Woodland Hills Church

God’s desire for us is that we become all that God created us to be. Life is the process in which we can resist or yield to God’s desire for us. When we yield we sense God’s burning love as warm and liberating. When we resist we experience God’s burning love as pain and wrath.

God’s love is victorious! But perhaps not in the way that you’d expect. We often associate victory with our ability to control or defeat others but God’s victory encourages our freedom rather than squelches it. (We love discovering art that connects us to God in unique ways. Thank you to Dale Johnson for incorporating his art into this weekend's sermon.)

The love of God expressed in Christ on the cross shows the radical lengths God is willing to go to restore us. This healing of our relationship with God takes the form of a covenant, not a contract.

The love of God expressed in Christ on the cross was “foolishness to the Gentiles” and “a stumbling block to the Jews”. God’s love is scandalous to us all in different ways.

It is impossible to fully grasp God's love because it is infinite! The best we can do is humbly recognize our limitations in this way and give ourselves over to the overwhelming love that God extends to us.

In the story of the Prodigal Son, the son leaves home and experiences intensely that something is missing. Eventually he comes to his senses and goes home to his father. Greg connected this desire that the son felt to the German word sehnsucht which is a powerful form of longing that we all feel at times in our lives.

For our Good Friday service, Greg looked at the life and death of Jesus using three different Marys. Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene.

In the final week of our “Kingdom Economics” series, Greg answers four questions that were submitted by the congregation and podrishioners. 1) Why doesn’t WHC teach tithing? 2) I’m broke! Didn’t God promise me I’d reap what I’ve sown? 3) If misfortune isn’t a “curse” from God, why think good fortune is a “blessing” from God? 4) Is America “blessed”?

During the series, many people have sent in questions about their personal finances. Today we heard from a panel of people from Woodland Hills who responded to those questions with Kingdom of God principles.

In week two of our “Kingdom Economics” series, Greg answers three questions that were submitted by the congregation and podrishioners. 1) Does having a savings account show a lack of faith in God? 2) Does saving for retirement show a lack of trust in God? 3) Is declaring bankruptcy a sin?