Hillside Foursquare Church

The Story Of Us - The Hillside Values Series - ON A MISSION FROM GOD

Our text for today is John 20 - & we're exploring what it means at Hillside to be on a mission from God...

The Story Of Us - The Hillside Values Series - CREATIVITY

“What would Jesus be doing if He were walking in my shoes, in my neighborhood, in the place I live, work, & recreate?” That’s a question every Christ-follower is faced with, every day. Because when it comes down to it, living life as a Christian is all about finding ways to practically & actively love God, & love people in the same way He does.

This doesn’t equate to following a divine “to do” list – rather, it’s about being intentional & creative in living our lives… & recognizing that our ways & means of “living like Christ would” paints a portion of a picture, a conglomerate masterpiece made up of many, many contributors that reflects the Awesomeness & Greatness of our God… as well as the many facets of His character & personality that are reflected in & through US – His handiwork.

We can wrestle through trying to figure out WHAT God wants for us to do… looking for specific actions & behaviors, when in reality He is wanting us to commit our ways to Him, & then find a way that makes sense to us to answer the question: “What would Jesus be doing if He were walking in my shoes, in my neighborhood, in the place I live, work, & recreate?” For each of us, it will be different. A reflection of God’s character. And a picture of His creative nature, evidenced in & through our lives.

The Story Of Us - The Hillside Values Series - THE NEXT GENERATION

In Mark 10:13-16, we see Jesus hanging out with His disciples… Many parents took the opportunity to bring their children to Him so He would bless them & hold them. His well meaning disciples saw what was happening & decided that they needed to stop the parents from approaching Jesus with their kids because Jesus was OBVIOUSLY busy & OBVIOUSLY had more important things to do than spend His time interacting with children.
 
Except that isn’t how Jesus saw it – He got indignant & rebuked His disciples - Jesus told them to knock it off, saying, “Let the children come to Me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And then Jesus took the children in His arms, & blessed them, laying His hands upon them. To the disciples, the kids were a nuisance, a hindrance to important things & people that Jesus could be doing & seeing. To Christ, kids were invaluable, & modeled how God would have us receive & come to Him.
 
Throughout the Bible, God’s people are instructed to intentionally take time to pass on to the next generation the goodness of God, the fulfillment of His promises, the understanding of His ways, & the love for Him & His words. (See Deuteronomy 4:1-10,  Psalm 71:17-21 &  Proverbs 22:6 for a few examples.)  On top of this, current research shows that about 75% of people who come to know Christ do so before their 18^th birthdays.
 
At Hillside, one of our core values is prioritizing our “next generation” - the babies, kids, youth, & young adults – &, accordingly, we want to intentionally, creatively, & strategically give of our time, resources, & energy to help our next generation become fully devoted followers of Christ.

The Story Of Us - The Hillside Values Series - FINDING YOUR TRIBE

Today's message, "Finding Your Tribe" is presented by Willie Williams.

Tell Your Story #4 - Easter 2014

NOTE: As a part of the Easter Sunday message, Tim Meredith shares his story. Our text for this morning is John 18 & 20.

Tell Your Story #3 - Easter 2014

NOTE: There are two stories told as a part of the message today.
Chemane Trimble - runs from minute 24 to 36 of this podcast
Debi Johnson - runs from minute 36 to 41.

Jesus uses a powerful word picture to describe what happens when a person embraces the Good News & puts their trust in Christ is found in John 5:24
 
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word & believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life…
 
From death… to life. One of the best examples of this found in Scripture is in the story of Jesus’ dear friend, Lazarus. Lazarus was ill - & not getting better. The writing was on the wall, & his sisters, Mary & Martha, sent word to Christ from their home in Bethany that He needed to come quickly or Lazarus would die. His disciples heard it, the people around Him heard it, & yet… Jesus decided to wait a couple of days before heading off. It wasn’t too long after this that the tragic news came: Lazarus had died. And yet Jesus said it was going to be alright. No one knew how this could be the case.
 
Jesus & His disciples headed off to Bethany, arriving there a full 4 days after Lazarus had died & been entombed. Martha, in her grief, indignantly told Jesus, “If You’d been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” Jesus declared:

“I am the resurrection & the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, & everyone who lives & believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord.”
 
At this point, Jesus told those gathered to remove the stone that sealed Lazarus’ tomb… there was great protestations: “He’s been in there 4 days – the body will have started decomposing… & it will stink.” Jesus’ reply, “If you believe, you WILL see the glory of God.”  Then, Jesus called his friend, saying, “Lazarus, come out!” And he did. All wrapped in burial cloths – having passed from death to life. And there was great rejoicing. And many, many people came to put their trust in Christ after the telling of the story of Christ’s great miracle. (Check out the Gospel of John 11 for the whole story.)
 
Now, we might never have physically died & then been brought back to life – but, by putting our trust in Christ & following Him, that is EXACTLY what is happening. And when we tell our stories, Jesus gets all the glory, & people have an opportunity to decide just what they’re going to do in response.
 

Tell Your Story #1 - Easter 2014

Today we're beginning our Easter 2014 series, "Tell Your Story" - Our texts for today are Acts 1 & Revelation 12.

Also, as a part of this series, several Hillside-ers will be telling their stories: these are accounts of where Christ met, saved, transformed, & healed them. Today, we'll hear Shawn & Marie Lear dedicate their son Max to the Lord... as well as the story of God's healing & redemption in their lives. The end of today's podcast has a live performance of Shawn's original song, "Giver of Dreams."