Willow Creek Weekend Podcast

 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.

Megan Marshman, a passionate pastor, shares deep insights into joy as a vital fruit of the spirit. She emphasizes joy as not just a fleeting emotion but a source of strength against life's challenges. Through personal stories, she highlights how cultivating a heartfelt connection with God can foster lasting joy. Megan also explores the cycles of spiritual growth, illustrating the importance of resilience during seasons of desolation. Discover practical ways to nurture this joy through prayer and gratitude, enriching your journey of faith.

Week 2 of our series and this week, Pastor Dave explores the fruit of the spirit “patience”. Patience, or forbearance as it’s sometimes referred to in the Bible, is something we could all do with in our daily, incredibly busy lives. When impatience threatens to destabilize our mental and emotional health, the Holy Spirit can help guide us in healthy ways to respond, through the fruit of the spirit; using patience.

In this series about the 9 fruits of the spirit in the Bible, we will be exploring what it means to live like Jesus, with the Holy Spirit as our guide.  We’ve been given 9 traits of Jesus that, when applied to our lives through the Holy Spirit, can help us live more like Him. Why? Because that’s what we’re called to do. The 9 “fruits of the spirit” reflect all the qualities we need to be more like Jesus in this world.  We start with the fruit of the spirit ‘love’, and Pastor Shawn kicks us off with a teaching about God’s love and how we can reflect that onto others.