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 Jesu...

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...

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 hon...

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 th...

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 ...

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 compl...

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, wit...

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 ...

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 thin...

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 goi...

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. ...

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 morni...

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...

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 Hil...

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 leas...

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—e...

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 cal...

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 word...

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 ...

One of the most radical, life-changing things Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer is “your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” It is radical and life-changing because the first thing we do when we offer this p...

Of all the things we say in the Lord’s Prayer, this might be the one that sound strangest to our ears.  We don’t talk that often about hallowing things today.  This morning, we’ll think about what it means to hallow God’s name and why...

Many of us struggle with prayer.  We’re not sure what to say, we stumble over our words, and sometimes we even forget to pray.  Jesus knew this would happen.  And that’s why He spent time teaching His followers how to pray. ...

We finish up our series on the characteristics of God by talking about what, for many of us, is His most important characteristic—He is full of grace.  It’s wonderful to know that God is powerful and all-knowing and unchangeable and just, ...

Last week, we talked about how God is just in all that He does and in every judgment that He makes. This morning, we’re going to think about what it means for us to be people who seek justice in our lives and in our communities. - Pastor Ron Ko...

You’ve heard it a lot.  You’ve probably said it a time or two.  “It’s not fair!” we say and then follow up with what isn’t fair.  “Why did she get a bigger piece of cake?” or “I deserved the promotion more than they did!” We all ...