The Heights Baptist Church

The title of today’s message is the same as last week’s, 'What is the Bible', and the simple answer is, It is God’s voice, God’s word for you and me to profit our lives (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It lays down the road for us giving us the lines to drive within, the signs to obey, the directions to take so that we can safely arrive at our destination, a place where we stand gloriously before God looking...

So central to the Christian faith is the Bible. It tells us who God is, what He is like, what life is about and why things happen. It tells us where we came from and where we are going; what is right and wrong. And there is not another source like this for that information. We are going to spend this fall building a confidence in our Bible. What is it? Why can we trust it? Why is something 2000 +...

People don’t want to come to a friendly church. What they want is to come to a church where they have friends. That is why we continually say, 'Life is better Connected!' If we are going to be a church 'where friends become family,' then we must do everything we can to join and embrace our vision, 'Building Relationships that connect all people to God-sized life and love.'

What does it mean to value the next generation? How do you do that and not devalue the current or older generations? Is just having youth and children programs enough? And as a pastor I think about this from the pulpit. What is heard and seen from the pulpit? I feel like we see and hear from the pulpit all of our core values, but the one that has the most minimal presence is the next generation.

Today we are going to look at another fan favorite from the Old Testament, the story or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Last week, I said David beating Goliath was not actually a miracle. Today we will see a miracle.

These last two Sundays of summer I want to look at a couple of Old Testament stories that are great illustrations of what we have learned in 1 and 2 Peter. Today’s is one of the most popular, well-known stories in the Bible, that of David and Goliath.

We have studied 1 and 2 Peter this summer, letters written by Peter to a church that is suffering because of their devotion to Christ. And what have we heard Peter say all through this? To get through today, keep focused on that Day – the day Jesus is revealed to all the world, the day we begin our transition to Eternity. Peter was telling a group of believers in 66 A.D. to hang on, Jesus is comin...

Who is Jesus? It's the most important question that can be asked. God's Word can answer who Jesus is. Turn to Colossians 1:15-20 to learn who Jesus is.

Curve balls in life take us outside of our comfort zone, and have us chase things that shouldn't be there. We are all going to come across those things that are unexpected, and we are not going to know what to do next. Thankfully there are examples of people in God's Word who have experienced curve balls, and handled them effectively.

We are on our 8th message looking at two letters from Peter. The first letter was focused on suffering that comes from the world because we follow Christ, but in the second, it is suffering that comes from inside, from false ideas creeping in. The church has always been bombarded with ideas from the world and too often has absorbed those ideas. The ideas can cover the whole gamut of topics but it...

This summer we have been studying the letters of the Apostle Peter to us; and they are about suffering. Suffering when we are trying to do right, trying to live for Jesus, trying to follow His word. And suffering means stressful living, so Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit addresses that. How do we keep from getting wound up and turning on each other, or God? Let’s see in 1 Peter 5 w...

If Jesus is everything, I mean the thought of His presence, His face, His smile is more to us than anything we could ever think or want; then this passage (1 Peter 3:13-4:19) makes total sense. If Jesus is anything less, even a little less than everything; then I think very little of this passage makes sense.

We are continuing today our study of the letters the Apostle Peter wrote to you and me. Last week we looked at 2:4-12 and we were instructed to live carefully in front of our unbelieving neighbors. We want our lives to lead people to see and praise God, not dismiss God. Well, the passage following verse 12 shows what it looks like to live right in front of unbelievers in relation to very significa...

What gives you confidence when you enter the room? We all count on something and the crazy thing is, we are all counting on something we will lose. Oh, and if you somehow manage to hold onto it till the very end, well then you die. How’s that for today’s warm fuzzy thought? Hey, I only point to that reality, and it is reality, because it shows how wonderful the opportunity the Lord has for us real...

Rev. Ronnie West, our education pastor, shares about our new Community Groups, how to become involved in them, and how we can use the opportunities provided by them to help neighbor and friends connect with our church, and ultimately with Jesus.

I want to talk today about a very common, but difficult word, idea in the Bible: holiness. It is something we are to strive after. It is a devotion to be like God. It is the path we take from the day we are born again to the day Jesus is revealed to all the world.

Last week we started a new series that will take us through the summer, 1 and 2 Peter, letters from the Apostle Peter to you and me on how to live in 2018, how to live in a world where what we value, what we believe is becoming foreign, perhaps even offensive. There are increasing situations right here in the United States where simply believing the Bible, following Jesus, puts you on the outside,...

1 Peter 1:1-7 is how the apostle Peter opens the first of his two letters, and it is these two letters that we are going to spend the summer studying, and even look at through the lens of some great Old Testament stories. I am so excited to hear God’s word through these letters that are going to speak right to where we are as Americans in 2018.

A panel of 5 of our youth, and our youth pastor share during the sermon time for Youth Sunday 2018.

This morning I want us to look at a story in Scripture about a mother, or more accurately a mother-to-be. As we look at it, I want you to understand the significance of this event. This is one of the most important events in all the Bible and in history. It is God pulling back the curtain and giving us a glimpse at what is about to happen in His plan. It is critical to the whole message of the gos...

Murder pollutes the land. Murder is the stand out piece of pollution that everyone sees and notices, everyone knows someone has to be held accountable. But then Jesus comes along and says, You know there is actually a lot of pollution that leads to a murder polluted land that you’re not noticing or doing anything about.

There is to be a death penalty for murder. There are questions to answer, problems to work out; and there is the struggle of knowing about anything mankind does, will be done imperfectly; but there is to be a death penalty for murder; and it is the death penalty that places value on life and how sacred it is.

We are continuing today in our series on how to live in a culture of death. Last week we established where we are, how we got here, and how we are to live and speak. Today and for the next two Sundays we are going to look at specific issues in a culture of death, with today being on suicide. I am excited to have a friend and fellow pastor with me today, Kevin Skellett, Adult Ministry Team Lead Pas...

It is as important as ever that we understand God’s message of life, believe that message, live that message, share that message; understand what we mean when I say, *message*. Today I actually want to begin the series with the end. The Bible explained 3000 years ago what is happening right now to us today in America. We made a choice. We chose death. We’ll go from today to taking a look at suicid...

Well I want you to take your bibles as we get started this morning and turn with me to Romans 8. We are going to look at a couple of verses this morning…verses 28 and 29. It is amazing to me how easy it is to quote Romans 8:28 when everything is going my way. But how do you and I respond when things are not working so good.