Highrock Church

Paul explains to Titus why leaders must be able to teach -- because Crete's culture (and ours) is filled with harmful lies. Even one of their poets said, "All people from Crete are liars!" But just because something is "normal" doesn't make it good. Whatever our culture may say is normal, Jesus is the example we are to follow! Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start her...

What makes a good leader? What might disqualify someone from leadership? Paul presents the qualifications for leadership in a way that also serves as a wonderful model of all discipleship. We first have to learn God's Word, then live it out, and only then are we ready to teach it. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https://www.highrock.org/daily-devotionals/...

Paul opens his letter to the young pastor Titus with a curious phrase. He refers to God as one "who does not lie". This truth is important for us all to know. After all, how can we trust God's promises unless we trust that God is not lying to us? Crete, where Titus was, had a culture that apparently thrived on dishonesty. For them and for us, God's honesty not only comforts, but challenges us to b...

The closing of Romans closely mirrors the opening. Perhaps the big difference is that the opening focused on what God gives to use (grace) while the closing focuses on what we give in return to God (glory). Grace and glory are perfect bookends to God's work in Rome and in us. God gives us undeserved grace, something we could never earn, and in return, we can only praise God in gratitude! Looking f...

Many people ask for our trust, but many are not trustworthy. Paul gives three signs of people we should not trust. First, they undermine what we know. Second, they are in it for personal gain. Third, their lives are not consistent with their words. Avoid such people, warns Paul, especially because they tear communities apart. By such marks, are we trustworthy? Do our lives pass the test? Looking f...

When you start thanking people publicly, you never want to forget someone. What you forget, they will never forget! Paul gives us a list of twenty-four names. They all matter, but some bear a special significance for us today. Their inclusion meant something special to them and it should mean something special to us as well! Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here:...

What if the real wonder of Luke 5 isn’t just a healed body—and what does it reveal about the question, ‘Why does God allow disability?’ Drawing on personal ‘conversion points’—from Jacob’s wrestle with God to her own experience parenting a child with Down syndrome—Meghan unpacks biblical community, cultural barriers, and what it really means for the Christians to be “whole and holy.” · · 👉🏻 Chec...

Jesus said to "bless those who curse you" and to "pray for those who mistreat you" (Luke 6:28). Paul's plan is to visit the believers in Rome but only after bringing a financial gift to the Jewish people in Jerusalem. In essence, they are bringing a gift to many who have fought to exclude them from the family of God. Grace multiplies as we receive it from Jesus and share the same with others! Look...

Paul had a plan. Life did not go according to that plan. Even so, his work to share good news, to be good news, and to make his life a part of God's plan for spreading good news paid all kinds of dividends for them, for him, and for us today! Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https://www.highrock.org/daily-devotionals/ Pastor Dave's message on God's plan for...

Who are "your people?" Who are the people you understand, the folks you connect with most easily? However valuable those relationships might be, God has always had more in mind. It is natural to love those who are most like us. It is supernatural to love those who are different but for their shared connection to Jesus. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https...

Have you ever been swept up in the power of worship? This entire section of Paul's letter began with what true worship looks like (Romans 12:1-2). Here we see that using our freedoms to serve one another, as modeled by Jesus and empowered by the Spirit, will enable us to worship and praise God with the power of one voice! Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: ht...

What do you do when some people are more sensitive about matters of conscience? Paul calls those with great freedom "strong" and those who are more sensitive, "weak". But don't feel proud and look down on the "weak". Instead, the strong should help the weak rather than push them around. Use your freedom to make the church a place where everyone is safe and welcome. Looking for a previous devo? Wan...

How do we know what God wants us to do - especially when the stakes are high and the options unclear? Pastor Dave Swaim explores one of the most common and complicated questions Christians face: Does God have a specific plan for my life, and how can I figure it out? From childhood choices to major life decisions, we often long for divine clarity. But is God's will a secret blueprint we must discov...

We each will face judgment, but how is that good news? Thankfully, the God who judges is the one who gave his life on the cross to save us. That IS good news! But that's not all -- the fact that God will judge frees us from having to judge one another. Instead, we are called to lift one another up in love. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https://www.highro...

People often divide over deeply-held beliefs, but many beliefs are not worth dividing over. We often risk damaging or losing relationships by fighting over matters that are not as important as the relationships themselves. The world has always been that way but Christ calls us to something better! Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https://www.highrock.org/da...

Paul instructs us to leave no debt unpaid. The one exception is the debt we owe to Jesus, a debt that can never be repaid. Instead, Jesus asks us to pay it forward -- by loving others in the way that he has loved us. Paul instructs us to look for opportunities to love our neighbors rather than to look for loopholes out of God's invitation. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a frie...

This passage has been used to justify submission to all kinds of abuses and inequalities coming from governing authorities. Is Paul complicit in supporting such corrupt governments? By basing the authority of government in God, Paul gives legitimacy to such authorities but only within limits. They also are under authority (God's) and must submit to authority as well. What is the purpose of governm...

“Where are the miracles?” It’s a question born of both skepticism and hope - one the Bible wrestles with more than you might think. In this episode, Pastor John Mury explores what miracles really are, why they’ve always been rare, and how their true power may lie in what they point to , not what they fix. · · 👉🏻 Check out other Highrock sermons: https://tinyurl.com/3rdw4x8n 👉🏻 Check out Highro...

Let's be clear -- it is sometimes not possible to live at peace with someone else. The other person may be unwilling, violent, persistently manipulative, or otherwise acting in bad faith. Whatever else happens, we must not return evil for evil but always seek to join Jesus in overcoming evil with good! Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https://www.highrock.o...

One of the first ways we can worship God as "living sacrifices" (Rom 12:1) is to serve one another with the gifts that God has given us. What are these gifts? Which is your gift to give? In addition to this passage, we have 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, and verse 28. But these lists are probably not exhaustive. How has Jesus empowered you to join him in serving one another? Looking for a previous devo? W...

Paul encourages us to continue the worship that concluded the previous section. In fact, Paul pleads with his audience to live as if they were living sacrifices. Worship may come to us in many forms but this posture is the foundation of all true worship. True worship is to honor God with our whole lives, not just on Sunday, but the rest of the week as well. Looking for a previous devo? Want to sha...

In the wake of mysteries revealed yet difficult to understand, Paul is moved to praise and worship of the God who understands what we do not, and perhaps cannot. This move to worship helps to remind us that our security comes not from fully understanding all the mysteries of life but in trusting the one who does. All glory to God, forever! Amen. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with...

Paul here finishes addressing the question, "What about Israel?" His answer is that "all Israel will be saved." But after defining Israel as being a spiritual rather than physical entity (Romans 9:6-8), what does Paul mean? People may differ in their understanding of Paul's answer, but what is for certain is that God honors promises and offers us inexhaustible grace! Looking for a previous devo? W...

Why bother going to church? Is church just a spiritual pick-me-up, a Sunday habit, or something far more? In this sermon, Pastor Richard Lee challenges us to rethink not only why we show up to church, but how we show up - and what might be missing when we don't. If you've ever felt like a spectator in your own faith, this one's for you. · · 👉🏻 Check out other Highrock sermons: https://tinyurl.co...

Many of Paul's listeners might hear Paul to be saying that the Gentiles are replacing Israel. That would be a misunderstanding! Rather, Gentiles are like wild branches being grafted into a cultivated tree. No matter who we are, our inclusion is not a birthright or something God owes to us. Instead, our connection must always be one of gratitude and humility! Looking for a previous devo? Want to sh...