Let the Truth of the Gospel Fuel the Fire of Our Worship

Imagine your favorite team is in the championship game, and you’re in attendance. Wouldn’t you shout for every great play? Wouldn’t you jump for joy at every score? And surely, you’d sing and chant at the top of your lungs in response to a great game and even a memorable win, wouldn’t you?! Why is that? Because the hope of winning fuels the fire of our celebration. And when the win happens, we rejoice in exultation. It is a natural response.

In the coming of Christ in his first advent, God has revealed a salvation greater than any game, any achievement, any life event. In Christ’s first advent, God has revealed his glory in his mercy, holiness, and faithfulness. Mercy in sending Jesus to receive our judgment. Holiness in punishing our sin in Jesus and dealing with the wicked. Faithfulness in the realization of all his Old Testament promises being fulfilled in the birth of a baby born in Bethlehem.  

 In Luke 1:39-80, we learn from Elizabeth, pre-born John, Mary, and Zechariah how to respond to this good news. Specifically, we learn that true worship is our spirit-filled, whole-person response to God’s glory in Christ. And from Elizabeth, John, Mary, and Zechariah, we learn that true worship has certain characteristics:

• True worship is God-centered. It’s all about God, not us. So, our praise and worship is directed to God. 

 

• True worship is Christ-focused. The focus of our worship is Jesus because Jesus is the focus of God’s work in salvation. 

 

• True worship is Spirit-empowered. The natural person cannot understand the things of God. But God has given us his Spirit, and the Spirit helps us understand spiritual things. 

 

• True worship is Word-saturated. From both Mary’s and Zechariah’s song, we learn that true worship is saturated in God’s word. In their responses of praise, they simply repeat God’s promises back to him and exult in the realization that God is fulfilling them in Christ. 

 

• True worship engages the Whole-person. True worship is neither a mere intellectual or mere emotional response. It is grounded in the truth of who God is for us in Christ, and it involves our response of the will, mind, emotions: the whole-person. This is why we sing, lift or hands, fall on our faces. 

 

• True worship is All of Life. True worship is more than Sunday. Christians have gathered on Sundays since the very beginning to remember Jesus’ death, read Scripture, preach the word, sing, pray, baptize, and take the Lord’s Supper. In fact, we are commanded not to forsake that assembly. But in the new covenant, all of life is worship, and we live our lives as offerings to God. 

 
God has revealed his glorious salvation in Jesus Christ, even in his birth. How will you respond? Our Spirit-filled, whole-person response to God’s revelation of his glory in Christ is what we call worship. Come and worship Christ the newborn King this Christmas!

• Celebrating Christmas with Family and Friends in Austin (area): If you are new to the Austin area, there are many fun ways to spend time together during the holidays. The link above is the Austin Christmas Guide, so there are activities and events I would not recommend, but it is a helpful list to work from. Here are some things you may enjoy: 
  • Austin Trail of Lights, December 10-23  
  • Peppermint Parkway at Circuit of the Americas, November 22-December 29 
  • Mozart’s 2024 Lake Austin Festival of Lights, November 29 – January 4 
  • Elgin CHRISTmas Tree Farm 

• Missions: Paul’s Missionary Enterprise by Kevin DeYoung 

 

• Song of the Month:  Who Is This So Weak and Helpless?

Opportunities to Serve and Grow at High Pointe
(For opportunities to serve at High Pointe, click HERE)

Women’s Ministry Annual Christmas Brunch | THIS Saturday, December 14 from 10 AM-12 PM
Ladies, please plan to join the women at our annual Christmas brunch! Aimee Barnes will be speaking. Registration for this event has closed.

Don’t Spend this Christmas alone in Austin!
If you are planning to be in Austin during Christmas but don’t have family or friends in town, we don’t want you to spend Christmas alone. Please let us know at info@highpointeaustin.org or reach out to elders@highpointeausting.org and let us know. We will be happy to connect you with High Pointe members who have an extra place or two at their Christmas tables.
 
High Pointe, if you have extra places at your table on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas, and you would be willing to host other High Pointe members without a place to spend Christmas, please let us know at info@highpointeuastin.org.  

Christmas Caroling | Sunday, December 22 | 5 PM to 8 PM
Molly McGee is trying to organize a group to go Christmas caroling, either in a neighborhood or to visit the shut-ins who are members of High Pointe. After caroling, there would be hot chocolate and cider provided! If you are interested, please reach out to Molly McGee.

Meaningful Membership Class | Sunday, January 12 | 1:15 PM to 4:30 PM
If you’re interested in learning more about High Pointe or pursuing membership with High Pointe, please mark your calendars 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.
 
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:

• All English-speaking life classes will begin a three-week class focusing on advent 
• Kids Life Class:  For children K–5th grade  
• Spanish Life Class | Discipulado: Principios y Prácticas
   

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:  

• December 15 | Luke 2:1-21 | Christmas Joy, Pastor Juan 
• December 22 | Luke 2:22-52 | What Child is This?, Pastor Juan 
• December 29 | Luke 3:1-20 | What Does Repentance Look Like?

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

Year-End Giving & Contribution Statements 
Contribution statements will be emailed on or before Tuesday, January 21st, 2025. Please make sure your email address is current.

• Statements are automatically emailed to anyone who has an email address on file with the church. The email will contain a link to access your statement that is only active for a short period of time.
• Anyone who does not have an email address on file with the church may request their statement by emailing finance@highpointeaustin.org or by calling the church office at 512-837-7725.
• If you file your federal income tax return before receiving a qualified contribution statement from the church, you may not be able to deduct individual contributions of $250 or more.

Year-end contributions must be submitted or mailed by December 31, 2024.
The general rule is that a contribution is considered received or effective when delivered. A check dropped in a church offering box in January of 2025 cannot be deducted in 2024, even if it is backdated to 2024. One exception – checks mailed and postmarked in 2024 are deductible in 2024, even if they are not received until 2025.

High Pointe, thank you for your generosity! The Lord continues to show himself faithful year after year. He provides for his workers and people through the generosity of the church. May God continue to bless us richly so that we may be a blessing.
 
Gospel Partner of the Month: Reaching and Teaching International Ministries – B.M.
Reaching & Teaching International Ministries (RTIM) seeks to advance the gospel by partnering with local churches as they send qualified missionaries to make mature disciples, establish healthy churches, and train local leaders around the world.
 
You may know of RTIM because we sent Davey and Callie Davis and Jonathan and Elizabeth Painter through this sending organization. This month, we want to highlight our support for B.M. B and his wife served for seven years as missionaries in Central Asia, working in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. After returning to the US, B spent six years as a global trainer, traveling around the world to equip international church leaders for ministry. He desires to see the gospel spread and churches established among the nations of Central Asia. B is a graduate of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife have three children.  
 
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.