You won’t want to miss this Sunday. Family Worship Sunday. Connect 4 Lunch. And, to top it off, we have multiple members of our faith family taking their walk with Jesus to the waters of baptism. To fully appreciate what it is that they are doing, we are going to spend some time looking at what we believe is the biblical understanding of baptism. M…

Could you name the Ten Commandments? Studies done over the years show that the majority of Americans and even Christians struggle to recall them. While memorization is valuable, it's more important for us to grasp the truths embedded within the words spoken by God to His people. Truths that are still relevant for us today. -- Questions for Reflecti…

The people have reached Mount Sinai. The mountain where it all began–just as God had promised when He first appeared to Moses in a burning bush: I will be with you, and this shall be a sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. The promise is being fulfilled. The time has…

I am a sucker for survival shows. Shows where people are dropped into remote locations and they have to live off the land. There is a reason why those shows are filmed in non-arid settings. There is no harsher survival setting than the wilderness of the desert where there is no relief from the scorching sun and the parched earth seems to stretch on…

There are certain places that one can and should expect to find certain things. For example, if you want good food or quick food, there are right places to look and there are wrong places to look. There is one thing the world is desperately seeking, but will never find no matter how hard they try – life. The world is desperate to be and feel truly …

Nothing Jesus ever did was by accident. If you look closely every detail matters. One example of this is the specific date Jesus rode into Jerusalem one final time for a passover celebration. The date of His triumphal entry was just as significant as the day itself. What happened that day tells us that the Jews in Jerusalem believed that Jesus was …

Fear is an interesting word in the Bible, isn’t it? Its meaning is twofold—in one sense it means dread and in another it means reverence. Unfortunately, these two types of fear are enemies of one another. Mutually exclusive. You can only go with one fear at a time. The former stops you dead in your tracks. The latter leads to life. At the Red Sea, …

Have you ever had an experience that you never want to forget? Or maybe an event that looking back, meant your life would never be the same? Like the thrill of starting fresh in a new city, the excitement of landing your dream job, the magic of meeting the love of your life, or all the feels that fill you when you hold your child for the first time…

Jeremiah 17:9 reads, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?” The answer to Jeremiah’s question is “God, and God alone.” He not only understands the heart but is completely sovereign over the heart and is the only one wise enough, good enough, and great enough to use even the most wicked of human hearts…

We’ve reached the infamous showdown between God and Pharaoh with a capital “P,” who in a way represents all of us. He is the archetype of the wickedness and stubbornness of the human heart. “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice?” Pharaoh asks. The Plagues are God’s answer to the question. He is God and there is no other. How will we respon…

After Moses and Aaron first confront Pharaoh, things go from bad to worse for the people of God, and understandably, the people can't deal with it. It’s not a question of “if,” but “when.” Jesus once said that we can all expect trouble in this world. How will we ever learn to deal with it? God has the answer to our question. -- Questions for Reflec…

Moses lives in our memory as one of the greatest leaders in the history of God’s people, but it's important to remember where he began: insecure, uncertain, unprepared, and unworthy. He was entirely insufficient (in every sense of the word) for facing Pharaoh, but he’d soon learn that the LORD was sufficient enough. -- Questions for Reflection & Di…

This week we are introduced to Moses. Moses' remarkable story reveals to us that God desires a relationship with His people and goes to great (often unexpected) lengths to make it happen. -- Questions for Reflection & Discussion How can we be more attentive to the work God is doing in our lives, especially in those aspects that we might not think t…

The Book of Exodus tells an important story. And by story, I don’t mean a fictional story, but a factual one. It is a timelessly true story about God and what He does for His people—He was, is, and ever will be the God who provided ‘a way out’ for his people, who were slaves in Egypt, and He is still providing a way out today. In fact, right from t…

This week we wrap up our ALL IN series with the call to love God with all of our strength. What is strength? What does it mean to have strength? How do I love God with all my strength? The answers from scripture might surprise you. Thankfully, it’s got little to do with moving monster trucks with ropes. -- Questions for Personal Reflection and Grou…

This week we discuss the importance of loving God with all of our minds. I find it interesting that the Word commands us to love God with all our mind. We don’t usually speak of love in terms of intellectual activity. In fact, most of our understanding of love today is described in passive categories. We speak not of jumping in love but falling in …

Loving God with all our heart makes sense to us. What else would we or could we love God with besides our heart? Well, God commands a few things. The next to discuss is loving God with all our soul. -- Questions for Reflection & Discussion How does the OT and NT understanding of the soul challenge the common understanding of the soul? What differen…

This week we start a new sermon series titled “All In,” which most commonly refers to a move in a poker game where a player bets all of his or her chips on one hand. However, that phrase has caught on to the larger culture beyond poker games. Nowadays, it simply implies that someone is fully committed. You hear it everywhere—whether in business tal…

The greatest Christmas gift of all has come, Immanuel, God with us. How will you respond to the news? -- Questions for Reflection and Discussion In what areas of your life do you struggle to acknowledge and celebrate the abiding presence of God? How might recognizing Immanuel, God with us, transform your perspective in those areas? What practical s…

Ever notice how the holiday season, meant to be a time of joy, turns into a stress-fest? The pressure for perfection in decorations, gifts, and gatherings, coupled with social media's picture-perfect standards, leads to nothing but all out chaos. Add in the financial strain, family dynamics, and the ticking clock of holiday deadlines – it's the per…

2024 marks an election year, and it is shaping up to be unlike anything I've witnessed in my lifetime. Unfortunately, every four years, our nation appears to be growing more and more divided. This division has reached a point where the idea of a government embodying justice and righteousness seems unimaginable, let alone one characterized by enduri…

In a world filled with uncertainties, challenges, and ever-changing circumstances, the concept of hope often emerges as a guiding light for many. However, the world's understanding of hope can sometimes resemble a fragile wish, a desire founded on circumstances and fleeting emotions. It’s not so for the people of God. This Sunday, we will not gathe…

What do you treasure? One needs to look no further than his or her priorities for the truth. Whatever we focus on dictates our actions–make no mistake, you are willing to sacrifice for the thing(s) most valuable to you. Whether it’s money, status, power, safety, or comfort. What do you treasure? There is only one thing most “worth it;” one thing of…

Have you ever been asked the question, “What do you do?” For the majority of us, when asked the question, we begin with our career, our work–at least we do if we are proud of what we do, right? In our culture, we are often defined by our work. There are a number of problems with this mentality. The biggest problem with this mentality, frankly, is t…

This weekend is Veterans Day where we honor veterans of our country’s Armed Forces. There is something particularly beautiful about sacrifice that, when you see it, you cannot help but be moved, whether it be a hero's sacrifice for one’s family or country or, in the case of our scripture reading for Sunday, a savior’s sacrifice for the sin of the w…

This Sunday is International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Together, we join millions of Christians around the world in praying for the persecuted church. The statistics are startling. There are over 360 million Christians who will suffer high levels of persecution today and every two minutes, someone is killed for their faith in Jesus.*…

The disciples were stirred by what they saw when they saw Jesus pray. The disciples knew Jesus had something that they didn't. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to spend time with the Father just like He did. What does Jesus want us to know about this gift of prayer?By Highland Media

The disciples were stirred by what they saw when they saw Jesus pray. The disciples knew Jesus had something that they didn't. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to spend time with the Father just like He did. What does Jesus want us to know about this gift of prayer?By Highland Media

Join us this Sunday as we wrap up our Ready to Run series. Let's explore the discipleship strategy here at North Highlands and discover what it means to Learn, Love, and Live Like Jesus.By Josh Rivera

We often seek temporary prizes or pleasures, but Jesus asks us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness which are imperishable. This week we hear about several lessons from the Sermon on the Mount - lessons that Christ calls us to put into practice now for an eternal reward.By Brian Lonergan

Our third and final value is an outward facing one: You are Wanted. Every church wants to be a welcoming church. But oftentimes the way churches think of “welcoming” is superficial at best or misguided at worst, opting for an approach that (even if unconscious) avoids all moral judgments and encourages a “values-free” environment in the name of bei…

So, I grew up going to a beautiful old (in every way) Methodist church in downtown Waco. My mom sang in the choir, which meant my siblings and I needed someone to watch us every Sunday. That someone was Ms. Sandra Test, a sweet elderly woman, who, to curb our boredom, would do little scribbles on the bulletin for me and my siblings and then we woul…

This weekend we pivot from Mission and Vision and begin to focus on a few values that we have here as a church. These values are the shared convictions that we have as a church body that create the culture we enjoy as a church. They are the things that people pick up on or feel when they are with us and this morning we hit on the first of three val…

It’s going to be an exciting Sunday! We have a guest worship leader and Connect4Lunch. Yum! And to top it off, we will talk about our vision as a church which is to see lives forever changed through everyday encounters with Jesus. This is not only possible, it should be the expectation. And not because we want it, but because God wants it. Bring a …

I am so excited to kick off this new vision series we are calling Ready to Run and I hope that you are excited, too. This first Sunday would be the PERFECT Sunday to invite friends who are looking for a church family or are simply on your mind and heart because we are going to discuss our mission as a church as we consider the most important questi…

Studying Paul’s letter to the Ephesians has been so good. And while we all might prefer Paul to end on “high note,” Paul opts to end with an honest one–he talks about the Opposition and the Armor of God. For we know for certain God’s plan is to create a new united humanity, but it will not happen without a fight. There is an Enemy who will stop at …

There are few passages in scripture more controversial than the one we are going to read this weekend–and possibly then for this very reason, there are few passages more socially relevant and important for followers of Jesus to both rightly understand and faithfully follow. Let’s talk about it!By Rich Roush

This week we cover a text that is to the modern audience one of the most well-known and controversial texts in all of the New Testament–to suggest it be read at a wedding today would lead to a public outcry. I think the reasoning is two-fold. It requires something the world doesn’t have and something the church hasn’t done.…

Most of us are probably familiar with the old adage “Like Father, Like Son.” It reflects the idea that children often inherit traits, behaviors, and tendencies from their parents, especially their dads. I often catch myself saying things or doing things that my father did and I catch my kids saying and doing things that I do. It’s awesome, but also…

One of my favorite things growing up about going back to school was getting to buy new clothes. With a new shirt and a new pair of shoes, I felt like the possibilities for me were endless. Like it was all I needed to live my best life. Our scripture passage from Ephesians is the perfect Back to School Sunday text because it reminds us that when we …

All of us are entered in the race. We are in the marathon of all marathons. This is the only race worth running, why not run it well? Bring your running shoes and join us this Sunday to learn how to be faithful to the finish!By Josh Rivera

We have talked about the truth of who we are in Christ. Now, we begin to talk about what it looks like for us to live in response to this truth together. What does it look like to walk worthy of our calling?By Rich Roush

The first three chapters of Ephesians have been all about who God is, what God has done, and consequently then who we are in Christ Jesus. The final three chapters are about how we are to live in response–how we are, as Pauls says, “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” Understanding who God is and what God has d…

Are any of you prone to getting distracted? In today’s world, there is no end to the things that cause distractions–it seems like literally everything in life is competing for our attention, right? Well, believe it or not, this seems to happen to Paul in our scripture text for the morning. He is motivated to pray, but he quickly goes off on a tange…

We live in a world of rivalries: Coke vs. Pepsi, *which are both wrong because Dr. Pepper is clearly the best; Democrat vs. Republican; Star Wars vs. Star Trek; UT vs. OU, etc. Rivalries can be found literally everywhere, some of them even leading to bloodshed. This morning we discuss the blood shed to end the bloodshed. We have been made one in Ch…

Missionary from Ukraine, Mark McDonnel shares a message to help us see our place in this country.By Mark McDonnel

If you missed the sermon last weekend go back and give it a listen to get up to speed because this Sunday is Part Two to our time in Ephesians 2:1-10. If last week we discussed what we are by nature i.e. the Bad News, this week we discuss what we can become by God’s grace, which is the Best News. Ever.…

“I’ve got good news & I’ve got bad news.” Have you ever heard or said it before? Which do you prefer first? Good or bad? Multiple studies have found that roughly four out of five people prefer the bad before the good. Whether we’re a patient getting test results or an employee in our end of year review, our preference is clear: bad news first, good…

Pastor Marvin Walker from the Watermark South Dallas Campus will be sharing a message this week from Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders of the church.By Marvin Walker

We all have eyes. They help us to see things as they truly are. Some eyes obviously help better than others, but even with 20/20 vision, there are things you and I cannot see on our own. Paul therefore prays that God would open our eyes to see things as they truly are, but he does not pray for our physical eyes, he prays God would open the eyes of …