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Who We Are · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  If you guys have your Bibles, you can open to John chapter 4. John chapter 4, we're going to bounce around a little bit this morning. 52 weeks ago today, 52 Sundays ago, I became the senior pastor of Highland Baptist Church. This is the one-year anniversary of that day, and our church is over 50 years old. Our church is not new, and as I understand it, I am only the fifth senior pastor this church has ever had.
• 0:32
  which is hard to believe. And the reason for that is because the man that I took over for, a wonderful man, a humble man, whose idea it was to bring me here, pastored this church for more than two decades. Almost half of the church's life, the church was pastored by Rick Anderson. We transitioned, he and I.
• 0:51
  A year ago this weekend, that weekend, I issued a challenge. And I wasn't preaching anything new that weekend. In fact, I very specifically said that the trajectory of our course had already been set. We're a 50-year-old church. I said that the arrow had already been shot. The course had already been marked out for us. All we had to do was to pick up the torch and continue where they have left off. Continue where spiritual generations ahead of ours have already pointed the way.
• 1:21
  All we've got to do is stay on the same tracks.
• 1:26
  And I issued this kind of challenge. I said that there were three words that I've noticed that really kind of sum up our church. And if you guys are new with us this morning, you chose a good week to be here because I'm going to define exactly who we are as a church, why we exist, what we do as a reminder, the one year anniversary, the same similar message that I preached a year ago. And then after this, we're all going to go outside and eat and celebrate together. So you guys really did choose a good week to be here. Don't get your hopes up too high because there won't be food next week. Okay.
• 1:57
  Those three words are on banners on the wall behind me. They're in your bulletins. You see them every Sunday when you come in. When you guys became members of the church, they were the three words that I used to sum up our church. They're on everything we do. Worship, connect, and thrive. I can't believe it's been a year. This has been the longest, shortest year of my life.
• 2:22
  It does feel short in a lot of ways. It feels like the year flew by. It really does. It's hard to believe that a year ago was when we were standing up here and praying and Rick was handing off all of that stuff, you know, the stamp and the hammer and the crown of thorns and the whole thing. It's also hard to imagine because it feels like it was 10 years ago. This has been a good and prosperous year at our church. God has been faithful to us. It is not normal for a church to grow the first year after a new man takes over.
• 2:53
  It's not normal. In fact, the norm is for churches to suffer, to struggle, to take even as long as a decade to recuperate. And yet here we are, significantly bigger than we were a year ago. It's hard to believe that there are a lot of people even sitting in this sanctuary right now who have not heard these three words before, even though it was only a year ago that I preached them the first time. It is hard to convey the privilege that I feel in being your pastor, if I'm honest. I cannot believe I get to do this. I can't believe I get paid to do this.
• 3:25
  I can't believe that a people as gracious as this people, as kind, as supportive as this people have chosen me to lead it. I can't believe I get paid to preach. I know that a lot of guys have said often how they feel inadequate to the task. And honestly, I feel that my feeble effort, I think it even describing my personal feelings seems as though it may be drowned out because so many say that. But believe me when I say.
• 3:58
  That when I preach, I feel the pleasure of God. When I study and prepare to stand here at this pulpit, I feel God's pleasure on my life. That in the proclamation of truths of scripture, I feel the pleasure of God because I believe it is the purpose for which he has made me. George Mueller said it this way, the word of God is the bread of life and the prayer of faith is the breath of life.
• 4:27
  The Bible is our bread and prayer is our breath. And so it is my joy this morning to come together with my spiritual family and eat and breathe together. Amen? Amen. Well, when people ask you who you are, how do you respond? When they ask you to describe yourself, what five or six descriptions do you use? My son Chase, who is seven years old, wants to be a policeman when he grows up. He came to me yesterday. He said, Dad.
• 4:58
  here are my qualifications. I said, okay. He said, number one, I'm really fast. And he turned, we were in my living room. I'm sitting on the couch. He's right here in front of me. He said, I'm really fast. He turns and makes a bolt, just bolts for the front door, runs as fast as he can, hits the front door, turns around and runs back and stands in front of me again. Yeah, you're right. You're very fast. He said, number two, I am very sneaky. And he turned like this and began to creep like this around the living room.
• 5:28
  you can't even hear me. You know, you can't hear me. I'm too sneaky. I said, yes, you're right. He said, number three, I'm great at teamwork. I said, okay, that was it. I don't know what he, you know, he didn't express that at all. He just said, I'm great at teamwork. Okay. And number four, I really want a gun. Okay. Probably make a wonderful policeman chase. When people ask who you are, what do you say? What are your qualifications? How do you describe yourself?
• 6:08
  You know, only a person who is grounded in their own identity, who knows who they are, can become a productive and effective person. People who struggle in their own identity, that have no idea who they are, that change identities every couple of months, cannot begin to move forward, cannot become productive and effective as people. They can't because they don't know who they are. And in the same way, only a church that is grounded in their own identity, a church that knows who they are.
• 6:39
  can become productive and effective for the kingdom. This morning, we're going to look at the same three words that I pitched, the vision that I cast a year ago. Words that describe who we are. If someone came and asked you to describe Highland, my hope is that you would give them these three words. We are a people who worship, who connect, and who thrive together. These are the words that we can use. These are the words that we rally around. These are the words that, to be honest, have been true of us for 50 years. Although maybe only articulated for one.
• 7:11
  We're going to be bouncing around in Scripture this morning, but we'll begin in John 4, verses 23 and 24. So if you guys haven't turned there yet, open your Bibles to John 23 and 24. Let's look at the first word. We worship. We worship. Jesus himself speaking to the woman at the well in Samaria. You guys remember the context. And he says in verse 23, the hour is coming and is now here. We're in the true worshipers. When the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.
• 7:42
  For the father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit. Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The single greatest distinguishing mark of any genuine Christian is their love for God. We are lovers of God. That's who we are. We are in love with God and it's love. It is a love that manifests itself in worship.
• 8:05
  We express our love for God in worship. That's how we tell God we love him, by worshiping him. And why should it not be said first, before other things, that a Christian is one who is madly, desperately, uncontrollably in love with God? If you want to know who I am, if you want to know what Christians are, who Christians are, if you want to know what Highlanders do, Highlanders worship. Why? Because we love God. We love him. Worship.
• 8:36
  is the hands and feet of our love for God. That's how we express our love for him. Now we know that when Christ came, he changed everything. The Jewish people, his people, to that point would have said that circumcision was what made them distinct. Circumcision made them unique. Circumcision made them separate from the rest of the world. Circumcision would have been the very first thing they said when asked what made them Jewish.
• 9:07
  But when Christ came, his new covenant people, us, the church, would no longer be separated by a physical circumcision, but rather by a circumcision of their hearts. Worship, make sure you catch this, church. Worship is to the New Testament believer what circumcision was to the Jew. Worship is what makes us unique, distinct, and different from the world. And here, Jesus describes worship in two ways.
• 9:40
  His simple description of God honoring worship is that it is empowered by God, empowered by God. That's what he means when he says spirit, that the spirit of God living in us empowers our worship of God, that our worship would be spirit filled, empowered by God. But also, he says, you must worship in truth. Our worship must be informed by God's revelation, empowered by God, informed.
• 10:09
  by god's truth our worship will not be a worship tied to holy places but impacted instead by a holy person jesus christ himself and my goal for us as a church my goal as your pastors is that we as your pastor is that we be a church of rejoicing celebrating worshipers that's who we are jb phillips said it this way the praising man prevails i like that
• 10:34
  The praising man prevails. So let us rejoice in the Lord, he continues, and him who sits on the throne of the universe. Let us rejoice. So some simple questions. Are you a rejoicer? Do you rejoice in the Lord? Are you a worshiper? Is your worship empowered by God? Is it spirit filled? It is possible. It is possible to worship supposedly in dead orthodoxy.
• 11:07
  You can be dead right in doctrine and yet dead wrong in worship. It is possible. One man I read recently said, it is possible to be perfectly orthodox and yet perfectly useless. It's possible. And Jesus says our worship must be filled, empowered by the Holy Spirit of God himself.
• 11:31
  But also, is your worship informed? Are you worshiping in truth? Does the revelation of God, as it penetrates your heart and mind, as the preaching of his word, the reading of his word penetrates your heart and mind, does that overflow in praise and an attitude of gratefulness? Are we worshipers? Second, the second thing that we should be known for is our connection. We connect. It's what we do. Our church connects. If you guys have your Bibles, turn to the right. 1 Timothy 3.
• 12:02
  1 Timothy 3, verses 14 and 15. So first, we are madly, desperately, uncontrollably in love with God. That love manifests itself in worship. Worship is the hands and feet of our love for God. It is what makes us distinct. It is what makes us separate from the rest of the world. Our love and worship of God. But second, we also connect. We connect. We were not meant to live the Christian life alone. We were not meant to live in isolation.
• 12:33
  We were meant to walk in spiritual community. That is the church. Look at 1 Timothy 3, 14 and 15. Timothy writing to his young protege. I'm sorry, Paul writing to his young protege, Timothy. Verse 14, I hope to come to you soon, Paul says, but I'm writing these things to you so that if I delay, now here's the key, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. The church.
• 13:03
  Is the expression of God's family. God has a family on earth. He has sons and daughters. All of whom are brothers and sisters. He has a family on earth. And that family is the church. And like an earthly family. Has members and expectations on those members. So also the family of God. The family of God. Our church. Highland Baptist Church. Has members. And there is an expectation. As members of this family. There is an expectation laid upon us.
• 13:36
  The church is not merely a human institution. The church is not a company. Let us not think of the church that way. The church is not a club. The church is not one among many. Like, I'm part of my HOA. My kids do 4-H. I'm a member at Sam's Club. I'm a member at the Elks Club.
• 14:03
  And I'm a member at Highland Baptist. I do all of these things and it's just one of many things that I do. That's not what the church is. The church is different. According to scripture, God left two institutions on earth through which he would reveal himself among the nations. Two institutions. One is the family. The second is the church, which is God's family. Everyone grows up in a family. Everybody does. Every family is radically different.
• 14:36
  I've heard people say, Pastor Danny, I wasn't raised in a normal family. To which I reply, nobody was. Nobody's family is normal. I've had people apologize for who they consider to be weird family members. Oh, I'm sorry. You know, I got this weird uncle. Everybody's got a weird uncle. I mean, can I get an everybody does. Everybody's got, I mean, right? Everybody's family is abnormal. Everybody's family. Everybody grows up in a family. Everybody's family is different.
• 15:03
  All of them. And the expectations and values of those families change from group to group. They all operate according to their own set of family rules. Our family operates a certain way. My wife and I are raising three sons, 15, 12, and 7 years old. And we tell our sons there are certain expectations on them because they are gardeners. You are a gardener. That's different than being an Anderson.
• 15:33
  That's different than being a Jones. It's different than being a Leslie. It's different. You're a gardener. And here's what makes our family different. These are not negotiable. Some things you get to decide for yourselves. Some things you can grow up and change. Some things you can choose your dislikes and your likes and whatever. You can operate within this, but there are some things which are not optional. Number one, you will guard and protect one another. You brothers will look out for one another.
• 16:04
  You will love one another. You will become one another's best friends. Our boys, those three boys, are not allowed to have friends closer than their brothers. I've told them before, you can have friends. You can have friends in the church. You can have friends at school. You can have friends on your baseball team. But nobody is closer than your brother. Why? Because these two you'll die with. Those other friends come and go sometimes.
• 16:32
  But these guys, these, your brothers, you will die with. You will share a name for the rest of your lives. You will be learners, we've told them. You will be active. You will participate. You will contribute. You will learn to be musicians. You will learn to fly fish. I've told them before, you don't, you grow up, you become a man, you can disregard it. You can not like it. You can never do it again, but you will learn how to do it. You will learn to love baseball. You will. It's not optional.
• 17:09
  You can like other sports too, but baseball will be your first love. When Pearson, our oldest, was only three days old, three days old, we'd only just gotten him home from the hospital. One of the men who has had the greatest spiritual impact in my life showed up my front door. He was my high school baseball coach. And he also became a pastor later on.
• 17:28
  shows up at my front door with two things. He has a baseball in one hand. He has a ballpoint pen in the other. He didn't say a thing. He came into our house, walked straight into the nursery where Pearson is laying down in his crib. You guys, we literally just got him home. He walks over to the crib. He doesn't say anything to me. He grabs the baseball. He writes on it, Pearson, love God, love people, love baseball. And he set the ball in his crib and he walked out. That was it.
• 18:01
  There are certain things that we value as a family that other families can change, right? That will differ from home to home. But within a family, we all rally around a certain set of common ideals. Things which knit us together. And that's true here at Highland as well. If you guys are new, you're going to hear us say we are a spiritual family. We say it all the time. We're a family.
• 18:25
  We're growing up together. We live together. We learn together. We fail together. We are a family. So let me tell you some of what I've determined that I think I've discerned are our family's spiritual values. You ready for them? Here you go. Highlands family. Number one, we will guard and protect one another. We will. I cannot say I will condone the behavior, but if I, as your pastor ever hear about one of our members.
• 18:58
  pummeling some guy for making fun of someone at our church, I can't condone it, okay? But I'm not going to lie and say I won't be a little bit proud. Like, yeah. Don't make fun of our brothers and sisters. You're not allowed. Right? They're a family. You may not slander. You may not slander my brothers and sisters to me. You're not going to get an audience with these ears. You're not going to. I will not hear disparaging things about my brothers. I'm not going to listen to it. And in fact, you need to shut your mouth.
• 19:32
  I love those people. They're my brothers and sisters. Well, Pastor Danny, but it's true. You know what, honestly? Then go talk to them. But we're not going to do that to each other. We will. We will. As a family, we will love one another. We will. You guys, get over it. We're going to love one another. If there are people in this room that you don't like, that's fine. Love them. Love them. We're a family. We will be active.
• 19:59
  We will participate. We will contribute. We will encourage one another spiritually. We will be involved in one another's lives. It is going to happen because that's what families do. One man has said, as brothers and sisters, we are called to love, forbear, and support one another, enjoying what he calls the rich one-anotherness of the gospel. There is a one-anotherness to our faith, to our spiritual journey. We are meant to walk together, and we will.
• 20:30
  We connect. That's what it means to connect. The word's not just up there for something fancy to say. It's not. We actually try to connect with one another. We want to engage in one another's lives. We want to invest in one another's lives. The same way that we do in our homes, we want to do at the church. These things are not optional. They're going to be what I call baseball issues. Baseball issues. Not optional. Let me talk to you guys. If you're just coming and leaving, you're missing it.
• 21:02
  You're missing it. There's more to the church than that. If your engagement with our body is just coming, sitting, and leaving, that's it. You're missing it. There's so much more. There's a family that will embrace you. We connect. Third, we thrive. We thrive. Turn back to the gospel of John, if you would. John in chapter 15. John chapter 15. John chapter 15 is during the upper room discourse. That's the final sermon Jesus ever preached.
• 21:29
  It was given the night before his crucifixion. At this point, Christ and his disciples have eaten the last supper. He has washed their feet. Judas has left to commit the betrayal. Jesus has begun what would be his final address to the apostles before his death. And in John chapter 15, he flat out says he wants them to be happy. I want you to be blessed, which is the same word as happy. I want you to be happy.
• 21:53
  In verse 11 of chapter 15, he says, I want your joy to be full. I want your joy to be made full, full of joy. That's how I want you to live. And I'm going to tell you how to do it. Four times in chapter 15, verses 1 through 11, four times he gives this edict. If you want to be filled with joy, bear fruit. Bear fruit. Four different times in those 11 verses, which leads me to think that he thought bearing fruit was important. He was serious about it.
• 22:25
  What you're going to notice in verse eight here is that there is no such thing as a fruitless Christian. Look at verse eight, chapter 15 in verse eight. By this, Jesus says, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit. And so what does it say? Prove to be my disciples. Do you see that? Prove to be my disciples. There's no such thing as a fruitless Christian. Christians who are walking in worship, who are connecting with the body will do what?
• 22:55
  They will bear fruit. Colossians 1, verse 10 says the same thing. Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Bear fruit according to your calling. And so let's talk about that. What fruit? What fruit is the Christian to bear? I think that the New Testament describes four different types.
• 23:21
  of fruit spiritual fruit that we are to begin producing in our lives if we are going to thrive in the gospel this is what it means to bear spiritual fruit the first one is obvious right the fruit of the spirit the fruit of the spirit galatians chapter 5 we all know it the fruit of the spirit love joy peace and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control bear fruit ask yourself i preached something similar a year ago
• 23:51
  And so now let's take a quick inventory. M, I, are you a more loving person than you were a year ago? Do you have more joy? Are you more at peace? Do you have more self-control? Are you a gentler man than you were a year ago? A kinder woman than you were a year ago? Is the fruit of the Spirit being born in your life bear fruit?
• 24:16
  The second type of fruit in the New Testament is the fruit of praising lips. I like this one. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 15. Hebrews 13 verse 15 says this. Through Christ, then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. Worship, in other words, that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
• 24:39
  Did you know that when you sing praise to God, it is like fruit being born in your life. When you speak the name of Jesus, you're bearing spiritual fruit. And so how often does the name of Jesus, does the gospel of grace come out of your mouth? How often does the kingdom of God grace your lips? I'm going to issue another challenge here. And I always try to be careful doing this because I want you guys to take.
• 25:11
  these things seriously. And so I don't want to, I don't want to overstate these types of things, but it's weird to me that I can have a 30 minute conversation with somebody and Jesus and his kingdom never come up. How is it that I can talk to somebody for 30 straight minutes and Jesus never come up? How can I do that?
• 25:39
  I'm not talking about the little conversations in passing with the guy at work, right? He's walking this way. You're walking this way. And he says, how are you doing? Jesus, right? I mean, I don't want to waste any time. You know, like, no, no, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about the water cooler two minutes. That's not what I mean. But if you get engaged in the conversation that lasts for half an hour, don't you think his name would come up? Can we just, those 30 minute long conversations where Jesus and his kingdom never come up, can we just call those what they are?
• 26:13
  They're a waste of time, right? They're a waste of time because what else do we have to talk about? The fruit of praising lips, lips that acknowledge his name. That's what he says, Hebrews 13. Third type of fruit, this also seems obvious, right? Fruit in keeping with repentance. Matthew chapter 3 and verse 8. Matthew 3, 8, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. In other words, repent from sin and then live like you're saved. Put off the old man, put on the new man. That's how Ephesians 4 describes it.
• 26:47
  Walk in newness of life. That's how Romans 6 describes it. Right? You're dead. But now you've been made alive in Christ. That's Ephesians 2's description. So walk different. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Fourth type of fruit. I want us to manifest as a church. Fruit of the gospel. Fruit of the gospel. Colossians chapter 1. Of this you have heard before in the word of truth. The gospel which has come to you. As indeed in the whole world. The gospel is bearing fruit.
• 27:18
  and growing people. If we are walking this way, brothers and sisters, if we are walking this way, people will come to know Christ. That's what it's about. It's not just so that we can all hold hands and have barbecues and do whatever and listen to good music and sing and all of that and raise our kids together hoping that they all get married, right? Rather than go and finding somebody outside in the other pool. That's not what we're about.
• 27:43
  We're about missional living, staying on track, kingdom living. That's what we're about. We want people to be drawn into the kingdom. And so if we live this way, if we are genuine rejoicing worshipers of God, if our love spills all over into worship of God, if we are connecting to the point that we have brothers and sisters, that is a special relationship. I don't know how people do it without the church, to be honest with you. Who do they call when tragedy hits? I don't know. Who sits with them in their living room?
• 28:15
  I don't know. We have this kind of connection in the church and now we are genuinely thriving. We are producing fruit, bearing fruit to the glory of God. We are looking more and more and more like his son, fruits of the spirit. We're praising his name, fruits of lips that acknowledge his name. We're bearing fruit and keeping with repentance. We're walking in newness of life and we're being faithful to go out and throw seed that will bear into new fruit. People will come.
• 28:43
  How could the Lord not be glorified in that? I would love for our church's branches to be drooping with fruit. Drooping with fruit so that the limbs can barely hold on because of the fruit that is being born here. In order for Highland to continue to be a Bible-teaching, Christ-exalting, disciple-making church, we must resolve to be worshipers. We must allow the love of God in our hearts to overflow in magnifying praise of our Savior. But we must also connect.
• 29:16
  We are the family of God. The church is the household of God. And just like we commit to invest in and grow our earthly families, so also we must take the same view of our family in Christ. We must commit to thrive. We must bear spiritual fruit. The day that Highland stops bearing fruit is the day that we become nearsighted and forgetful and blind. And so let us, church, be a church that worships, connects, and thrives. Amen.
• 29:47
  Amen. Let me pray. God, thank you for the time together this morning. Lord, we rejoice. We celebrate in your faithfulness to the church. We're so thankful for it. Thankful for music and worship. Thankful, God, for your Holy Spirit indwelling us to allow us to live according to your word. We love you, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.