Hillside Community Church Podcast

As Jesus continues to keep His face set on Jerusalem, He must confront a real and credible threat to His mission. In the face of even death itself, we see that Jesus loves all His little ‘chickens’ and will do anything to protect them from the ‘foxes’ of our world. - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show

In our story today, someone tells Jesus about a tragedy that happened in the Temple in Jerusalem—people were killed by governmental assassins. The people talking about it wanted to know if Jesus thought it was a sign of the times.  Jesus’ answer has some very important lessons for us. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show

At a certain point in His life, Jesus knew that it was time to go to Jerusalem. He knew what would happen there—He would be beaten and crucified.  That didn’t stop Him. Because He loved us, He “set His face” to go to Jerusalem. He would not be stopped. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show

Last week we saw that the early church was threatened by some of the local religious and political leaders—a threat from “outside.”  This week, the church will face an even more dangerous threat—a threat from within as two members lie to the others. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show

Whenever God is at work, there will inevitably come opposition. How do we respond? We see from the early church and the apostles that when opposition came, they were courageous and bold, but not for the reasons we would think. They confronted opposition with the name of Jesus as their only defense and we are called to do the same. - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show

Sometimes we don’t know what we really need. We think we need money to pay the bills, but in reality, we need something else. This morning we’ll look at the story of a beggar who got much more than he bargained for. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show

The early church just had a mountain-top experience. The Holy Spirit came and 3,000 new believers were baptized—in a single day! When those mountain-top experiences are over, we often want to just move on to the next mountain-top.  But that doesn’t always happen. Usually, we have some (often quite a few) “normal” days between these spiritual highs. This morning we’ll look at what the early church...

As we study the book of Acts, one of the things we’ll notice is that about one-third of the book is made up of speeches or sermons.  There’s a lot of action, but preaching is also a big deal in the book of Acts. This morning we’ll look at the very first Christian sermon—the one Peter preached on Pentecost—right after the coming of the Holy Spirit. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show

The stage is ready. Jesus has given the church promise, power, and purpose. The early church overcame their first challenge by replacing Judas and making the Apostles whole. Now the Spirit is going to light the flame and call the church to praise, pursue, and proclaim! - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show

As we look at the beginning of the church, it doesn’t take long for a problem to arise. The disciples had to figure out, “What do we do about Judas?”  Judas had betrayed Jesus and was now dead. What do we do? Try to cover it up? Replace him? Pretend it didn’t happen?  This morning we’ll think about how the disciples handled this “problem.” - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show

As we begin the Book of Acts, Jesus is getting ready to leave His disciples.  He’s got forty days for final instructions and encouragements.  Ready or not, the disciples are going to have to take the lead. This morning we’ll take a look at three gifts Jesus gives to His disciples before He ascends into heaven. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show

Sometimes when we look at something we wonder, “How did that happen?” We see a turtle on a fencepost and we wonder, “How did that happen?” We see two people who are really different get married and we wonder, “How did that happen?” We see someone who was really wild in High School become a teacher and we think, “How did that happen?”  This morning we’re beginning a new series on the book of Acts. ...

Today we will look at the somewhat mysterious characters of the Magi. Were they really anything like we often think? Why did Matthew include them in his Gospel and what was the message he was conveying in so doing? The sermon will look at and seek to answer these questions and see what the message of the Magi may mean for us also today. - Pastor Scott Hoezee Support the show

There are so many good things about Christmas. The music, the lights, the presents, the food. So many good things. But sometimes we can get so busy with the good things that we miss the best thing about Christmas—that God’s grace has broken through to us in Jesus.  When we know that grace, we can know that it’s all right, even though it’s all wrong. - Pastor Ron Kool (Titus 2 11-13) Support the sh...

As we get closer to Christmas things get busier for many of us. We have more presents to buy, more decorations to put out, and more parties to attend. In the midst of all our running around, God promises us an amazing thing through His prophet Micah. Peace. That’s something we can all use. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show

As we get closer to Christmas, everyone expects there to be joy in the air! But is it always appropriate to have joy when the world and our lives are a mess? Zephaniah says we can by fixing out eyes on The Day of the Lord. - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show

John the Baptist is a necessary figure in Advent and yet somehow we don't often include John much in our Advent and Christmas reflections.  Who was John?  Why was he necessary to appear before the arrival of Jesus and what can we still learn from him today?  In today's sermon we will look at Malachi's prediction of this necessary messenger and then Luke's presentation of John t...

Advent is a time that the Church can grow deeper in confidence by looking back to see how God's Word came to fulfillment with the birth of Jesus Christ. It was a birth of great anticipation even through challenging times. This sermon series will look at some key Old Testament passages where God gave a word of Hope during difficult times. Calvin Theological Seminary President, Jul Medenblik, w...

2 Kings 6 - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show

Have you heard of the Yada People of India? The Jambi people of Indonesia? The Awan People of Pakistan? Each of these people groups has more than 1 million persons, yet more than 95% of them have no opportunity to hear the Gospel. God's heart is to reach these "lostest of the lost" (and many more). What does he want us to do about them? - Pastor Stan Kruis Support the show

We've talked a lot recently about what it means to be appropriately clothed before the presence of God. But what type of action is expected of those who are clothed in Christ? What will ultimately motivate us to live a life that Christ has called us to? - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show

Everyone knows you can't just show up in your blue collar clothes to a wedding. Even if we would prefer to wear something else, we put our best on to honor the people we're celebrating. Jesus tells us a parable about how we should be dressed for the ultimate wedding banquet in Heaven in the Gospel of Matthew. - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show

On our journey through the Tabernacle, we come to the final room—The Most Holy Place.  This is God’s room and inside of it was the most important religious symbol for the people of Israel—The Ark of the Covenant.  This morning we’ll ask what made the Ark (and its cover) so important and how it points us to Jesus. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show

Priests were essential people in the life of God’s people.  They were the mediators between God and His people—they would bring the needs of the people to God and they would bring the grace of God to the people.  It was amazingly important work.  But what made them able to do that work? How could normal people become priests whom God could use? And how might you and I become people whom God can us...

This Sunday we begin the journey of seeing the High Priest prepare to enter the most Holy Place. Not just any person is able to enter into God's presence, only the High Priest can. God turned Aaron from "just a person" into a Priest for God's service and that started by clothing him with the right garments. The good news is that we aren't "just people" either. In...