Willow Creek Weekend Podcast

When You Pray // Megan Marshman, September 21/22 The disciples noticed something unique, something radically different in the way Jesus conversed with God. That fascination prompted them, in Luke 11, to say, “Teach us how to pray.”

PRAY: Learning To Speak // Matt Wright, September 14/15 What can often impede our prayers are our misconceptions of who we are and who God is. Our most real prayers are made possible when the real us learns to speak with the real God.

6 PRAY: More // Albert Tate, September 7/8 When Paul writes to the Ephesians, he doesn’t just tell them, “I’ll pray for you.” He prays for them! And his prayer pushes past their circumstances to the very heart of life in Christ.

5 WORSHIP: Growing in Worship // Eugene Cho, August 31/September 1 What role does the Holy Spirit play in worship? And in what ways can our experience of worship as a body (and with our bodies) spill into our everyday lives as children of God?

4 WORSHIP: Worship Begins Here // Megan Marshman, August 25/26 When we roll into church on Sunday it’s easy to think it’s just another service, forgetting that we’re together to worship a holy God. But what is worship? And why do we gather and sing together?

3 SERVE: Made For This // Matt Wright, August 17/18 Ephesians 2 tells us that we are created by God to do work he’s called us to do, so when we serve, we are more of what God has made us to be than at any other time.

2 SERVE: Just Like This // Steve Gillen, August 10/11 In John 13 Jesus wraps a towel around his waist, gets down on his knees, and does the job no one else deigned to do. And then he says, “Do like I do.” How do we join Jesus in his humility?

Week 1: Welcome To The Party // Eugene Cho, August 3/4 What if the Church were where the hungry came to be filled and where you received the best meal you’d ever eaten? What if the Church were like a potluck where everyone brought his or her best dish to the table?

Let Them Come Steve Gillen | July 13 & 14 Pushed the fringes, kept out of sight, sent to the back of the line. That’s how Jesus’ followers treated the children when they came to see Jesus. After all, Jesus was too busy, too important, too distracted to make time for the little ones. But Jesus said, “Let them come.” He welcomed them, he listened to them, he looked them in the eyes, and there he saw...

What is Grace? Eugene Cho | July 6 & 7

A Great Gardener Megan Marshman | June 29 & 30 As the summer heats up, the fruit begins to grow; that’s what plants are made to do, right? But compare apples to apples and you’ll often find a big difference. Great fruit is the product of a great garden. A great garden is most often made by a great gardener. John 15 reminds us that the same is true for the fruit we hope to produce in our own lives.

Four Little Words Steve Gillen | June 22 & 22 Four words... four little words with profound meaning tell the story of who God is, who we are, and what is possible. Those words are: love, sin, justice, and rescue. Love is who God is. Sin is the mess we’ve made. Justice is what’s necessary. And rescue is what God offers. But beyond those four words, God has given us two ways—communion and baptism—th...

FATHER’S DAY: LESSONS FROM THE GARAGE June 15 & 16  | Steve Gillen Whether intentionally or accidentally, whether we’re trying or not, fathers and parents of all kinds are always handing down lessons to our children. By watching the things we do, what we say, and the things that are important to us, our kids are learning. What would happen if chose to be intentional about the lessons we’re pa...

SOMEWHERE TO BE June 8 & 9  | Eugene Cho An appointment, a commitment, a recital, a practice, a lunch, and on and on and on. So much of our time is spent herding our tribes and our lives from one thing to the next, desperate to keep the schedule on track. Is there a way to find relief from the constant hurry? What if we could stop being busy long enough to just be . And what if we asked ourse...

WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE June 1 & 2  | Mike Breaux Our world is constantly shifting and changing, and each generation faces new challenges and opportunities. But what are the lessons that can stand the test of time? What can the experiences and practices of different generations teach one another about how to handle family, parenting, and all the other relationships in which we live?

LET’S TALK May 25 & 26  | Matt Wright/Panel Sometimes it can feel like our relationships are conducted through tin-can conversations, muffled words reverberating along a too-taut string. We’re not entirely sure we’re being heard and not too confident we’re listening well either. Maybe it’s time to set aside our tin cans for some new tools while we explore how our ability to see one another af...

SAY YOU’RE SORRY May 18 & 19  | Eugene Cho Few things can damage relationships more deeply than unresolved conflict, creating distance, ambivalence, and bitterness that can usually metastasize over time. And the effects of unforgiveness are known to pull at the fabric of all our other relationships as well. How can we learn to give forgiveness generously and also to receive it graciously?

MOTHER’S DAY: HAND-ME-DOWNS May 11 & 12  | Megan Marshman  | Genesis 1-3 How do we hand down faith and the lessons of life to our children? How do we make a lasting impact on the people around us? Well, the first step may be recognizing the things that are our job and the things that aren’t. Our job is not to change people but to introduce them to the life-changing power of the Holy Spir...

SPITTING IMAGE May 4 & 5  | Matt Wright For better or worse, we each bear the telltale marks of the families that made us; we hold the hurts and hopes that were fostered in us from our earliest memories. But how do we sort the good from the bad, holding on to the best parts and releasing the rest? And how do we learn to embrace our place in a different kind of family, as the children of a lov...

Have you ever lost anything? Something really precious? Something of such worth that you’d do anything to get it back? Jesus had a lot of things to say about lost things. Two of his stories have captured the minds and hearts of people for centuries. One story tells about a child who lost his way and wondered whether he’d ever be welcome home again. That child finally went looking for a way to come...

GIVE April 13 & 14 • Steve Gillen His time. His love. His creation. His resources. His affirmation. His purpose. His plan. His mercy. His restoration. His glory. His Son. Our God gives and gives and gives and gives. And gives some more. He is giving hope and a future to people around the world, and one of the ways we can partner with him is by giving too. This isn’t a one-time kind of giving but a...

Each year we’ve heard stories of the work God is doing through our partners around the world. These stories have consistently helped to GROW our understanding of the deep needs of those around the world and GROW our faith in a God who is big enough to supply the very deepest of those needs. This year, we’ll be hearing from many of our partners in person as they share the places wher...

GO March 30 & 31 • Eugene Cho Jesus called us to live lives that are characterized by going. But the command to GO is about more than simply signing on to a project. GO is about going out of our comfort zones. It’s about going where we have proximity to a need we may never have seen up close. It’s about going beyond what is comfortable, what is familiar, what we’ve done before. When we GO in these...

HEALTHY, WEALTHY, AND FOOLISH MARK 10:17-23 | MARCH 23-24 | ALBERT TATE He has everything, youth, money, and a world of opportunity. When the rich, young ruler comes to Jesus, it appears as though every door is open to him, but Jesus can see that he’s living in a prison of his own choosing, his heart held fast by his fortune. How do we keep from letting money make a fool out of us?