Woodland Hills Church

In this opening sermon of the Cage-Free series, Greg gives us an overview of the basis of the Spiritual Warfare worldview. This view is central to our picture of a Jesus-looking God who does not himself cause evil or suffering.

This week we heard from a guest speaker, Jeremy Jernigan, teach on the topic of his new book, Redeeming Pleasure. The topic of pleasure within the church has often been shied away from because of an assumption that pleasure is connected with guilt and shame. Jeremy emphasized the need to seek pleasure on God’s terms where we will experience maximum pleasure rather than seeking pleasure on our own terms which ultimately leads to less pleasure.

Our modern lives tend to get so busy that our everyday realities can keep us from seeing and experiencing that God loves us and is always with us. Emmanuel means “God with us”, and while it may sound a bit surreal, the Christmas story is as true today as it was on that first Christmas – God IS here with us!

This was the message from our Christmas Eve service in 2015.

Waiting is really difficult, no matter who you are or what you’re waiting for. We see examples over and over in scripture of characters who waited well and others who struggled and tried to take things in to their own hands. In this message Seth explores what it means to wait in hopeful anticipation for Jesus’ coming this Christmas season.

Christ offers complete peace and security, but only when our eyes are fixed on him alone as our King.

For children, Christmas is a time filled with wonder and awe. But as we grow, we tend to lose our sense of wonder and awe not only about Christmas, but about our world, our lives, and everything else! We all innately long to return “home” – home to a place where love overwhelms us and all things are new and glorious – and we long for someone who will take us there. But could that ever really happen? Praise God, for as wondrous and awe-inspiring as it sounds, that’s exactly what Jesus did for us on that first Christmas!

This week we begin our Christmas series, The Night that Changed the World. This first week focuses on the peace that comes through Christ. Greg delves into the distractions that can get in the way of experiencing this peace of Christ. This peace of Christ requires an intentional inventory of the degree to which Christ has full reign over both our outer and inner lives. In this sermon we look into some crucial questions and practices to submit all of our lives to the reign of Christ to experience true peace that can only come through the Prince of Peace.

In this sixth and last installment of the Formed series, Seth explores more in depth how ideas and identities we take upon our self that are not from God keep us from growing mature in the faith. God has provided the type of soil fertile for growth and He sees the potential in us as seeds. At the center of our calling is to mimic the type of soil Jesus has been to us by our love toward others. We are to be the type of soil where others will experience the Father’s love.

So why DO bad things happen to good people?! What IS God’s plan for overcoming evil, and why does it so often seem like evil is still winning?! Yes, God does have the power to take anything that Satan intends for evil and to work it to bring about good, but this is not work that God intends to do alone. He “comes alongside” us to “work all things for good”, but this is a process that requires OUR cooperation!