United Methodist Church Westlake Village

United Methodist Church Westlake Village
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Weekly

Audio of Pastor Darren Cowdrey's weekly message, as we work together toward fulfilling our mission statement: "Setting a Course for a Better Life." Live-streamed weekly from our campus in Westlake Village, CA.  Video of this entire worship service is available for viewing or listening on our home page at http://www.umcwv.org for approximately 3 weeks, and then also available on our YouTube channel at https://bit.ly/4hFmuBZ All songs used in compliance with our CCLI and streaming licenses.Copyright License # 1291056Streaming License #CSPL075029 If you'd like to support our ministries, please follow this link: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=6fe0e233-47e0-4a4b-8d21-f21ad5e75db8

  1. 4d ago

    What If The Hard Path Is The Point?

    Send us Fan Mail Peter tries to stop Jesus from suffering and gets a response that sounds almost shocking: “Get behind me, Satan.” That moment is not about shaming Peter, it’s about naming the seductive pull of avoidance. When the calling gets hard, the most dangerous temptation is the exit door that looks like wisdom, protection, or common sense. We talk through what I call the “Peter problem” and why Christian leadership is not mainly about control, winning, or looking strong. Jesus models a different kind of power, sacrificial love, service, surrender, and the vulnerability of true power. Then we zoom out to Moses and the burning bush, another story where God’s mission arrives with real risk attached. The thread connecting both stories is acceptance: not acquiescence, not giving up, but grabbing hold of the path God sets before you and choosing to follow it even when it costs you comfort. I also share a story from my early impressions of Sierra Service Project, and how cynicism can sound like realism until you see people show up with deep faith and real commitment. Finally, we bring the lesson home with a church leadership invitation for election season, inspired by Church of the Resurrection’s resources: a simple public witness that cuts through the noise with one clear Christian message, “Love One Another,” shared through yard signs and shirts. If you’ve been feeling worn down by hostility, anxious about leadership, or unsure how to live your faith in public, this is a practical next step. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review, then tell us what mission you think God is asking you to accept right now. Support the show

    What If The Hard Path Is The Point?

  2. Sep 6

    If Power Is Complex, What Is Yours For?

    Send us Fan Mail Power can feel like a set of keys placed in your hand, thrilling at first, then heavy when you realise what you can unlock and what you could damage. We start our “Lessons in Leadership” series by asking what Jesus teaches us about power, beginning with a familiar moment where Jesus presses Peter: “Who do you say that I am?” The real tension is not whether we know the right words, but whether our lives back them up. From there, we lean into the phrase “the keys to the kingdom” and what that kind of spiritual authority might actually mean. To keep it grounded, we talk about the first time you were trusted with real responsibility, driving the family car, owning a project, raising a child, and we connect that feeling to leadership in the church. Then we step into Exodus and the birth of Moses, where power moves in every direction: Pharaoh’s violent control, the Hebrew people’s resilience, Shiphrah and Puah’s faithful resistance, Pharaoh’s daughter’s moral courage, and Miriam’s smart use of information. Running through the whole story is God’s presence, a saving power that doesn’t just hover but pushes history toward justice, love, and life. Finally, we return to Peter with a twist: what if Jesus isn’t handing Peter a prize, but naming that Peter’s recognition is itself the key? We close with a communion reflection that gets personal fast: what does “Messiah” mean to you, and how is Jesus saving you right now? If this helped you think differently about Christian leadership, spiritual power, and the meaning of the Messiah, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find it. Support the show

    If Power Is Complex, What Is Yours For?

  3. Aug 31

    God Leaves The Flock To Find You

    Send us Fan Mail A teenager with severe social anxiety writes letters to himself just to make it through the day and one of those pages ends up in the wrong pocket. From there, Dear Evan Hansen turns into a story about grief, loneliness, a lie that grows legs online, and a message that goes viral because people are starving to hear it. We walk through the plot and why it resonates in a moment when technology keeps us “connected” while so many of us still feel isolated, unworthy, or unseen. Then we open Luke 15 and sit with Jesus’ three “lost” stories: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Each parable paints a different picture of the same reality. God searches, God treasures, God forgives. We talk about what it means to feel unmoored and how quickly pain can turn into the question underneath the question: Is God really looking for me, and am I actually valuable? We also reflect on You Will Be Found, the song that becomes a life-affirming anthem inside the musical even though the moment is built on fabrication. The irony is sharp, but so is the invitation: receive the words as God’s promise when you feel broken, ashamed, or alone. If you’ve been wrestling with mental health, teen loneliness, social media pressure, or your place in faith, press play and let this be a reminder that you are worth finding. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with the line that hit you most. Support the show

    God Leaves The Flock To Find You

  4. Aug 16

    Hamilton, Grief, And The Path To Healing

    Send us Fan Mail A lot of us learned Alexander Hamilton’s life just long enough to pass a test, then let it fade. So we’re bringing it back in a way that actually lands, through the Hamilton musical and one of its most tender moments: “It’s Quiet Uptown.” We talk through Hamilton’s rise from an orphaned childhood to the centre of the Revolutionary War and the founding of American government, then track the growing political rivalry with Aaron Burr that ends in the duel everyone remembers. Then the story tightens into the part that hurts. Hamilton’s marriage to Eliza, the pressure of constant work, the damage of scandal, and the loss that no family wants to imagine: Philip’s death while defending his father’s honour. We name the strange silence that follows tragedy, when distractions stop working and words can’t reach the wound. If you’ve ever faced grief, regret, or the feeling that life has cheated you, this is where the conversation gets painfully real. From there we open 2 Corinthians 1:3–7 and sit with Paul’s claim that faith doesn’t erase suffering, but it can change what suffering does inside us. We look for God’s consolation as something concrete, often carried through friends, family, and church community, and we talk about forgiveness as a slow, honest pathway back toward wholeness, including learning to receive grace for ourselves. “It’s Quiet Uptown” becomes our guide, moving from unbearable loss to the smallest sign of repair: a hand taken in a garden. If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with someone who needs comfort, and leave a review so more listeners can find it. What part of the story are you still carrying today? Support the show

    Hamilton, Grief, And The Path To Healing

  5. Aug 9

    What "The Waitress" Teaches About Self Worth And Psalm 139

    Send us Fan Mail In the second message in Pastor Darren's summer series on recent Broadway musicals, a diner waitress who names her feelings in pies might be the last place you expect to find a lesson on Christian self-worth, but "The Waitress"  goes straight to the questions many of us avoid: What happens when your life stops feeling like it belongs to you? How do you come back from choices you regret, harm you didn’t deserve, or a future that arrived before you were ready? We walk through Jenna Hunterson’s story, from a trapped marriage and an unwanted pregnancy to an affair that makes everything messier, and a desperate plan to save prize money for a clean start. When that plan collapses, the real work begins: finding the inner strength to leave what is crushing her, reject what is not love, and take ownership of her life. That arc opens a bigger conversation about identity, agency, and what “starting over” actually costs. Then we bring it home to faith. We unpack the tension Christians feel about pride, drawing a clear line between healthy pride that celebrates doing good with God and ego that pretends we don’t need God at all. Psalm 139 anchors the whole message, reminding us we are fearfully and wonderfully made, fully known, and not able to outrun God’s presence, like the relentless love in The Runaway Bunny. We end with the emotional punch of “She Used to Be Mine,” and the hope that God can lead us back to who we were created to be. If this resonates, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review. What part of your life are you ready to reclaim? Support the show

    What "The Waitress" Teaches About Self Worth And Psalm 139

  6. Aug 2

    The Outsiders Musical And The Price Of Conflict

    Send us Fan Mail A gang story from the 1950s should not feel this current, yet The Outsiders still cuts close to the bone. We walk through the world of Greasers and Socs and the class conflict that fuels their rivalry, then trace how Ponyboy and Johnny get swept into tragedy, loyalty, and hard choices that no teenager should have to make. Along the way, we talk about why this story keeps resonating across generations and why it can be a mirror for how we live now.  We also dig into what changes when The Outsiders becomes a musical: songs that give voice to grief and hope, a bigger presence for characters like Cherry, and updates in gender and ethnic diversity that make the stage version feel more contemporary while keeping the heart of the story intact. The point is not nostalgia. It is noticing how easily communities accept combativeness as normal, as if there is not enough dignity, safety, or opportunity for everyone.  From there, we connect the theme of conformity to Romans 12, especially the line “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” We hold the tension: the world is God’s creation, and it is also often broken. That is exactly why transformation matters, not as an escape from reality but as a way of choosing different actions, different instincts, and a different kind of strength.  We close with “Stay Gold,” the song that nods to Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” and the bittersweet call to preserve innocence and goodness in a harsh world. If you have ever wondered how to keep a soft heart without losing your footing, this conversation is for you. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who loves The Outsiders, and leave a review with the line that challenged you most. Support the show

    The Outsiders Musical And The Price Of Conflict

  7. Jul 26

    Jonah, Our Inner Villain, And The Hard Work Of Forgiveness

    Send us Fan Mail Think of the person you resent most, the one who still feels like a villain in your story. Now imagine God sending you to offer them a message of redemption and then imagine they actually repent. That is the emotional fuse at the heart of Jonah, and it’s why this ancient book still feels uncomfortably modern.  We walk through the ending of Jonah and focus on what the story is really exposing: not Nineveh’s sin, but Jonah’s rage at mercy. The prophet delivers a short warning, the whole city turns around, and Jonah melts down because forgiveness feels “wrong” when it’s given to the people we think deserve consequences. We unpack the dark humour and sharp satire of the bush and the worm, and we name the impulse underneath Jonah’s tantrum: the desire to keep score, to see justice as payback, and to secretly enjoy another person’s downfall.  From there we bring it into real life and into our current polarized culture. With help from Richard Rohr, we talk about dualistic thinking, our tendency to sort the world into good and bad, and how staying trapped in that binary can make us judgmental, dismissive, and emotionally stuck. The invitation is not to be naive about evil, but to find a wider frame where accountability and compassion can coexist, and where grace doesn’t depend on whether we feel it’s fair.  If this challenged you, share it with a friend and subscribe for more, and if you’re willing, leave a review. Who is the “villain” you struggle to imagine being forgiven? Support the show

    Jonah, Our Inner Villain, And The Hard Work Of Forgiveness

  8. Jul 12

    Jonah Chapter Two And The Hard Work Of Regret

    Send us Fan Mail Guilt has a way of shrinking your world until it feels like you’re living inside a sealed chamber, replaying the moment you wish you could erase. Jonah Chapter Two gives us one of scripture’s most human snapshots of that feeling: a prayer spoken from the belly of a big fish, where panic and regret finally slow down enough to become honesty before God. We follow the story’s sharp turn from Jonah’s rebellion to Jonah’s humility and ask what that shift reveals about repentance, grace, and spiritual growth. We also name the modern problem: we’re often well-trained in self-esteem but unpractised at dealing with guilt. Some of us push it away with denial, others get stuck in it as shame, and both reactions keep us from real change. Along the way, we connect this to public life, including the tension between celebration and accountability, and we share a vivid travel story from Germany where memorial plaques in everyday streets keep hard history from being forgotten. Then we reframe the big fish. What if it isn’t God’s punishment cell, but a protected space where we can finally face our weakness, tell the truth, and find the next faithful step? We close with simple questions you can carry into your own “belly” moments: where do I need God’s support, and where is redemption already being offered? If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it. Support the show

    Jonah Chapter Two And The Hard Work Of Regret
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Ratings & Reviews

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About

Audio of Pastor Darren Cowdrey's weekly message, as we work together toward fulfilling our mission statement: "Setting a Course for a Better Life." Live-streamed weekly from our campus in Westlake Village, CA.  Video of this entire worship service is available for viewing or listening on our home page at http://www.umcwv.org for approximately 3 weeks, and then also available on our YouTube channel at https://bit.ly/4hFmuBZ All songs used in compliance with our CCLI and streaming licenses.Copyright License # 1291056Streaming License #CSPL075029 If you'd like to support our ministries, please follow this link: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=6fe0e233-47e0-4a4b-8d21-f21ad5e75db8

Information

  • Creator
    United Methodist Church Westlake Village
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    529
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 United Methodist Church Westlake Village
  • Show Website
    United Methodist Church Westlake Village