Highlands Community Church of the C&MA

Summary

This is the first sermon of our Messy Church Series for the first Sunday of lent. This sermon explores the importance of embracing the messiness of life, to find true growth and fruitfulness. It emphasizes honesty, patience, surrender, and the significance of staying in the mess to experience God's transformative power.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Lent and Messy Church

01:09 The Challenge of Messiness in Life and Church

02:10 A Personal Story of Mess and Sickness

06:12 The Tendency to Avoid Messes

10:29 God Calls Us into the Mess

13:06 Understanding Proverbs 14:4

17:16 Deviations from Common Sense in Wisdom

21:17 Fruitfulness Comes Through Mess

24:58 Honesty and Confession in the Mess

27:49 Patience and Time in Growth

34:57 Dying to Self and Surrender

43:31 Living in the Fruit of the Mess

47:07 Closing Prayer and Reflection

In this Ash Wednesday sermon we prepare for the beginning of this Lent season. We explore the urgent practice of confession, laying down both our obvious sins and our hidden spiritual pride. Confession is simply declaring that we trust God with our lives more than we trust ourselves, resting in the beautiful promise that He will never reject a broken and repentant heart.

Scripture References:

• Joel 2:1-2; 12-17
• Psalm 51:1-17
• 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10
• Matthew 6:1-6; 16-21

Kicking off the Messy Church series, this sermon on the Transfiguration invites us to stop postponing the inevitable and trust Jesus.

Pastor Andrew continues the Vision Series with a focused look at the third and final core posture of Highlands Community Church, unpacking how we follow Jesus for the sake of the Highlands.

Pastor Andrew continues the Vision Series with a focused look at the second core posture of Highlands Community Church, unpacking how we follow Jesus for the sake of the Highlands.

To help unpack more about what it means to be "Practice Shaped" Andrew sat down with David Fitch, Professor of Contextual Theology at Northern Seminary, to help us understand what we mean when we say "Practice".

In this bonus episode, Andrew talks with Kelvin Walker, Vice President for Church Ministries in our denomination (Christian and Missionary Alliance) about what it means to live a Presence Based Life.

Pastor Andrew Meher kicks off the series with a sermon called Presence Based.

Pastor Andrew Meher interviews Rob Parker, Lead Pastor of The Plant Church, on how their church’s DNA is part of our story as we become Highlands Community Church!