One of the main spiritual strongholds that we deal with is “mine-ing” stuff. We want to acquire stuff, label it as ours and create divisions in our souls that separate us from God. God wants us to heal these divisions by renouncing the false god, Mammon. Read More
God’s love is victorious! But perhaps not in the way that you’d expect. We often associate victory with our ability to control or defeat others but God’s victory encourages our freedom rather than squelches it. (We love discovering art that connects us to God in unique ways. Thank you to Dale Johnson for incorporating his art into this weekend’s sermon.) Read More
The love of God expressed in Christ on the cross was “foolishness to the Gentiles” and “a stumbling block to the Jews”. God’s love is scandalous to us all in different ways. Read More
Jesus came both to save us and to reveal the character of God to us. Rather than coming in great power God came and served. Jesus calls us to “opt out” of the worldly desire to be better than others and learn to love them even when we profoundly disagree with them. Read More
Jesus shows us what godly leadership looks like in two ways. First by modeling it with his own life and second by confronting those who abuse the authority that comes with leadership. Read More
At one point in Jesus’ ministry, priests and teachers of the law questioned Jesus about his authority. They asked him by whose authority he taught the gospel and did the miracles. Rather than answering their question, Jesus returned a question. Read More
Our passage this week shows Jesus healing a crippled woman. Jesus and his disciples regularly healed the sick and the lame and cast out demons by taking authority over the situation “in Jesus’ name.” This challenges us to consider the power and authority our own words and actions have in our daily lives. Read More
We are called to live as daredevils, but most of us are bound by fears of some kind. God didn’t make us to be timid people who are dependent on worldly things; we are meant to be free from fear and complete in love. He wants to set us free so that we have the confidence to be daredevils. Read More
Is prayer really that important? Does it really play a purpose in the grand scheme of things? If we believe the Scriptures to be true, it seems that prayer is “insanely” important – so much that we are to pray with “shameless audacity.” Some get bogged down with the idea of prayer because they see it as a religious ritual that is too complex and difficult to do in our regular lives. Yet the reality is that prayer is basically talking with God in an ordinary way about our ordinary lives. Read More
When people think about “temptation”, they often think about thoughts or behaviors that seem obviously evil or negative. Because of this idea, it is sometimes assumed that temptation is something that can be easily avoided. What people forget is that something does not have to be evil in order to be a temptation. Sometimes, there may be several options to choose from that seem good, but that pull us away from what God would want us to do. Read More
"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