Watch/Listen
Topic: Discipleship
Kingdom Secrecy
Anna was a widow who spent most of her life in the temple fasting, worshipping and praying to God in solitude. Through the world’s eyes, she was not considered important, visible or successful. However, in God’s Kingdom, she was considered a hero and a success. Anna’s life is a testimony for us as believers, because she was exactly where God called her to be. She was obedient and faithful to the calling God specifically gave her. Read More
Experiencing Jesus Workshop
The Experiencing Jesus Workshop took place on March 11, 2006 at Woodland Hills Church. Teaching the principles of praying with all five senses, Greg Boyd shares practical exercises that can assist in learning how to practice this form of prayer. Based on his book, Seeing is Believing, Greg shows how imaginative prayer offers a life-giving place of rest where your … Read More
Offensive Good News
The message that Simeon gives Mary has a heavy, ominous tone, as he predicted that Jesus would actually cause many to fall and that people would speak against him. This prophetic message establishes the fact that the good news of the Gospel is much more than set of encouraging thoughts or beliefs, but in fact it is offensive in nature. It offends because it challenges the lives of those who hear it to live a different way. Read More
Remembering What Matters
Life can become very busy, and it is easy to lose focus. Everyday realities and problems can disrupt our relationship with God. We are constantly bombarded by little things that can bide for our time, and divert attention from what really matters. As believers in Christ, communion is one of God’s ways of reminding us of what really matters. Communion helps to us to remember what Christ did for us and refocuses our lives towards him. Read More
Escaping the Matrix Conference
The Escaping The Matrix Conference took place on December 9-10, 2005, at Woodland Hills Church. The conference was based on the book Escaping the Matrix, by Greg Boyd and Al Larson, and was led by Greg, Mike Davis, from Ontario, CA and Bobby Bodenhamer, from Gastonia, NC. Outline Manual Introduction to the Matrix (pt 1) | Audio Greg Boyd | … Read More
Rappers, Nuns, and Disciples
Sandra Unger began this sermon with a visualization exercise. We were asked to picture in our minds the following people: a mailman, nun, rapper, basketball player, pilot, Christian and finally a disciple of Jesus. For many people, it was easy to conjure up a picture of the first five but the last two posed a problem. Following Jesus is actually remarkably simple. Submit your entire life to Christ and he will give you a new one. It’s not difficult to know what the right thing to do is. But it is often very difficult to jump into the unknown territory that comes along with doing the right thing. Read More
Kingdom Centeredness
Drawing from Luke 9:23 and 14:25-27 & 33, Greg talked about dying to the flesh so that we might have true life in Christ. Life in the “flesh” means that we cling to life outside the center (Jesus Christ), which results in our lives enslaving us, something God never intended! Jesus speaks strongly about this because he knows that when we finally let go and “die” to ourselves, we will find life in the center where there is peace and a whole new perspective on the world! Read More
Kingdom Single Mindedness
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. Read More
Stop Going to Church
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. Read More
I Choose You
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? Read More
