Higher Ground!
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Welcome to our website. As a church community we’ve experienced the sustaining power of God’s grace, not only through the whole COVID crisis but in the various day-to-day challenges we face in our individual lives. I’m so grateful that we’ve been able to meet together live and on Zoom to share our stories, our struggles, to pray for each other and to grow in grace together.
As an up-and-coming church musician many years ago, I was blessed to have learned a lot of hymns, many of which seem out of vogue today, though they were generally characterized by sound theology and inspiring, thoughtful lyrics. One that often comes to mind is entitled Higher Ground:
I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining ev’ry day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
New heights I’m gaining ev’ry day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith, on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
By faith, on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
In a world where many, including many Christians, gravitate towards the lowest common denominator in life, I find myself longing for something greater, something higher, something that transcends the anger, bitterness, rancor, malice and hatred that not only infects our society at large but the lives of many of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
One of our primary goals as a church is to lead people out of the abyss of negativity, sin and selfishness to a higher place where we live grounded in gratitude, sustained by grace, and fully embraced by the love of God in Christ Jesus.
That’s why we meet together at church and online—to enable God through His grace, His word, and the power of the Holy Spirit “to plant our feet on higher ground.”
Are we living in troubled times? Yes. Is inflation a pressing concern? Sure. Are gas prices, especially here in California, through the roof? Certainly!
Am I going to let these, or any circumstances or situations, steal my peace, my joy, my vital optimism? No!
My feet are planted on higher ground, and that’s where I choose to live. As a church, we’re striving to invite God’s people to rise above the mundane, above cynicism, above doubt, fear and anger. Because, as we learned in Romans 8, in Christ there is neither condemnation nor separation. Because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, nothing or nobody can separate us from the love of God!
In His Grace,
Pastor Charles Williams
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Verse of the Day
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” — Ephesians 4:2 
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