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June 12, 2025 Newsletter - Highrock's mission is to help people Connect to God Personally, Connect to God’s People, and Connect to God’s Purposes.

| Highrock MetroWest, 754 Greendale Ave. Needham MA

Finding God in the Small and Unassuming

“All things are inventions of holiness.
Some more rascally than others.”
– Mary Oliver

Milestone Sunday…what a day! It was a day filled with both silly and sacred stories. I love to think about how God can take and shape anything and everything into “inventions of holiness”.

Our staff team had a grand plan of using a large, bright blue pool for baptisms this Sunday… those plans were replaced with a small, unassuming cold plunge tank instead. I may be stretching the imagination a little here, but doesn’t this sound like a familiar story? We (the human species) love grand, over-the-top displays that captivate others’ attention and make us the center of attention (subtly, of course). We do our best to craft an image that is desirable and worthy of people’s attention and time. We start to expect the best things to show up in a beautiful, captivating, and timely fashion. I want to name this is appropriate and is what is most natural to us. It’s the story we tell ourselves, but is it the story we ought to tell ourselves?

I want to suggest there is another way to see. Another way of going about living in the world. Another kind of expectation we can have. Another story. A story of expecting and encountering God in the ordinary, in the silly and the sacred, in the small and unassuming. This is the story God invites us to experience over and over again. The Story is one of remembrance. We often forget this story… the way God came into this world and chose to share eternal life with us… in small, unexpected and unassuming ways (a baby in a manger, a rabbi in the desert, a cross on a hill, an empty tomb)… the story of Jesus Christ,

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death
even death on a cross!

Let’s practice together letting go of the pretense, prestige, and perfectionism that weighs us down and exhausts us endlessly. Let us learn from Jesus, to live gently and humbly, to take on the yoke that is easy and light, to enter into a life where we will find rest. Let us laugh together, serve together, and be raised to new life in ways where we expect, encounter, and experience holiness (perhaps in ways “some more rascally than others”)!

— Pastor Michael Taber

Good Question!

This Sunday, Pastor Meghan DeJong will preach in person in the sermon series, “Good Question!” based on questions Highrockers are asking about following Jesus. Meghan’s sermon is titled, Why does God allow/cause disability?

We all have questions. “What does heaven look like?” “Why is it that God allows chronic illnesses?” “Do we truly have free will?” “Does God ever change His mind?”

We put out a call for Highrockers to share some of their curiosities about God, faith, or the Bible and we got a lot of really good questions! We hope you join us for this sermon series where we’ll be responding to the questions that you asked. Together we’ll search the scriptures and explore what the Bible has to teach us about a range of challenging and important subjects that many of us wonder about but often don’t know where or how to ask.

The list of sermons in this series, study guide, and more helpful resources are located here.

Last Kidsrock of the Program Year

This Sunday will be our last Kidsrock of this school year! Summer is just around the corner and the school year is coming to a close, or already has for some of you! This Sunday, we’d love to see your kids join us in celebrating the end of the Kidsrock year too. We will have games, snacks, and treats for them as well as our Bible story.

The following two weeks, we will be taking OFF from any kids programming. June 22nd, and June 29th, there will be no programming for any kids downstairs. We will provide some clipboard activities for them to use, but we ask that they stay in the sanctuary with you or you are with them in the fellowship hall. Please do not let your kids wander around the building. We will pick things back up July 6th with our Summer Kidsrock programming. All elementary kids will be in the large group room, and the nursery kids (infant-prek) will be in the nursery classroom. We understand this is a transitional time, so we can work on integrating kids to their classrooms throughout the summer

  • Incoming 6th graders will transition to middle school throughout the summer, but are welcome to still participate in Kidsrock

  • Incoming kindergarteners will transition to elementary Kidsrock but are welcome to stay in the nursery for the summer weeks

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Grace Taber at gracet@highrock.org

Highrock Members Annual Meeting -- June 15

For Members of Highrock Church:

The date for our Annual Members’ Meeting is June 15th, from 5-7 PM. This will include dinner, updates from the Board of Councilors and staff, and a proposed budget for fiscal year 2025-26.

There is an option to join the meeting virtually as well.

Go HERE to register for the meeting and learn how to access it remotely. Contact Pastor George at GeorgeC@highrock.org for more information.

Ways to Go Deeper!

MetroWest Prays on most Monday evenings at 8:30 pm by ZOOM. The meeting lasts about 20 minutes. Prayer Requests can be sent to the prayer team via this form or contact Foluke Ajayi. (There is no 8:30 pm zoom prayer meeting on the day we meet in person). All are welcome.

For Moms! The MetroWest chapter of Momsrock meets most Friday mornings at 9:30 am in Fellowship Hall. Contact Sandi Norman for more information at sandinorman@gmail.com.

Daily (M -Th) Devotional Group for Anyone – Click for more info.

Find Daily Devos, Highrock sermons, Highrock Online, and more on your favorite platform! Search for “Highrock Church.” Examples: Spotify, YouTube.

THIS LINK takes you to our church management program called MyRock. Create a profile, if you don’t have one, and then join the NextGen Family Group. to view the Middle and High School events on the Calendar Tab. Contact  Pastor George if you need assistance.

NEXTGEN STUDENT MINISTRY HANDBOOK. 

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