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Recent Sermons

In addition to sermon audio and video files, many of our sermons have other resources available like extended summaries and study guides. Our archive dates back to 1992 and all resources are free to download and distribute. Most sermons are by our Senior Pastor, Greg Boyd.

Some Dance to Remember, Some Dance to Forget

• Thorsten Moritz

Thorsten Moritz, a Bethel Seminary professor, opened with this challenging question: “Are we prepared to live 'creationally' (in tune with the Creator) in a world of idolatry?” Focusing primarily on child adoption throughout the message, Moritz wondered if the abandonment of the world's waiting orphans experience is the result of this idolatry. It reveals, he argued, that people are operating with the wrong priorities. How prepared are we to be the primary tool of God’s recovery of this fallen creation? Just as God adopted us, shouldn't we (biblically) adopt others?

Topics: Parenting, Sacrifice


The Kingdom’s King

• Greg Boyd

Lately, Greg has been talking about the importance of being “awake” and “single-minded.” In this sermon he discussed how both of these things are understood most fully in Christ. He focused on Christ's compelling love and the distinction between saying that you believe something and allowing a truth to penetrate so deep into your very being that it compels you.

Topics: Grace, Kingdom of God, Love


Kingdom Single Mindedness

• Greg Boyd

Willing just one thing, the love of God, is our only task. Our hearts are pure and our minds are sound when we overcome the double-mindedness that we unconsciously live in by submitting to God (James 4:7). Greg called our attention to how our minds are caught up in routines that produce behavior that is harmful to ourselves and others. Working toward kingdom single mindedness moment by moment will focus our energy where it should be: on the love of God for us and on loving ourselves and others because of it.

Topics: Discipleship, Disciplines, Kingdom of God, Love


Kingdom Consciousness

• Greg Boyd

Greg compares life to a “magic eye” picture: if we focus on the immediate appearance of things, life is very busy and active, even chaotic. But if we are able to see what’s in the depth of life, we begin to see Jesus. We see the love of God manifest in ways and in places that we might never have thought possible. We begin to develop “an eye for the kingdom of God,” or what Greg calls “Kingdom Consciousness.” To behold the kingdom of God requires an intentional awareness.

Topics: Kingdom of God, Love


Stop Going to Church

• Paul Eddy, Sandra Unger

Paul and Sandra's message called for a major shift in thought for many of us: church isn't a place you go or an event you attend. Instead, church is what happens when those who follow Jesus gather and live in unity and obedience to who Jesus is and what Jesus does. Both speakers discussed the effects of this new perspective.

Topics: Community, Discipleship, Kingdom of God


Write It on a Rock

• Greg Boyd

Greg described his journey during his sabbatical as one that was focused on a simple and important question: “What is real?” And he talked about how every now and then we all need to ask ourselves this with regard to every area in our lives. He challenged us to think like Job, who lost all of his securities and worldly relations but who still knew that his redeemer lived and that he would see him someday face to face. That’s what Job REALLY believed. What do we REALLY believe?

Topics: Hope, Pain & Suffering


The Best is Yet to Come

• Cecilia Williams

Cecilia, visiting from The Sanctuary Covenant Church, challenged Woodland Hills to look back in order to gain insight about what might lie ahead for us. Are our best days behind us, or is our best yet to come? She argued the latter by referring to a passage in Haggai that deals with rebuilding Solomon's temple. The new temple was far less grand than the original, yet the promise of God remained: this temple’s glory would exceed that of Solomon’s. Its best was yet to come, but the remnant, like Woodland Hills, could only believe this by faith—trusting that God would accomplish the promise.

Topics: Hope


I Choose You

• Kevin Johnson

Kevin, our Community Pastor, spoke about Christ's calling of Simon, Andrew, James and John to be his disciples. As fishermen, their families' livelihood depended on this trade, yet they simply dropped what they were doing and followed Jesus. Why? What was it about Jesus that caused people to leave their families and livelihood to follow him, and what was Jesus tapping into in these four early disciples?

Topics: Discipleship, Hope


Descending Into Greatness

• David Clark

Using Matthew 20:20-28 as his text, David discussed how to be a “safe” leader by following Jesus’ example of leading by serving and how this upside-down principle truly reflects the kingdom of God.

Topics: Leadership, Sacrifice


Deeper Passion for Jesus

• Efrem Smith

Efrem was back in our pulpit this weekend with a powerful message of hope and vision for our body! Sometimes we need to look backward for a bit to be able to see where we are going, so Efrem used Christ's geneology in Matthew 1 as his text. Knowing where we came from can help us understand the destiny God has for us.

Topics: Identity in Christ, Reconciliation


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"My almost-three-year-old asks every day if we can go to church. Thank you, Woodland Hills, and all the Heroes Gate volunteers for creating such a great environment for kids. My husband and I met at WH six years ago and now our son counts down the days until we get to go again. My heart could burst."

– Lindsey