← Church of the Highlands - Sunday Messages - Audio
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Oh, it's so good to see everybody here today. And today, before I bring the word of God to you, I have some very exciting news to share with you about the future of our church. And before I share it, I want to be really, really clear. I want to just make sure, you know, this right on the front end, that I'm not going anywhere. Everybody. I'm going to live here the rest of my life. Come on, everybody. Is that okay with everybody? All right. Thank you. That makes me feel so much better. I am going to be here. My home is here. This will always be my home. My heart is here. My presence is going to be here. My tithe is here. Come on, somebody, right? I'm going nowhere. But today, I am just delighted to announce a transition of roles that is going to take place here in our church. Just over two years ago, Pastor Mark Pettis came into my office over at Grandview, said something very interesting that kind of started something that was already. Be honest with you, it's been happening in me for a number of years. He came to me and he said, man, I really love Highlands College. And you gotta understand, this man really built our college. I gave the vision for it, but I turned him loose. I mean, I didn't go into any architect meetings. He led. I gave the vision. He did all the work and led it through eight years of accreditation and et cetera, et cetera. And he said, I really love the school, but every day I wake up with vision for the church as my heart is moving toward the church. And I said, well, Pastor Mark, that's interesting, because I deeply love this church. This has always been my family of faith and my goodness. I'm the founding pastor here, you know, and I just. I love the church, but every day I wake up with vision for the school. And I said, I think we need to go through a process here of just exchanging some roles here in the church. And for the past two years, Pastor Mark and I have talked with each other probably every week for more than two years now, and we pray together. We've actually received counsel from our elders. And then on the outside, we actually got people who've already been through the transition process and just said, teach us what you guys know. And we've went through that process recently. Over the past three or four months, I've been meeting with our elders. If you're new to our church, we are governed in three areas. We have staff elders that more their responsibility is the vision and direction of the church. We have non staff elders that's kind of more the official board of the church and non staff, obviously, so that there's no conflict of interest. But these men actually lead our church financially with the buildings and all those types of things. And then finally, we have a group of what I call Elder Apostolic Elders. We call them overseers. These are people that just can speak into my life and be that source of strength and support. And you guys know about that. But I met with all three of them, and they were unanimous in not only the who, but the when. Not only who it would be, but when it would be. And actually, I even met with my own personal family. My family has taken this journey with me for 24 years. And it's honestly bear both the blessing and the burden of this in the most remarkable way. And I honor my incredible family. In fact, I'm delighted that my son David and my daughter Sarah, who live in Texas, actually flew in to be a part of this moment. I won't miss Tammy and all my children and their spouses. Would you stand up and let the church honor you and all that you've done? Love you, Sarah. Love you. Michael, Katie, David, Isabel, Johnny and Grace, Joseph. Come on, Ms. Tammy. Hey, everybody. Love you guys so much. Thank you so much. Y' all can be seated. Thank you for that. But I met with them over Christmas, of course. We've talked about everything all the time. And the family said, yeah, dad, we really feel good about this as well. And so I'm just delighted to let you guys know something that we are all unanimous in. In fact, I met with the staff on Thursday, and they're 100% as well on board at that. Pastor Mark Pettis will become lead pastor. And I'm gonna take on a new role in our church. Again, not going anywhere, but I'm gonna take on the role as founding pastor. As founding pastor, y', all, I'm still gonna be speaking here. Is that all right with everybody? I'm still preaching. Okay, that's good to hear. I'm glad that's a. In fact, I'm beginning a brand new series next Sunday, and Pastor Mark has asked me to preach. I'm gonna preach the Sunday before Palm Sunday, Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. It'll be my 25th Easter, and I can't wait to celebrate the Risen King on Easter. But this new role as founding pastor is actually gonna allow me to increase my efforts over at Highlands College as chancellor. Right now, it's been about 80% church, 20% school, and honestly, I have so many things that I wanna do. That require that to flip. And I'm still gonna be working hard. Y' all. All right? I'm not retiring. I don't plan on retiring anytime. As long as God gives me breath in my lungs, I'm gonna serve Jesus, Okay? No rocking chairs and go future. Okay? So I'm not retiring. I'm not burned out. I am not tired. In fact, I have more energy and passion than I've had in a long time, everybody. But this transition of roles is actually gonna let me live out my ultimate calling. And let me tell you what that is, and that is I've always felt led to empower other leaders. I see the church that way. That's why we started Highlands College. That's why we the dream team, for heaven's sakes. From the very beginning, I've said this church is not gonna look like me. It's gonna look like the vision and the ideas of the people in our church. That's why we have grow. That's why we have arc. We have constantly been empowering other leaders. That's who I am. But I'm getting older, and I'm just finding I see the world through a different lens. No longer kind of as a father, but as a grandfather. In fact, that's the best analogy to let you guys know how I feel. A number of years ago, my kids grew up and left the house. To God be the glory, everybody. All right. And Ms. Tammy stopped getting pregnant. To God be the glory, everybody. That's just a wonderful thing, right? I mean, we enjoyed those years of homework and getting up in the middle of the night and taking kids to school, but we're glad we don't do that anymore. Now we have grandkids, and they come over, and then we get together, tell them, y' all have a good night. See you later, everybody. Y' all go on to the house and. And we love being grandparents, and that's how I feel right now. In fact, let me tell you this. If you've loved me as the father, you're gonna love me as a grandfather around here. You know, they call me PC For Pastor Chris. Well, keep calling me PC but it's gonna be Papa Chris now, everybody. All right? Okay. I just. It feels. All this feels so right in my spirit. And I have the greatest confidence and belief in Pastor Mark and Jill Pettus. They've been a part of our church for nearly the whole journey. 23 years. Been on staff for more than 20 years. Again, he took the vision I had for Highlands College, made it a reality. Took Our school through eight years of accreditation and led that beautifully. He started the motion movement. I call it a movement. One of the largest, if not the largest, student conference in America. In fact, when he brought that first vision to me, I remember telling him, mark, I don't know, man. I don't know if we should do that. That's a lot of kids downtown, brother. I don't know. Thank God I let him say yes. That's one of the best things that's happened in our church. And Pastor Mark and Jill are true spiritual sons, a son and daughter to me. And so today, we're beginning this season of transition. Pastor Mark is gonna be the lead pastor, and I've asked him to take a whole year. I'm not gonna put any pressure on him to, you know, to have all new things right off the bat, but I've taken. I asked him take a year to develop vision. In this year of new beginnings, everybody, he'll step away as president of Highlands College. Our board. He'll continue to have a strong voice as a board member and pastor of the church. But our board of directors will begin a new search for our president. We'll give you more details about that, but in the meantime, our executive team and myself will be leading in that capacity. But today marks the beginning of the 25th year of church of the Highlands, and I truly believe that, that this decision sets us up for more people than ever to know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and make a difference. I believe that. So before I preach today, I've invited some of our overseers. In fact, we have three of our five overseers in attendance today. Pastor Larry Stockstill, my pastor, Pastor Tom Mullins, and Pastor Jim Laffoon. And I'm gonna ask them and Tammy to come up on stage along with Pastor Mark and Jill Pettus. Would you please stand and honor our overseers? And would you give a hand clap for pastor Mark and Jill Pettus and Ms. Tammy? Come on, come on. Give them a good hand, everybody. So I want to say this. Y' all stay standing for just a second. Mark and Jill. I am. Y' all come over here so I can see ya. All right. I am so proud of y' all in every way. I have just the greatest belief in you, and I just know great things are ahead. I've already heard what God has in your heart, and I'm excited about it. This church does need to be led by a younger generation, and I believe you're the man with all my heart. In fact, I don't even believe It. I know you're the man. And I want at the church right now to receive Pastor Mark Pettis and Jill Pettus. Oh, come on.
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Let's give Jesus the biggest praise of the day.
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Come on.
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Every location, going from the depth of your heart. Come on, let's thank God. Thank God for an amazing church. And thank God for an amazing pastor. And PC, you are that to me now and forever, my pastor. And I love you. I could pass the mic around at every location. We will be here for weeks, all sharing the stories of what God has done in us through your leadership. And I don't even know. I've tried so thinking about this moment to learn what words could I say to articulate it, and there's no way to fully convey it. All I know is this. Jill and I came to this church and we've been forever changed. Our marriage has forever changed. Who we are as leaders has forever changed. You have marked how we pray, how we read our Bible. Every part of our life, parenting has been marked by your leadership. Even today, my parents are here and all my siblings are a part of this church. Our entire family has been marked by you. And we love you with all of our heart. Church, can we thank God for our pastor? And listen, if we're gonna clap, we really gotta clap for Ms. Tammy, the amazing Ms. Tammy. And for Pastor Chris's children, who are. I told pastor Kristen and Ms. Tammy's kids, I'm so excited. We get to do ministry together for years to come and God's hands just all over this. We did come here when we were 19 years old. Jill and I walked in as college students at uab and it really just the moment we walked in, the lid was lifted off our faith. We are the poster child for higher heights. Just knew there had to be more. And we found that here at Highlands that there was more in our walk with God. And since that moment, our answer has been yes. Yes to being a part of the Dream Team. Yes to being on the team as youth pastors, yes to Motion Conference, yes to Highlands College. And in this new season, the answer is yes. And the passion for that yes comes from this. We just live to see what God did in our life happen in other people. And I know there's a bunch of people in this room in every location. Come on. That's our mission. To take what God has done in us to the world that needs it desperately. And that's what, if you want to know, PC already said that these next 25 years are going to be about More people. Knowing God, finding freedom, discovering purpose and making a difference. I'm going to say it one more time. Knowing God, finding freedom, discovering purpose and making a difference.
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That's who we are.
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That's our DNA. And just such an honor. And all that, again, comes from what God has done in us and from Jill and I. The first message we would say is, we love you with all of our hearts and we're excited to see what God continues to do in your life, in your marriage, with your kids. We're up at night. That's what we are thinking about praying about. And it's the honor of our life to serve this entire house. And that's what the rest of our life is gonna look like. We love you with all of our heart. Come on. The best is yet to come. Let's give God a shout today.
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Come on, Coach.
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Thank you, Mark, Chris, Tammy, we love you so much. Thank you for your faithfulness, your walk with the Lord, your integrity and your lives and the foundation you have laid here for these 24 years has literally touched the world. Highlands, I don't know if you realize the impact you have had and are having today. Globally impacting the church is so profound, and God has raised you up with such a high divine call that's upon your lives. And God has used Chris and Tammy to guide you through these 24 years. And now I love this transition plan because that's God's plan. We're always empowering, equipping and releasing the emerging generation. And what I love is it's like a relay race. Believe it or not, I used to run track. I know I don't look like it now, but I used to run track. And here's the key about an effective relay is when you hit the exchange zone, you're going full speed. Chris and Tammy are at full speed. Some of you are wondering, well, why are they making the transition now? Because now's the right time. At full speed. And guess what we got. We got Mark and Jill. They've been hoofing it. They've been booking. They're going hard. They're going hard. And they're ready. Because now, here they go. The transition happens. And it's going to be a blessing church for all of us and for the kingdom at large. Because as always, Highlands, you're leading and you're modeling what the church should be and do in its heart and its mission. And I'm so impressed. I, I, I, I, I have two earned doctorate degrees. I know it's hard to believe football Coach has two earned doctorate degrees. I did my second Ph.D. and you know what my study was on Highlands College. I did a study on this man's leadership and the school and its impact because it is truly producing giants of the faith that are gonna lead the movement for the church literally around the world. That's what Highlands College is doing. And that's why I know that Chris. Chris is so fired up and excited about that for he and Tammy. And now we've got Mark and we got Jill. And, Jill, I understand you're very gifted in your own ways, too. So I'm praying for God's blessing. Would you join us as we pray a prayer of dedication and blessing over Mark and Jill? And also with a spirit of thanksgiving for the leadership of Chris and Tammy and their ongoing leadership. Like you said, they're not going anywhere. Grandpa Chris and Grandma. I hate to say Grandma Tammy doesn't sound like Tammy here. You're a lot younger than Chris. Anyways, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are so humbled today that we can be here and a part of this wonderful, wonderful day where your hands is so evident. And you have raised up at this hour, Mark and Jill, for this time to step into a role of our lead pastor here at Highlands Church that's having an impact not only in our state and our nation, but truly around the world. So we pray today for a fresh anointing to be upon them. We pray for wisdom to abound within them.
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We.
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We pray, God, for your holy Spirit to guide them every step of the way. And we pray, God, that we, as a church family, will begin to dedicate ourselves, to pray for them every day to be there, to lift up their arms as Aaron and her lifted up the arms of Moses, that they will lead us, God, into the emerging years that you have for us of impact and transformation of our region and our nation and the nations of the world. We pray, God, for Chris and Tammy, that you will bless them now as they're making this new transitional move. You will strengthen them in this and go before them. And may the favor and the blessing of God continue to rest upon them and everything they put their hand to. And, Father, we know that you are leading us right now so we can step into this new face with great confidence, with great joy, with great anticipation. Because, Lord, you are doing great things among us. How blessed are we that we get to be a part of this. So we pray your blessing upon this family in Jesus holy and righteous name. And all God's people greet by saying amen. And amen.
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To God be the glory, everybody. All right, we're 24 years old, and our creative team put together a little tribute video. Go ahead and take your seats and turn your eyes to the screens. Thank you.
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I've been coming to Highlands since 2022.
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Since 2012, 2016, since 2011-2002-2002-2008.
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My entire life, so 16 years now.
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The second I went in, I just instantly felt the impact of God. I just knew this is where I'm meant to be. And ever since then, my whole life has been changed.
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God has broken me free of shame and guilt and has built a confidence and boldness and. And courage that I never thought I would be able to have.
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You know, I was pretty depressed. I had a lot of anxiety over my life, figuring out what I want to do with my life. And, you know, I came to church. God just completely lifted all the weight off my shoulders.
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The Lord has changed me completely. I had the opportunity to meet Jesus. The biggest thing that God has done in my life during this time is to introduced me to the Holy Spirit.
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After one of the services, went up and received prayer. I received healing that day and walked away with no issues and have had no issues since.
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My favorite thing about Churchill Highlands is the small groups and the fellowship and the family that you get to gain when you do that.
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I love my church because of the loving and caring people I get to see and serve with. Every single week.
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The Lord has taken strangers, people we didn't even know existed five years ago, and he's made them family.
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My small group girls. There were ones that I could peel that mask off and talk to them and know that I'm okay. I'm going to make it. Having the community that this church has brought me along with small groups and having small group leaders that have always invested in me. And I believed it, that I had gifts and that I could use them to make a difference.
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EPO did encontrad mi proposito EPO di o tomar mis proximos passos.
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I did discover my purpose. Now I've been able to step into my calling because of the ministry that's going on here.
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This church has done more for our family to have both of our kids in the last year accept Jesus as their savior.
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As a parent, it's almost overwhelming.
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There's no other place I'd rather be on a Sunday.
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I love my church because it's home. I found my sense of purpose. I get to make an eternal impact. This is my church.
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This Is my church.
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This is my church.
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Esta es mi iglesia. This is my church. Come on. Give God all the praise, everybody. Oh, it's our 24th anniversary. Come on, everybody.
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Woo.
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What a miracle this whole story is. And again, happy anniversary, Highlands. Let me take a moment, look straight in the camera. Say hello to all of our 26 locations that are joining us right now. And what a joy and privilege we have to bring in not only Sunday services, but all that we are as a church into all 28 of Alabama's Department of Corrections facilities right now. God bless you guys, the men and women there. And then, of course, we have people that are watching online or on demand later. Now, Grant Smeal, show how much love you have for everybody on the other side of the camera. God bless you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And before I bring this very abbreviated message. Thank you. Today, I wanted to give you a few announcements because we didn't show you a Highlands news video. Y'. All. I am your Highlands news. Okay, here we go, everybody. That today, because it's the first Sunday, we always have water baptism the first Sunday of every month. And we have it after every service. And your campus pastor will describe where that is at the end of the service. Cause they're in different places, obviously at all 26 locations. But it's today, after every service. And if you're one of the. Get ready for this now, everybody. If you're one of the 3,665 people who gave their life to Jesus in January alone, everybody, just this past month. Come on now. No golf tournament. Clap. Come on. Give God the praise for that. Okay? Salvation is a decision you make in your heart with God. It's not really with a church yet. We thank you. You should make a commitment to a local church. But the first one you make is it's a private decision between you and God. But then God's first instruction, Jesus said, once you make that decision, you're to go public with your faith. And it's not a suggestion. It is a command to be water baptized. And what water baptism is, I call it the wedding band of Christianity. It's the public expression that you belong to someone. And so I want to encourage you to do that. And you say, well, I didn't bring clothes. I didn't bring any. We have everything you need. We have underwear. We have dark clothes to wear. We have photographers. We have towels. We have hair products. No excuses, everybody. If you've not been water baptized, just join us right after the service. And let's celebrate your changed life. And congratulations on that. The first Sunday also marks the beginning of three classes that we make available to those of you who are new to our church. And we call these classes the growth track. And the step one of the grow track is our membership class. It's where you get to hear about our doctrine, our finances, our government, just how the church functions. Because if you're gonna join a church, you deserve to have information. But I do wanna encourage you to be a member, not just an attender of a local church. Doesn't have to be this one. Just find you a good church. There's a bunch of them in our area. Find one and commit to it. Because there's tremendous benefits to whenever you commit to a local church. That's today at 6p. We have childcare and food for you. So just join us. You get to meet your campus team. It's a wonderful time together. Today also marks the beginning of a 13 week small group semester. We're a church of small groups, which means we're a big church on Sundays, but we're a very small church between Sundays. So we gather. This is kind of the Sunday school, so to speak, of church of the Highlands. This is where you can study the Bible, get discipled. This is a place where even if you have a unique need, like I wanna understand parenting from a biblical perspective, or I wanna get out of debt, I wanna get my finances in order. We literally have over 5200 options for you. And they say, wait a minute, that's too many to sort through. You're right. That's why we built an online search engine which means you can put in some parameters. Like I can only do Tuesday night. And you know, I'm a guy, so I just wanna hang out with guys. And maybe I wanna lunch group, cause I don't have another evening or I want an evening group, whatever. You put all these parameters and the 5000 groups reduces down just to a handful. And there'll be a little blurb that'll describe it and a phone number of the leader and just call them and you'll know whether that's the one you should attend. And then I give you permission to shop for a group. You don't have to commit to the first one you go to. Just shop for a group for a couple weeks and find the one that's perfect for you. But I want everybody, everybody to get in a small group. In fact, right now we have everybody in our church in groups, right? In fact, there are more people who Attend groups that attend Sundays, which really hurts my feelings. But anyway. All right, but get in a small group. I also wanna let you know that in three days we have our monthly first Wednesday service. And by the way, this is a little bit more in depth teaching. I like to call it almost a biblical masterclass. Like, if you really want it deeper on certain topics, that's what this is all about. And it's also the place where we have public communion. So we'll receive the Lord's Supper together. The worship's a little bit longer. So if you like it a little bit deeper, a little longer, this is a great experience for you. I wanna invite you to that. And then, as I said, next Sunday, I'm beginning a brand new series, verse by verse, through the eight chapters of the Song of Solomon. Now, this book was written by Solomon, King David's son. And it gives a beautiful explanation of intimacy, marriage, purity, even the honeymoon night is in two chapters. And we're gonna have a. We'll tell you when that week comes so you can make sure you have your kids in our excellent childcare services, everybody. All right? Cause we're gonna get into the depths of even what marital intimacy looks like, according to the Bible. It's gonna be a lot of fun. And I want you to join me next week and I'm gonna kick it off. And then right in the middle of that, we have our annual marriage conference. This is the last thing I wanna let you know about, and I would love for every married couple to register. It is filling up fast, so do it soon. And last thing I will say that is, if anything we do as a church that has a fee attached, and this does has a fee attached. If you don't have it, don't let that be the reason why you don't come. We always build in scholarships and we would love for you to come regardless if you have the ability to pay or not. We just want to invest in your marriage. I have just a few minutes to share a couple of thoughts with you. And it's a verse that I wanna show you, really one single verse that I wanna build off of that is something that. It'll make sense to you in a minute why I've been thinking this and feeling this. As you can imagine, I've been in this transition, really in my own heart for a number of years. In fact, about five years ago, I knew this day was coming and I started even more developing our young leaders. I've always loved developing young leaders. That's why I love Highlands College so much. I just really love, love pouring into young leaders. And the Apostle Paul was really a person who developed a lot of young leaders. In fact, a lot of the books of the New Testament, if you'll notice, some of them are mentioned, like their cities, Like Philippi is the book of Philippians. So that was written to the whole church in that city of Philippi, the book of Philippians. But some of them have people's names, like Timothy, Titus. And these were the individual young leaders that Paul was putting pouring into. And instead of writing the letter or this book of the Bible to the whole church, he wrote it to the pastor. So he was investing. And these were young guys. I mean, very, very young leaders. And the last, chronologically speaking, last book of the Bible that Paul would have written is second Timothy. And this is what it says. And so he's saying to his young protege who he is pouring his life into. And now it makes sense why I've been thinking this, right? Cause I've had this conversation not only with Pastor Mark and Jill, but with our entire lead team, our elders. And I basically have said this. What you have heard from me over 24 years. And really for 41 years of ministry for me, I want you to keep. Everybody say keep. Keep. There's one thing to find something. It's another thing to keep that thing, right? Keep as a pattern of sound teaching with faith and love and Christ Jesus. And then he says, guard the good deposit. So a lot has happened over these years and try to put in some values. We put in a few systems, and we put in a few things that are almost like distinctives of our church that, like, this is. If you're going to describe Highlands, this is who we are. You got to guard that deposit that was entrusted to you because I'm giving it to you to make sure it gets passed on to the next generation. Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives inside of you. And he said, chris, why are you talking about this? I'm talking about this because a lot of people don't guard it and don't keep it. We've seen this sometimes in our own children. Maybe some of your kids totally grabbed your values, and now they're a family. It doesn't look exactly like it, but, man, people tell my kids from time to time, man, that sounds like your dad. Well, praise God for that. Maybe there are some things that I passed off to my kids that they both kept and guarded. And really the tendency is actually, if we're not careful, Let me Say it this way, if we're not intentional about it, you won't guard it. And then you'll look up a few years later and say, my God, look how we have drifted. Is everybody with me so far? Years ago in 1763. So this is even before America became a nation. Of course, we were colonizing and we were over here, people claiming territory. There was a guy who actually basically invented his own city and he named it after one of his dear friends, Rodney. And it was in Mississippi. It was called Rodney, Mississippi. You can google this later. Rodney, Mississippi was on the Mississippi. And I don't know if you know much about the Mississippi River. I grew up in Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River. And it's just a bunch of S curves, s curve curves, Fs curves. But if you also notice if you're ever flying over it, there's a bunch of sea set shaped lakes. They call them oxbow lakes. They're C shaped lakes that are just, you know, just a bit away from the Mississippi. That's where the Mississippi once was, but then it just changed course. Well, Rodney, Mississippi, in 1763 was bought and by this wealthy businessman. In fact, it was such a prosperous city because it was on the Mississippi that it missed being the capital of Mississippi. By three votes. They instead chose Jackson, Mississippi, as you well know. But by the 1900s, the town of Rodney, Mississippi was no longer on the Mississippi. Debris had built up in the curve. And by the 1900s, Rodney was three miles away from the Mississippi River. And today this is a current picture of the city. And now it's a complete ghost town and nobody lives there. This is a church that was built and now it is boarded up and nobody lives in Rodney, Mississippi because they didn't guard it, they didn't clean out the debris. They weren't able to recognize. Hey, we don't allow that. And moving some debris out of the way. Are y' all following me? Everybody? Okay, so one of my responsibilities, both now and forevermore as the founding pastor of the church is to remind ourselves, and I do this with my grandkids. Let me tell you who a Hodges is. Let me tell you what we believe in. Let me tell you what we stand for today. I wanna give you a list of just four. I actually, I've already talked to our teams, our elders, our leadership. I've given them at least 12 what I believe to be distinctives that, that we have to guard and keep. But I only have time to give you guys a few. So let me give them to you. Number One, we've got to guard our passion for God. In fact, let me add another descriptor. We need to guard our dependence on God. Now, we have always been a church of prayer. Can I get a good amen, everybody? We have always been that. In fact, if you know our story, the reason why our anniversary is on the first Sunday of February and not January, which is best time to start a church, because everybody's trying to get their life together around their New Year's resolutions. We actually waited an entire month, started it on the first Sunday of February so we could pray and fast for a month first, before we ever launched the church. You know the story. And from the very beginning, we have been and we will be for now and forevermore, a church that says God. We are completely incapable of doing anything unless your presence and your power is with us. Are y' all with me? And so we seek God. And I don't know, really when we kind of caught the momentum. I don't really fully understand it, to be honest with you, how we have thousands and thousands gathering at six o' clock in the morning for 21 straight days. It blows. It still blows my mind. I give God all the praise for that, but I truly believe the reason why. Reason why? We've seen all these tremendous things happen over 24 years, y'. All. You don't have a great pastor, and we're not a great church. We have a great God, everybody. I'm telling you, that's just the truth. And I truly believe that with all my heart. And not only our passion for prayer, but just our passion in worship. We've always been kind of known as a church that'll go after God. And I tell you, it took us a number of years to bring it to what I really believe, how the Bible describes praise and worship. Now, maybe this is the first time you've ever been in a church service, you know, where people are jumping around, lifting their hands, and maybe you thought, my goodness, they're a little fanatic. You know, if you do it on a Saturday, they call you a fan. If you do it on a Sunday, they call you a fanatic. All right? But I've always said, I've been teaching y' all this for years, that really, I think that the Book of Psalms looks more like Saturday at one of our football stadiums than it does look like the, you know, church on Sunday. Because the Bible says, clap your hands, shout, lift your hands, leap for joy, make a lot of noise. And we don't have any problem doing that on Saturdays, in fact, in Alabama, we're kind of known for it. Isn't that right, everybody? But God needs that kind of praise, too. God deserves. And I just decided a long time ago that, I mean, I don't mind getting a little excited on a Saturday, but I'm not gonna give all my praise to a bunch of 19 year olds who. Who don't even know me and be silent for the God who made me. Come on, somebody. Here's your chance right now to give him some praise like you would do it on a Saturday in a football stadium.
- [35:21]
C
Whoo.
- [35:23]
A
That's right. And did you know that the first warning that Jesus had for the end time church, and you go read it yourself. The book of Revelation, of course, is really the picture of the end of time. The whole book starts with seven warnings, guards, seven things to guard or to keep. And the very first one is, I know your deeds. Like, I know you got 26 campuses, and I know you're in 28 correctional facilities, and I know you've worked hard and I know you've hung in there, and I know you persevered and endured hardships for my name and you haven't grown weary, but I hold this thing, one thing against you. You have forsaken the love you had at first. And I'm just asking every single one of us, can we just guard our passion for God and never lose just the wonder of all that he's done in our lives? And every time we gather in this place, can we give Jesus the praise that he really deserves? I know you've clapped a lot, but one more time, give him praise, everybody. I can't stop praising. All right, the second one is I want to guard our pursuit for the lost. Now, we decided when we began the church that we didn't want to build highlands for people that were just Christians. We wanted to make room for those who didn't even agree with us. We wanted to make room for people who wanted to kick the tires a while and say, is this for me? And we've always been this welcoming church and saying, hey, you can bring your friends and it'll be a safe environment for you to bring your friends. And we've always had this pursuit for people that are far from God. And the reason why we had this problem pursuit for people that are far from God is because this is who Jesus is and was. In fact, just go read the three parables of Luke, chapter 15. And in all three parables that Jesus told, it's about lost things. And in these parables he said, I'm willing to leave the ones that I have found to go find the one that is lost. And so we just decided, if that's Jesus attitude toward the world, listen to me, everybody. It needs to be ours as well, that we are gonna do everything we can to reach people that are far from God. I tell you this story, if you attend our membership class, you're gonna hear it twice today, but I'll tell a brief version of it. I have five kids, and I know that's a lot of kids. Everybody. All right, I don't know where the line is, but Tammy and I crossed it. Isn't that right, everybody? That's a lot. But we were on a vacation a number of years ago, and our youngest, who's on the autism spectrum, we lost him in the middle of this very crowded village. And, man, I'll tell you, I was freaking out. We were all freaking out. There was about 20 of us together. We were vacationing with two other families. And it was the most panicked moment I'd ever had. I was truly convinced that he got kidnapped right from underneath us. And I was just frantic about the whole thing. And while we were searching for Joseph, there was never a moment that I thought got four others. You know, 80% ain't bad. You know, I never thought that, not one time. You know, in fact, I really wasn't even thinking about them much at all because they were already with me. And I was actually incredibly distracted by the one that was lost and this didn't happen. But can you imagine if one of those four said, hey, dad. Hey, Dad, I know we're looking for Joseph, but what are we doing for dinner tonight? Well, that's a dumb question when Joseph's lost. Now, it's a good question if he's not lost. And can we all agree maybe what our prayers might sound like to God sometimes? Hey, Daddy. Hey, Daddy. Like, really, you want to talk about that with 4 billion people who don't even know my name? And we just decided that we were going to be just intentionally focused on those that are far from God. And God has done some amazing things. This is called being a great commission church that Jesus gave us this assignment. It's an assignment he said basically when he left to go to heaven, after he ascended into heaven, after his resurrection, he looked at the church and said, I got something I need you to do. And you need to get the lost saved. The saved need to be pastored, the pastor need to be discipled, and the disciple need to be mobilized. We Call this the Great Commission. And it all begins with this passionate pursuit for the lost. That we never stop searching for lost people because God never stops searching for us. And that we will do anything short of sin to reach as many as we can. Can I get a resounding amen from everybody in this room? All right. Absolutely. That he is literally entrusted to us. He says, if anyone is in Christ, you're a new creature. And a lot of us wanna put a period right there and say, praise God for what he's done in me. But it doesn't end there, that once you become a Christian. He says, all this is from God who now reconciled us and then gave us that ministry of reconciliation. So you get to receive it, but now you get to be one who gives it. That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them, and then committed to us the message of reconciliation. And I want every voice to read this verse out loud. Here we go. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through. And that's what we're going to do. We are always gonna be a church that leaves these doors every Sunday and goes on mission. Now, listen to me. You don't have to go out there and reach every single person. But I am telling you to put your antennas up and just look for those who are hungry for God. And then I'm not even asking for all 52 Sundays. I'm just saying two out of the 52 have somebody far from God sitting next to you in church. And let's just keep winning the loss to Jesus. Can I hear a good amen, everybody? Number three. And that is that we are gonna guard the priority of relationships. So one of the misnomers that people say about us is that we're just a big church. And big churches, you know, you can't get to know people in a big church. Actually, it's not true. You can go to a church of 100 people that don't wanna talk to you. And that can be a hard church to get into. It's not a size. It's an attitude. Don't ever forget that. And that's why you saw on that little video tribute people who had gotten connected. And yes, it's a big church. You know why it's big? Because. Because the world matters. All of the world matters. And we will never stop searching for lost people because heaven and hell are realities. We have no option of being big as long as those are realities. But we also have to be small, because not only the world matters, you matter. And we all need a place to connect relationally. And that's why we're a church of groups. I've already told you this. You say, well, then why do we have to guard it? Because the Bible even admits that it's easy to forget this value. And so the Bible says, let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, because it's easier to say, that's too much work. And I'm not even sure I want people knowing my business. And I don't know, maybe I'll try to see if me and God can work this out one more year. And we have these fears of actually working through the issues that are inside of us. Like, literally, freedom is right there, but we have a fear of going toward it. Anybody that's my age or maybe a little bit younger, you would remember the story in 2001 when Elizabeth Smart, the little girl from Utah, was abducted out of her bedroom at 14 years old. And for nine months she was in captivity by these two very perverted people who abused her in every way you can imagine. And they got so confident of their ability to hold her captive, they used to hide her out in the bush and just out in the desert of Utah. But they got confident about their captivity of her, put her in a white robe and veiled her in a white. You could only see her eyes so nobody could recognize her. They brought that girl to a public library in the town. A police officer was once was just two feet away. And she was so afraid that she was captive and that if she said anything, that they would harm her. Even with her freedom two steps away, all she had to do is go pull her veil down and go. I'm Elizabeth Smart. Her poster was all over town already. Her freedom was two feet away. But fear kept her. And even though the police officer was right there, she never said a word out of fear. I wonder how many of us have freedom right there. And all we need is the confidence to pick up that phone, go through that directory, find somebody, and is it easy? No, it's not easy. That's why we have to guard it and keep it, so we can find the freedom. Come on, everybody that Jesus has already paid for, he has that for you. May 2025 be the year of your new beginnings. As well as you find freedom in Jesus name. And finally, I hear so many I could have told you about. I wish I had time to tell you about our unique view of finances that we have worked very hard to never put any pressure on you guys to run the church on much, on much less than what we give so we can do so much more for missions to God be the glory. We've given over $150 million to missions in 24 years. Are y' all listen all these values. But the last one, I want to leave because I just want to leave with a little joy in our hearts. And that is we're going to guard praise in our spirit. What's praise? Praise is your attitude. It's your laugh. We built this church on laughter, joy. In fact, not too long ago, I was just out in the city and this lady struck up a conversation with me and didn't know I was the pastor of a church. And she goes, what church do you go to? And I said, well, I go to Church of the Highlands. She goes, oh, that happy church. And I said, what's the opposite of that? Like, do you go like. I was just trying to figure that out, you know what I'm saying? And from the day one, we decided the joy of the Lord was going to be our strength, that I was going to bring you a bujo joke when I could and we going to laugh. You know why? Because when you guys come in here, you're coming out of a world that is so heavy and sometimes, and I'm just saying how I feel it, but sometimes, you know, sometimes religious things can put heavier things on you. The obligation, the burden, the guilt, the shame. Like, I mean I literally. I grew up in a church before I got saved. I grew up in a church that my pastor talked about hell every Sunday like he was born and raised there. Come on, somebody, right? And his finger always pointed at me. It was nobody else. Just right there. And the Bible says it's the kindness of the Lord that leads people to repentance. We just decided we was going to make it. Most life giving environment here. Jesus said of the anointing. He said, the spirit of God is on me. He's anointed me to preach good tidings. The gospel is good news. It ain't bad news. The gospel isn't. You're going to hell. Turn or burn. Get right or get left. That's. That's not, that's not the. That's funnier than y' all heard it. I just promise you. No, he sent me to heal. He sent me to proclaim liberty for captives, not remind them how bad they are. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. We taught that in the last series the year of jubilee. You get a. Hey, you get a do over. He's a. He's a. He's a fresh start kind of a God. He says to comfort all those who mourn, to console those who are mourning, to give them beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of not worship. Praise. I love worship. But we're going to start off with some happy songs. Like, we're going to dance a little, shout a little get excited. A little garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Why? Because there's a spirit of heaviness. Y' all heard the story. I think I've told y' all this about the dad who had his little crying baby in the grocery cart, and that baby was screaming bloody murder. He's trying to shop, and he's walking through, trying to be calm. He says, oh, Albert, please, Albert, Albert, wait till we get home. Albert, Albert, it's going to be okay. Albert, Albert, it's going to be just fine, Albert. Oh, please, Albert. And the lady walked up, she says, oh, I'm just. I admire how. How calm you are with little Albert. He said, dear lady, I'm Albert. Whoo. Come on, church. We're going to choose some joy of the Lord in this place. That's right, you come here. I promise you, you're going to get the oil of joy for that spirit of heaviness in your life. So, Father, I pray today, God, as we step into the next 25, help us to guard it and keep it. Every one of us now become responsible for all that's been deposited. And Lord, I'm asking you, let us be guardians of it, guard it, keep it, so that we can keep all that you've done in us. May it continue, I pray for 25 more years with every head bowed, eye closed. Maybe you wandered in this place today and you feel far from God. You know, the best way for me to describe somebody who's far from God is God seems a million miles away. And the Bible says in Ephesians 2 that Jesus came to bring you and God close again, to make you close, that every barrier and everything that's between you and God, your sin or just life that is separated, Jesus brings you together. And if you're here today and you say, I need Jesus, I need my sins forgiven, or maybe you're a Christian and you just have so wandered away from God and you're ready to come home, listen to me, your one heartfelt prayer of repentance and surrender, your life completely changing in a moment. And if that's you, then just pray this. Whisper this prayer. Right there. Where you are. All of our campuses. Come on. Right there we are. Say, jesus, I need you. I need you. And today I'm turning my life to you. I repent. I change my direction of away from you now to you. And I do it by surrendering my life completely to you. I give you everything I want. You say this now to be the Lord of my life. Your will, your way. Because I believe you're the son of God who died on a cross, Rose from the dead. And today I put my faith in you. Thank you for saving me. I give you my life. In your name I pray. Amen.