Willow Creek Community Church Weekend Podcast

It’s the first of our three-week Summer Book Club series, and we start off with author, preacher and Director of Theology and Research for Proverbs 31, Joel Muddamalle! We’re excited that Joel is with us to teach from his new book, The Hidden Peace: Finding True Security, Strength, and Confidence through Humility. We hear how Biblical humility can help you overcome insecurities and grow in self-awareness to step into all the wonderful things God has for you!

Oh boy. Here we go. It’s the book of Revelation (strap in for a wild ride)! A dragon, a white horse, a beast or two, trumpets, a woman clothed in the sun—what is going on? Read the book of Revelation and without any context or understanding, it may seem like it was torn from an epic science fiction novel. Typically this leads to two approaches: 1) those who think of it as a blueprint for the future, (yikes!) or 2) those who simply won’t read it because it seems like too much to try to understand (relatable). However, with context and an acceptance that the book of Revelation’s entirety cannot be fully explained, we can begin to see just how hopeful, necessary, and thrilling this book actually is! Pastor Megan Marshman takes us through it!

Have you ever overheard a conversation only to realize it was about something completely different? Context is key—in life and in reading the New Testament Letters! There are a lot of apparent contradictions throughout the Letters, some people point to this as a reason to disprove the Bible. But understanding the context and realizing the purpose of each letter, for the people it was written for at that moment in time helps clue us into the differences.

 What are the Gospels? They are books of the Bible that provide historical narratives documenting the life and work of Jesus and the creation of the early church. It is in Matthew, Mark, Luke,  John, and Acts that we see God come to earth as a human, in Jesus. They also show how, as Christians, we are to live and love others as one of God’s children.  Last week we learned about the prophecy books of the Bible. This week we see how Jesus came to fulfill those prophecies!

The prophets in the Bible did some pretty strange things to grab the attention of God’s people and bring them back to Him. Understanding the prophetic books can be tricky if you don’t know the historical setting, so let’s use them as a framework for cultivating a relationship with Jesus, not simply religious adherence. 

The Bible lays out fantastic principles for living, but even following them all doesn’t promise a life free from pain. We’ll explore the Wisdom literature to discover how we can seek wisdom, follow it, and find principles for life anchored in Christ.

Did you ever do something you knew you weren’t supposed to? Like, rebel against your boss, your parents, God? How did your boss or your parents respond? Probably not great. This week Pastor Megan Marshman covers the History books of the Bible: and, more closely, the book of Ruth. Ruth’s story in the Bible is set during a very dark moment in the history of Israel, where God’s people were rebelling against Him, doing what they thought was right by them. But what Ruth’s story shows us is that God’s plan will prevail. Humans can’t derail the progress of God’s grand design; as much as we might try! If you’re looking for biblical hope, the book of Ruth offers just that.

So, the Bible is a little long…and overwhelming. And hard to understand a lot of the time. Ever thought: TL;DR? Same. Same. So we’re starting a brand new series on the ENTIRE BIBLE. Yep, everything in seven weeks. If you’ve ever wondered “how to start reading the Bible” or what a good Bible study plan is, this is the series for you. Sound boring? Nah! This will be all you need to show how the Bible points us towards Jesus, even in the Old Testament. And discover how life-changing actually reading the Bible can be for you. We kick it off by looking at The Law books of the Bible. The first five books of the Bible, also known as the Torah or Pentateuch, can be read like a bunch of rules, but the Law books are so much more than that. They reveal the heart of God and His radical love for people.

What are “strongholds”? Strongholds are more than sins; they’re the patterns, addictions, behaviors, or traits that you might not even realize are holding you back from being the person God created you to be. The good news? The grace of God is available to all of us, and He will help you break free from the strongholds–the sins–that keep you from leaning into the full life He intended for you. We explore John 10:10 to discover where we’re stuck and practical ways to break free from what holds you back from life at its fullest.

If you’re the type of Christian who attends church a couple of Sundays each month and maybe reads a Bible plan on your phone app every so often, you’re not living up to your full potential. Just attending church is not enough to fully live out God’s plan. Our true purpose in life is living as the church every day. Wherever you are, that’s where God has placed you and He means for you to make a difference in the community right outside your door. How do you make a difference in your everyday life? We pray, we listen to and serve others, we get into Christian community and partner with God to love people–everyone–around us. Pastor Dave Dummitt finishes up the series in Ephesians 5:1-20, urging us to be the light of the world today.

Where does your loyalty lie? Your sports team? Your family? Your political party? What about with Jesus? Does Jesus sit at the top of your loyalty list? If not, we can become diverted from God by other things. As much as we might feel passionate about a cause we believe in, or fiercely loyal to our “people”; Jesus should always be the one you're most passionate about. And our loyalty to Jesus gets tested every day. The world puts pressure on Christians to live outside of the moral boundaries God gave us. But when God transformed your heart, you were made into a new person; loyal to Jesus and committed to following Him. And in that commitment, you heart should be expanding. Because your relationship with Jesus should be destroying any hatred or animosity for others. In this moment, what is your heart doing? Pastor Thomas Anderson, Jr. takes us into Ephesians 2 to demonstrate where our priorities and loyalty should really lie.

It’s easy for Christians to focus solely on answering the question; “how do I get into Heaven''? and getting others into Heaven with them. But when we break the real message of the Bible down to just that, we’re missing a huge part of it: God’s purpose for your life. God’s not only concerned about you getting into Heaven, He wants you to express Heaven while you’re here on earth. On earth as it is in Heaven, right? The bigger story of the Bible lifts up every human being as a valued member of the community in which they reside on earth–and it’s our calling as Christians to partner with Jesus in bringing love to our neighbors. This week, Pastor Megan Marshman shows us how Paul in the Bible reminded the church in his letter (Ephesians 1:3-14) of this truth: that God put us here on earth to change the world, and be a part of bridging Heaven and earth.

When you become a Christian you have to follow a bunch of boring rules, right? Well… sort of! It’s not so much rules as it is moral boundaries that God sets. These boundaries allow us the freedom to live fully in the beautiful life He has planned for us. Some people believe they’re being a “good Christian” by following the “Christian rules”. Perhaps they don’t smoke, or they don’t drink. They don’t swear or sleep around. They tick off the rule boxes like that’s the most important thing. But they’re missing the essential part: their heart. Many people have experienced church hurt because they have not lived up to an arbitrary set of religious rules and been painfully expelled by their community. But Jesus wouldn’t turn a woman away for wearing too short of a skirt, or ban an unmarried pregnant teen from His presence. He would treat them with the exact same love He would treat anyone. And that is what we as Christians should be doing as well. Your life of faith is less about following supposed “Christian ru

What do Christians get wrong about Christianity? We can all be in danger of veering off in a direction that God never intended. In this new series, exploring the church in the book of Ephesians in the Bible, our hope is to remember the mission of the church as it was originally designed, and inspire you to be a part of it! When Christians think it’s all about us, we surround ourselves with those who look and think like us, and we miss the opportunity to have authentic connection with people who can stretch, challenge and support us. This week, we look at how our church, our community within the church, and being an active part of that reflects what Jesus began. How will you get into the community at your church and start making a positive difference in the wider community around you? Because it’s not just about creating Christian community for you, it’s about connecting with, and supporting, other people too.

All things are possible with God. No, really! Nehemiah’s story in the Bible shows us how, in partnering with God first, nothing is impossible. Nehemiah does what was previously impossible for 100 years–built the walls of Jerusalem–through his faith and partnership with God. What could that look like today for us? In our final week of Celebration of Hope 2024, Pastors Dave and Shawn challenge us and demonstrate, through the story of Nehemiah, how we can come together to help make big dreams come true and make a huge impact in the world!

Do you have what it takes to make a difference in the world? To change it for the better and to help others?  Yes! You do!  Nehemiah, in the Bible, felt like he had many constraints, but he was still able to use his influence as King Artaxerxes’ cupbearer and his connection to God to serve others in need. And you can too. In week two of Celebration of Hope 2024, David Temfwe of the Jubilee Centre, one of our partners in Zambia, demonstrates how God has given us all that we need to use our influence, connections, and resources to help people around the world, and tells us how the Jubilee Centre is making a significant impact in the lives of the people they serve in Zambia.

What do you do when you’re faced with a big problem? Most of us do one of two things: either move quickly into action, or become overwhelmed and freeze. It’s fight, or flight, or freeze. When we think about how to change the world, or how to help people in difficult times, our best course of action is to go to God first. It’s a natural thing to want to help so badly that we rush in out of desperation or to feel so overwhelmed by the scale of a problem that we simply can’t find our way into action. And that’s where attuning your heart to God becomes incredibly powerful.

Have you ever been told to stop questioning and just believe? People say that with good intentions, but it can lead to a lack of faith. It’s perfectly normal and expected to have doubt and curiosity about Jesus and the Bible. Have you ever heard of “doubting Thomas?” In John 20, Doubting Thomas had witnessed Jesus’ miracles and heard Him teach, but he still wanted to see the resurrected Jesus for himself. Jesus’ response to “doubting Thomas” says a lot about how He welcomes, and even encourages, our own doubts and questions!

We know the Easter story—Jesus lived a perfect life, suffered and died on the cross, and then rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. But what would it have been like to be one of His disciples or friends at Easter? They changed their entire lives to follow Him; then everything they thought would happen shattered when Jesus died. Their own hope died. But then Jesus was miraculously resurrected and appeared to Mary and many others. While they didn’t fully understand the depth of who He was or what had happened, they knew for certain that He was alive! And that is what gives us hope for our own lives now.

Many of us have a fear of being alone. It’s a very human trait to suffer through feeling lonely and social isolation. But with God next to us, we are never truly alone. And God understands our feelings of loneliness and sadness; Jesus suffered terrifying depression and loneliness in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46)and cried out to God in desperation. Jesus experienced the depths of despair so that we would never have to experience true isolation. As we remember Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday, we unpack the story of His life and journey to the cross to see how Jesus is God with us in all things.