Jesus calls us to seek, to enter a quest for, the "kingdom of God." This is language of royalty, of kingship. When we decide to follow Jesus, we are following not just a helper, not just taking a walk with a friend. We are submitting to a king. And we are thus engaging on a journey of increasing submission to and obedience to this king and his reign or rule over our lives.

Christians see Jesus-"clues" in the Old Testament. The story of Exodus-deliverance and law-points to Jesus. But we tend to think law conflicts with freedom in Christ. It doesn't. God delivered Israel w/ a substitionary sacrifice, and instilled that pattern in the law. This pattern is what leads us to anticipate and appreciate the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus.

Paul says that this text in Gen. 12 is the first proclamation of the good news, the gospel. It was God saying that through Abraham and his descendents, and ultimately Jesus was one of those descendents, all nations or tribes or clans or families of the earth would receive the blessing of God. God would not privilege on nation or race or clan. The blessing would be given to every race, every nation, every clan and tribe and people on earth.

God's at work in our story so that we have the true freedom to choose. And this week, he's hoping we will choose wisely. He's hoping we won't choose to trying to hold on to everything and cling to everything and assume that it's all up to us and we have to live our life independent from his love and his resources and his presence. Instead, he's hoping we'll choose to let go. He's hoping we'll choose to trust. He's hoping we'll choose to fly.

The Quest class welcomes Highland Missionaries, Nathan and Karen Luther to the class. In this podcast we listen to Nathan and Karen talk about the mission field, spiritual gifts, how they became missionaries, and stories from their ministry.

Chris Shelby guest preaches at Highland about what we learn about the good news of Jesus through marriage.

The Bible can be hard to read. It can raise some questions. But what we want to show in this series is that it is the one story that makes sense of all our stories. Getting our story right is the key to getting our life right. And the Bible is the right story. It's not a collection of commands. It's a story--about God and about us. These 16 texts in the Bible can shape our lives in profound ways if we give them a chance. I hope you will.

Domestic violence is serious, and demands the attention of serious believers. God cares for, and is defending victims of domestic violence through Agape. When we support Agape in protecting women and children, we witness to the Gospel of Jesus’ love for his church.

Mordecai was the one who helped Esther navigate this secular culture. He was the one who helped her through the trauma of losing both parents. He was the one who aided her in dealing with the vulnerability that came with her beauty. Because of the way Mordecai took Esther in and brought her up, she had the chance to grow into the hero whom God needed in the rest of the story.Jerrell Hill was initially a preacher in Riverhead, NY. He and his wife Fern opened their home and hearts to dozens of foster children who were homeless and in need of temporary housing. These were young people who faced odds like Esther--cultural impiety, family instability, and personal vulnerability. Inspired by their son Timothy, they went on to found and build Timothy Hill which opened its doors for the first time on November 15, 1980. It has been a safe haven for hundreds of young people during desperate times of abuse, neglect, and crisis. Their ministry has "taken in" many who were just like Esther and allowed them to go on and take on their role in God's story. They have been the Mordecai in the lives of many Esthers.

We are powerless. Powerlessness is our entry-point into the Gospel. Once there, we realize that so much depends on the resurrection. If Jesus was resurrected there is a source of power not limited by our powerlessness and darkness. So we take comfort in the resurrection, assured that the Jesus can find us in our darkness, and raise us by his power.