Claim OwnershipHillside Community Church Podcast
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Hillside Community Church will live out Jesus’ life-changing message, seek to love our neighbors well, and develop authentic community where all people are welcome, worthy, and have a place.
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In this session, Pastor Arek O'Connell explores the central Christian claim that Jesus is truly God. He begins by affirming that for Christians, the trustworthiness of Scripture matters deeply because so much rests on what it says about Jesus. He unpacks how the Gospels present Jesus claiming divinity—not only through his words, but through his miracles, forgiveness of sins, fulfillment of prophecy, resurrection, and the worship he receives. He then addresses objections: Was Jesus simply a gr...
In one of the strangest and most memorable stories in the book of Numbers, God sends salvation to His people—but it’s a bronze snake on a pole! The people at the time didn’t know it, but that snake on a pole would become a great picture of Jesus. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show
One of the lessons we’re learning about being in the wilderness with God is that the wilderness is a mixed bag. There are extremely difficult moments followed by instances of amazing grace. This morning, we’ll see that so clearly as we come to one of the saddest, most graceful chapters in the book of Numbers. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show
What do we do when challenges to leadership arise from within? What should we cautiously consider before challenging our leaders? How do Godly leaders respond to challenges? How does the community caught up in the mess respond in a way that honors God? Regardless of the circumstances, all of us are called to submit to God's leadership. - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show
Kristin Hileman kicked off a practical session on “Can I trust the Bible?”—framing it as the foundation for the whole "Defending Your Faith" series. After a playful fact-or-fiction opener, she shared Sean McDowell’s story to underline this: if we ask people to stake their lives on an ancient book, we need reasons, not circular claims. She defined what Christians mean by “the Bible,” noted its own claims and fulfilled prophecy, and then offered three simple lenses we can remember: the charact...
There are times when the challenges ahead of us feel overwhelming. As a person, a family, or a church, there are times when we feel like we don’t have what it takes to keep moving forward, to stay faithful to God in the face of the temptations and challenges ahead of us. Here’s something we need to know: We’re right! We can’t handle it. This morning, we’ll look at a story that reminds us that it doesn’t matter if we can’t handle things. It’s not about us. - Pastor Ron Kool Support...
It doesn’t take long for things to go bad for Israel. Up to this point in the book of Numbers, the people have been listening to and obeying God. But almost as soon as they hit the road, the complaining starts. God hears their complaints, and this morning, we’ll look at how God responded to their crabbiness. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show
Pastor Ron Kool introduced a new season of adult discipleship focused on apologetics—defending the Christian faith. He emphasizes that apologetics is about offering reasons for belief in Christianity and exposing weaknesses in alternatives, with the goal of strengthening believers and encouraging non-believers. He stresses that living out faith with love comes first, and explanations follow when people ask. There is encouragement to use clear logic, avoid fallacies, and keep discussions ...
God knows that when we’re in the wilderness, it can be hard for us to trust Him. When things aren’t going well and the problems seem overwhelming, God knows that we will be tempted to believe that He forgot us. This morning, we’ll look at some of the gifts God gives His people to help us stay faithful to Him in the wilderness. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show
As we journey through the wilderness of our lives, we need to know that we are not on our own. This morning we’ll see how God tells Aaron to “put His name” on the people through blessing them. This is perhaps the most important thing we need as we go out into our world. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show
As Israel gets ready for the journey through the wilderness, there is another matter they must take care of: how are they going to be organized? Who is going to go first? Second? Third? And who is going to camp where? And who is going to do what? These may seem like mundane details for us, but they have some extremely important lessons for us. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show
You don’t just leave on a long trip. You’ve got to have some organization. You need to know who is sitting where and where you’ll be stopping for breaks. You need to be prepared for problems that may come up on the road. God’s people are the same way. God’s people are at Mount Sinai and getting ready to go to the Promised Land. But God has some final instructions for them before they go. They need to get organized. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show
As followers of Jesus, we want to tell others about Him. We want to bear witness to Him in our neighborhoods and school and with our friends. We also want to tell others about Him at work, but that can be a little tricky. This morning, we’ll look at how we might grow in our effectiveness in witnessing while we work. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show
So often we equate loving “the least of these” with doing something to or for them. However, the way Jesus interacts with “the least of these” in the Gospel shows that the most empowering way to love “the least of these” is to do life with them, helping them no longer see themselves as “least.” - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show
Last week we saw that all of scripture testifies to the unique love, care, and relationship God has for “the least of these.” This week, we take a real, practical look at the passage and explore ways we can love “the least of these” here at Hillside and in our daily lives. - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show
This week, we start a new 3-week series on what it means to love “the least of these” as Jesus commanded us to do in Matthew 25. But before we do anything to or for “the least of these,” we need to understand that we’re called to love “the least” because God loves them and identifies with them. - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show
How do we end our prayers? Do we just stop? Do we say “Talk to you later?” Throughout the ages, the church has said that it is good to end our prayers by focusing on God and declaring that everything—the kingdom, the power and the glory—everything belongs to Him. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show
We can be so foolish. We say we shouldn’t do something that’s wrong (Eat or drink too much, gossip, lie). We really don't want to do that thing. Yet we keep doing it. And one of the main reasons we do is because of what we call temptation—it looks SOOOOO good! This morning, we’ll learn about asking God to help us resist temptation. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show
Sometimes we do things without really thinking about them. We go through the motions, but we’re not really focused on what we’re doing. For many of us, that can happen when it comes to confessing our sins. We just say the words but don’t think about what we’re actually asking God to do. This morning, we’ll think about what we’re doing when we confess our sins. - Pastor Ron Kool Support the show
Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread in the Lord's Prayer, yet it’s not only bread we’re asking for. We’re asking for God to provide for our basic needs and our neighbors. We’re asking God to help us continue to live and to remember how dependent on God we and everyone else ultimately are. - Pastor Arek O'Connell Support the show
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