Westwinds

Merry Christmas, Westwinds! Thank you for joining us for our annual Christmas Eve service. We had a wonderful time together in the heart of downtown Jackson at the Michigan Theatre–sharing stories of hope, holiday cheer, and a big helping of Christmas magic. Follow Westwinds Church on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram for more videos like this, or go to westwinds.org to stay up to date with what's...

Merry Christmas, Westwinds! Thank you for joining us for our Christmas Eve services. We had a wonderful time together in the heart of downtown Jackson at the Michigan Theatre–sharing stores of hope, holiday cheer, and a big helping of Christmas magic. Follow Westwinds Church on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram for more videos like this, or go to westwinds.org to stay up to date with what's going o...

For many of us, faith feels heavy. Like God has done so much for us that we must now repay Him with obedience, effort, or guilt-driven devotion. In this message, Pastor Josh reframes John 3:16 through the lens of Christmas, generosity, and love. God doesn’t come demanding repayment. God comes giving Himself. From a child giving a gift to their parent, to the vulnerability of a newborn baby, we’re...

John 3:16 is often treated like a slogan, but John meant it as a story — a story told through real people and real encounters. In this message, Pastor Cory walks through the Gospel of John and shows how God’s love isn’t an abstract idea. It shows up through people: a teenager finding faith through kindness, a religious leader searching for status, a woman burdened by shame, a grieving family, a do...

When Jesus said, “God so loved the world,” John chose a surprising word. Not earth. Not humanity. Cosmos. All of creation. Everything God made. In this message, Pastor Phil unpacks how the love of God stretches far wider than we usually imagine—from mountains and oceans to the thin places where time and eternity brush up against each other. Through temple imagery, incarnation, and the presence of...

We spend so much of life trying to find God—trying to earn, deserve, or prove something. But the story of Scripture is the opposite: God comes to find us. From Abraham to Jesus to John 3:16, this message explores what makes the Christian story different from every other story humans have told about God.

A lot of people haven’t just walked away from church — they’ve lost the framework they once trusted. In this message, Pastor Cory returns to the stories of people who’ve been wounded, pushed out, or disillusioned, and asks a deeper question: how do you begin putting faith back together again? Using four “containers” — Construct, Deconstruct, Reconstruct, and Mystery — Cory walks through how people...

For over a century, American Christianity has been shaped by fear—fear of losing power, fear of being wrong, fear of outsiders. But what if that fear has distorted the way we see God, the Bible, and even each other? In this message, Pastor Cory traces how American fundamentalism took root, how it still shapes our instincts today, and how Jesus offers a better way—a faith not rooted in control, but...

What happens when faith stops working the way it used to? In this message, Pastor Josh unpacks how seasons of doubt, disillusionment, and disappointment can actually become sacred ground. Using Elijah’s story, he shows that spiritual growth often follows a rhythm—order, disorder, reorder. When everything falls apart, God doesn’t demand quick fixes or blind optimism. He meets us right there, in the...

Many of us have walked away from church—not because we stopped believing in God, but because of the pain, hypocrisy, or exhaustion we found there. In this message, Pastor Cory shares stories of people who left the church for good reason… and how the way back isn’t found in guilt or performance, but in rediscovering loyalty, honesty, and theology—in that order. It’s an honest look at what went wron...

Jesus doesn’t stay distant from the mess — He moves toward it. His ministry shows us that the heart of God beats for those who are overlooked, unseen, and left out. To follow Jesus is to be with the Littles, the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely — not out of pity, but out of shared belonging. When we make room at our tables and in our hearts, we’re not just helping others; we’re meeting Christ Himse...

Reconciliation isn’t a quick fix — it’s a process of being made new, one step at a time. The love of Christ compels us to let go of self-protection, to enter into the realities of pain and healing, and to receive and extend God's grace. True reconciliation mirrors the cross: it costs something, it feels something, and it changes everything. It shows up not just in words, but in the small, ordinary...

The Holy Spirit can fill our lives so that generosity flows naturally—not out of guilt or obligation, but out of joy. Sharing isn’t just about money; it’s about what’s already in your hand—your time, your encouragement, your prayers, and your life. Just like the early believers and Barnabas, when we give freely, we bless others and experience freedom ourselves. True generosity changes hearts, buil...

We live in a culture built around convenience—cancel anytime, unsubscribe, skip the hard parts. But what happens when that mindset spills into the things that actually matter—our relationships, our faith, our community? In this message, Pastor Josh explores the sacred rhythm of making and keeping commitments. From Abraham’s covenant to Jesus’ table, we see a God who remains faithful even when we d...

If you wanted to find Jesus, where would you look? Near the end of his life, Jesus told his disciples exactly where to find him—not in temples, not in power, but in shared practices that form a different kind of community. Baptism. Prayer. Scripture. Reconciliation. Generosity. And especially, the table. In this message, Pastor Cory explores why the table was—and still is—the place where eyes are...

Prayer isn’t about escape. It isn’t about begging God to take away all the hard things. In Acts 4, when the early church faced persecution, they didn’t pray for protection or revenge. They prayed for boldness. In this message, Pastor Cory explores how prayer has always been the place where God reshapes our desires, opens our eyes, and fills us with courage. It’s where we learn to see God making al...

On the road to Emmaus, two disciples walked with their heads down, convinced the story was over. Jesus had died, and with him, their hope. But then—he showed up. Not in glory, not in spectacle, but in conversation, bread, and brokenness. In this message, Pastor Cory shows us how the story of Scripture has always been about a God who pursues us—even when we hide, even when we’re confused, even when...

In Acts 8, Philip meets a man who had every reason to be excluded—an Ethiopian eunuch, rejected in the temple, treated as an outsider, and told he had no future. And yet, when he asks, “Is there anything to keep me from being baptized?” Philip’s answer is simple: “No. Get the water.” In this message, Pastor Phil unpacks what this story means for us today. Baptism isn’t about fitting a mold—it’s ab...

As Paul closes his letter to the Galatians, he boils it all down: “Being circumcised or not doesn’t mean anything. What matters is becoming a new creation.” In this final message of the series, Pastor Cory unpacks what it means to move beyond boundary lines and into a life centered on Jesus. It’s not about birthright, religious credentials, or performance. It’s about letting the grace and peace of...

There isn’t just one “road” to Jesus. In Galatians, Paul reminds us that it’s not about the vehicle that brought you here—whether you grew up in church, stumbled into faith later, or found Jesus in an unexpected place. What matters is not the labels, the rituals, or even how polished your faith sounds. What matters is faith expressed through love. This message explores the tension in the early chu...

This week, Pastor Phil unpacks Paul’s words in Galatians about freedom and what it means to live by the Spirit instead of falling back into performance or rule-keeping. He draws on Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, showing how the Spirit is like the wind—unseen, unpredictable, but always present. Living in the Spirit isn’t about striving harder or checking religious boxes. It’s about awakening t...

We work so hard to prove we’re “good enough”—to God, to others, to ourselves. But in Galatians, Paul says something radical: “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.” Not freedom so you can do more. Not freedom so you can earn it. Just… freedom. This message takes on perfectionism, performance-based faith, and our obsession with keeping all the plates spinning. You’ll hear why real freedom...

We spend so much of life trying to earn our place. But in Galatians 3, Paul reminds us that God’s promise isn’t something we achieve—it’s something we receive. Before there were rules, before there was pressure to perform, there was a promise. And that promise still stands. This message invites us to let go of striving and step into the kind of grace that can’t be earned—but can change everything.

It’s human nature to want to know who’s in and who’s out. In Galatians, Paul confronts our instinct to build boundaries—religious systems, identity markers, and insider codes that make us feel safe. But Jesus didn’t come to reinforce the old walls. He came to tear them down. This message explores why we keep adding rules to a gospel that’s already good news—and what it means to live in the freedom...

What was the law ever really for? In this message, Pastor Phil walks us through one of Paul’s boldest arguments in Galatians—that the law was never the goal. It was a guardian, a teacher, even a protector. But eventually, it gave way to something more powerful: love. We explore how Jesus fulfilled the law not by abolishing it, but by revealing its heart—and how grace invites us into something deep...