Highland Student Ministry

"I am in charge of showing up and making space – God is in charge of transformation" We do apologize for the audio cutting out at the end. Below are the Seven Ways Jesus was Transformed in the Secret Place: Major Decision - Luke 6:12 - Jesus prayed all night before calling His disciples. Rest and Renewal - Mark 6:30–32 - Jesus invites His disciples to withdraw after a busy season of teaching and m...

Shalom comes from being in the secret place because peace is inseparable from God’s Presence. The secret place is…. How we experience God’s presence.  How we engage with the darkness of the world.  How we are transformed.

What Hosea means for us in light of the Gospel: We still repent when we sin, but now we know we are not enslaved to it. We cannot free ourselves from sin, only Jesus can. God remains consistently Just and Merciful.

Gen Z is overwhelmed by noise, advice, and pressure from every direction. With so many voices competing for attention, how do you know who to trust? In this message, we looks at Isaiah’s promise that Jesus would be called “Wonderful Counselor”, the one voice wise enough to cut through the chaos. Nathan shows how our lives get crowded by social media, insecurities, and opinions, and why the “chair”...

In this final session of Renew, we look at what happens when an unrivaled heart begins to shine. After a weekend of naming our idols, laying down our sin, and rediscovering God’s unmatched love, this message calls us to step back into real life as lights who point others to Jesus. Using Jesus’ words in Matthew 5, a story from the Welsh Revival, and the image of a lighthouse that saved eighty fishe...

In session 3 of Renew, we uncover what it really means to return to God with an honest, surrendered heart. Through the story of a young boy who disobeys and finds himself hurting in a muddy sandbox, we get a moving picture of a Father who would rather embrace a messy child than watch a distant one. Walking through the book of Amos, we see that sin always carries a cost, that spiritual laziness can...

In Session 2 of Renew, we explore what happens when idols lose their grip and Jesus takes His rightful place at the center of our hearts. This message unpacks what it means to truly delight in God, not as a duty, but as a deep joy. Through Scripture, personal stories, and the picture of God as our loving “Abba,” we learn that life with Him isn’t a checklist…it’s an adventure. When we understand th...

In this message from night 1 of our Renew middle school retreat, we explore what it really means for God to have no equal in our lives. We discover the danger of building our identity on anything other than Jesus. From Ezekiel 14 to Jesus’ words in Matthew 7, this sermon exposes the quiet idols that compete for our hearts and invites us to build our lives on the only foundation that never fails. I...

How do I love God with all of my strength/body?

How do I love God with all of my mind? 

In this message from Hosea 10–11, Braya helps us explore how easily we can miss God’s heart when we focus only on His words of correction rather than the full story of His love. Through Israel’s rebellion and God’s relentless pursuit, we see that even in our failure, His invitation remains the same: return, repent, and believe His love for you. God’s heart toward His people has never changed — He...

In this message, Katie teaches what it really means to love God with all your soul,  the part of you no one else sees. Jesus calls us to love Him not just with our actions, but with our identity and motives, the hidden parts behind the door. Through stories, Scripture, and honest reflection, this sermon looks at the three “secret camps” our souls can live in:  Secret Sin, Secret Neutral, and Secre...

In this message kicking off the "All In" series, Nathan unpacks what Jesus meant when He said to “love the Lord your God with all your heart.” Before our minds can understand or our strength can act, our hearts decide what and whom we love. But when our hearts are divided, half chasing God and half chasing approval, control, or comfort, life gets confusing. Nathan shows how a united, “all-in” hear...

In this message, one of our small group leaders, Garrett Hallbauer, walks us through Hosea 4. The Lord has two controversies with the people of Israel: (1) There is no faithfulness or steadfast love in the land; (2) No knowledge of God in the land. Garrett walks us through the specifics of these controversies and then paints the path to remedy the situation. Ultimately drawing our hearts towards t...

In this message, we close out the Taming the Tongue series by teaching from Colossians 3:15–17 about gratitude. Caleb explains that gratitude isn’t based on our feelings or circumstances - it’s a mindset of recognizing what God has already done for us. True thankfulness comes from realizing we’ve been given far more than we deserve, starting with Jesus Himself, the greatest gift of all. Caleb chal...

Words have power, and God cares deeply about how we use them. Scripture mentions the tongue, lips, mouth, and words hundreds of times, reminding us that what we say shapes hearts and builds (or tears down) God’s Kingdom. In this message, we look at Ephesians 4:29 and Hebrews 3:13 to ask: How can my words help grow God’s Kingdom impact? Using the picture of a garden, we explore three practices:  we...

Betrayal is one of the most powerful and painful themes in our culture—woven into our movies, music, memes, and even our own lives. In Hosea 2:2–23, God uses the shocking image of marital unfaithfulness to show how deeply sin strikes at His heart. Yet, even in our betrayal, God’s response is not rejection but relentless grace: He allures, restores, and calls us His own. In this message, discover h...

Our words have power. They can build trust, encourage a friend, point someone toward Jesus - or they can tear down, wound, and spread rot. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:29 that we’re not to let any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up. This message asks a simple but searching question: Are your words building or wrecking? Because here’s the truth: i...

In Colossians 3:9–10, Paul contrasts the old self and the new self, showing how lying belongs to the old way of life while truth telling reflects our new identity in Christ. Katie unpacks why we lie - protecting reputation, avoiding consequences, gaining approval - and how those lies always weigh us down and damage community. In Jesus, we’re already loved, forgiven, and made new, which frees us to...

The Lord God, your God, is unchangingly faithful to you, no matter what your present circumstances look like. To put even more simply: You, us we, have a future hope, despite our present circumstances, based on God’s past promises . 

Scripture shows us that gossip is not harmless - it’s destructive, addictive, and rooted in the heart. Together, we look at four key principles: 1. Gossip & deception are dangerous (v.18–19) 2. Gossip keeps drama alive (v.20–21) 3. Gossip feels good in the moment but poisons us (v.22) 4. Gossip comes from a heart problem (v.23) We also see how the gospel offers hope for a new heart and a bette...

Words may seem small, but they carry incredible power. James reminds us that our tongues can direct the course of our lives, destroy relationships, and reveal what’s really happening in our hearts. Every day, we speak thousands of words that together form a story. The question is: what kind of story are your words telling? Words direct our lives – like a bit in a horse’s mouth or a rudder steering...

Habakkuk 1:1-11 cf. 2 Kings 23 1. When we turn to the Lord with honest questions in faith, He will hear us and respond according to His good will and purpose (vv 2-3a). The key to our questions of God is to let them push us toward Him, not away.  2. To step away from God's guidance is to willfully step toward destruction, (v 4). cf. Deut. 7 To step toward God’s guidance is to willfully step toward...

Unfortunately, the recording of this message was cut short, so here is the outline: God can take the smallest seeds of gospel truth and grow them into great stories of gospel salvation. Steps to Advancing God's Kingdom Know and Understand the Gospel Method 1: The Gospel message answers four big questions. (1) Who is God? (2) Why are we in such a mess? (3) What did Christ do? (4) How can we get bac...