“'Receive your sight.' Jesus told him. 'Your faith has saved you.' Instantly he could see, and he began to follow him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God." Luke 18:42-43 (entire passage Luke 18:35-43)
One of my favorite stories found is Scripture is the story of Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, heard the commotion of the crowd following Jesus. With a loud voice he cried out for mercy and healing, even after being hushed by the many around who tried to convince him otherwise. I can only imagine the scene, Jesus stopping and caring for this person who many considered unworthy of the affection of Christ. For maybe the first time in Bartimaeus’ life, someone considered him worthy of compassion.
In the Scripture above, Jesus heals Bartimaeus and Bartimaeus’ response is immediate, he worshipped and he shared what Jesus had done for him. Bartimaeus’ worship and witness pointed others to Jesus as well. If Jesus has changed our lives, opening our spiritual eyes, shouldn’t our worship and witness do the very same thing?
My encouragement for you this week is to remember what Jesus has done for you. Think about who you were before trusting Jesus as Savior and how your life has changed since. Find time this week to give God the worship and the witness He deserves!
Below you will find some celebrations from the previous week, as well as our weekly financial update.
Life Groups Rolling: Last Sunday we had the highest attendance in Life Groups since before Covid-19. Not only that, but 71% of those who came to worship also attended a Life Group last week. This is comparable to Life Group attendance that we have seen in recent years. So many are seeing the incredible value and necessity of joining a Life Group. If you are still not involved in a Life Group, check out hhbc.net/lifegroups and join a group this Sunday.
Fall Missions Offering: We want to make the biggest impact possible for the gospel. This year, our mission team has asked our church to prayerfully and generously give to the Fall Missions Offering on Sunday, October 25th. This year, our Fall Missions Offering will go to: 40% International Mission Board, 20% North American Mission Board, 20% HHBC sponsored missionaries, and 20% to create a scholarship to help send more HHBC members on HHBC short-term mission trips than ever before! Begin to pray about how you can give and stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks!
Mission in the Community:
Hyland Heights is a church with a deep love for Jesus and an incredible love for our community. For the 2020-2021 school year we will be partnering with Yellow Branch Elementary School teachers and administrators. We are looking for ways throughout the year to bless them and because of your continued incredible generosity, we are starting by sending Yellow Branch teachers classroom supplies that they have personally picked for their specific classroom. In addition, you will begin to see HHBC social media posts of a Yellow Branch “teacher of the week” that you can pray for and even send an encouragement to. It’s exciting to continue to find creative ways to serve and impact our community with the love of Jesus. This is just the beginning. If you would like to give to specifically support this yearlong outreach, you can do so by dropping off donations at the office or designating gifts in the offering to YBES Outreach.
Baptisms Keep Coming: This Sunday is the fourth of now 5 weeks in a row that we will have baptisms during our worship services! Around 25 people have or are going public in their decision to follow Jesus. Join us each week as we celebrate the life transforming power of the gospel. If you have never been baptized and would like to be baptized at an upcoming worship service go to hhbc.net/nextsteps.
HHBC Weekly Financials:
Weekly Offering: $26,623.28
Weekly Budget: $33,228.00
As of September 14th, we have received 105% 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 baskets 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 the weeks to come. If you would like to give to Hyland Heights online, simply go to hhbc.net/give, or you can give through our church app.
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.
"Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen: Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven! Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples.' He (Jesus) answered, 'I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.'” (Luke 19:37-40)
Dr. Josh Carter
Senior Pastor