Hillside Community Church Podcast Ron Kool, Arek O'Connell

In his last recorded speech in the Bible, Paul stands and gives a defense before King Agrippa in preparation for his arrival to Rome and ultimately Caesar. Paul makes a lengthy speech in his defense, and what is significant to notice about his speech is that Paul can’t talk about himself without talking about Jesus at the same time. For Paul, every day was an an opportunity to testify about Christ in word and deed, do we believe the same? - Pastor Arek O'ConnellSupport the Show.

Sometimes we’re in situations where we’re not sure what we ought to do. Does God want us to stay where we are and wait for Him to do something? Or does God want us to take matters into our own hands and do something ourselves? This morning we’ll look at a situation in which Paul has to figure out whether he waits or whether he takes matters into his own hands. - Pastor Ron KoolSupport the Show.

Paul’s missionary journeys have placed him in stressful situations repeatedly. Wherever Paul seemed to tell people about Jesus, trouble followed. Living with a clear conscience when things are good is hard enough. How do we live with a clear conscience before God and man under pressure? We see in the example of Paul before Felix we can live with a clear conscience in any situation when we seek the Lord with honesty, humility, and patience, living for an audience of one: Jesus. - Pastor Arek O...

As we’ve gone through the books of Acts, we’ve seen God do a number of miracles—healings and earthquakes and blindness and bright lights. This morning we’re going to look at a passage in which God doesn’t do any of these kinds of miracles. He’s behind the scenes, working through “natural” means and circumstances. We’ll think about how God might be at work behind the scenes in our own lives. - Pastor Ron KoolSupport the Show.

We live in a politically charged environment. Some of us have experienced broken relationships over political divisions. In an election year, things might well get worse. How do we live in this? How do we handle politically charged environments? This morning we’ll take a look at Paul in a politically charged environment and see what we can learn about how to handle it. - Pastor Ron KoolSupport the Show.

One of the opportunities we sometimes have is the opportunity to tell others about Jesus. It can be an exciting thing to do, but it can also be scary. This morning we’re going to take a look at one of the most effective ways we can share our faith—we’ll see how Paul simply tells the story of when he met Jesus. As we look at Paul, we’ll all be challenged to think about our story and how we might share it. - Pastor Ron KoolSupport the Show.