About High Praise Brainerd Lakes

About the pastors

What we believe

• The Bible is the inspired Word of God

• Our God is one, manifested in three - The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit

• Man is sinful and needs a Savior

• Jesus came to redeem mankind through His propitiatory sacrifice

• We are saved by grace through faith which produces the New Birth

• Faith without works is dead - A living faith will produce corresponding action

• Two New Testament Ordinances - Water baptism by immersion and Communion

• The infilling of the Holy Spirit is available to all believers as an experience subsequent to salvation and accompanied by speaking in other tongues.

• There are diversities or "different kinds" of tongues.  Including, but not limited to: tongues for interpretation, tongues for personal edification, tongues as a sign to an unbeliever and corporate tongues for edification when directed by leadership.

• Sanctification is a definite, yet progressive work of grace, commencing at the time of salvation and continuing while we are here on earth.

• Healing is a part of the atonement and is for the physical, emotional and psychological ills of the human body and soul.

• The laying on of hands is to be practiced for the purpose of imparting, ordination, and point of agreement.

• The gifts of the Spirit are to be active in the Church today.

• The five fold ministry gifts of the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher are to all function in the Church.

• Resurrection of the Just and the Return of the Lord.

• Heaven is reserved for the righteous and Hell for the unrighteous.

FAQ

What denomination are you? - We are non-denominational.  We believe in the apostolic giftings, but we are not an Apostolic denomination.  That is a very different thing.

Who are you accountable to? - High Praise is it’s own corporate entity (Floodgates Ministries) with a board of directors.  Sarah & Chris are ordained ministers through and accountable to Integrity Ministerial Alliance (IMA) through High Praise Panama City.

Are you Pentecostal? - High Praise is pentecostal in flow and function, but again, not a Pentecostal denomination.  We call ourselves an “all of the above” church in that we believe there are valuable elements to all the major moves of God (Evangelical, Charismatic, Holiness, Word of Faith, Pentecostal, Prophetic, ect.).  We strive to embrace the best elements of each movement in a healthy, balanced way.

Are you a 501c3? - Yes, we are a 501c3 so donations to High Praise are tax deductible. 

Why Brainerd? - Sarah and Chris independently received clear direction from the Lord to pursue a church plant in Brainerd along with multiple confirmations from trusted sources.

Why is it so loud? - Because we are High Praise and that is a part of the sound we are called to release.  High praises and loud sounds are both biblical expressions of praise & worship, a topic we teach on often.

What is service like? - Fridays: Engaging worship, longer than some may be used to.  During worship, platform is given for the Holy Spirit to move and for people to flow in the Gifts of the Spirit (according to the order of the house).  Preaching & teaching are designed to be timely and to challenge and grow.  You will hear tongues.  You will hear prophetic words.  Kids join adults for praise & worship, then go to their own service.  Overall, service typically lasts around 2 hours, but can vary.  Sundays: are a compressed version of Friday service lasting around and hour and fifteen minutes.

Do you do activations? -  In Pentecostal circles there can sometimes be controversy and misunderstandings over the concept of "activations".  In our experience  most misunderstandings occur because some groups have different (spiritual) definitions of the word.  At High Praise we do activations and you may hear the term being used, but our definition of activation is simply: "providing an opportunity to practice under the oversight of experienced teachers".  To us, an activation is nothing more than providing an opportunity to learn by doing something you may never done before.  This most often looks like practicing different forms of prayer or flowing in the Gifts of the Spirit.  This is a form of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry.

Questions about praying in Tongues - Whenever a church fully embraces operating in the gifts of the Spirit, there will always be questions and/or concerns about it.  Especially when it comes to the spiritual gift of tongues.  We all have different backgrounds and experiences with such things.  At High Praise we operate in the manner that we do with strong biblical research and understanding behind it.  If this is contrary to your experience or understanding we ask that you be open to learning and seek out leadership to ask questions about why we do what we do (in a respectful manner).  We welcome answering these types of questions and are very experienced in doing so.