Mineral Springs Church of Christ Podcast

What do we want? Our desires determine how we live our lives. It doesn’t matter, however, who we are or what we want. It matters who Jesus is and what He wants. When Jesus says go, we must go decisively. When Jesus says say it, we must say it decisively. Minister Aaron Hill reminds us that Jesus knows us inside out, better than we know ourselves, as He explores Jesus’ first encounters with some of...

Who are you? When we answer this question, we typically respond with our name, where we live, and what we do. Minister Aaron Hill tells us that John the Baptist gave a very different answer when he was asked this by the Jews. Instead of telling them who he was, he tells them who he is not. He says, “I’m not the Christ.” John recognized that his own ministry wasn’t about him. It was about Jesus. He...

Minister Aaron Hill leads listeners through John 1 to show us a picture of the source of all grace, a picture of Jesus Christ. “In Him [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). Jesus was in the beginning. John’s focus is on spiritual life, not our flawed, mortal lives. Without Jesus, we are in darkness. Jesus is light, and some will embrace His light while others will flee f...

In the beginning . . . As we enter the new year, we may think of a time of new beginnings. In today’s lesson, minister Aaron Hill explores Jesus’ role in the beginning as recorded in the book of John. John records, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything mad...

We are currently in the season of giving gifts. Some gifts will be practical ones, some not so much, but even practical gifts are of no benefit to us if we set them aside and don't use them. Gifts of the Spirit are much the same way. If we don't make use of the gifts of the Spirit, we will not benefit from them. Scripture tells us that there are varieties of gifts. Nothing special about...

How is it that we can go from a season of Thanksgiving to fighting over flat screens the next day? It seems we are creatures who are inherently discontent. Guest speaker Scott Dutile asserts that many, if not most, of us don't even know what contentment is. We turn contentment into a lot of things that it is not. Contentment is being satisfied to the point where we are not disturbed, to the p...

It is one thing to be led by our own wisdom but another to be led by the Spirit. In his second in a series about the Spirit, minister Aaron Hill builds on the first sermon, noting that if we are not sanctified by the Spirit, we cannot be guided by Him. The Spirit's guidance should touch every aspect of our lives, and yet, as Americans, we cling to a mindset of self-reliance and independence....

People often underestimate who the Spirit is and what the Spirit does. Minister Aaron Hill tells listeners that the Spirit is a person, a member of the Godhead! His work is much more amazing that what we think. When we see the Spirit work, it is amazing, not limited to a tiny box. God's work is always outside the box we tend to put Him in. Sanctification is the most important job of the Spiri...

Grace. Paul uses this word in every one of his letters. The Greek word  εὐχαριστί (efcharistí) means grace. It is where we get our word Eucharist. Another Greek word translated grace is χάρις (charis) from which we get our word thanks . The root of thanks is grace! Minister Aaron Hill asks listeners to ponder these words as we are in a season of thanksgiving. He reminds us that while God shows His...

Blessed are the persecuted. In the last of the #Blessed series, minister Aaron Hill focuses on Matt. 5:10-12. Our circumstances as Americans protect us in most cases from severe persecution, but that is not so for many Christians in the world. We have freedom of worship; many do not. Our persecution typically comes in the form of mocking, ridicule, or hating, and although persecution is not a prer...

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called  children of God.  Minister Aaron Hill continues his #Blessed series by discussing peace.  We define peace as tranquility, harmony, unity, well-wishing. The Apostle Paul began every letter with the words "grace and peace to you." In our current political climate, peace is elusive. Our differences are divisive, but we don't have t...

Is your heart pure? Do you want to see God? Minister Aaron Hill explores the concept of heart purity in his sixth lesson in the #Blessed series, focusing on Matthew 5:8: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Being pure or clean in heart means having pure or clean desires, impulses, affections and feelings.  Hill uses the example of David to exemplify a desire for a cle...

In Part 5 of the sermon series #Blessed, minister Aaron Hill builds on the beatitude in Matt. 5:7 - "Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy."  God shows mercy or unmerited compassion on us. He chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to receive His mercy. He chose the nation of Israel to receive His mercy. And, he has chosen us to receive His mercy, mercy that is undeserved and un...

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. When we are hungry or thirsty, we go in search of food or drink, but if we are hungering for righteousness, where do we go to find such sustenance? Minister Aaron Hill addresses that in this fourth of  the #Blessed series. First, what is righteousness? Biblically, it means what is fair or what is just; sometimes the word for righteousnes...

Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. As he continues his series #Blessed, minister Aaron Hill expounds on this portion of the Beatitudes. We don't often aspire to be meek, maybe because we equate meekness with weakness. Being meek, however, does not indicate that. To be meek is to be gentle; being meek doesn't mean being a doormat. Farther into Matthew in chapter 11 and...

In the second of the #Blessed sermon series, minister Aaron Hill focuses on Jesus' statement in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." Mourning comes to all. It is a time of deep emotional distress. In the Old Testament, the people had a set practice for mourning, setting aside at least seven days or up to 30 days for a mourning period. While we d...

In the first sermon of this series, minister Aaron Hill discusses what it means to be blessed in Jesus' terms. During the time when Jesus was preaching, His listeners believed in a retribution theology as some do today, meaning people who do good deeds receive good things, but people who do evil deeds receive bad.  Jesus didn't teach that then, and He doesn't teach it now. When Jesu...

In his final lesson in the Philippian series, minister Aaron Hill points out that as in other letters, Paul begins with grace and ends with grace, and explains a structure Paul uses in many of his letters. He often begins with an issue, gives a solution, then compliments something his readers do well. In chapter 4 of Philippians, Paul begins by addressing a conflict between Euodia and Syntyche. He...

In Philippians 3, Paul warns the Christians in Philippi not to base their faith on external achievements, to not seek to have a righteousness of our own, something we achieve through our strength, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Minister Aaron Hill reminds listeners that righteousness doesn't come through our accomplishmen...

What does it mean to be a servant? In Philippians 2:19-30, the apostle Paul discusses two men who show themselves servants of Christ: Timothy and Epaphraditus. Minister Aaron Hill tells listeners that people can be servants in different ways. Timothy is like a son to Paul, and he likely follows in Paul's footsteps as a teacher. Paul characterizes Epaphraditus as a brother, a fellow soldier, a...

Obedience matters. As minister Aaron Hill leads listeners through Philippians 2, he reminds us that obedience is not just about following rules. It is about submission. It is about to whom we submit rather than to what we submit. When we don’t will and work for the pleasure of God, we are disobedient. Submitting to God makes us holy; it makes us change. This kind of submission is tied to salvation...

Paul admonishes the Philippian Christians in Phil. 2:1-11 to not be selfish. Minister Aaron Hill leads listeners through an exegetical study of these verses in his message. Paul’s words repeatedly emphasize that we are not to do anything from selfish ambition, that we are to think of others first, counting them as more significant than ourselves. We should look to the interests of others rather th...

In Philippians 1:12-30, Paul addresses people who question his actions. Minister Aaron Hill reminds listeners in part 2 of a series on the book of Philippians that the letter was written to the Philippians, but it is recorded for us. It is in these scriptures that Paul recognizes that some share the word of Christ from the wrong motives, and some share from good motives. He tells the Philippians t...

The classic text on love is I Corinthians 13. Through this text the apostle Paul emphasizes that without love, our words and our actions mean nothing. But what is love? Guest speaker Kraig Martin discusses the nuances of love, a word that we use daily though in a number of different ways. Whether it is a desire to eat good food or a desire to be with another person or even a desire to protect anot...

Pride isn't necessarily a bad thing, not as long as we don't value things too much, not as long as everything else takes a backseat to God. In the first sermon of a series entitled  Too High Philippi , minister Aaron Hill opens with Paul's greeting and comments to the church at Philippi. IPaul is proud of the Christians in Philippi. In Philippians 1:3, Paul says that he thanks God e...