Cover Photo by Photo by Damir Samatkulov on Unsplash
Have You Failed Enough?
God said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – 2 Cor. 12:9-10
Americans worship success.
It’s simply true. No matter how much we tell ourselves failure is a great learning experience, we hate it. Failure at best sends us to oblivion; at worst, makes us infamous.
Success opens doors for us; failure can damage our reputations. Success makes us the talk of the town; failure makes us the whisper of gossipers. Success increases our popularity – people want to be around power and position like flies around honey! Failure results in people abandoning us.
No one likes taking the beating failure delivers.
And yet…it is unavoidable. Oh, you can be on a roll for a while, but eventually, failure catches up and trips you. So, rather than think it will never find you, it’s better to be prepared. Here are some tips:
1) Don’t blame. While there may be people or circumstances that contributed to your failure, look at what you could have done to avoid it. Blaming prevents learning. Take responsibility for your role in the failure.
2) Learn humility. When you are humbled, let it have its way with you. Rachet back your arrogance and realize humiliation is now a part of your personal narrative. Use that hard experience to retrain your vision to see more accurately the world around you.
3) Be honest. When telling your story in appropriate settings, consider sharing your failure and what you learned from it; how it helped to shape you.
4) Demonstrate compassion. As mentioned, people abandon failures. Do the opposite – go to them. Let them know you understand and give hope there is an avenue to a better place. In ways that feel natural, offer to pray for them or invite them to church. When life dumps you in the mud and the Success Idol is smashed, we are often open to what Heaven is all about.
Remember that Jesus at the cross was the ultimate failure: abandoned, beaten up, and taken out. And through that failure came Ultimate Success!
-- Pastor George
HRMW Sunday Lenten Talks Continue!
We were blessed last week by Andy Wasynczuk's message about his faith and work. This week: Kellie Jackson.
March 20: Kellie Jackson -- A Christian Professor at a Liberal Arts College (Wellesley)
March 27: David Ting -- Faith and Biomedicine/Biotechnology Today.
April 3: Jessica Kim -- Faith and Entrepreneurism.
The schedule for these five Sundays is as follows:
10 am worship on Drinking from the Wells of God Lenten Preaching Series
11 am SoulFood,
11:20 am presentation. 30 minutes from speaker; 30 minutes of discussion. Separate elementary-age children's program. (Note: youth are encouraged to be in attendance at the talks).
12:20 pm hard stop.
Kidsrock will be as usual at 10 am, but also a special elementary-age children's program from 11:20 - 12:20. Please let us know if you are bringing children so we have a general idea of how many to prepare for:
Middle School and Senior High students are encouraged to attend the presentations.
NEW POLICY ON MASKS
Starting this Sunday, March 20th, masks will be optional for all participants at Highrock’s indoor gathers and worship services, independent of vaccination level. This change is based on current CDC, state, and local guidelines. The CDC categorizes our county’s COVID level as low. Should our county’s COVID level change, we will revisit this policy. We recognize that masking continues to be recommended in certain situations, based on personal risk level, and we respect all individual masking decisions. We ask anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 to follow CDC guidelines to determine when it is appropriate to return to in-person Highrock gatherings.
Please note, this change includes all participants in Kidsrock and Youth programming.
Ways to Be Involved!
PRAYER REQUESTS
Please send your prayer requests to Foluke Ajayi at mofoluwake09@gmail.com. Please pray for those suffering in the Ukraine!
LENTEN OBSERVANCES
Highrock offers several ways to observe the Lenten journey this year. Highrock MetroWest offers the Sunday Lenten Series noted above, Highrock Church has special Sensing Lent Small Groups, and the Highrock Family Ministry Team has created a wonderful Lent Family Experience for families.
Sermons during Lent will focus on Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in John 4. The series is called DRINK.
MARCH 19 -- TRAIL SISTERS
Please join HRMW women for their monthly trail walks and fellowship this winter, feeling free to mask up as we weather Omicron. Dogs welcome. Contact Katie Smith Milway katiesmith.milway@gmail.com or Kathryn Dietz dietz.kathryn@gmail.com for more information.
Upcoming walk:
March 19, 2 pm: Ridge Hill Reservation, Needham -- from Charles River Street parking lot. Please RSVP here:
MARCH 20 OR MARCH 29, 8 -- 9:30 PM -- NEW MEMBERSHIP CLASSES BETTER TOGETHER!
Go here for information about the March 20th meeting; and here for the March 29th meeting.
MARCH 24 -- THE RETURN OF BURGER BROTHERS!
On Thursday evening, March 24, at 6 pm, Men of Highrock MetroWest are gathering at the church, 754 Greendale Ave, to eat BBQ catered by Blue Ribbon BBQ and get to know each other again after COVID! If you think you might attend, please sign up using this button to give us an idea of how much food to purchase.
MARCH 26th, 9 am – 2:30 pm. The Enneagram – A Tool For Awareness, Transformation & Relationships A Virtual Workshop by Adele and Doug Calhoun
The Enneagram is one of the most profound vehicles for inner transformation, revealing who our very best selves can be and the habitual fault lines that prevent us from growth, love, and empathy. We want to invite you into a journey of healing that brings the very fruit of love, patience, hope, kindness, and growth into your life. For more information and tickets ($45), go here.
APRIL 29 - MAY 1 -- Highrock/Evangelical Covenant Church Women's Retreat Exhale.
Join the Pilgrim Pines Women's Retreat Exhale to spend time with other Highrockers and women from churches in the New England Conference. Pastor Nicole Bullock of Bethel Seminary will lead spiritual direction and workshops in a relaxed setting to care for your soul and connect with God. Cost $170. Register here. Questions? contact Abby Rice abby@highrock.org.
JULY 18-22 - Kidsrock Summerblast!
Mark your calendars for Kidsrock's annual Summerblast event. More to come. Contact KidsRock Director Grace Taber at GraceT@highrock.org for more information.
A CHANGE TO HIGHROCK NETWORK CHURCHES
Read about new changes to the network churches here. Note HRMetroWest is a Highrock campus and not an HR Network Church.
Resources for Growing Deeper!
