Willow Creek Weekend Podcast

The biblical Christmas story is one of peace and hope, but only if you see Jesus for who He really is.  When Jesus, the King of Kings,  was born, King Herod felt intimidated and tried to eliminate the threat to his kingdom. What’s your response to Jesus? You can ignore Him, feel threatened by Him, or choose to follow and experience the wholeness He has to offer. This Christmas, experience a relationship with the King of Kings, the one born to save the world!

If you ever felt like you didn’t fit into church or God wasn’t for you, you aren’t alone. The shepherds in the Bible were the first to hear the news of the birth of Jesus. The “lowly” shepherds, as they’re sometimes referred to, were not important, high-powered people. Had Jesus been born in a castle or fortress, He would only be accessible to a select few. Instead, He was born in a stable, so even the outcast and powerless could approach Him. What would change if you saw that Jesus truly was available to us all? Pastors Megan Marshman and Shawn Williams take us through Luke 2 and the Christmas story of the Shepherds in the Bible.

In week 2 of our Christmas series, we look at how we can focus on the goodness of God in the busyness of the season or the chaos of our lives.  Jesus’ birth came at a most inconvenient time—or so Mary thought. Right before the birth of Jesus, His parents, Mary and Joseph, had to journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and by the time they arrived, there was no place for them to stay. Instead, a perfect God made His appearance in an imperfect setting. How can we keep our focus on God when we face detours and distractions? Pastor Shawn uses Luke 2 to help demonstrate how and why keeping God at the center of our lives is so important, especially during busy seasons.

 Christmas is an exciting time of year, filled with food, lights, traditions, connection, and gifts. But in the midst of the holiday season, we can forget that Jesus is God’s gift to us, and He offers us many gifts, too: peace, strength, companionship and direction. It’s easy to become fixated on the gifts, forgetting about the Giver.  What happens when we desire Jesus’ gifts more than Jesus Himself? Pastor Dave explores this question by looking at the historical setting of Jesus’ birth as we begin our Christmas series, What If It’s True.

Here comes the fruit of the spirit some of us really don’t want to talk about: ‘self-control’.  Why is self-control sometimes so hard? And what benefits can we draw from this fruit of the spirit to help our own lives and those of others? The Holy Spirit can help empower us to be masters over our own desires and destructive impulsivity. Pastor Dave concludes our series on the fruit of the spirit!

The Holy Spirit, using the fruit of the spirit called ‘faithfulness’  equips and empowers us to become trustworthy users of our thoughts, time, energy, and resources. By being faithful, we can most effectively use all of those things at our disposal to reflect the love of God in our embattled world.

Gentleness is a fruit of the spirit that we think we get, right? But how exactly can our being gentle, or using gentleness, bring us closer to living our lives like Jesus? And doesn’t that just make us weak? Through the Holy Spirit, we’re empowered to live lives of humility, using our power, strength, and influence to benefit others. Does that sound like gentleness? Pastor Dave explains.

Which fruit of the spirit is probably the hardest to understand or define? Could it be ‘goodness’? We know what it means to be a good kid, or a generally good person, but ‘goodness’ feels a little more intangible. And it’s not just about doing a good deed, or being good natured. As Pastor Shawn explains this week, the Holy Spirit empowers us to live lives of goodness by living lives of integrity.

Let’s look at the fruit of the spirit known as kindness. Why is kindness important as a fruit of the spirit? Because the kindness of God is an incredibly powerful force against injustice and cruelty. And when our world feels so full of injustice, we can work to restore the brokenness with our kindness.

As we continue to explore the fruit of the spirit, in this week’s teaching we learn about peace.  There are plenty of Bible verses about peace, but it's not just about having our own peace of mind; it’s about enjoying the peace of God that allows us to live fully at peace in a broken world.