Highland Oaks Church of Christ

There are many things we can and do say about the Ten Commandments but what we as Jesus followers often forget is that these words are words for us as well, meaningful words with valuable messages about who we are with God and who God is for us. The Lord our God. No Other. #CommitToWorship #HOCCVision #HOCCInspire #NoOtherSermonSeries

What are the four pillars of CitySquare that serve as a foundation in their fight against poverty?

Housing. Health. Hunger. Hope.

Yesterday, some of our own focused on the pillar of hunger by serving in CitySquare’s food pantry. It serves between 200-250 families during one week’s time. These members spent the morning checking expiration dates, sorting through donations, and stocking shelves.

To ensure that CitySquare is ready for their neighbors each week, they are in need of extra hands every Saturday to help with their Pantry Prep.

Be on the lookout for more information as HOCC begins to go deeper in discipleship through a monthly service rhythm that includes partnering in this specific Kingdom work.

[06/01/19]   The school year has ended and summer is here! We are so proud of our Seniors and the ways they are impacting the world around them. May we pray for discernment, peace, patience, and confidence during their time of transition.

“God who sees us through the crossings in our lives, we are so thankful that we can gather together to celebrate one another. In these students, we recognize the beautiful gift of community, of journey and story, and of all the different ways your love takes shape. As we celebrate and lift up these students, we are mindful of the ways that they have shared this path, as well as the things that make them each unique. We celebrate that. God, we see you in:
Joshua’s wisdom to ask questions and speak boldly
Melanie’s compassion and attention to those overlooked
Mat’s gentleness and resilience
Roman’s patient and caring nature
Lizzy’s grace and gift for connecting with friends
Gabriel’s reckless love for life and belief in the best in people
Reese’s reliability and love for community
Leah’s artistic spirit and honest speech
Sean’s joy and desire for deep relationship with you
Tony’s faithful friendship and integrity
Desiree’s deep thoughtfulness and hopefulness
Gabe’s desire to learn from others and his capacity to love them
Thomas’s clarity of mind and openness
Elizabeth’s creativity and fully-authentic self
Autumn’s genuineness and kindness.
God, we see how each of these students is a gift to us. May we surround them and support them; may we help them continue to live a good story of faith, hope, and love. May we be a blessing to them as they have been a blessing to us, and may they live that blessedness out into the world. It is in Christ’s name that we pray. Amen.”- Kevin Harrington-Bain, Student Minister

No Other: A Word about the 10 Words

Sunday morning we travel to a mountain called Sinai and find Israel in the wilderness. They have stopped, they have wandered, and they are waiting for their leader to emerge from the mountain. It is here that God speaks to Moses very clear desires of a heart that desires complete and total allegiance. Come and discover as we ready ourselves to hear God "speak all these words."

Highland Oaks Church of Christ Children's Ministry - Dallas

The last day for registering for Camp HighOkica is this Friday. Invite your friends! 🎶 🙏🏻 ✝️ 🏊‍♀️ 👧🏻 👦🏻 ❤️ http://www.hocc.org/event/highokica2019/

Highland Oaks Church of Christ Children's Ministry - Dallas

“From generation to generation, you will always call us children.”

Thank you for creating this sacred space this morning, Pat Bills, where those of every age entered into prayer together.

#CommitToWorship #SubmitToTheSpirit #DoLifeTogether #HOCCvision

Thanks for this special moment, Pat, where you brought together the most seasoned among us with our newest baby only 6 days young. 🙏🏻

5.26 "Imagine" if the Word were Proclaimed

So when Peter is challenged about the new and fresh power of the Holy Spirit, he leans into the story of God proclaimed anew through Jesus. "Imagine if" the word of God still had the power to enable us to "remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion!" Join us Sunday morning as we conclude our series and as we take the challenge to imagine if discipleship were possible. See you Sunday!

New Sermon Series beginning June 2!

The story of Israel was shaped by the words of God. It was "words" that came to Moses that assured them of deliverance. It was "words" that came to Joshua that gave them courage to enter the promised land. It was "words" through the prophets that sustained the exiles in captivity. The words of God matter to the people of God. So when we think about the Ten Commandments from Sinai, what if we heard them as ten words or ten specific invitations for living as people who are loyal to the only true God? Join us these next ten weeks as we explore the power of these ten words for our world and time. May we discover these words of God for us, the people of God.

"Imagine" if Water was Powerful

The earliest gatherings of disciples were immersed in a clash of cultures. There was little room for familiarity or routine. I imagine that each week brought different people and personalities together to be a new ekklesia. But the church gathered from a powerful story that transformed them into a Holy Spirit filled body of new people. Sunday morning we "imagine if" baptism was more than forgiveness of sins but an entrance into a powerful new way of life. See you Sunday!

HighOkica Camp Training

Ahoy Mateys!

Don’t forget this Sunday, May 19, is our first of two Camp Training Days. You are not going to want to miss important information about how to stay safe on deck and how to connect with your crew. So, walk the plank to Kid’s Town immediately following worship service.

If you haven’t RSVP’d, but would like to attend, please click on the link below and register. Last day to sign up is TOMORROW (Friday, May 17)!

camptraining.pushpayevents.com All HighOkica counselors and junior counselors are requested to attend one of the mandatory camp training lunch days. You may choose to attend on either Sunday, May 19 or Sunday, June 2 following worship service in Kids Town. Lunch is offered so please RSVP and pay for your lunch at least a wee...

As the day is ending, #maywepray for those who have been impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences. May we be mindful that trauma is personal and not be dismissive to hearing other’s stories or disregard treating them with dignity. May we remain open to receiving their thoughts and feelings as a point of connection. May God bring opportunities to build trust and through healthy relationship, bring healing.

Acts 10 teaches us a lot about the world as God imagines it. The way of Jesus calls us to longer tables, more honest conversation, and a truer sense of ourselves in the context of diverse community. Make room at your table. Go and eat at the tables of others. Be true to the kingdom world shown to us in the person of Jesus Christ. #HOCCVision #DoLifeTogether #Imagine #HOCCInspire

[05/12/19]   We understand that on this Mother’s Day there will be a wide array of emotions experienced.

You are not alone.

“To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you.

To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you.

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you.

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you.

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you.

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you.

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you.

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you.

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience.

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst.

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children – we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be.

To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths.

To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you.

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you.

To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart.

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you.

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you."

- Amy Young

"Imagine" if Table was Possible
Have you considered how remarkable the dream for including "Gentiles" must have been for the earliest disciples? Sunday morning we join Peter as he is praying on the roof. We explore the invitation he receives and "imagine if" God showed no partiality?

See you Sunday morning at 9am for Bible Classes and 10am for worship!

Reminder! Register before Monday for our last Family Fellowship Meal of the semester! Registering online gives you access to a 15% discount! #HOCCVision #dolifetogether

http://www.hocc.org/event/may-family-fellowship-meal/?instance_id=18146

CenterPeace

For today's #maywepray, we are pointing ourselves to the kingdom work happening within the LGBTQ+ community. The work of Centerpeace, one of our HOCC ministry partners, reminds us of the ways God is pursuing these individuals and families. Today, we invite you into prayer for Centerpeace and the work they are doing extending love and belonging. We invite you into prayer for our friends and neighbors who experience broken relationship and hurt because of sexual orientation or gender identity. We invite you into prayer that every individual, specifically our friends within the LGBTQ+ community, will know the deep and unending love that God has for them.

For more information about the work of Centerpeace, follow the link below! https://www.facebook.com/centerpeaceinc/

CenterPeace provides a place to belong for LGBTQ+ Christians. We help churches, schools, and families have conversations about faith and sexuality in a more Christ-like way, acknowledging Jesus as the CenterPeace of our existence.

What we believe about God impacts everything about our world. As we live into the kingdom reality God is creating, we must be diligent in pursuing the truth about who God reveals Godself to be. #SubmitToTheSpirit #HOCCVision #HOCCgrowing

This past Saturday, we partnered with Housing Crisis Center to facilitate a unique learning opportunity known as the Cost of Poverty Experience. This interactive simulation provided participants a glimpse into the daily challenges faced by those in poverty. The hope was that it would deepen our understanding of generational poverty and stir within us a renewed call to action against the systemic injustices that continue to oppress the impoverished.

"Imagine" if Discipleship was our Posture
Even though the earliest disciples did not know exactly what life without Jesus would look like, Jesus still empowered them through the Holy Spirit to be witnesses to and for the world. This Sunday morning we "imagine" if we were there, receiving this bold commission, and chose to embody His witness for the sake of our world and time - especially if it looked different than we might imagine!

Highland Oaks Church of Christ's cover photo

Have you ever imagined that you could be someone else or somewhere different? Of course you have! Haven't we all? But what would it look like if the church was bold enough to ask this question as it looked into the future? For the next 4 weeks we are going to explore what could come next for HOCC while wrestling with the gift of imagination. So, will you join us as we "imagine" if loving, growing, and sending were not just words we talked about but an invitation to the table, the water, and the Word?

[05/02/19]   This past Sunday, we had the opportunity to honor our graduating seniors, the HOCC Class of 2019! Here's a slideshow that might give you some insight into who these amazing students have been and are continuing to become! We are so proud to have this as part of our community! #HOCCVision #HOCCSeniorSunday

For the month of May, we have committed to praying boldly for specific people or ministries that HOCC is in relationship with. Who better to kickstart this month than our ministry partner, Pamper Lake Highlands?! 💜

PLH’s mission is to break the cycle of generational poverty and oppression for women and children by sharing Jesus’ love through community support, education and resources.

Leave a prayer in the comments for our dear friends connected to this ministry. #MayWePray these prayers together and believe that all things are possible with God.

Yesterday’s message, delivered by our student minister, Kevin Harrington-Bain, was a beautiful reminder of the altars we build in our lives and their purpose. He asked each of our graduating seniors to come up and make this altar before you, a testament to the way HOCC and their families have been part of helping them live out loving, growing, and sending to this point in their discipleship journeys. We are so proud of our graduating seniors and thankful for the time we’ve gotten to spend watching them choose the way of Jesus! #HOCCVision #HOCCSeniorSunday

Join us this Sunday as we celebrate our High School Seniors and have a special message in their honor!

Bible Classes are at 9am and Worship is at 10am.

He is risen! He is not here.

#HOCCEaster #CommitToWorship #SubmitToTheSpirit #DoLifeTogether

“He Is Not Here” (Mark 16:1-7)

The time has come and the story of Jesus has crashed into the world of darkness and despair and brought light and hope. This Sunday morning we conclude our journey through the gospel of Mark and hear the words of celebration: “He has been raised- He is not here!”

[04/19/19]   Good Friday.
Come worship with us tonight at 7:00 p.m.
10805 Walnut Hill Ln in Dallas
We will create space to be still.
We will hear spoken word poetry.
We will sit with the pain and reality of death.
We will be invited to respond.

- Pat Bills

Make plans to join us Friday for our Good Friday Service at 7pm in the worship center. Friday must come... but Sunday is coming!

Holy Week. Passion Week. This special week in the rhythm of our calendar allows us to walk with Jesus during his final days of ministry. But how willing are we to go through Friday with Him? Yesterday’s sermon invites us to take up our cross every, single day... not just talk about discipleship but actually live it out in ways that require that we choose something different and set apart and hard... every, single day. Are you willing to take up your cross? #inspire #HOCCVision #EasterAtHOCC #Committoworship

Crucify Him- the King of the Jews” (Mark 15:6-15)

The crucifixion is hardly a scene anyone would want to watch. It was one of the most brutal forms of death the world had ever encountered. But the death of Jesus was coupled with a declaration from the Roman ruler- this was the king of the Jews. Join us on Sunday as we prepare to enter into the season of resurrection through the way of the cross.

Friday is quickly approaching which means we are that much closer to the Empowered to Connect Conference! Two days full of practical methods for implementing Trust- Based Relational Intervention (TBRI). This attachment- based, trauma informed intervention teaches caregivers how to connect with and empower the littles in their lives.

In the face of overwhelming emotions we can support emotional development and regulation in children by helping them feel seen, safe, and soothed.

Missio Alliance

Some of the wisdom that was drawn from the well of knowledge at the Missio Alliance Awakenings Gathering.

#HOCCvision #Growing #SubmitToTheSpirit #HOCC8moves

In the context of relationship with a loving Father, we can read the words of Jesus in Mark 13 without fear. But we cannot read them without action! When Jesus says to “Stay Awake” it is a reminder that the work of the kingdom is NOT PASSIVE. We have work to do and action to take and change to make, not because we are fearful of punishment but because we are faithful to our promise, our promise to follow Jesus. Even when following means hard work. Keep watch. Pay attention. The kingdom is coming and the kingdom is here. #HOCCVision #HOCC8Moves #CommittoWorship