Highfields Church of Christ

A Welcoming Place

Matt George

Pondering

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We sit pondering about God…

about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Our 1 God who is 3 persons…

We develop analogies that all fall short,

and concepts that are always imperfect.

All while missing the ‘I am who I am,’ that spoke to Moses.

The God who is all around us, waiting for us to get lost in their mystery.

Learning to be okay with analogies that all fall short,

and concepts that are always imperfect.

Learning to celebrate that our God is 1 being in 3 persons.

Revealed to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Then we will get up and walk with them…… into the unknown.

Trusting God

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Have you ever been through a hard time and had someone say to you, “Just trust God.”? I know I have heard this at times and this response will often make my blood pressure rise. It is not that this statement is untrue but it is often a hard thing to do. How do we trust God when in the middle of a storm, with no control, and in an age of scepticism? This month in March at church we are going to explore this together and discover the tools needed to trust God in all seasons of life.

Please understand this doesn’t mean we won’t get it wrong or have times of doubt. It simply means we will know the tools to use so we can sit in front of Jesus and have him hold us, repeating to us, “I Know.”

Because while the storms rage, with no control, and in an age of scepticism, Jesus holds us every step of the way. We must practice and discover the art of trusting God. This involves us letting go of our idea of perfection, control, and wanting all the answers. When we do this we are meet by a God of pure love, who knows.

Jesus Have Mercy on Me

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My world feels heavy and I can’t not bring myself to keep moving forward.

I go outside to look at the trees and take off my shoes so I can feel the earth.

“Jesus Have Mercy on Me.” I pray as my feet connect with the soil.

Looking around I notice some birds attempting to claim my leftover lunch, that missed my mouth when eating earlier.

The breeze blows through my hair providing some relief from the heat.

“Jesus Have Mercy on Me.” I pray again as I continue to centre myself.

The world seems a little bit lighter and I feel I can take the next step.

One step at a time seems to make life more manageable and less heavy.

“Jesus Have Mercy on Me.” I say as I got back inside.

New Growth

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In Joel 2:28-29 we read the following:

Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit. – NRSV

I love this verse and it makes me think about the New Growth waiting for us in 2023. God’s true character has been revealed and their Spirit poured out on us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We know walk with amazing accessibility to the Spirit which is all around us and have endless moments to partner with Christ in restoring creation.

This restoration brings new growth from the most unexpected places, what unexpected new growth does God have for us in 2023? To discover the new growth, we have to lean into Christ and allow God’s Spirit to overflow by giving up our control. May we be vulnerable and discover the new growth God has instore for us in 2023.

Jesus Stood Still

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There is a story in the Gospel of Matthew found in chapter 20 in verses 29 to 34. In this story Jesus’s ministry is growing and this story takes place before he cleanses the temple in Jerusalem.

          In this story he is leaving Jericho on his way to Jerusalem, where he will suffer the incredibly painful death of crucifixion.  On his way leaving Jericho, there are two blind man who hear that he is coming. They scream out to him and get told to be quiet, which leads them to scream out louder until Jesus hears. Then Jesus stops in the middle of this massive following and calls for them. The blindmen approach nervously and then are asked what they want… I imagine time would have stood still why they worked up the courage to ask, “LORD let our eyes be open.” This moment moves Jesus with compassion and leads to Christ healing them. These two men who are healed decide to follow Jesus and live a truly transformed life.

          What I find amazing about this story is that before the healing, we read that Jesus ‘stood still.’ How often do we stand still to hear God’s direction for us? What miracles are we missing because we don’t get stil long enough for God? I want to encourage you to take time in the beginning of this year to be still with Christ, so you can partner with them in the healings they desire to bring their creation.

The SMOOSHED Nativity

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Love Does Not Harm

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The following is from Richard Rohr Daily Meditation from the Centre for Action and Contemplation. We hope the following will encourage you to sit with God in quiet contemplation.

Theologian Karen Baker-Fletcher speaks to paradox—the goodness of God and creation do not cause us to avoid suffering in our world and daily life, but to seek to love even more:

How can there be so much joy, pleasure and beauty in life? How can there be so much pain, hurt, suffering, and death? Why and how have these things come to pass? What is God’s intention for human life and for the rest of creation? Doesn’t God will something more for us—a love that does no harm? Doesn’t God will for us a compassionate and caring love, rather than a false love that strips humanity and creation of dignity? Can we experience such love in this life? Or do we have to wait until the hereafter—life after death? These are questions about the kingdom of God. They have to do with God’s intention for the reign of God. They make us consider our own responsibility as participants in God’s activity of a love that does no harm in the here and now, whether we are straight or gay, men or women, children or adults, laity or clergy. . . .

This life is good, valuable, and worth living. Hope is not only in the future. Hope is in the present.

From a womanist perspective, the reign of God does not have to do with a far-off, abstract, otherworldly, alien, and alienated place. To the contrary, the promise of the fulfillment of the Spirit’s healing, creating presence on earth is woven together with apocalyptic hope in the midst of the daily work and struggles of life. The reign of the Spirit is an ever-present reality. The hereafter is in the here and now. We live into it in our everyday acts. God moves as the strength of life, present in history and creation. God as the strength of life is the power of life. Given such power, whom should we fear? That which is the very strength of life transforms fear into faith, salvation, and hope. It means that we do not have to accept injustice and abuse while we wait for some better, eternal life in a world beyond the present. We can live into a love that is eternal and does no harm in the here and now. [1]

[1] Karen Baker-Fletcher, Sisters of Dust, Sisters of Spirit: Womanist Wordings on God and Creation (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1998), 117–118, 120–121.

The Incarnation

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I am excited about our upcoming series this Christmas, where we are going to be diving into the beauty of the Incarnation. This amazing moment in the history of our world where the God of the universe put on skin and was born as a helpless baby in a manager. The birth of Jesus Christ is a vital moment in the story of humanity and the reason for the Christmas season.

How often do we sit in this moment though? How often do we attempt to explain this unexplainable event?

Think for a moment about how inexplainable this moment is…… The God of the universe is born in human form, being both fully God & fully human, through an unplanned teenage pregnancy. To first time parents who are not wealthy or in positions of power.

This moment of incarnation where God and humanity become intertwined leading to the salvation of our world is beautifully unexplainable. I hope this Christmas we will get lost in the beauty and mystery of God putting on skin.

Knock, Knock

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I have been reflecting around a verse found in the book of Revelations. The verse I am about to share is often used by churches in the direction of non-believers, but this verse is found in Revelations when Jesus is addressing the church. In this part of the story Jesus is addressing the church in Laodicea, and we read the following:

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me. To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” – Revelations 3:20-22 NRSV

          I am struck by how far too often in Christianity we skim over this verse as if we know for sure we have all heard Jesus knock and have opened the door. It is clear though that Jesus is speaking to the CHURCH!  We have Christ speaking to his followers…… not to those who do not believe.

          The reason we skim over this verse is because it forces us in churches to ask ourselves, “Is Jesus knocking at our church doors, and are we not hearing it?”

This is a question I believe all of us as Christians should ask ourselves and then look at our communities for the evidence of Christ love. If we have opened the door and Christ is dinning with us in our communities, the evidence of his love will be all around us.

The Heart of A Psalmist

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In the month of November, we will be doing a series called The Heart of a Psalmist. The goal of this series is to dive into the Psalms and develop an authentic heart for God like we read throughout this part of scripture. This book was put together in the Second Temple Period (around 5th century B.C.E). The collection of this book is divided into 5 sections (1-41, 42-72, 73 – 89, 90 – 106, 107 – 150) which is indicated by a prose doxology of praise to God (except the 5th book).

          Psalms is a book of poetry but not in a rhythm sense rather in its drawing of parallelism.  It is often hard to translate due to Biblical Hebrew being a synthetic language opposed to analytic languages like English. A synthetic language combines multiple concepts into each word, while an analytic language breaks up concepts into separate words. The poetry of this sacred book finds away to still speak to us regardless of the translating difficulties.

Psalms seems to speak to our hearts and is often a book we search in times of trouble, sadness, anger, and exhilaration. May we learn to speak to God in an authentic way and develop The Heart of a Psalmist. Knowing that, “If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.” – Psalms 139:8 NRSV

We are the Temple of God

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 Have you ever realised that your body is a temple? In Paul’s epistles he consistently points towards this fact. In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul on numerous occasions hints at this amazing truth. We read the following in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.

You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred – and you, remember, are the temple. – MSG

I love this passage for several reasons, but it has serious implications for us. For instance, if we call ourselves Jesus followers it means that WE ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD. The Holy Spirit which created the universe, parted the Red Sea, and was present in the incarnation now lives in us.

This means that we are worth something!!! We are so precious to God that they now dwell in us! How amazing is this truth, especially in a world where we are told our worth comes from our social status. God says you are ENOUGH… better yet God says YOU ARE VALUABLE BEYOND MEASURE TO US.

          This is big because it means that all humanity is VALUABLE and when we dishonour or dehumanise the other…… we are dehumanising the very TEMPLE of GOD. Even if they are a not a Jesus Follower yet, they are a TEMPLE OF GOD in RESTORTATION.

In our world with so many differing opinions it is hard to show love and not dehumanise the other. As Jesus followers we are called to walk this hard & complicated path that continues to ask us to express the sacrificial love revealed to us in Jesus Christ.

Speaking the Truth in Love

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Last week I spoke about Speaking the Truth in Love and explored Ephesians 4:15-16 in more depth.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

– Ephesians 4:15-16

Too often we have used this misquoted verse to excuse some of the most unloving actions in Church history. We cannot go back in time to change any of these actions but we can control how we live out the Gospel in the present.

Remembering the first time “in love” is used in this section of Ephesians which is aimed at maintaining Unity with Christ followers. At the beginning of this section, we read the following:

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 

-Ephesians 4:1-6 ESV

This means that Speaking the Truth in Love cannot be separated from humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, and mainlining unity through the bond of peace. We also need to remember that TRUTH in the Bible often means to simply not lie, it has nothing to do with sharing our unrequested opinions to others. To ensure we Speak the Truth in Love let’s live out the Gospel of Christ with our actions and humbly share our convictions when requested.

How many harmful debates around God would end if we simply humbly shared our convictions upon request? Allowing our actions to preach the Gospel and only using words when required as Saint Francis of Assisi encouraged us to as Jesus followers.

To be honest this doesn’t take a major effort on our part and truthfully adding the simple phrase, “but I could be wrong,” at the end of our sharing of our conviction could have profound implications allowing many to experience the love of Christ. The Love of Christ has the power to change our world! We are simply asked to live it out and humbly share our convictions when requested.

This is Speaking the Truth in Love

Seeing Jesus Again

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The following is Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation from the Center for Action and Contemplation. We hear from Diana Butler Bass who speaks about Seeing Jesus Again.

The question of how we see, and what the lenses are that allow us to understand our lives and the world more deeply is a question that I’ve cared about for a really long time. . . . How do we understand where and how the divine, where God, the Holy Spirit is operating in our lives, in our institutions, and the world around us? What gives us the capacity to even understand any of that? . . . In the latest book [Freeing Jesus], what I really wanted to do is settle down to the basic issue, or the basic central reality of Christianity. Because people started asking me about ten years ago, “Why do you stay Christian?” . . . And I’d have all sorts of fancy answers and then I’d just say, well, it’s because of Jesus. . . . That’s where I wanted to go, and think about: who is Jesus really? Who has Jesus been for me? And why has that been so central to my own life story? . . . And I think where Freeing Jesus has taken me is that somehow staying Christian is about staying in and with and through Jesus. Jesus has everything to do with it. And that really matters to me. Yet Jesus has not stayed the same for me through my whole life’s journey. And so, I’ve had to be open to understanding that, even though there’s one verse in Hebrews that says “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever” [Hebrews 13:8], I have not stayed the same yesterday, today, and forever. The church does not stay the same yesterday, today, and forever. And so, in a very real way, Jesus has changed for me. Jesus changes for the world. Jesus changes for the institutions of faith, for the church. . . . If you’re not doing that kind of work, of letting the end of one image emerge for you and a new image of Jesus be born for you, you’re probably in a pretty static place in your own faith.

In Freeing Jesus, Bass describes our relationship with Jesus as a dynamic opportunity to see God and ourselves perpetually anew:
If we think that being with Jesus means getting the right answers from a creed or remembering points of doctrine from a sermon, we probably will not manage to truly know Jesus. We will only succeed in keeping the right responses scribbled on some back page of our memory. “Who are you, Lord?” [Acts 9:3–5] is the question of a lifetime, to be asked and experienced over and over again. That query frees Jesus to show up in our lives over and over again, and entails remembering where we first met, how we struggled with each other along the road, and what we learned in the process. [Diana Butler Bass, Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence (New York: HarperOne, 2021)]

Not Again

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The following is a poetic prayer of pain & grief to God after hearing about the Mass Shooting in Uvalde, Texas, USA at Robb Elementary School. My prayers, thoughts, condolences go to all the families hurt in this tragedy. Hopefully one day in the near future real change will happen so we never repeat the phrase ‘not again’.

Not Again……

I scroll to discover another mass shooting in my home country.

19 kids under 11 killed for no reason…

2 adults trying to protect them…..

A President gives a far too familiar heart felt speech…

Promising change and a stand against the NRA.

Does this mean a rejection of all the pro-gun lobby groups?

Their money funded every political official’s campaign……

Not Again….

A misconstrued commandment made when there were no automatic or semi-automatic weapons……

Before a National Military was sworn to protect the land….

Commandments were never meant to be static….

They are a living organism….

19 kids under 11 killed for no reason….

2 adults trying to protect them…

A hurt traumatised young men pulled a trigger to easily accessible…

The debate will run its course again….

Advocating both sides while….

19 kids under 11 & 2 adults are buried….

Endless debates that too often led to zero change…

Leading me to say……

Not Again……far too soon.

God help us change so we never again have to say….

Not Again.

Stuck

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Have you ever felt stuck?

Where your body is unable to move,

The mind is unable to dream,

The heart is unable to hope.

Days seem to never end,

Your only escape from the Nightmare is sleep.

 Then you hear a small voice saying,

“Get up and walk with me.”

Your body begins to move,

The mind starts to dream,

The heart can hope.

Then you hear the voice again saying,

“I am here with you.”

A warmth and peace spreads starting with

Your body as it moves again,

Then your mind as it dreams,

Followed by your heart as it hopes.

The voice of Christ whispers to you again saying,

“You are my friend, and I need your help with something.”

Unknowing

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Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations from the Center for Action and Contemplation – May 11th, 2022

In his poem “Glosa á lo Divino,” John of the Cross reveals his deep trust in the mystery of “not knowing,” confident that it will lead him into greater intimacy with God. We share with you Mirabai Starr’s translation.

I would not sacrifice my soul 
for all the beauty of this world. 

There is only one thing
for which I would risk everything: 
an I-don’t-know-what
that lies hidden
in the heart of the Mystery. 

The taste of finite pleasure
leads nowhere.
All it does is exhaust the appetite 
and ravage the palate.
And so, I would not sacrifice my soul 
for all the sweetness of this world. 

But I would risk everything 
for an I-don’t-know-what 
that lies hidden
in the heart of the Mystery. 

The generous heart
does not collapse into the easy things, 
but rises up in adversity.
It settles for nothing.
Faith lifts it higher and higher. 

Such a heart savors
an I-don’t-know-what
found only in the heart of the Mystery. 

The soul that God has touched 
burns with love-longing.
Her tastes have been transfigured. 
Ordinary pleasures sicken her. 
She is like a person with a fever; 
nothing tastes good anymore. 

All she wants
is an I-don’t-know-what 
locked in the heart of 
the Mystery. . . .

I will never lose myself
for anything the senses can taste, 
nor for anything the mind can grasp, 
no matter how sublime, 
    how delicious.
I will not pause for beauty,
I will not linger over grace.
I am bound for
an I-don’t-know-what
deep within the heart of the Mystery.

—John of the Cross, Glosa á lo Divino, trans. Mirabai Starr

Domestication of the Cross

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In our final message we looked at the Domestication of the Cross and how the cross should launch us to action for those being persecuted and treated as outcasts today. Below you will find the Podcast of this message due to our Video Camera having issues.

Shining Story

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In our upcoming series called Shining Star we are diving into the book of Esther. This is an incredible book where God is never mentioned but is constantly working. In this series we are going to explore four things from Esther.

First, we are going to look at Moral Ambiguity & God because this book is full of drinking, sex, and broken Torah commands. Which doesn’t allow us to stay and black & white thinking, with a God that is working throughout all these moments.

Next, we will look at how this story can help us find the Courage to Pivot the Narratives forced upon us by society. Esther finds the courage to pivot a narrative that was going to lead to the mass genocide of her people.

After covering these two things we will have a special Sunday where the Kids & Youth take over our Church service. In this service they will help us discover more about looking out for God in action.

To conclude this series, we will explore how The Movement of God is Seen if we are willing to go on the journey of discovery. The author of Esther invites us on this journey by working tirelessly to avoid mentioning God by name or using religious language.

You Are Worthy

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You Are Worthy

Let that sink in….

Too often we believe a lie.

A lie that traps us in fear.

Making us believe we are Unworthy.

This fear gains strength through misunderstanding of Scripture.

God has given each of us his divine spark.

The Breath of life was given to all humanity.

We all have a capacity for sinfulness,

While also having a divine image to shine.

God desires relationship with humanity because we are Worthy.

Our creator made us in a divine image,

And we each something special to bring to our world.

So, always remember YOU ARE WORTHY.

Just US

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Have you noticed the ‘Us & Them’ rhetoric from all different angles lately? The rhetoric is not new, but we are becoming more polarizing each day. This extreme polarization is fueled by three main things: Social Media, Keyboards, & Fear. Let me unpack what I mean and how these things are like petrol being poured on a fire.

Social Media is set up to get a reaction and keep our eyes on the screen. A complex computer algorithm has figured out the thing that keeps humans glued to a screen. which is often our outrage. We spend time on our phone looking at things the algorithm knows will keep our attention. Social Media is even where many of us will get our news reports, which are fixed to meet the algorithm we created. This means we often don’t hear from opposing opinions unless it is a click bait item which will spark outrage. This has stopped us from seeing the perspective of the other, keeping us entangled in our algorithm where we feel it is ‘Us & Them’.

Keyboards enable the fire set by the social media algorithm to grow faster. We can show easily pick the other apart when they remain an object. This allows us to speak to people by typing things on a keyboard we would never say in person. We become disconnected from the other, unable to see them as a person. Since there is no social interaction which creates a lack of social cues, there is a constant state of misunderstanding. A voice is created in our head about how the person sounded, and the social cues they are giving which often is not accurate. We stay brave behind our keyboards saying things and creating social cues for the other while dehumanizing them.

Fear keeps us in this place where we stay trapped behind our keyboard and create friendship groups that are presented to us by our social algorithm. What else are we to do but see the world becoming increasingly divisive, which allows our fear takes hold of us, telling us to stay away from the other. A narrative is created in our head where the other (those who don’t agree with us) are out to get us and lack the level of humanity we possess. Making us conclude that the only we can do is fear them because they will hurt, attack, and potentially show us there is more to the narrative developed inside our heads.

Our society is facing an out-of-control forest fire where we are attempting to create a world where it is ‘Us & Them.’ Pushing rhetoric and narratives that enable us to dehumanize someone who thinks differently. I believe as followers of Christ it is time to do the work in putting out this forest fire because there is no ‘Us & Them‘, there is JUST US. We are all humans created with a divine spark, and Genesis 1:27 makes that clear,

“So God created man*Hebrew word here includes both men and women* in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” – ESV

As Christians let’s show the world there is only JUST US by stepping out of comfort zones. Building relationships with the others who think differently to us and having face to face conversations while enjoying a meal, coffee, beer, or wine together. Hearing the heart of others without attempting to tell them how they are wrong. Creating an atmosphere where we can share our opinions without judgement and persecution because we are all humans doing the best we can on this planet. Always remembering that,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:16-17 ESV

by Pastor Matt George