"Be filled by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:19-20)
Jesus is worthy of our praise. Paul encouraged the church in Ephesus to praise God and point to God, especially as they spoke with one another. One of the great aspects of being in worship and community (Life Groups) with each other is that we should, and often do, leave more encouraged than before we came. One of the great blessings of being your pastor is to see how many of our life groups are constantly sharing prayer requests, praise reports, stories of their God moments and Bible studies, as well as gathering together for fun, fellowship, and mission. They live out the essence of these verses sharing the joy and love of Jesus as they meet together on Sunday mornings and throughout the week. A challenge for each of us is to share what God is doing in our lives with someone this week… and if that person doesn’t have a church they attend, why not invite them to come be a part of the great things God is doing at Hyland Heights by joining you for worship and your Life Group?
Here are some other great celebrations of what Jesus is doing in our church, as well as our weekly financial update.
Life Change Happens Here:
I’m still blown away by how God continues to change lives at Hyland Heights. Last Sunday we baptized 5 more new believers! Watching, being a part of, and celebrating Jesus changing lives never gets old. I loved seeing each of them step into the baptistery with joy and excitement to share what Jesus has done in their lives.
In addition, last night, we had our highest Fall AWANA attendance, and our highest student ministry attendance ever! Each ministry had over 150 children/students represented and our student ministry had one student give their life to Jesus, one rededicate their life, and another asked to be baptized soon! Praise God for what He is doing in these ministries!
Discipleship Happens Here:
Did you know that around 50% of the students in our student ministry are engaged in daily Bible reading? Can you just imagine what kind of impact these students are going to make for Jesus as they grow in Him because they are daily reading God’s Word? If you don’t have a bible reading plan or don’t know where to start, check out the F260 New Testament reading plan here: https://replicate.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NT-F260-Reading-Plan-Replicate-Printable-No-Dates.pdf to read through the entire New Testament in under a year.
Missions Happens Here:
Last Sunday was our Fall Missions Offering. While there is still some giving coming in, we have already received over $27,000.00! That is amazing! Thank you for your incredible generosity that will help to unleash the gospel around the world. Imagine if in the coming days we hit $30,000.00, which would allow us to give $12,000 to the International Mission Board, $6000 to the North American Mission Board, $6000 to our HHBC missionaries, and $6000 to begin our new HHBC missions scholarship fund. What a huge praise this truly is!
If you were unable to give on Sunday but would like to give to help us reach our goal, you can do so by going to hhbc.net/give, follow the giving link and select "Missions Month" from the drop down menu.
Family Fun Happens Here:
The Fall Fun Night will take place on Friday night October 30 from 5:00 – 8:30 PM. The entire event will be taking place on our upper parking lot due to the effect of rain on our event field. The event will feature small carnival games, such as the ring toss, basketball shoot, soccer darts, and many others. At 6:45 we will begin a family movie on the lawn, so bring your camping chairs to pull up a seat.
Movie type concessions are available for you to purchase as well as s’more kits to enjoy at one of our fire pits. You can also participate in our silent auction to win some great items and support our 2021 children’s summer camp in the process.
HHBC Weekly Financials:
Oct. 25th Weekly Offering: $35,628.69
Weekly Budget: $33,228.00
As of October 25th, we have received 104% of our year-to-date budget.
Please remember that giving in worship will continue to look different as long as Covid-19 persists. We will not pass the plates for your safety, but we have offering boxes mounted where you can give as you exit the worship center following whichever service you attend. For many, we know that you have started to give online, and this continues to be an excellent choice to make giving easier/safer for you, and to make sure that the ministry and mission of HHBC continues to impact more lives in the weeks to come. If you would like to give to Hyland Heights online, simply go to hhbc.net/give.
Sunday Reminders: HHBC continues to strive to keep our church family safe during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. We continue to encourage everyone to take the precautions you would take when entering into any other building. If doing things like social distancing, washing hands well, and wearing masks can help us love our neighbors better and avoid potential spread in our church family so we can continue worshiping together in person, we should strive to do these things as much as we are able. We also want to remind everyone that the 9:30 service still has plenty of room for you and your family to join us while best maintaining social distancing. Thank you for your help and understanding as we strive to keep the people we love as safe as possible. For additional information on HHBC’s response to Covid-19 go to hhbc.net/coronavirus.
Praising God for His goodness,
Dr. Josh Carter
Senior Pastor