Willow Creek Weekend Podcast

Jesus crossed cultural lines to change the paradigm of people’s thinking regarding the greatest commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus chose the disqualified and disenfranchised, the outcasts and the overlooked, to be his students who would in turn change the world. Jesus has also promised to teach us.

The power of life existed in flesh in Jesus. And yet in all of his power and authority, Jesus modeled the life of a servant showing us that the way up is down. Pastor Albert Tate teaches.

We seek doctors when we are sick, but Jesus does even greater work: he resurrects what is beyond remedy. If Jesus raises the dead to life, no situation we face is beyond hope or healing.

Many of us keep striving for faulty prizes: the house, car, family, & finances are our grown-up trophies. Turns out the roof will wear out, the car’s getting rusty, family isn’t what Instagram says it is, and that trophy broke years ago. This week we are going to see what faith in Christ looks like and how that can change the prize we strive for in life.

We live in a culture that says things like "Take pride in your work" and "Be proud of who you are.” But is it possible for pride to go too far? Could the limiting factor of joy in your life be due to pride? Join us this week as we look at the posture of pride and unpack a better way to lasting joy.

Life is hard. Circumstances can knock us down and threaten to rob us of joy and peace. But what if the story is bigger than what we see? What if it’s really true that God will finish what He started and that the end of the story for all of God’s children is good? What if we can really have lasting joy in spite of circumstances?

We strive to become great. We climb the ladders, aim for the trophies, and strive for the titles. Jesus has a thing or two to teach us about what lasting greatness really means. He flips the scripts to teach us that to climb up we must get low, and the best leaders are servants.

Sometimes Jesus calms the storms. But sometimes Jesus walks on the choppy waters with us. The question is: are we asking for big enough things? Are we asking for things that move us closer to Jesus?

Love being waterside in the summer? Jesus did too. This week we’re continuing “Summer at the Lake.” Megan Marshman takes us through a time when twelve men who had left everything to follow Jesus find themselves in peril on the water. Meanwhile, Jesus is...taking a nap? What do you do when life happens and it seems like God is off-the-clock.

Summer means fun in the sun and lots of water play. Jesus had a thing for water too. Throughout this series we’re diving into some of Jesus’ most profound moments in and near water. Albert Tate takes a look at Jesus’ most famous sermon to challenge us that what we perceive as ordinary will actually change the world.

Covid is not the only pandemic. In a culture that lives at a breakneck pace during healthy seasons, tens of millions of people suffer from anxiety, depression, and more. Suicide rates are on the rise. During a global health crisis, more and more people feel a sense of fear, hopelessness, and wondering if there’s a way out of the prisons of their own minds. This series endeavors to address the all-...

Covid is not the only pandemic. In a culture that lives at a breakneck pace during healthy seasons, tens of millions of people suffer from anxiety, depression, and more. Suicide rates are on the rise. During a global health crisis, more and more people feel a sense of fear, hopelessness, and wondering if there’s a way out of the prisons of their own minds. This series endeavors to address the all-...

What defines your worth? We spend a lot of our lives trying to do enough to feel like we measure up, meanwhile many of us struggle to wonder if we will ever feel worthy of love, affection, or respect. This week we're going to take a look at what God has to say about our worth. Pastor Albert Tate teaches.

I Kings 19:3, “Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree.” Vs. 15, “Go back the same way you came and travel to the wilderness. When you arrive there, anoint Heazael to be king of Aram.” We think that there is no way out of the s...

In a world experiencing crisis and rapid change, everyone is navigating new waters. Here at Willow, we are welcoming our new Senior Pastor, Dave Dummitt, and everyone is asking, "So, what's next?" This week Dave opens up in Matthew 3 and 4 to take a look at how Jesus began his public ministry and how that ought to shape the way we navigate through significant change.

It’s easy for any of us to forget what’s brought us through hard times and what will carry us into brighter ones. In Deuteronomy 8, as God’s people prepared to step into the Promised Land, Moses reminded them to look to who God had been. The one who freed them, defended them, fed them, mended them, and led them, is the one who would continue to be with them. Will we remember that our God is faithf...

Social distancing has quickly entered the common vernacular. But how quickly does social distancing devolve into social isolation? Some of us are further than we’ve ever been, and others of us are closer than ever. But are any of us together ? How can we can lean on and learn from one another, each helping the other to stand strong?

We all left normal behind months ago, and as we look toward finding a new normal—one full of new challenges and real hope—we can feel weary with the weight of all that we’ve endured. Even when we know the power of the resurrection.... Even when we know the truth… it can be a hardship to live in the in-between, that place between where we were and where we will be. As we look at John 21, we’ll ask:...

We often wonder where strength comes from in times like these, and it can be easy to turn toward external options. But the strongest among us—and especially some of the moms we know—seem to possess a deep-down kind of strength. God longs to strengthen us in our “inner being,” gracing us with an unshakeable faith. But what is faith , exactly? Is it a wish? A belief? This Mother’s day, let’s explore...

Most of the things in which we trusted are crumbling at the foundations. Perhaps the cracks had already begun to show, but this crisis has fully (and quickly) revealed just how fragile they were all along. Is there something greater in which we can trust? As the headlines shout facts that threaten to overwhelm us, is there a Truth that can stand even stronger?

When it feels like the whole world is changing, God suggests that one of the ways in which we might cope is by making some changes of our own. God invites us to have our minds changed, renewed, and transformed, reshaping our worry and anxiety into worship and gratitude. 

April 18 & 19  | Ray Johnston Throughout the pages of the Bible, calamities strike, desperation is on display, and empires rise and fall. But God has not changed, an unshakeable presence even when all of history has been in tumult. Even in troubled times we can let God love us, change us, and use us.

The invitation to follow Jesus is not filled with comfortable or predictable answers. In fact, even Jesus' disciples were struck with how sobering the reality of following Him was. In what ways have we made following Jesus about ourselves and our comforts? Where do we need to sacrifice? In what areas of our lives can we begin walking in courage and faith instead of timidity and fear as we follow H...