IV. Weeks 13-16 - Apostle's Creed Devotional

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2011-12 SERMON SERIES AT HIGHROCK CHURCH

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all pencil drawings by NoNo Go | cover graphic by Lyh-Rhen Lam | devotional layout by Paul W. Kahn

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DAILY SCRIPTURE

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JOEL 2:28-32I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL PEOPLE.YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS WILL PROPHESY, YOUR OLD MEN WILL DREAM DREAMS, YOUR YOUNG MEN WILL SEE VISIONS.

ACTS 1:1-11BUT YOU WILL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES ON YOU; AND YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES IN JERUSALEM, AND IN ALL JUDEA AND SAMARIA, AND TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.

ZECHARIAH 4:1-6‘NOT BY MIGHT NOR BY POWER, BUT BY MY SPIRIT,’ SAYS THE LORD ALMIGHTY

2 CORINTHIANS 3:1-6OU SHOW THAT YOU ARE A LETTER FROM CHRIST, THE RESULT OF OUR MINISTRY, WRITTEN NOT WITH INK BUT WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, NOT ON TABLETS OF STONE BUT ON TABLETS OF HUMAN HEARTS.

JOHN 14:15-27I WILL ASK THE FATHER, AND HE WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER ADVOCATE TO HELP YOU AND BE WITH YOU FOREVER—THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH.

GALATIANS 5:13-26SO I SAY, WALK BY THE SPIRIT, AND YOU WILL NOT GRATIFY THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH.

EPHESIANS 5:18-20DO NOT GET DRUNK ON WINE, WHICH LEADS TO DEBAUCHERY. INSTEAD, BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

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OPENING PRAYER:

Father I thank you for all of your gifts to me, among them the gift of your Holy Spirit. Lord I pray that your Spirit would fill me on this day that I might know and serve you more fully. Amen. I BELIEVE

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“I believe in the Holy Spirit,” is a line of the creed I am extremely passionate about. The Holy Spirit makes up the third Member of the Trinity. Unfortunately, I hear mention of the Spirit on the rarest occasions and yet the Spirit is an equal part of God as that of Jesus Christ and the Father. The Holy Spirit is 1/3 of God! (Don’t get hung up on the literalness of that!) We can’t afford to overlook this part of God. Moreover, the Spirit is promised to all people (Joel 2:28-32) and Paul tells us that the Spirit resides inside of each of us (1 Cor 6:19). The Spirit is responsible for granting gifts in believers (1 Cor 12), the fruit of change in our lives (Gal 5:22-26), and is our promise of salvation (Eph 1:13-14). With all of that said, often I find myself wishing the authors of the Creed had included a few more words about the Holy Spirit such as they did for Jesus Christ before this.

Ephesians 6:17 and 18 both contain mention to the Spirit of God. The first mention of the Spirit is fairly concrete and it is more easily incorporated into our lives. The second mention in verse 18 is a little more difficult. Here, the church is encouraged to pray in the Spirit at all times. When those words “in the Spirit at all times” were pointed out to me the first time, I still had questions about what it meant to pray in the Spirit and I couldn’t even imaging doing that at all times. Today I have begun to learn from God what it means to pray in the Spirit and I seek to do it as much as possible. Before continuing though, I must confess, as I was writing this devotional I was typing some words about praying in the Spirit at all times and how I often don’t succeed at doing this. As I started typing I realized I had prayed about what I was writing, but I hadn’t prayed in the Spirit. Immediately I stopped and sought the Lord. It is so easy to overlook this call, the call to pray in the Spirit and not solely on our own account.

What does it mean to pray in the Spirit? It’s an ambiguous phrase. For me it means that I am atten-tive to the Spirit. That means that I listen and don’t just speak. Practically it means that I do pray for the things I want to pray for, but I also stop and take a moment in silence to listen to see if God has anything to say. As I’m praying, I try to be sensitive to things the Holy Spirit is directing me to pray about as well.

This last summer I finished a long season of praying and seeking God’s direction for my life and ministry. At the end of this season I decided to commit to go-ing to Highrock’s church plant on the North Shore. I was excited and had already been pouring prayer and time into this ministry. Then one Monday morning at the beginning of October, I awoke to start my week. Lying in bed, I was praying for the stressful things I had to get done that week. In the middle of “MY” prayer time the Holy Spirit began to urge me to not forget to listen to Him. God was whispering to me, “pray and seek Me about your decision to go to the church plant.” I thought to myself, “What? I already did that, I’m all set. I’ve been all set, God was so clear before.” That week and the few that followed started a difficult process of discernment that ultimately led me to heed God’s call for me to stay at Highrock Arling-ton. Looking back it was the correct decision that God has confirmed in so many ways. Church plant-ing is definitely God’s call for many at Highrock right now, which I am excited about! However, God seems to have a different plan for me right now. I’m sure God would have directed me on that path no matter what I did; but paying attention to Him that Monday morning – that is, praying in the Spirit – probably saved me from having to find that path a much more difficult way.

Austin Anderson is a Minnesota native who is a student at Gordon-Conwell and lives in Arlington. He has been attending Highrock for a year and a half where he has been on staff the last year, largely working with the Young Adult community. His hobbies include playing racquetball, rock climbing, having fun with friends, and he greatly enjoys spending time in the kitchen making food and deserts especially when it means he gets to spend time eating that food with friends.

DEVOTION

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AUSTIN ANDERSON ([email protected])

PRAYER FOR HIGHROCK:Lord I pray that You would be guiding our com-munity. I ask that we would not take Your Holy Spirit for granted, but that we would be thankful for Your gift. May You speak to us and guide us as we seek to love one another as well as the commu-nity around us. Amen.

BENEDICTION:May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

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AUSTIN ANDERSON ([email protected])

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:

Looking back, was there a time you clearly saw or heard the Holy Spirit at work? What did that look like?

Are you simply praying or are you praying in the Spirit? Do you pay attention to the Holy Spirit or do you only pray and do what is selfishly on your mind? What would it look like you to pray more often in the Spirit?

How might God be speaking or leading you today?

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MUSIC FOR CONTEMPLATION

HERE & NOWThe Valley SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD

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DAILY SCRIPTURE

MATTHEW 16:13-20AND I TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE PETER, AND ON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, AND THE GATES OF HADES WILL NOT OVERCOME IT.

EPHESIANS 5:25-32AFTER ALL, NO ONE EVER HATED THEIR OWN BODY, BUT THEY FEED AND CARE FOR THEIR BODY, JUST AS CHRIST DOES THE CHURCH—FOR WE ARE MEMBERS OF HIS BODY.

EPHESIANS 1:15-23AND GOD PLACED ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET AND APPOINTED HIM TO BE HEAD OVER EVERYTHING FOR THE CHURCH, WHICH IS HIS BODY, THE FULLNESS OF HIM WHO FILLS EVERYTHING IN EVERY WAY.

COLOSSIANS 1:15-24AND HE IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH; HE IS THE BEGINNING AND THE FIRSTBORN FROM AMONG THE DEAD, SO THAT IN EVERYTHING HE MIGHT HAVE THE SUPREMACY.

EPHESIANS 3:7-13HIS INTENT WAS THAT NOW, THROUGH THE CHURCH, THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD SHOULD BE MADE KNOWN TO THE RULERS AND AUTHORITIES IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS

1 PETER 2:4-10THE STONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CORNERSTONE

REVELATION 21:9-27ONE OF THE SEVEN ANGELS WHO HAD THE SEVEN BOWLS FULL OF THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES CAME AND SAID TO ME, “COME, I WILL SHOW YOU THE BRIDE, THE WIFE OF THE LAMB.”

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OPENING PRAYER:

Lord, have mercy and gently change me, that I would better reflect your love to this world. Amen.


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Having become a Christian late in high school, I first encountered the Apostles’ Creed in church as a college student. When I first read and recited the Creed, I was bewildered by this week’s phrase, “holy catholic church.” I remember stumbling through this part, unsure of what it meant. At the time, I didn’t even know that the word “catholic” had a lower-case c meaning! (I learned that the little-c “catholic” means “universal” and is not a certain Vatican-based church denomination—who knew!)

As I think about this phrase, I am first struck by the word “holy” - or to be “set apart” - as God’s nature is wholly different from ours. With all the ways that I am sinful and broken, “holy” feels like a high calling to something greater than I can manage on my own. If I’m honest with myself, I admit that I like the ways of the world and feel that the paths of materialism and careerism feel natural and easier. As someone who has worked full-time for a Christian organization for many years now, I still feel uncomfortable explaining to strang-ers what I do. “So, what do you do?” “I work for a Christian non-profit organization. “Oh, that’s… interesting. I thought you graduated from a pres-tigious school.” “Yes, I did. But no, I don’t use my science college degree to its fullest earning poten-tial.” “Oh… interesting.” I have often felt the inter-nal embarrassment of telling others that I make much, much less than they do and do nothing that resembles what the world considers “successful.”

But as John 17:14b says, “for they [the disciples] are not of the world any more than I [Jesus] am of the world.” Similarly, as someone who longs to be a disciple of Jesus, while I am in this world, I am not of this world any more than Jesus was of the world. Though… there are days when it would honestly be easier to just be of this world too. One comfort I have is in knowing that this is the path of following Christ— following God’s plan for me, experiencing both the difficulties and the joys of the path of holiness. But as John 17:23 says later, “Then the world will know that you [the Father]

sent Me [Jesus] and have loved them even as you have loved Me.” Lord, help me to be holy as You are holy, so that others would know Your love through me.

The second thing I’m struck by is “catholic church” or “universal church.” As I stewed on this part of the phrase, it strikes me how narrowly I think about “church.” I find myself associating the word “church” with Sunday services and the Highrock church community. While I think it’s good to have such a strong affinity to my local church (I love Highrock!), I also feel compelled to be more of a global church member. As I thought more about it, each Sunday as we worship, I join the millions of voices singing praise to our Father in thousands of languages—it must be amazing from heaven’s vantage point! It’s like a taste of heaven that’s de-scribed in Revelation 21:1-4.

And as Pastor Dave preached recently about Christian persecution around the world in the present day, I once again felt challenged to stretch my heart and daily actions to think more globally as a Christian. For example, I was skyping with some missionary friends in East Asia the other day. As we talked, I became more and more aware of how difficult it has been for them to practice their faith. They worried about the police tracking and following them and their native friends. My heart broke for them as I heard them talk about their longing to celebrate Advent amongst other believers. That skype conversation and this de-votional compel me to expand my definition of “church” to include all Christians worldwide. Yet honestly, my heart feels so small. My daily circum-stances, work, family, and errands keep blinders on my eyes and heart.

Lord, change me into a global Christian in my heart, prayers, and daily actions—that I would pray for and care practically for my fellow believ-ers around the world as we are all one family.

Susan Park and her husband, Danny, live in Central Square, Cambridge and have been at Highrock for 3.5 years. She serves at church as a morning service SoulFood captain and as a Highrock Guide with Danny. During the week, she works for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as the staff director for undergraduate ministries in Greater Boston. When not working or serving at church, the Parks are having fun preparing for their first child (due in late March)!

DEVOTION

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SUSAN PARK ([email protected])

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Are there ways that you feel God inviting you to deeper places of holiness? Are there barri-ers or fears that keep you from going there?

What is your working definition of “catholic church?” What blinders keep you from thinking and acting more globally as a Christian? What would that look like for you?

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PRAYER FOR HIGHROCK:Lord, I pray that Highrock would be a reflection of the holy, catholic church, that we would have your glory and be in complete unity in you, Jesus, so that the world may know of your love.

Amen.

BENEDICTION:I [Jesus] pray also for those who will believe in me through their [the disciples’] message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21)


ALL OVER THE WORLDMatt Redman O CHURCH ARISE

Stuart Townsend



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HEBREWS 10:19-25AND LET US CONSIDER HOW WE MAY SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON TOWARD LOVE AND GOOD DEEDS, NOT GIVING UP MEETING TOGETHER, AS SOME ARE IN THE HABIT OF DOING, BUT ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER

1 JOHN 3:11-24THIS IS HOW WE KNOW WHAT LOVE IS: JESUS CHRIST LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US. AND WE OUGHT TO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

JOHN 17:20-26I IN THEM AND YOU IN ME—SO THAT THEY MAY BE BROUGHT TO COMPLETE UNITY. THEN THE WORLD WILL KNOW THAT YOU SENT ME AND HAVE LOVED THEM EVEN AS YOU HAVE LOVED ME.

EPHESIANS 4:1-6MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT THROUGH THE BOND OF PEACE.

ACTS 2:42-47THEY DEVOTED THEMSELVES TO THE APOSTLES’ TEACHING AND TO FELLOWSHIP, TO THE BREAKING OF BREAD AND TO PRAYER.

ROMANS 12:3-10FOR JUST AS EACH OF US HAS ONE BODY WITH MANY MEMBERS, AND THESE MEMBERS DO NOT ALL HAVE THE SAME FUNCTION, SO IN CHRIST WE, THOUGH MANY, FORM ONE BODY, AND EACH MEMBER BELONGS TO ALL THE OTHERS.

JAMES 5:13-20IS ANYONE AMONG YOU IN TROUBLE? LET THEM PRAY. IS ANYONE HAPPY? LET THEM SING SONGS OF PRAISE. IS ANYONE AMONG YOU SICK? LET THEM CALL THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH TO PRAY OVER THEM AND ANOINT THEM WITH OIL IN THE NAME OF THE LORD.

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OPENING PRAYER:

Dear Father, Thank You that You never mean for us to face the trials of life alone, nor the joys of life alone. Thank You for coming to Earth to both reunite us with Yourself and unite us with each other. Amen.



DAILY SCRIPTURE


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I BELIEVEINTHE

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Once upon a time there was a girl—a Manhattan-born, North-ern Virginia teenager with a lot of pain and recurring depres-sion. She questioned the purpose behind the trouble of life on a regular basis; in the calendar year 2005, she got an answer. On a Sunday afternoon—a sunny Sunday afternoon—God seemed more interested in her person than she had ever believed Him to be before, and she accepted His invitation to a new life in Him. But this new Christian believed she could be Christian all by herself.

By God’s grace, she held out through high school. To Him she brought supplications. To Him she brought her celebrations. And she had just enough genuine friendship that she didn’t want, not too much, of any others, even Christians.

She was fine.

Agnostic, atheist, Hindu, Msulim, Sikh—her friends. She was Christian all by herself; she could be Christian all by herself?

Perhaps it was a case of ignorance, of “not wanting and not try-ing because one’s never had.”

She went to college. And God began a renewing of her mind.

When it came to Christian community, she learned that she was an idealist.

She learned that Christians weren’t any better than non-Chris-tians when it came to relationships. She learned that she wasn’t any better than other Christians or non-Christians with loving, forgiving, or being gentle, merciful, or kind.

She learned that just because four of her five blockmates were also believers, and indeed very friendly, that didn’t mean they’d be “natural” friends in a four-year cruise-control camaraderie. It didn’t mean they wouldn’t disagree, or argue, or accuse, or dismiss, or resent, or distrust, or offend, or put at arm’s length.

But they stayed together.

And by an awesome mysterious bond, they remain part of each other’s lives after graduation. The adhesive? A forgiveness + courage + time + hopeful blend with God’s overcoming power as the base ingredients.

When it came to Christian community, yes, He worked to renew her mind.

She began to realize that she often translated believers’ and non-believers’ equally abundant imperfections into ingratitude for the gift of Christian community. She underestimated the power of God’s love redeeming the hearts of believers. There was something about Christian community that “shined bright” in a grey world.

She learned to receive kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, hospi-tality, patience, generosity, from people unrelated to her, with-out debt to be paid, and even though she didn’t deserve it. And what warmed her innermost being most of all, was at the end of receiving - many times without any means to give or ability to repay in near-equal gifts - sometimes the givers would still call her “friend.” Relationships, He taught her, cannot not be boiled down into transactions of care.

These few generalities of many more specific events, she learned in the communion of the saints.

While I write to you and look upon that girl and who she was—while I write to you and look upon that girl and who she is…Beginning to submit in weakness. Falling in a crowd where others shared her weight.

I thank God because she was, she is—I am immensely blessed and incredibly grateful for God’s glorious plan that we not be left to walk peaks, nor plains, nor valleys of life alone.

Community is where we not only bear and share burdens, but also where we can—with God’s victory already in us—help lift each other out of them, towards the day when Christ returns. Community is a place where as we continue to learn of His love for us, it overflows; we learn to give love and we learn to receive.

Audrey McElrath lives in Arlington. She is a class of 2011 graduate of Harvard College and has been attend-ing Highrock for over three years. This January 2012, she started a new job as a Sales Coordinator at Cultural Care Au Pair, a live-in childcare agency in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Post-undergrad job hunting had been tough, and she’s really enjoying familiarizing herself with her role and the company. When she’s not working, she enjoys arts and crafts, creative writing, watching Once Upon A Time, Vampire Diaries, foreign films, or documentaries, and catching up on some Korean pop culture !

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AUDREY McELRATH ([email protected])

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Where is your Christian community? Would you say you’re a part of one? A small group or group of friends for example. If so, reflect on what you’re thank-ful for about it. If you can’t say you feel part of a community, what can you do to change that? What has kept you from stepping out into that in the past, now?

Can you think of a memorable experience where you really sensed that God was sending you a message of His love for you through people He surrounded you with? What happened?

What have you done to edify your fellow brothers and sisters in their walk recently? Have you presented yourself as an arm on which they can share their burden? For example, are you making time to listen, are you seeking out those brothers or sisters even when they’ve become distant? If not, why not?

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PRAYER FOR HIGHROCK:Lord, thank You for not wanting us to walk alone. Thank You for leaders within the church to egg us on to continue to remember that we are not meant to walk alone and to act on that blessing. We need each other. And when You say, “I will not leave you nor forsake you,” while Your Spirit is always within us, Your reassurance of support can also manifest itself in putting sons and daughters at our sides to physically lift us up when we fall, to pray when we can’t, to throw a party when we’ve emerged from a valley or reached a mountain top. We thank You, Lord, for who You are. We thank You Lord that Your love washes over a multitude of sins that the enemy tries to use to separate us from You and from each other. Amen.

BENEDICTION:This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. (John 15:12-14)


LOVING A PERSONSara Groves I NEED YOU TO SURVIVE

Hezekiah Walker



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ISAIAH 1:16-20WASH AND MAKE YOURSELVES CLEAN. TAKE YOUR EVIL DEEDS OUT OF MY SIGHT; STOP DOING WRONG.

PSALM 32BLESSED IS THE ONE WHOSE TRANSGRESSIONS ARE FORGIVEN, WHOSE SINS ARE COVERED.

PSALM 51HAVE MERCY ON ME, O GOD, ACCORDING TO YOUR UNFAILING LOVE; ACCORDING TO YOUR GREAT COMPASSION BLOT OUT MY TRANSGRESSIONS. WASH AWAY ALL MY INIQUITY AND CLEANSE ME FROM MY SIN.

LUKE 23:26-34JESUS SAID, “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING.”

EPHESIANS 1:3-10IN HIM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RICHES OF GOD’S GRACE THAT HE LAVISHED ON US.

1 JOHN 1:5-10IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST AND WILL FORGIVE US OUR SINS AND PURIFY US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.

ROMANS 5:1-8BUT GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE FOR US IN THIS: WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.

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OPENING PRAYER:Lord, we praise You for the beauty of Your gospel. Increase our distaste for sin and our joy at Your grace so that we might love You more. Amen.



DAILY SCRIPTURE


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I BELIEVEINTHE

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I had no interest in the Christian message for most of my life because I grew up in a peaceable, flat, wholly adequate world. My family was stable. I achieved my goals in school and was a pretty nice guy. I learned about God in church, but I was doing fine by myself. The forgiveness of sins? What sins?

During my college years, I tried to help a friend but gradually realized I had caused much more hurt than harm, despite my best intentions. When I confessed that I had hurt her, she freely forgave me. God was working on my heart through that experience and that time in my life, loving me and helping me to see that the flat, nice-enough world I had imagined was never real, and to see that although I had always been weighing myself down with guilt for real failures, He loved me anyway.

But even though I chose to follow Jesus and learned that His cross guaranteed my forgiveness, I became increasingly frustrated with patterns of family re-lationships and internet use that never seemed to change. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) But even though I told God about my problems, I didn’t feel purified, and maybe not even forgiven or loved. Now instead of “what sins?” I was asking, “what forgiveness?” And honestly, that made it too hard to believe that Jesus is who He said He is.

Jesus encountered both responses when He spent time with us. The Pharisees responded “what sins?” and Jesus could not help them. The rejects, crippled, and blind had been asking “what forgiveness?” and waiting for a savior because they had only received condemnation. And when they put their faith in Him, He forgave them their sin and they went away prais-ing God.

I fully encountered Jesus in this way after sermons at Highrock prodded me to confess my sins and pain to

another person. (James 5:16) And what I found was mercy, God’s mercy flowing through them, the body of Christ. That is life-changing: it has given me a hid-ing place and a story to sing.

For when David confessed his sin to the Lord, he learned that “You (the Lord) are my hiding place; Hou will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7). Adam and Eve hid from the Lord, and I hid for years because I knew my sin and condemned myself. That is the human way. But when we confess our sins, our Lord IS our hiding place! And He has established the Church, the com-munity who sings of the sins we can admit to and the Savior we have found.

This is why I love the Christmas Concert so much: not only because it rocks and tells of God’s mercy, but because I know many of you personally, we know each other’s brokenness, and God is working on our hearts. We are surrounded with songs of deliverance! “Glory, Glory, we have our Savior!”

This is our story for each other and our song for the world: that our lives are not as flat and banal as our achievement, consumerism, and entertainment-based culture would have us believe. There are heights of love and depths of sin right under our nose every day and it matters! There is a God whom we alienate with our sin, but God did not condemn us or abandon us. No, He acted, and He acted audaciously: “God dem-onstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) For the human way is to change ourselves first, so that then God will love us. Too bad it doesn’t work! God’s way is to love us without regard for our merit so that we can be free to change, to follow Him and obey Him, and to tell of the grace He has lavished on us: “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, how He has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19)

Carl Erickson hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is a graduate student in mathematics and a RA in an undergraduate dorm. He is currently serving as a Covenant Group leader and a Shepherding Overseer.

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DEVOTION CARL ERICKSON([email protected])

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What image from the Bible speaks God’s forgiveness and mercy to the right side of your brain? The father running out to meet the prodigal son, Hosea purchas-ing Gomer’s freedom, the paralytic being lowered through the roof…

What sin or brokenness do you hold away from God’s sight and your own? What are the costs of bringing it to light through confession to a trustworthy brother or sister in Christ? What are the benefits?

If a friend asked you explain sin and grace, how would you respond? What illus-trations could you use from your own life?

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PRAYER FOR HIGHROCK:Lord, surround and protect Your church so that we might be a safe haven to confess sin, show mercy, and sing songs of praise. Give us the courage to bring this song with us everywhere, so that the world might be reconciled to You.

Amen.

BENEDICTION: (FROM “THIS IS OUR GOD” - MOFFITT/SMITH/COTTRELL)

Who is this One who will not condemn us? Why would He come to shoulder our sentence? Nothing we’ve done will keep Him from giving us grace. Who is this One? We watch and we’re speechless. God’s only Son embracing our weakness. He overcomes all death and frees us to live! And we sing: This is our God, suffering and dying. Call Him the Hero redeeming the lost. This is our God, love sacrificing all that is holy, accepting our cross. Hallelujah! This is our God! Sing praise!


NOT GUILTY ANYMOREAaron Keyes THIS IS OUR GOD

Moffitt/Smith/Cottrell



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HOLY SPIRITINTHE


NOV 13-19



I BELIEVEINTHE

NOV 27-DEC 03

CARL ERICKSON([email protected])

www.highrock.org

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IV. Weeks 13-16 - Apostle's Creed Devotional

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