Woodland Hills Church

In this fifth installment of our Take Heart series, we explore what it means to be encouraged in one solid truth: that God's love for us is unceasing and he is present with us in the midst of incredible brokenness. Discouragement can come when we have a broken picture of God, but we can be encouraged that God always looks like Jesus and Christ crucified. But first, we need to understand the difference between believing something and experiencing something.

In this fourth installment in our Take Heart series we explore what it means to be encouraged in our ability to build skills and competence in the areas God has entrusted to us. Discouragement can come externally from factors outside of our control that can be overwhelming, but it can also come from feelings and patterns of passiveness within that keep us from enacting what God has trusted us to do. 

Today with David, we looked at God's desire for encouragement and what kind of posture we should have in encouragement. He looks closely at the nostalgia of the Israelites when the temple was rebuilt and how it keeps us from seeing the ways God wanted to encourage them in the present rebuilding.

In this sermon with Greg, we get deep into talking about facing fears and problems, but not succumbing to them. Often times when we or ones we love go through hard times, along come four different crowds of people offering various "you'll get through it" type remarks. Though when life falls apart and everything comes undone, whether it be you or someone you know, sometimes all you can do is "Embrace the Suck" and just be present. The time may come where you can sort things out, mend, or find some sort of contentment, but sometimes you just need to be there, in the moment.

Today Sandra shared with us a real-life example of her brother's story, and what to do, and what not to do, when confronted by someone else's discouragement. 

Why did Jesus have to die? Why does the resurrection matter? What, if anything, actually hinges on believing Jesus was crucified and literally rose from the dead three days later? In this Easter message we explore these questions and other implications in believing and living out a resurrection centered faith.

In this Good Friday service, we open with and discuss Hebrews 12, the sacrifice Jesus made for us, and what that all means. Greg explains how we should live our lives by not hiding our sins from Jesus - but we must give them over to him, and keep our eyes set upon him in order to experience the depth of love and intimacy he has for us.

In this weekend's Palm Sunday service, Greg felt led to continue and expand on his message of loving people and losing labels. The brain needs repetition to really get something, and this message is so foundational to the kingdom, that it is worth continuing.

In this weekend's sermon, Greg closes our Crux of the Matter series by discussing the importance of zooming in on the hearts of people as we zoom out on our need to be right.

In the fourth installment of our Crux of the Matter series, where we're looking at how to have difficult conversations with those we disagree with, Osheta furthers the discussion by inviting us to think about our everyday conversations as opportunities for peacemaking as Ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.