Hillside Community Church Podcast
Episodes
676 episodes
Treasures | Matthew 6:19-24
We all have treasures—things that we value and protect and seek more of. Our treasures are the things that matter the most to us. Jesus reminds us that what we treasure will have a significant impact on how we live, and He challenges us t...
When You Pray | Matthew 6:5-15
Jesus continues to teach us about how we should live as His disciples. This morning, we’ll take a look at what Jesus says about prayer—an activity that was absolutely critical to His work. In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus...
Secret Agents | Matthew 6:1-6; 16-18
There is something inside each of us that wants to be noticed and appreciated. We want others to think highly of us. We want to be respected. And that’s not all bad. This morning, Jesus gives us a warning. He wants us to be careful&...
The Spiritually Mature Disciple | Matthew 5:33-48
As we come to the end of the first section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus ends the first section with an interesting command... Be perfect! Of course, none of us can be perfect, only God is, so what did Jesus mean? He didn't mean to be sinle...
No Adultery | Matthew 5:27-32
Jesus is continuing to interpret the Hebrew Scriptures—explaining and deepening them as He does so. This morning, we’ll look at some of the most challenging words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: His words about marriage, adultery, divorce,...
If You Get Angry | Matthew 5:21-26
Sometimes we religious folks really like the rules. Tell us exactly what we can and cannot do, and we will live within the boundaries. We may walk up to the boundaries, but we won’t cross them. This morning, Jesus begins to te...
Easter - The Resurrection Power of God | Matthew 28:1-10
Before Matthew tells us about the resurrection, he paints a rather hopeless, depressing scene. After Jesus was put to death and buried, we learn that the most powerful people in the World did everything in their power to undermine God's plans a...
The King Arrives - Maundy Thursday | Matthew 21:1-11
Today is Palm Sunday, so we’re going to jump forward in the book of Matthew to chapter 21. Here, Matthew describes Jesus coming into Jerusalem and the people greeting Him with palm branches and shouts of Hosanna. As we go through this pas...
It's All About Him | Matthew 5:17-20
We have two parts to our Bibles—the Old Testament and the New Testament. We say that both are the Word of God, but how do they relate to each other? How much of the Old Testament are we supposed to follow if we are Christians? This mornin...
Why Does God Allow Suffering? | Defending Your Faith
Pastor Arek O'Connell explains that suffering is a real, complex, and deeply personal experience—and there are no simple answers that fit every situation. He emphasizes that God is not the cause of suffering; instead, suffering exists because s...
Salt and Light | Matthew 5:13-16
We have just finished learning, through the beatitudes, what the blessed life in the Kingdom of Heaven looks like for faithful disciples. And while the future promises of inheritance, comfort, satisfaction, and mercy are things we can hang our ...
Blessed Persecution | Matthew 5:10-12
We’ve recognized that the beatitudes of Jesus are upside down and counterintuitive to the wisdom of our world. This morning, we’ll finish up the beatitudes with what is perhaps the most counterintuitive beatitude: Blessed are those who are ...
Can I Be Sure of My Salvation? | Defending Your Faith
In this session, Kirk Kingsley teaches that believers can have assurance of salvation because salvation is God’s work from start to finish, not something we earn or keep by our own effort. He says the real fear behind this question is often, “W...
When Jesus Fills Us | Matthew 5:7-12
In the fourth statement about those who are blessed in the Kingdom of God, Jesus promises that when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we will be filled. The next four “blessed are” statements go on to describe what a person who is f...
Blessed are the Hungry and Thirsty | Matthew 5:1-6
As Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven in the Sermon on the Mount, He invites us to think about what we desire, about what we dream about, about our hunger and thirst. And He tells us that we are blessed when we hunger for righteousness...
Is It Okay to Doubt? | Defending Your Faith
Pastor Morné Marais teaches that doubt is a normal part of the faith journey—not the opposite of faith—and shows from Scripture that even the disciples worshiped Jesus and yet some doubted (Matthew 28:17). He uses Thomas in John 20 to ...
The Blessed Upside Down Life | Matthew 5:1-5
In our series through the book of Matthew, we've just seen Jesus call His first disciples and begin His public ministry. The central theme of Jesus' teaching at this time was all about the Kingdom of Heaven. This morning, Jesus tells the discip...
The Core and The Crowd | Matthew 4:18-25
As Jesus begins His ministry, there are several groups that follow Him. There are His disciples, His committed followers, and the crowds. This morning, we’ll see how Jesus gathers these folks and ask ourselves an important question:...
How Do Science and Christianity Work Together? | Defending Your Faith
Faith Stults oversees an organization called Science with Faith, in which she partners with schools, churches, and nonprofits to help people experience science not as a threat to faith but as a powerful tool for knowing, worshiping, an...
It's Time! | Matthew 4:12-17
Up to this point in the book of Matthew, we’ve been watching Jesus getting ready to begin His ministry time. This morning, we’ll see Jesus start His work, and we’ll see when He starts, where He begins His ministry, and what His main messa...
The First Temptations | Matthew 4:1-11
Satan knows that Jesus has come to reclaim His Father’s world, and Satan is not happy about it. He will do anything in his power to derail Jesus, to make Jesus unable to do what He came to do. This morning, we’ll look at the attack ...
Jesus Gets Baptized | Matthew 3:13-17
This morning we’re going to see John the Baptist being surprised. His cousin Jesus, the Messiah Himself, shows up to get baptized. John isn’t sure what to do. Jesus doesn’t have any sins to confess. Why does He need to g...
Getting Ready for the King | Matthew 3:1-12
Have you ever had someone stop by your house unexpectedly? If you have, maybe you thought to yourself, “I wish I had known. I would have put everything away. I would have cleaned up the house. I would have vacuumed and dusted!” This morning, we...
How Can a Loving God Send Someone to Hell? | Defending Your Faith
Pastor Arek O’Connell addresses the question, “Why would a loving God send someone to hell?” by breaking it into three parts—hell, a loving God, and “sending” someone—and stressing that people usually ask it from a place of pain. He explains bi...
