Author and speaker Shauna Niequist shares with our families about how moms can stay healthy and how to best honor our own mothers.

For Willow, Celebration of Hope is not applause for Hope. COH is not cheering for hope (“Gimme an ‘H’!…”). COH is not about ginning up warm fuzzy feelings for Hope. COH is about becoming Hope, embodying Hope, personifying Hope, providing real, tangible Hope to our broken & hurting world. In this message from Acts 2, Lead Pastor Marcus Bieschke teaches WCL how we, as followers of Christ, are actually brokers of Hope—and on a global scale.

Our world is drowning with need. Who of us hasn’t watched the news or taken a drive through our community and secretly felt a low-grade fever of guilt for not meeting all the needs we see? Can we possibly meet every need? Does God expect us to meet every need? If only God provided a filter to help us figure out what needs He intends us to meet! Well, He does. And you may be surprised what He says. In this message, Lead Pastor Marcus Bieschke shares a teaching of Jesus from Luke 10 that will both relieve your guilt and release you to meet only those needs God expects you to meet.

Thousands of years ago a man walked into the ancient temple courts to give God a thank offering through song.  Psalm 116 takes us on a journey through one man’s encounter with God’s Goodness and its impact on us still today.

This message from John 2 (the water to wine miracle) was taught by Lead Pastor Marcus Bieschke during “WHAT IF Weekend.” It was a part of an edgy experiment to give everyone a taste of what the church would be like without the Body of Christ. We started the service asking the question, “WHAT IF no one at WCL used his/her gifts?” and ended the service with the flip question, “WHAT IF every single one of us deployed our gifts to serve Him here?” In this message, Marcus explains how moments before a miracle, God asks us for a step of faith. Moments before God moves, it’s your move.

We continue our FORWARD series and stretch our thinking to new levels with a message called “Forward in Our Character” by special guest, live teacher, Professor Soong-Chan Rah. “Prof. Rah” is Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. He’s also an author and the former founding pastor of the Cambridge Community Fellowship Church, a multi-ethnic, urban ministry-focused church committed to living out the values of racial reconciliation and social justice in the urban context. I’ve been looking for ways to stretch my own family’s understanding of how we can become more of an intentional force for racial reconciliation. Prof. Rah is the right man to help us all move forward there—as individuals, as families, and as a bold & courageous church.

When you gather together as the church, what should happen? How should we approach God? Should we actually expect to be touched by Him every time we come together? What does that look like? The way we approach our weekend experience (both our congregation and our leaders) shows why Willow has one of the most unique and impactful models of ministry in the world. Listen as Marcus Bieschke (WCL Lead Pastor) and Kurt VonEschen (WCL Worship Pastor) explain how we prepare to encounter God each weekend.

When it comes to our families, can I tell you what you want what you really, really want? We all want influence. But that only comes with the hard work of fierce intentionality. It’s just plain hard to grow a strong, vibrant family these days. But it is doable. In this message, Lead Pastor Marcus Bieschke uses Deuteronomy 6:5-9 to help us to understand that—with God’s help and with your deliberate focus and energy—you can enjoy healthy relationships in your family.

See here’s what we know about each other: we can go through our whole lives and just rack up Christmases. Some of us have had 30, 60, even 90 Christmases! We all know this is true: it’s possible to have a life filled with Christmases but empty of God. We know how to do Christmas—the routine, the repetitiveness, the ritual. But we just end up RE-Christmasing each year. Then the next day we feel hollowed-out and spent. This year can be different. There is a way to break free from the RE-Christmas Syndrome. There is a way for you to enjoy a REAL Christmas. But there’s only 1 way that can happen—it’s got to get PERSONAL.