It's all about love

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WHY HILLSIDE?
WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IN WORSHIP

Belove(d): The Book of 1 John

We progressive Christians are good at asking how God wants us to live. We’re less practiced at living with God, treating faith as a shared life rather than values we admire from a distance. First John has a word for that shared life: koinonia, fellowship, the kind of relationship where you work things out together. Over three Sundays we’ll walk this short, fierce letter and its claims: that you are loved before you are useful, that honesty makes real relationship possible, and that such love casts out fear. The title has a verb hiding in it. You are beloved, so be love.

WATCH OUR LATEST MESSAGE

Rev. Tom Hathaway - November 23, 2025

Herod, Mary, and the Cost of Courage

When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, it wasn’t a fairy tale moment. It was a summons issued into a world ruled by a tyrant who executed wives, sons, and anyone who threatened his throne. This sermon explores what it meant for a teenage girl to say yes to bearing a king in a landscape shaped by violence, fear, and the easy cruelty of the powerful. And from Mary’s brave yes, we look at our own world — where harm still comes cheaply for those who hold the levers — and we consider what it means to say yes to the dangerous, costly work of love. Mary’s story becomes our invitation to courage.

Scripture References: Luke 1:26-38

 

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Back of the Bulletin Articles

October 18, 2026

Beliefs vs. Actions

October 16, 2026

Who Actually Wrote First John?

October 4, 2026

Unconditional, Not Uncritical

September 27, 2026

When You Hit Rock Bottom

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