Highland Staff Blogs

Hello Everyone,

Highland Christian Church - you are beautiful!  Your faith is growing.  You are so generous in missional endeavors.  Your worship is passionate.  Your celebration is real and you are sweeping others in.  You are growing in prayer and the journey to the secret place.  There are moments when you simply take my breath away.  This Sunday was one of those moments.  I don’t know which moment it was, or maybe it was just a combination of all the moments.  The worship, the dance, the children, the laughter, the giving, the teaching, the silence; all of it built great joy and gratitude in my heart as I sat in the midst of you. These words are from me (Sherri), honest words overflowing from my heart.  But if you read them again, Jesus could be saying them.  I think that we have been swept up into a love affair with the Bridegroom and well, there are some Sundays when I could almost blush inside the outpouring of His Love amongst this group of folks huddled inside the Orange Peel. Continue reading »

written by Sherri McCready \\ tags: Emmanuel, Godspell, mission, missional, worship

Family Challenge: Let’s start with a little Bible fact review.  How many books are in the New Testament?  How many books in the New Testament are called the Gospels?  See if you can name these books. How many of these books record the birth of Jesus?  Find & read the birth of Jesus together as a family.  Think about Mary and Joseph and the journey they took to get to Bethlehem….to the night Jesus was born.   Think about the sounds around them.  What would they have heard with their ears?  Mary heard the voice of an angel speaking to her.  Did Joseph hear people trying to tell him not to marry Mary?  Were there lots of people and babies crying as they were on the road traveling with people?  The shepherds….did they bring their sheep with them that night to find the baby?  What do you think the barn sounded like?

This Sunday instead of a back-pack the children will be picking-up a costume and helping us as a church tell the story of the night Jesus was born.  The sounds of Christmas will be shared in the children’s story, “It Happened One Night”.  Come and join us!

Sue Peniston
Children’s Director

written by Sue Peniston

Family Challenge: God’s Big Plan will be our focus this Sunday.  (Hey you FlintStone’s Kids, you may be able to help your family members find these verses.  This will be a little bit of a review….how much do you remember?)  First of all, define prophecy.  What does it mean?  Now, find the books ~Isaiah, Zechariah & Malachi.  Did you know that these books are the names of men?  Find out who they were and what they did ~ the role they played during their life.  Now, read the following verses:  Isaiah 9:6&7, Zechariah 9:9, & Malachi 3:1.  About whom were these men speaking?  When these men were living, had this child, king, or messenger appeared?  No, he had not…and even at the time of these books being written, he would not appear for another four hundred years.  Waiting ~ Trusting ~ Believing…God had a plan for every nation.  What was the big plan?  Read John 3:16. Continue reading »

written by Sue Peniston \\ tags: Isaiah, Malachi, prophecy, Zechariah

Hello Everyone,

Thank you so much for the responses we have received regarding Godspell.  This has been such an encouraging week.  The kind words, volunteering efforts, financial support and prayer support have all been a great source of encouragement to us and have only served to confirm my faith that this endeavor is from the Lord.  Sunday we were able to introduce the cast and crew of Godspell and ask for the prayers and support of the church.  This Sunday, December 14th, we will be taking a special offering toward the budget of Godspell in both services.  My heart is full of hope based on the words from so many of you and the gifts that are already coming in!  Wow.  I really do say that word a lot. Continue reading »

written by Sherri McCready \\ tags: anticipation, Christmas, creation, Godspell

I want to tell you this story the way it was “told” to me.  I want to walk you through the vision, the fleeces, and the confirmations.  It has been unraveling for several months now and I believe it is time to tell it so that others can help us push this forward.  You may have heard of Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia - they are the church with the vision behind “Facing the Giants” and “Fireproof”.  They are compiling their talents into a push for the big screen and they are meeting with surprising success.  In a similar way, Highland Christian Church is taking a bold step towards the big stage.

Why Highland and why Asheville for this type of a faith step?
Asheville is one of the top ten arts cities in the nation!  Highland Christian Church launched in the Orange Peel, one of the top five performance halls in the nation according to Rolling Stone magazine.  Highland has met in the Orange Peel for the last three years and has become known in the city of Asheville as, “The Orange Peel Church.”  Our mission at Highland is to be a church for outsiders to become insiders.  Asheville is packed with an artistic and spiritual community.  Very much like the Athens that Paul encountered in the book of Acts, Asheville is having a spiritual conversation that Highland is joining.  Godspell will speak the language native to this city, coupling this culture with the artists at Highland who are truly exceptional in their talents and are assembled in this moment.  I believe it is for the purpose of taking this bold step toward the stage.  Any endeavor like this is risky and costly and certainly begs a lot of questions.  Here is the story. Continue reading »

written by Sherri McCready \\ tags: Asheville, dance, Easter, faith, Godspell, Orange Peel, Resurrectio, Resurrection Sunday, theater, theatre

Hello Everyone,

There is a story that I have been waiting to tell you.  I am telling you now because if this story is to be complete it will be because God favored us in a miraculous way.  In a nutshell the story is this; in the face of a failing economy, depression, and the sound of Retreat, Highland is compelled to advance in major ways next year.  We are looking at huge endeavors that I will lay out for you at the first of the year.  But one endeavor faces an immediate deadline so I am bringing it to you, Highland, and to all of you Highland supporters and prayer warriors through out the world.  Shannon will tell you why we are pushing out in faith and if you have time, I would love for you to read the whole story just because it is a good one.  The “Godspell Story” will follow Shannon’s comments.

SHANNON:
I want to invite you to be a part of the ongoing mission at Highland to engage our culture and to bring change through the love, loyalty, and friendship of Jesus Christ.  Highland has many gifted musicians and performance artists, and we live in a town that is known for its music and arts culture.  So, for 2009, we have sought a way to engage our community in an artistic form to get Jesus back on the table for discussion: producing and performing the Broadway musical, Godspell, at one of the nation’s top concert venues, the Orange Peel.  Our hope is that those who would never go to church, but enjoy quality theater and performance would come and experience this fresh interpretation of a classic rock musical that tells of the death and resurrection of Jesus (don’t remember a resurrection scene in Godspell? Read the attached story below).  Highland has the Orange Peel reserved for three nights during Easter weekend, a prime time people visit Christian gatherings centered on Jesus.  Up to this point, our leadership has looked to raising funds outside of Highland’s ’08-’09 general budget for the production, seeking sponsorship & advertising from community and business sponsors.  But the magnitude of the production involves many people from Highland in the cast, tech crew, set design, costume design, band, marketing, and ticketing.  It’s also going to take involvement from you–inviting your friends, co-workers, classmates to come and experience this production.  So, we are calling on the people of Highland and her friends to help get involved now by giving towards a special offering on Sunday, Dec. 14.  We pray that of the $9,500 fee for the use of the Orange Peel, we will be able to put down the $5,200 deposit required for the contract on Dec. 18.

I know many times church people give at the end of the year towards a “King’s birthday offering” and other such things that help a church’s general budget, or benevolence.  What I’m asking for is special giving towards engaging our culture with the story and person of Jesus Christ in a creative and relevant mode.  The gospel is just as powerful as it was 2,000 years ago, it’s just that many times churches are sending the message to an old address; but our culture has moved to a new address.  Could you help by joining together with the rest of Highland to make sure we get the Message delivered? Please bring your gift Dec. 14 or donate online, by donating to Highland Christian Church and noting in the memo space, “For Godspell”.

Changing life as we know it,
Pastor Shannon McCready

written by Shannon McCready \\ tags: artistic, Asheville, Creative Arts, Godspell

This Sunday Highland completed our series on The Secret Place.  It is my favorite topic!  It really is the finish line for us as Christ Followers to learn to Live from the Secret Place.  It takes practice, a lifetime of it, but is there a more worthy endeavor?  In the Secret Place we are renewed, healed and consumed into the purposes of God.  If we learn to dwell there, and not just visit there, then we will become a person who is renewed, healed and consumed with the purposes of God.  This is changing life as we know it through the love, loyalty, and friendship of Jesus Christ.

The Clothed in Compassion mission met with great success.  They were able to raise $844.00, this is enough to completely care for two orphans for a year.  WOW!!!!!!!  Two children will thrive because we simple emptied out closets, we didn’t even break a sweat.  Lord, help us to give more.  It just doesn’t take much to make an impact!  Thank you!

When you pray for Highland, please remember to pray for the team going to India.  Myles Hutchinson, our Director of Missions, will be leading a team in early January 09.  Each week Myles will let us know how we can pray specifically for the team through this update. This missional community is pushing forward in faith and great adventures because we are compelled by the Love, Loyalty, and Friendship of Jesus Christ.

Sherri
& the HCC team

written by Sherri McCready \\ tags: pray, Prayer, secret place, tabernacle

Family Challenge: Anticipation…..that is the word for the month at Highland.  Did you know that God began Announcing the coming of His Son….immediately after the need arose?  Read Genesis 2:4 – 3:24.  Genesis 3 contains the first prophecy of our coming Messiah…Savoir.  Look for it….where would it be?  It is in verse 15…it is in the crushing part.  What happened in chapter 3 that created the need for “being saved?”  Who was Eve’s offspring that was going to do the crushing?  God has kept His promise.

I listen to Christmas music only one month out of the year…ok maybe six weeks.  And I love it.  I get out our Christmas plates (an odd collection from over the years), Christmas cookie cutters…. (including the cross…it is a part of the story), our tree ornaments (also more endearing than beautiful…but then that is where the beauty is…in the stories)….I love celebrating Jesus!  He brings such hope to us.  My Grandpa & Grandma Howard did not do Christmas….they celebrated Jesus…just not the way the world does during December.  As a little girl, our home didn’t do it either.  I can remember the first time my mom made stockings…we were all so excited….we were anticipating the opening so much, Dad decided we could do the stockings on Christmas Eve (he wanted to as much as we did).  We have ever since.  The joy of Jesus creeps in and around…the act of giving is powerful.

My Grandmother was a widow longer than she was married to my Grandfather (who was a very “Christ loving” man).  The giving that happened at Christmas blessed her heart so much; it paid her cable bill (her link to the world), a new pair of walking shoes, a new coat.  It wasn’t about the way we commercialize it anymore…or the stuff…it was about our heavenly Father’s Spirit coming close… He is bigger than our worldliness. People keep trying to take the “Christ” out of Christmas…just so you know, it can’t be done.  His presence is bigger than our unbelief.  As a family, talk about the word hope and what it means.  How does Jesus bring hope?  Get on your knees as a family and talk to the King, tell Him all the things you are thankful for and lift up His Name.  Anticipate our God and what He does…..See you Sunday!

Sue Peniston
Children’s Director

written by Sue Peniston \\ tags: anticipation, Christmas, hope, Jesus