Willow Creek Weekend Podcast

I Kings 19:3, “Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree.” Vs. 15, “Go back the same way you came and travel to the wilderness. When you arrive there, anoint Heazael to be king of Aram.” We think that there is no way out of the situation so we run from reality. We try to get as far away from reality as possible. Elijah’s reality is so distorted at this point. emphasize in this message how God meets his physical needs and then actually tells him to go back the way he came. The way back is the way out. There is a way, but it’s not easy, and a lot of the time it’s hard work. Part of the lie that is connected to this is that it will always be this way. I can’t change. My situation will not get better. I will always be depressed. I will always be sad. I will always have anxiety.

In a world experiencing crisis and rapid change, everyone is navigating new waters. Here at Willow, we are welcoming our new Senior Pastor, Dave Dummitt, and everyone is asking, "So, what's next?" This week Dave opens up in Matthew 3 and 4 to take a look at how Jesus began his public ministry and how that ought to shape the way we navigate through significant change.

It’s easy for any of us to forget what’s brought us through hard times and what will carry us into brighter ones. In Deuteronomy 8, as God’s people prepared to step into the Promised Land, Moses reminded them to look to who God had been. The one who freed them, defended them, fed them, mended them, and led them, is the one who would continue to be with them. Will we remember that our God is faithful in the wilderness and beyond?

Social distancing has quickly entered the common vernacular. But how quickly does social distancing devolve into social isolation? Some of us are further than we’ve ever been, and others of us are closer than ever. But are any of us together? How can we can lean on and learn from one another, each helping the other to stand strong?

We all left normal behind months ago, and as we look toward finding a new normal—one full of new challenges and real hope—we can feel weary with the weight of all that we’ve endured. Even when we know the power of the resurrection.... Even when we know the truth… it can be a hardship to live in the in-between, that place between where we were and where we will be. As we look at John 21, we’ll ask: How do we find what it takes to persevere?

We often wonder where strength comes from in times like these, and it can be easy to turn toward external options. But the strongest among us—and especially some of the moms we know—seem to possess a deep-down kind of strength. God longs to strengthen us in our “inner being,” gracing us with an unshakeable faith. But what is faith, exactly? Is it a wish? A belief? This Mother’s day, let’s explore a deeper understanding of what it means to have faith..

Most of the things in which we trusted are crumbling at the foundations. Perhaps the cracks had already begun to show, but this crisis has fully (and quickly) revealed just how fragile they were all along. Is there something greater in which we can trust? As the headlines shout facts that threaten to overwhelm us, is there a Truth that can stand even stronger?

When it feels like the whole world is changing, God suggests that one of the ways in which we might cope is by making some changes of our own. God invites us to have our minds changed, renewed, and transformed, reshaping our worry and anxiety into worship and gratitude. 

April 18 & 19  | Ray Johnston Throughout the pages of the Bible, calamities strike, desperation is on display, and empires rise and fall. But God has not changed, an unshakeable presence even when all of history has been in tumult. Even in troubled times we can let God love us, change us, and use us.