this year's worship journey

Rally Sunday

Rally Sunday is the worship service where we kickoff the church’s program year. It serves as a homecoming of sorts: we welcome back those who have been away for the summer, celebrate how good it is to be together in community, and recommit ourselves to the work of gospel love in the months to come. While the pandemic will prevent us from holding Rally Sunday in person, we still plan to kick the day off in style.

I Love Jesus, But Hate…

Gandhi famously quipped, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Gandhi stands in good company: the world is full of people who like Jesus very much but can’t stand the people who follow him – and for good reason! This four-week series uses the letters Paul wrote to his friend Timothy to examine places where Jesus’ followers sometimes miss the mark.

Parables: Jesus the Storyteller

This five-week series deals with six of the parables of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew. Through understanding the context and audience, we can see that parables teach us about compassion, faithfulness, responsibility, the generosity of God, and the importance of living kingdom lives for God.

Sounds of the Season

This four-week series provides an opportunity to appreciate the theological expressions of hope, lament, joy, and devotion in Christmas music. Christmas is a time to sing what we believe. Each week features a passage of Scripture, as well as a well-known Christmas carol that illustrates the true message of the season.

New Year / New You

This New Year’s message focuses on forgetting the former things and singing a new song to the Lord—and on staying in tune all year long!

Luke: A Movement of Love

Throughout the book of Luke, Jesus is constantly reaching out to people pushed aside by the society of that time. Women, a thief, gentiles, fishermen, and “sinners”—they’re all here, they’re all seen, they’re all loved. Each week, we’ll explore how we can continue to be part of this movement of love that Jesus started 2,000 years ago.

Easter Sunday

Jesus rose with all authority and gave the disciples assurance that the very same power that raised him from the dead is available to all who believe and set out to fulfill his purpose.

Guest Speaker

Seminarian and Hillside member Matt Morrissette will be preaching

Hot Seat: Conversations on Controversies

‘Hot Seat’ is a four-week sermon series dissecting tough issues that are often challenging to talk about in church. Each week looks at a different passage from the Psalms, and investigate not only the biblical stance on each topic, but also how we can approach God concerning these often-divisive issues.

Hidden Figures

This six-week series explores the stories of six women in Jesus’s genealogy and life, revealing the various ways they have been misunderstood or marginalized. Through these stories, we witness the way the biblical narrative was uniquely communicated through their lives and are reminded to listen and learn from other perspectives. Where the culture may have silenced or rejected these women, their inclusion in Jesus’s genealogy or his elevation of them during his life give us a guide for using our influence and power to build up the marginalized in our own story.

The King: The Rise and Fall of Solomon

Not every example set for us in scripture is a good one! This four-week series covers the life of Solomon, including his rise to kingship over Israel and his horrible demise. Solomon’s story has much to teach us about how even the best and brightest can stray from the path of love.

Spiritual Habits

This four-week series guide explores four spiritual disciplines: Bible reading, prayer, fasting, and Christ-centered community.

Summer Stories

Even if we don’t remember it, most of us recognize that we saw the world and people differently when we were young. We learned lessons that we would be wise to remember today. This four-week series looks at lessons we learned when we were young and sees how they were related to the teachings of Jesus.