Woodland Hills Church

Our guest speaker could only speak on Sunday, so Greg used the Saturday night service to host a Q&A centered around the recently debated concept that God might be behind the natural disasters in the world...as well as other questions from the congregation.

Kevin Johnson shared some experiences he’s had with “strategies” for personal transformation. None of these strategies by themselves are good enough if we don’t have a basic openness to God’s leading.

At one point in Jesus’ ministry, priests and teachers of the law questioned Jesus about his authority. They asked him by whose authority he taught the gospel and did the miracles. Rather than answering their question, Jesus returned a question.

It might surprise you to know that Jesus got angry enough to turn over tables! There are times when it is appropriate to boldly confront others in our community.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem he wept as he foretold its destruction. This is important because we gain an profound awareness of how it pains God when we resist him.

Jesus and his followers had very different ideas about what would happen when Jesus finally got to Jerusalem. These differences were so serious that everyone abandoned Jesus when his path took him to the cross. It may be tempting to judge Jesus’ followers as short-sighted hypocrites, but Greg challenges us with the question of whether we really would do differently under similar circumstances.

God has given us the Holy Spirit as a “deposit” and guarantee of things to come. But we are expected to wisely invest this “deposit” in the world today.

Repentance and salvation are understood best in the story of someone’s life. Zacchaeus is a great example of radical repentance and a clear pronouncement of salvation by Jesus.

The disciples sometimes got in the way of people who were coming to Jesus. When this happened, Jesus had to correct the situation and go directly to the people seeking him. This happens today too when Christians and their agendas get in the way of people who simply need to be pointed to Jesus.

None of us like pain. In fact, much in our world today helps us to avoid it. Scripture promises that as we follow Christ we will suffer and endure pain but that it is not without a purpose. As we persevere, we experience growth and joy and become more like Christ.