Woodland Hills Church

God created us with a homing device in our souls which causes us to hunger for LIFE that can only be filled through our connection with him. However, we too often fall into the trap of hungering and thirsting after idols that leave us empty and leave us restless.

Jesus taught that those who are meek will actually inherit the earth. What does this counter-cultural teaching mean? How does it relate to being humble and the reality that people are forced to be humble by those in power? This sermon explores these questions and then provides practical direction to embracing Jesus' teaching.

Jesus taught that those who mourn are blessed. This occurs as the people of God know how things should be and set God's beauty in contrast to the ugliness of the world. And thus, we mourn for God to come and bring his deliverance.

The Sermon on the Mount opens with a teaching on being poor in spirit, which refers to an attitude one has before God. It means not being self-reliant, but broken and dependent upon God for life.

This sermon introduces the Sermon on the Mount by asking why we should trust the words of Jesus found in Matthew 5-7. Jesus addresses big life questions and if we don't know why we should trust his answers, then we might place the authority of others on par with that of Jesus. Christ is the expert of all experts, which is the reason his teaching must be heeded.

This concluding sermon in our Race Conciliation series briefly addresses how prevalent racism has been in the history of the church. Then we hosted an extended panel discussion to answer questions we've gotten about race, and to discuss how to move forward as a reconciling people.

We are expected to go through life with friends who look like us. Being close with people who do not look like you is unusual in our culture, and the church tends to perpetuate this pattern. However, God's Kingdom is comprised of people from all kinds of backgrounds that don't look like our own. The question we all face is, "what will we do about it?"

We live in a world where Satan has laid claim to creation, while at the same time God is fighting to redeem all things through the work of the cross. These two fundamental forces are simultaneous, and we see them everywhere. Our calling is to participate in the good work that God is doing in order to advance the Kingdom.

Sin not only resides in the hearts of individuals; it also is woven through the systems and structures of our corporate way of life. Jesus entered into these systems to transform them and he now invites us to join him, offering our voices to bring liberation and reconciliation to our world.

God is inviting us to respond to the volatile issues around racism in a uniquely Kingdom way, a way modeled by Jesus. This Kingdom way provides concrete handles for battling against the rulers, authorities and powers that drive racism in our world.