Hope Hell's Kitchen

This podcast features Pastor Ronalda's sermon on Acts 20:17-38. She pushes us to understand that our lives are worth something for others. We don't live for ourselves, but we live for others, and that is how God forms us. "Building a house is a long, slow process," she says. "Until Jesus comes, we're going to be continually under construction." But we shouldn't be dismayed, because the Holy Spirit is with us every step of the way.

This podcast features Pastor Chuck's sermon on Acts 20:1-16. Chuck focused us on verses 7-12 and encouraged us to look at this passage not just as a glimpse of a first-century worship gathering, but also as a warning for what happens when we place our witness above the safety of those around us. You might be Paul in need of this word, and you might be Eutychus in need of reminding that the saving power of God never leaves; whatever God's placed on you, there is hope in the reality that the Holy Spirit is always at work.

This podcast features Pastor Ronalda's sermon on Acts 19:21-41. Ronalda led us through this passage by pointing us toward God's shepherding work happening behind-the-scenes. She asks, "Where is God in all of this," and she shows us. God is a good shepherd. He is always aware. He is always active. We see that in these verses, and we see that in our lives today.

This podcast features Pastor Kim Wright's sermon on Acts 19:1-20. Pastor Kim serves as the senior pastor of Church of the Resurrection and she is a beloved friend and sister of Hope Hell's Kitchen. In this message, she pointed us toward the present work of the Holy Spirit, both in this passage and in our lives today. "Jesus didn't die to just give us salvation," she said, "but He came to give us life." We not only look ahead with expectant hope for when Christ will return, but we must ask the question, "What about right now?" How does the promised return of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit change how we live at this very moment?

This podcast features Pastor Ronalda's message on Acts 18:12-28. "The Holy Spirit is working in each of us," she proclaims, and she then shows us how the Spirit moves in these verses, and why something different happens.

This podcast features Pastor Chuck's sermon on Acts 18:1-11 as well as his preparation for communion. As we continue to have front row seats for Paul's growth on his missionary journey, in this passage we see what happens when frustration, anger, sorrow, and a general feeling of being overwhelmed culminate in his ministry. And in this experience, we center ourselves around the words and guidance of Willie James Jennings: "Love will sometimes threaten to abandon...but it never does. Paul is caught in the threat of an action that God will not follow. God does not follow abandonment, because God has brought abandonment into the divine life. The abandoned now have a home in God if they want it."

This podcast features Pastor Chuck's message on Acts 17:16-34, as well as his preparation for the Lord's Table. In this sermon, we rest on Paul's speech at the Areopagus, and what it meant for someone like Paul to enter into the stories of the Athenians. Chuck used Willie James Jennings question—“What do you say to those radically outside yourself, radically different from you? What do you say to those whose religions and rituals you have been trained to loathe?”—to encourage us to consider what it might look like for us to enter into the stories of those around us, too. 

This podcast features Pastor Ronalda's message on Acts 17:1-15, as well as Pastor Chuck's preparation for the Lord's Table. In her sermon, Ronalda exhorts our church to truly embrace what it means to be a witness of the Kingdom of God. We hear Jesus tell his disciples that they will witness to the ends of the earth in Acts 1, and throughout our journey in this book, we've seen his disciples do just that. It's not always easy, and it almost always results in conflict and hardship, but they never cease witnessing. What can we learn from their example for our lives today? Ronalda shares her heart with us on this very question.

This podcast features Pastor Chuck's message on Acts 16:25-40, as well as Pastor Ronalda's preparation for the Lord's Supper. You might not be able to tell from the audio, but this is also Hope Hell's Kitchen's first-ever in-person worship service! 

In this message, we see how the Holy Spirit responded to the imprisonment of Paul and Silas, and how Paul and Silas responded to the movement of the Spirit. We are surrounded by the pain and suffering of the prison, and we see privilege leveraged for the sake of justice.

This podcast features Pastor Chuck's message on Acts 16:19-24, as well as Pastor Ronalda's preparation for the Lord's Supper. In this message, Chuck encourages us to pause and reflect on this passage and consider what it means for God's people to face persecution, even as the Holy Spirit guides them. We look at this passage through the eyes of the disciples who are thrown into prison as well as through the eyes of the oppressors whose power is threatened.