Christ Church IL Podcast

As we lead into Holy Week, listen as Christ Church Lake Forest Campus Pastor Ben Dockery talks about our perceptions...and how our narrow field of vision can only see a small portion of God's truth. Is your perspective stuck in your own viewfinder range? Listen as Ben breaks down some of the key perspectives that lead Jesus to the cross, as well as our own miss-directed perspectives on Jesus.

We are in week 5 of our five-week series called REACH…a series where we unpack our vision to fuel a movement that reaches people and renews communities. This is commitment weekend, an exciting, inspirational and encouraging weekend where people show their support for REACH. This is not the end..but the beginning of what we can do. This campaign has been about fueling a movement, helping us jumpsta...

In week 4 of our five-week series called REACH, we focus on generosity, and how God calls us to give. Listen as Mike Woodruff digs into Genesis, Proverbs, and various other passages that highlight the posture that God sets for us as Christians, to grow His church.

Welcome to week 3 of our 5 week REACH series on the life of Abraham. Over the last few weeks we reflected over the "what" and "why", but there is a why behind the why that needs a bit of attention. The question we focus on today is: what motivates Abraham? Why is he so committed? Why is he so trusting? Why is he so generous? Why is his heart soft to the things of God? Do you wa...

Welcome to our second week of the REACH series as well as the second week of our study of Abraham. Last week we started in Genesis 11 and moved into Genesis 12. Today it’s Genesis 13 – with a focus on decisions. The refrain of the sermon is: first we make our decisions, and then those decisions make us. Listen as Mike Woodruff digs deeper into Abraham and Lot, and the dichotomy that arose when the...

This week we kick off a new series based out of Genesis, exploring what we can learn from the life of Abraham. A man with an impressive Wikipedia entry, he is honored as the founder of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. More significantly, God has some very favorable things to say about him in Hebrews 11 – the Hall of Faith chapter. In the first installment of our series, listen as Mike Woodruff gui...

This is week four of our series out of the minor prophets – small books with a big punch. Today, Anson Hanbury will be teaching from Obadiah… which has just one chapter and 21 verses making it one of the shortest book in the Hebrew bible but one that is packed with examples of how it is hard to remain strong in faith...in a life that is subtly prideful, and rife with worldly influence. Listen as A...

Listen as Mike Woodruff shares the vision that God has given us and the call for 100% engagement.

In the third week of our series "The Minors", our look into the minor prophets - 12 small books of the bible, that pack a big punch. Today we get in the ring with the book of Joel - whose author doesn't pull any punches. He is known for looking ahead at what is coming - the Day of the Lord. But more than anything he issues a no-nonsense call about making God our priority. Listen as...

Welcome to the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk, is one of the twelve minor prophets. He lived close to 3,000 years ago, during the final decade of Israel’s southern kingdom – just before her defeat and exile. It was a time of idolatry, injustice and suffering. It was also a time where Habakkuk saw the rising threat of Babylon. But he didn’t warn the people. Unlike other prophets, Habakkk doesn’t accuse...

Over the next few weeks we’re going to dive into a collection of books you’ve probably just skipped over – the minor prophets. They have difficult names – like Habakkuk and Haggai. They are called “minor prophets” – so they sound unimportant, but they can be pretty heavy – a fair bit of gloom and doom, so a lot of people skip them. But that is a mistake, listen as Mike Woodruff dives into these sh...

It is very natural for all of us to experience spiritual plateaus in our lives.  Spiritual plateaus are times when we lack desire and motivation. They are natural and easy to slip into in our walk with God.  Listen as Aaron Cramer encourages us to consider Philippians 4:8-9 where believers are reminded of 6 helpful waypoints we are to think on.  As we look forward to the new year applying these wa...

Advent is the season in the church year where we prepare ourselves – our hearts, our homes, our lives – for the coming of the Messiah. This series is called “Songs of the Season.” We are looking at some of the great Christmas hymns, unpacking their message. Looking behind the lyrics at the Scripture that inspired the writers. Listen as Mike Woodruff walks us through the impact of What Child Is Thi...

Advent is the season in the church year where we prepare ourselves – our hearts, our homes, our lives – for the coming of the Messiah. This series is called “Songs of the Season.” We are looking at some of the great Christmas hymns, unpacking their message. Looking behind the lyrics at the Scripture that inspired the writers. Listen as Mike Woodruff walks us through Joy to the World!

Today we look at O Little Town of Bethlehem where Syler Thomas unpacks this very popular song of this season.

Join us on our third week of our Songs of the Season series, looking at the Biblical passages and big ideas that shape some of our more thoughtful Christmas songs. So far we have looked at O Come O Come Emmanuel and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. Listen as Mike walks us through Hark the Herald Angels Sing, which is based on Luke 2, where we hear about the night that Christ was born.

As we further unpack the Songs of the Season, listen as Anson Hanbury focuses on a popular tune.... It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. In the poem that has become the popular carol, It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, we’re invited to hear the message of peace proclaimed by the angels and, in response, find encouragement and seek peace in our day.

Advent is the season in the church year where we prepare ourselves – our hearts, our homes, our lives – for the coming of the Messiah. This series is called “Songs of the Season.” We are looking at some of the great Christmas hymns, unpacking their message. Looking behind the lyrics at the Scripture that inspired the writers. Listen as Mike Woodruff walks us through the oldest Christmas song still...

Thankfulness is in all of our perspectives at this time, but what does the Bible say? Listen as Dan Syvertsen breaks down the barriers, and the commands that Jesus calls us to.

Many people are self-conscious of their singing voice, and when there is a chance to sing at church, or when they are around others...they close off and hold back. Listen as Mike Woodruff talks about singing and how integral it is to our relationship with God.

Please welcome our guest Mark Labberton, who will be sharing with us how the Bible shows us what community looks like, and how we need community to move forward in life, along with snippets of what that looks like.

Meditation. Many people have an impression that meditation is part of some spiritual new age idea…but it is actually part of our Christian walk. Listen as Mike Woodruff talks about how meditation fits in to how we connect with Christ.

On Tuesday of this week, we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, the cultural, political, economic, philosophical revolution that changed just about everything – countries, families, work, worship and more. Listen as Mike Woodruff highlights the tenacity and courage of Matin Luther, whom kick started the events that re-focused the church on what is important in the eyes o...

Rest. How does the concept of rest fit in your daily life? Listen as our guest Carlos Herrerra delves into how we are called to rest, and to make it part of our life.