Highrock Church

Rather than bringing clarity, wisdom sometimes leaves us with riddles and paradoxes. In the midst of this struggle, the Teacher begins to hint at a truth that will emerge more fully later -- that faithfulness is greater than wisdom, or at the very least, there is no true wisdom outside of faithfulness to the Lord. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https://ww...

Turning from the pursuit of pleasure, the Teacher addresses several questions on the path toward wisdom. How do we learn to live well in the limited time that we have? How do learn to value the criticism of the wise? How do we handle misfortune? Wisdom is not always easy or clear, but through it, God leads us towards life! Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: h...

Not only can wealth not bring true happiness, but it is also so easy to lose - as modern bank failures have reminded us. Instead, contentment with what we have is a much greater kind of wealth. Sabbath can be a perfect opportunity to turn from the pursuit of wealth to the enjoyment of the blessings we already have. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https://w...

Sermon #3 of Highrock's summer sermon series ("Dual Citizens: Living Between Two Kingdoms") from 2 Tim. 1:1-7 (NLT)

This flashback from May 19, 2022 was part of our series on the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6. It should be no surprise that Jesus taught us to ask for forgiveness. What might be surprising is that he instructed us to ask God to forgive us only to as much as we forgive others! Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https://www.highrock.org/daily-devotionals/

The Teacher makes a surprising assertion -- that hard work is better than wealth. Hard work leaves us satisfied while wealth often just increases our insecurities. In other words, good work is to be preferred to the wealth we imagine might free us from having to work at all! What brings you satisfaction? What draws you closer to the Lord and a sense of purpose? Looking for a previous devo? Want to...

After speaking at length about wisdom, the Teacher turns to the idea of worship as the foundation of true wisdom. We are tempted to speak in ways that sway others to think better of us. With God, word and deed are the same, and so it should be for us. Let us be careful about making promises and let us honor each promise as we honor a God who does the same. Looking for a previous devo? Want to shar...

The previous chapter ended with the idea that one of the greatest blessings in life is to enjoy one's work. Today's passage lists five ways that we can guarantee that we will not enjoy our work, five rotten rungs on the ladder to worldly success. Avoiding these pitfalls might just lead to true joy in the work that God gives us to do! Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? St...

Our wisdom is so limited without God's input. Without God's wisdom, we can hardly make sense of the diversity and complexity of God's world, with a season for everything. But as we receive each moment as a gift from God, we might come to enjoy each moment for what it is, without having to make it more than it is. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https://www...

Sermon #2 of Highrock's summer sermon series ("Dual Citizens: Living Between Two Kingdoms") from 1 Peter 2:9-12 NIV

Can wisdom and work provide meaning where pleasure and possesions fail? Despite their greater worth, wisdom and work still do not outlast death. But even simple pleasures like food and drink can be meaningful if they connect us in gratitude to the One who transcends the grave. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https://www.highrock.org/daily-devotionals/

What will bring happiness and satisfaction in life? The first part of the royal experiment is to test the most common pursuits. Maybe pleasure, projects, and possessions can deliver the happiness that they promise? But no, each is just another way to chase the wind. Even worse, placing our hopes in any of these things as an ultimate goal risks the loss of gratitude and even the possibility of love...

The Teacher, presumably Solomon, asks us to consider the meaning of our lives. Is it found in the pursuit of pleasure, or power, or even the pursuit of wisdom? He calls these all meaningless "chasing the wind" -- they cannot satisfy and indeed can lead to even more pain. Then what are we to pursue? That question is the central question the Teacher invites us to ask! Looking for a previous devo? Wa...

Sermon #1 of Highrock's summer sermon series ("Dual Citizens: Living Between Two Kingdoms") from Jeremiah 29:4-7, 10-13 NIV

Without grace, conflict can be merciless. Without trust, peace is just an illusion. Jesus comes to us full of both grace and truth, and sometimes that truth can shatter the false peace in our lives and relationships. Like a physician who reluctantly causes pain in order to bring healing, God uses the truth, even painful truths, to bring healing. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with...

Jesus' disciples continued to crave power and authority while Jesus was trying to teach them a new way of servanthood and love. One of the greatest challenges in being a spiritual adult is to see our power as an opportunity to bless others rather than serve ourselves. It took nothing less than the cross and resurrection to prove to them and to us that Jesus' way is the only way to life! Looking fo...

It is easy to lose heart when confronting the world's problems. Paradoxically, part of being a spiritual adult is to hold onto a child-like faith, knowing that Jesus is not only with us, but present in each of the people we serve. As we do to the "least" of people, we do to Jesus. How might today be different if we believe this? Pastor Meghan's sermon: https://youtu.be/pIxxcBsolyg Looking for a pr...

We protect children from the unclean influences of the world, but what happens when we become adults? When the bleeding woman touched Jesus in faith, her uncleanness did not infect Jesus. Instead, his cleanness, his health "infected" her. In becoming spiritual adults, we are invited to participate with Jesus in bringing his infectious spiritual health into the world. Looking for a previous devo? W...

Devotionals will resume on Tuesday, 5/28, after the Memorial Day Holiday God gives us great freedom in choosing whether to marry and whom to marry. So why is God so insistent that we marry only another Jesus-follower? As we seek an answer to this question, we will discover that this restriction is not about judgment, but about God's love for us. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with...

Marriage is a tender subject, and divorce even moreso. In responding to a question from the Pharisees, Jesus speaks against a casual attitude toward either. Instead, Jesus reminds us that even if divorce is sometimes the least bad option in a broken situation, God intended something much better for us. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a friend? Start here: https://www.highrock.o...

Following Jesus' lead, Paul raises up the importance of both marriage and singleness, while highlighting the even-greater freedom to serve Jesus that is available to singles. We are all single for at least some time. How might God be inviting you to use that time of freedom to find life in giving life to others? Pastor Walt's message on "Marriage + Singleness": https://youtu.be/Gcfu3BHXGC4 Looking...

Jesus speaks about marriage as high calling in which we covenant to serve God by serving others, rather than serving ourselves. The way that Jesus spoke about marriage scared them! We can only imagine what they thought of his next words about serving God through a commitment to singleness! Indeed, what will our reaction be to the call of Jesus? Pastor Walt's message on "Marriage + Singleness": htt...

Tragically, this passage has sometimes been read as a call to subjugate woman. As we look closely at the grammar, structure, and context, we instead see a beautiful picture of mutual submission that arises out of a reverence for Christ. Indeed, it was the call for husbands to submit to their wives that would have shocked the original audience, and perhaps today's hearers as well. Pastor Walt's mes...

Sermon #7 of Highrock's spring sermon series ("Deep: Moving Beyond Shallow Spirituality") from 1 Corinthians 7:1-10 NIV

When is it time to rest? God answers this question with a command, but one intended to compel us to remember who we are and why we matter. We matter more to God than our work, and we all should matter more to one another than the work that we do. These are essential truths that we might easily forget if we should forget to honor God's Sabbath. Looking for a previous devo? Want to share one with a...