Highlands: Love for a Self-Centered World

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Our world is weary. We’re weary from the pain of a pandemic. We’re weary from the divisions that have ripped through our society and our relationships. We’ve been weary since the fall of man and we feel weariness on this particular day. The season of Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) creates a space to be honest about this weariness. To feel the dissonance. To sit in the tension. But it doesn’t leave us there. Advent is also a time when we look to Jesus as the one who took on flesh in this weary world to secure the promise of a better future: a future where the disillusioned can have hope, where the divided can find peace, where the suffering can experience joy, and where the self-centered and outraged can know love.

 

in Advent 2021: The Weary World Rejoices • Highlands • Neil Long • Sermons

Highlands: Matthew 12:38–50—Drawing New Lines & Redefining Family

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We are in Part IV of our ongoing series in the book of Matthew. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus is inviting us into a whole new way of life with a new set of values and a new type of community. Really, it’s a whole new Kingdom that is being established right here and right now in the middle of this world. And compared to some of the prevailing values of our culture, it’s a bit of an “upside down Kingdom.” It’s a Kingdom where the outcasts are welcomed, the humble are honored, enemies are loved, the poor are esteemed, strangers are befriended, and the guilty are forgiven. It’s a Kingdom where the King is enthroned on a cross, His victory comes through His death, and His death gives life to the world.

 

in Highlands • Matthew • Neil Long • Sermons

Highlands: Psalm 119, Part 3—God’s Word to Us

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This Sunday is week 13 of Christ in the Psalms at Park Church Highlands and we’re in Psalm 119. Instead of taking Psalm 119 section-by-section, we’re addressing it topically over the course of three weeks. In this third and final, week, the topic is “God’s Word to Us.”

 

in Christ in the Psalms • Highlands • Neil Long • Sermons

The Public Square: Disagreement without Division

If anything, 2020 exposed our glaring inability to have hard conversations about issues that matter with charity and humility while not sacrificing conviction and truth. At this event, we discussed practicing a pattern of love in how we engage with disagreement as unified witnesses of Jesus in the world.

About The Public Square:

Throughout history, the Church has recognized its place in speaking into the broader culture around us. God designed us, and He knows both what our societies need to thrive and what causes their decay. As Christians in our city and country, we want to speak with wisdom, grace, and clarity about what leads to human flourishing as a testament to the truth of God’s word and the power of the Gospel to bring life.

To help us do this well, we are re-introducing a series of events called “The Public Square,” preparing us to contribute faithfully in spaces where people and opinions interact.

in Blog • Neil Long

Matthew 7:15–23: Two Houses & a Flood

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In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives instructions for a flourishing life under the reign of God. As famous as this sermon may be, many will hear the teachings of Jesus—or even admire the words of Jesus— without putting them into practice. This message has been the same since the Garden of Eden. Human beings will only experience flourishing life when they trust and obey the Word of the Lord.
in Matthew • Neil Long • Sermons