Winning Ways -- Hillcrest Baptist Church

The Price of Admission
by Tom Goodman
October 7, 2009

The boy just wanted to hide some bad grades; his marks made international news instead.

A few years ago a teenager in New York set fire to his exam papers in the privacy of his bedroom. It seems he wanted to hide the poor grades from his parents. The fire quickly grew out of control, though, and ended up gutting the entire second floor of his home.

The 14-year-old set the papers alight and threw them out of his second-floor room. An ember blew back into his room, and soon flames were consuming the furniture and licking out the window.

It began as a way to keep his parents from discovering his poor grades, but his effort at hiding his failures resulted in disaster. Far from hiding his failures, eight fire trucks and sixty firefighters responded to the blaze, and newspapers around the world ran the story as an offbeat news item.

There were no injuries, police said. Yeah, right. Anyone who can remember being fifteen knows that's not true!

The boy felt "the price of admission" was too high. The price of denial turned out to be higher.

As an old saying goes, "confession is good for the soul." This Sunday morning, October 11, we'll discover what the Bible tells us about the importance of admitting our failures to God, to ourselves, and to a trusted individual.

Take the Prayer Tour!

Mark your calendars: Sunday, October 18, we're holding a Prayer Tour through the Hillcrest facility.

It will begin and end in the auditorium, and it will take 45 minutes to complete. You can begin anytime between 8:15 and 9:15 a.m., depending on what activities you have to get to. Many of our people will choose to begin the Prayer Tour at 9:15 a.m. and end at 10 a.m. in the auditorium in time for the worship service to begin. Some of our senior adults will choose to begin at 8:15 a.m. and end at 9 a.m. in time to go to their Sunday School class.

You can choose the start-time that works best for you because the Prayer Tour will be self-guided. When you arrive in the auditorium you will be given a map of our facilities and a prayer guide. The guide will tell you where to stop in the building and what to pray for at each stop.

--Tom

Weblog: Check out my blog, "Get Anchored." Some things to look for...

Song of the Week, posted every Sunday.
Links to Your World, interesting and informative links, posted every Tuesday.

Do you know friends who would appreciate Winning Ways? Just forward this e-mail to them!

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FRESH NEWS AT HILLCREST UPDATED WEEKLY: www.hillcrestaustin.org

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Winning Ways - from Hillcrest Baptist Church, Austin, Texas	Contact Tom Goodman, Pastor
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The Price of Admission by Tom Goodman October 7, 2009 The boy just wanted to hide some bad grades; his marks made international news instead. A few years ago a teenager in New York set fire to his exam papers in the privacy of his bedroom. It seems he wanted to hide the poor grades from his parents. The fire quickly grew out of control, though, and ended up gutting the entire second floor of his home. The 14-year-old set the papers alight and threw them out of his second-floor room. An ember blew back into his room, and soon flames were consuming the furniture and licking out the window. It began as a way to keep his parents from discovering his poor grades, but his effort at hiding his failures resulted in disaster. Far from hiding his failures, eight fire trucks and sixty firefighters responded to the blaze, and newspapers around the world ran the story as an offbeat news item. There were no injuries, police said. Yeah, right. Anyone who can remember being fifteen knows that's not true! The boy felt "the price of admission" was too high. The price of denial turned out to be higher. As an old saying goes, "confession is good for the soul." This Sunday morning, October 11, we'll discover what the Bible tells us about the importance of admitting our failures to God, to ourselves, and to a trusted individual. Take the Prayer Tour! Mark your calendars: Sunday, October 18, we're holding a Prayer Tour through the Hillcrest facility. It will begin and end in the auditorium, and it will take 45 minutes to complete. You can begin anytime between 8:15 and 9:15 a.m., depending on what activities you have to get to. Many of our people will choose to begin the Prayer Tour at 9:15 a.m. and end at 10 a.m. in the auditorium in time for the worship service to begin. Some of our senior adults will choose to begin at 8:15 a.m. and end at 9 a.m. in time to go to their Sunday School class. You can choose the start-time that works best for you because the Prayer Tour will be self-guided. When you arrive in the auditorium you will be given a map of our facilities and a prayer guide. The guide will tell you where to stop in the building and what to pray for at each stop. --Tom Weblog: Check out my blog, "Get Anchored." Some things to look for... Song of the Week, posted every Sunday. Links to Your World, interesting and informative links, posted every Tuesday. Do you know friends who would appreciate Winning Ways? Just forward this e-mail to them! Have you subscribed to Winning Ways? You can subscribe by clicking here and following the instructions. Your e-mail address will not be sold or given away to anyone, and you can automatically change your subscription or drop it by following the easy steps provided with each e-mail. FRESH NEWS AT HILLCREST UPDATED WEEKLY: www.hillcrestaustin.org LISTEN TO RECENT SERMONS: Click here. MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS TO OUR EMAIL NEWSLETTERS: Click here. If you do not have access to the web, please send a note to newsmaster@hbcaustin.org to tell us of any changes you would like to make.