"Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Above are some of my absolute favorite verses in Scripture. In fact, verse 18 has been a life verse for me since I was in high school. What that doesn’t mean is that gratitude and thanksgiving always come easy. Most of the time they do not. Gratitude and thankfulness take work, especially in a time when a spirit of complaining permeates our news and social media. Moreover, gratitude and thanksgiving are intrinsically other-focused. Worry is self-centered. Complaining is self-centered. But gratitude and thanksgiving are God-centered. God blesses us when we have an attitude of gratitude. It may not change the circumstance, but gratitude lifts our eyes to heaven that we might see above the circumstance, and that we might see the God who is sovereign over the circumstance.
As we enter into a week of thanksgiving, let us give God the praise that He is due. Let us thank God for the blessings that we have received. Let an attitude of gratitude permeate our church because as the psalmist says, “He has done great things for us! We are joyful.” (Psalm 126:3).
Below are some celebrations of what Jesus is doing in our church, as well as our weekly financial update.
God Sighting:
As I shared this past Sunday morning, we have had several students recently trust Christ as their savior, another student turned to Christ on Sunday, and even more are desiring to take those next steps of baptism. Praise God that He is continuing to change lives through the ministries of Hyland Heights! If you or someone you know has questions about baptism at HHBC, check out hhbc.net/nextsteps and click on the baptism link for more information.
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Thanksgiving next week means Christmas is right around the corner! Next Monday we are releasing a special podcast episode where Tim Fus, Josh Moon, and I discuss some of the exciting things happening this Christmas around HHBC. If you have never listened to our podcast before it can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or in the HHBC app, which is available for Apple or Android devices.
Life on Mission:
Today we have several huge missions celebrations!
· Our church has now turned in just under 200 Operation Christmas Child boxes. If you have yet to turn yours in, this Sunday is the last day to do so.
· Our church turned in around 240 Thanksgiving bags to be given out through our HHBC Food Pantry Ministry, which served 125 families just this past week! Praise God for the ability to be the hands and feet of Jesus, as well as the opportunity to share the gospel through this great ministry. In addition, our HHBC Food Pantry just installed a brand new walk-in cooler so that we can continue to best serve our community. Thank you for your incredible generosity that goes to support mission-centered ministries like this all year round!
· Last week was the first week that our Angel Tree was available for you to pull tags from to bless kids this Christmas. This ministry helps to ensure that children in our HHBC community have a great Christmas. Thank you to all who have already pulled a child from the tree. There are 7 children still left to support, so if you would like to do so, you may want to check the tree early on Sunday morning.
· Once again, we have a tremendous opportunity to partner with Sheetz to make a difference in our community. Every year, Sheetz buys toys for kids. This year they have the opportunity to help 116 kids have a merrier Christmas. This is where Hyland Heights comes in: we will be helping to shop for the gifts. We will not be buying anything or spending any money. We will just be picking out the gifts as requested by the children. The shopping will happen on Friday, December 10th at 8:00am at the Wal-Mart on Old Forest Rd. If you can help with this opportunity, please contact Pastor Tim at tfus@hhbc.net or call the church office at (434) 821-6906. Let’s go shopping!
Save the Date:
January 24-27 (6:30-8:00pm), Hyland Heights will be hosting our first ever Winter Bible Conference. We have an absolutely incredibly line-up of guest speakers that you are going to want to hear each night. Mark your calendars today and stay tuned as we plan to announce our speakers and share the theme of the conference on December 6th.
HHBC Weekly Financials:
November 1st Weekly Offering: $23,775.00
Weekly Budget: $33,228.00
As of November 19th, we have received 103% 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 will have offering boxes at each entrance to the worship center where you can give as you enter or exit. 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
Quote for the Week:
“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” - Zig Ziglar
With gratitude and thanksgiving,
Dr. Josh Carter
Senior Pastor