Willow Creek Weekend Podcast Willow Creek Community Church

So, the Bible is a little long…and overwhelming. And hard to understand a lot of the time. Ever thought: TL;DR?
Same. Same.

So we’re starting a brand new series on the ENTIRE BIBLE. Yep, everything in seven weeks. If you’ve ever wondered “how to start reading the Bible” or what a good Bible study plan is, this is the series for you.

Sound boring? Nah! This will be all you need to show how the Bible points us towards Jesus, even in the Old Testament. And discover how life-changing actually reading the Bible can be for you.

We kick it off by looking at The Law books of the Bible. The first five books of the Bible, also known as the Torah or Pentateuch, can be read like a bunch of rules, but the Law books are so much more than that. They reveal the heart of God and His radical love for people.

What are “strongholds”? Strongholds are more than sins; they’re the patterns, addictions, behaviors, or traits that you might not even realize are holding you back from being the person God created you to be.

The good news? The grace of God is available to all of us, and He will help you break free from the strongholds–the sins–that keep you from leaning into the full life He intended for you.

We explore John 10:10 to discover where we’re stuck and practical ways to break free from what holds you back from life at its fullest.

If you’re the type of Christian who attends church a couple of Sundays each month and maybe reads a Bible plan on your phone app every so often, you’re not living up to your full potential.

Just attending church is not enough to fully live out God’s plan. Our true purpose in life is living as the church every day. Wherever you are, that’s where God has placed you and He means for you to make a difference in the community right outside your door.

How do you make a difference in your everyday life? We pray, we listen to and serve others, we get into Christian community and partner with God to love people–everyone–around us.

Pastor Dave Dummitt finishes up the series in Ephesians 5:1-20, urging us to be the light of the world today.

Where does your loyalty lie? Your sports team? Your family? Your political party?
What about with Jesus? Does Jesus sit at the top of your loyalty list? If not, we can become diverted from God by other things. As much as we might feel passionate about a cause we believe in, or fiercely loyal to our “people”; Jesus should always be the one you're most passionate about.

And our loyalty to Jesus gets tested every day. The world puts pressure on Christians to live outside of the moral boundaries God gave us. But when God transformed your heart, you were made into a new person; loyal to Jesus and committed to following Him.

And in that commitment, you heart should be expanding. Because your relationship with Jesus should be destroying any hatred or animosity for others. In this moment, what is your heart doing? Pastor Thomas Anderson, Jr. takes us into Ephesians 2 to demonstrate where our priorities and loyalty should really lie.

It’s easy for Christians to focus solely on answering the question; “how do I get into Heaven''? and getting others into Heaven with them. But when we break the real message of the Bible down to just that, we’re missing a huge part of it: God’s purpose for your life.

God’s not only concerned about you getting into Heaven, He wants you to express Heaven while you’re here on earth. On earth as it is in Heaven, right? The bigger story of the Bible lifts up every human being as a valued member of the community in which they reside on earth–and it’s our calling as Christians to partner with Jesus in bringing love to our neighbors.

This week, Pastor Megan Marshman shows us how Paul in the Bible reminded the church in his letter (Ephesians 1:3-14) of this truth: that God put us here on earth to change the world, and be a part of bridging Heaven and earth.

When you become a Christian you have to follow a bunch of boring rules, right? Well… sort of! It’s not so much rules as it is moral boundaries that God sets. These boundaries allow us the freedom to live fully in the beautiful life He has planned for us.

Some people believe they’re being a “good Christian” by following the “Christian rules”. Perhaps they don’t smoke, or they don’t drink. They don’t swear or sleep around. They tick off the rule boxes like that’s the most important thing. But they’re missing the essential part: their heart.

Many people have experienced church hurt because they have not lived up to an arbitrary set of religious rules and been painfully expelled by their community. But Jesus wouldn’t turn a woman away for wearing too short of a skirt, or ban an unmarried pregnant teen from His presence. He would treat them with the exact same love He would treat anyone. And that is what we as Christians should be doing as well.

Your life of faith is less about following supposed “Christian rules” and more about pursuing what is good, so that all people can thrive. Pastor Dave Dummitt teaches from Ephesians 4.