22 OU...

We continue our sermon series, Unafraid while Pastor Drew looks at Judges 7 and the story of Gideon and how that really points us to Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast Judges 7:1-22 ESV "The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the sign to every Christian that th...

This week, Pastor John continued our Unafraid series with a sermon from Judges 4–5, showing us through the story of Deborah and Barak how God works through surrendered hearts. In all seasons of life, God leads us step by step and invites us to trust in His sovereignty and walk faithfully in willingness.

In this Sunday's sermon, Pastor John shows how God uses us, even in our limitations, to reveal His power and grace. Just as He worked through Ehud’s weakness, God transforms our frailties into strength for His glory, reminding us we can live unafraid when we trust Him fully.

We continue our sermon series, Unafraid , looking at different people in Scripture who walked in the Lord without fear of this world. This week, we start our look in Judges 2 and 3 at Othniel. Judges 2:11-13  REBELLION JUDGES 2:14-15 and JUDGES 2:20-21  CONSEQUENCES    PEOPLE CRY Judges 2:16  GOD ANSWERS                                        JUDGES 2:17  REBELLION                                 ...

We start a new sermon series, Unafraid, as we look at what it looks like biblically to live a life without fear. We look at Caleb from Judges where we have an example of what it a life without fear looks like. In our lives, either faith or fear is going to win the day. They don’t co-exist!    Judges 1:20 A FEW THINGS ABOUT UNAFRAID CALEB   1.   Joshua 14:6-8 Caleb is not a JEW! 2.  HE whole-hearte...

In our final week of For Every Season, we discover through Psalm 33 why we sing. PSALM 33:1-3 Colossians 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 1. We sing to GOD because HE told us to sing to Him!  New songs come from a fresh awareness of God’s grace...

In seasons of hurting, it is difficult to find comfort and peace. But there is a source that we can draw from. In Psalm 34, we find the future King David running for his life in a cave, surrounded by others who are miserable. Yet, David can still praise God. Psalm 34 Superscription Psalm 34:1-3 1. WHEN I AM HURTING I WILL PRAISE GOD PASSIONATELY AND PUBLICLY .   PSALM 34:4-7 Christ with me, Christ...

As we continue our sermon series For Every Season, we hear from fellow church member, Dr. Matt Kim, a Professor of Preaching and Pastoral Leadership at Truett Seminary. In Psalm 95, we see a calling on our lives to worship and the how, why, and a warning. PSALM 95:1-11 1. THE HOW OF WORSHIP: We worship the Lord by coming to Him, by singing, by making a joyful noise, and by coming into His presence...

When we walk through difficult seasons, how do we know who to trust or if we can trust? In this week's sermon, Pastor John walks through Psalm 18 and how we can find trust in different seasons of our lives. PSALM 18 SUPERSCRIPTION - Psalm 18:1-3 1) Review the attributes of God, and you’ll find your trust in Him increase .   PSALM 18:4-6  PSALM 18:7-15 2) We trust most deeply in the thing we consid...

We continue our sermon series looking at Psalm 51 as we look at repentance and the depths of sin. Also, we find new life in Christ which is freely given. Psalm 51:1-17   Sin is the serious defiance of God. Sin firstly is offensive to THE LORD. Sin is extensively devastating .   God is so gracious. Exodus 34:6   The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadf...