Stories of the Spirit's Good Works

By Rev. Caitlin Childers Brown

Pastor and Minister of Service & Community

Beloved Highland Hills Family,

These past few weeks Ethan and I have been diving in and getting to know the friendly faces around the church. We’ve gotten to sit down with many of you (and hope to sit down with many more if you’ll have us!). In each conversation, I have been struck by the love for one another and hope for the future of the church. It has been an honor to hear these good stories of the church as it was before and learn more about what is going on today.

Now while I am not at the level of many in our body of believers, I like to dabble in painting. And as I've thought about these last few weeks, the image that comes to mind is an artist (or dabbler) who gets a new set of paints. Each set of paints is often similar in the types of colors it contains such as cerulean, ochre, and viridian, but each brand makes them a little differently. Instead of diving right into painting something lovely, an artist will start by doing a sample sheet to test out each tube for its different characteristics, its opacity, how it mixes with others, and all that each tube can do. While one color can have the same name as another, and even be made of the same pigment, it doesn't mean they will act the same. For to really be able to make something beautiful, you have to recognize every color's unique qualities. 

This is how I see this season of the church, except our artist is the true Creator, the One who created each of us and called us good. We, as a church, are a work of the Holy Spirit. In listening to your stories, Ethan and I are getting to see the good works the Spirit has been doing here at HHBC and in the people of HHBC. So while we may not know what beautiful work of art the Spirit is making, we trust and know that God is making us anew, and is not done working through us and with us yet. So keep being your wonderful, unique color-filled self!

Grace and Peace, Caitlin