Whose Words are You Listening To?

One of the realities we live in is the constant cultural pressure against what God has revealed in the Scriptures. The many voices of our culture and its false gods offer words that that tell us real joy is found in what God forbids. These voices are many, constant, and strong. The pressure we face is the tension between God’s word and the words of false gods. Whose words are you listening to? Ask yourself:

• What are you watching?
• What are you reading?
• Who are you listening to?
• Who is influencing you?

We need to evaluate what we take in and reorder our lives around God’s word. Tim Keller offers two reminders:
(1) Some of us are far more influenced by our culture than the Bible.
(2) All of us are far more influenced by our culture than we think.

When we neglect God’s word and listen to the words of our culture and its gods, we will look more like the culture than Christ. And when we do that, we end up with something other than gospel Christianity. Consequently, because the pressure to accommodate to culture is so great and constant, we must guard our hearts and root ourselves in God’s word. How might we do that?

Let me offer three ways we can guard our hearts and root ourselves in God’s word:

1. Gather regularly with the church. 
   • Since the beginning of the church’s life together in Acts 2, they devoted themselves to the word of God through the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42). We gather together each Lord’s Day (Sunday) to hear God’s word for us. This word helps us combat the voices of our culture and its false gods. This word is heard by the whole church, so it is a word we can also speak to one another.
2. Speak God’s word to one another.
   • The apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:11-16, that the ministers of God’s word peach and teach the word to equip the saints for the work of ministry. What is that work? Speaking God’s word to one another so that we may look more and more like Jesus and less and less like the world.
   • At High Pointe, we offer many venues for members to get together and speak God’s word to one another. We don’t expect every member to be involved in every one of them, but we do expect every member to be involved in speaking God’s word to other members. Ask yourself, where in the life of the church are you speaking God’s word to other members? One to one. Life Classes. Life Groups. Titus 2 Groups for women. Men’s D Groups. Let’s speak God’s word to one another regularly so that we may hear God’s word, not our culture’s.
3. Teach your children.
   • If we don’t teach our children, we cripple them in the battle against the false gods of our culture. Someone or something will and is discipling our children: peers, media, social media… Our culture and its false gods are constantly pressuring our children to accommodate. The front line in the battle for the souls of our children is the doctrine of humanity: Gender/sexuality. But that’s not the only area of questions: ethics – what is right and what is wrong, religion – pluralism, universalism, syncretism, just to name a few “isms.”
   • Mom and dad, YOU are the primary discipler of your child. As a church, we want to come alongside you and help you. That’s why children’s ministry and student ministry are so important. We want our children to hear God’s word in the sea of the words of the false gods of our culture.

The constant, strong, and ruthless pressure we face as Christians living in a pagan world is not going away. When we neglect God’s word, we will be tempted to accommodate our faith to the false gods of our culture. And we have to admit, we are far more influenced by our culture than we care to admit.

High Pointe, let us be rooted in God’s word so that we may live God’s way in a world ruled by false gods. Let us speak God’s word to one another so that we may look more and more like Jesus and less and less like the world.

One-Day Membership Class | Sunday, November 24 | 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM in the Old Choir Room
If you’re interested in learning more about High Pointe or pursuing membership with High Pointe, please mark your calendars for our one day Meaningful Membership Class. This class will cover three main questions: What is the church and why should I join, what does High Pointe believe, and what do we expect of church members at High Pointe. Click here to register.

Women's Bread Baking Class | Saturday, October 26 | 10 AM to 12 PM
Come join the women's ministry as we gather for good company and to learn how to make easy, versatile, peasant bread. All supplies are provided, but we ask that you please bring a large mixing bowl for your bread and two tea towels to cover the bread while it rises. Click here to register!

International Student Outreach Opportunities 
Periodically there are volunteer opportunities available to get to know and engage with international students and scholars through the University of Texas Friendship Program and through Bridges International which is a part of Campus Crusade (Cru). If you are interested in receiving information about these opportunities, please send your email address to Sunila Levi. You will be notified when we receive requests for volunteers. Please contact Sunila Levi, Marilyn Waters, or Suzanne Capo if you have any questions.

Life Classes
Life Classes are meant to equip High Pointe for life as a Christian. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity and join us. Childcare is available for ages 8 months through Pre-K. This session, we are offering the following classes from August 25 to December 5:

• Growing in Prayer
• Discipling: Principles and Practice
• Student Ministry Life Class | Spiritual Disciplines: For children 6th–12th grades

• Kids Life Class: For children K–5th grade

 
Sunday AM Preaching Schedule: Pray regularly for the ministry of the Word at High Pointe. Also, prepare for our gatherings by reading the sermon text, thinking it through, and asking questions about the text before Sunday. Here is our (tentative) preaching schedule designed to help you prepare for Sundays:  

• September 29 | Judges 12, Pastor Juan
• October 6 | Judges 13, Pastor Juan
• October 13 | Titus 2:11-15, Pastor Robert Cline
• October 20 | Judges 14-15, Pastor Juan
• October 27 | Judges 16, Pastor Juan
• November 03 | Judges 17:1-18:31, Pastor Juan
• November 10 | Judges 19:1-21:25, Pastor Juan
• November 17 | 1 Thessalonians, Pastor Robert Cline

Begin praying as you prepare to gather with us this Sunday at 10:00 am.

Gospel Partner of the Month: The International Mission Board of the SBC
The International Mission Board (IMB) exists to serve Southern Baptists in carrying out the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.

With almost 47,000 churches cooperating to send missionaries through the IMB, we can support over 3,500 missionaries full-time in the international mission field. Take some time to work through the IMB website to learn more about how your regular giving through High Pointe is supporting Great Commission work worldwide.

On-Call Pastor                                                                                                                                To better care for you, High Pointe, we have an “on-call” pastor available for emergencies after office hours and on weekends. To reach the on-call pastor, call 512-837-7725, extension 1.