What if the way we’ve imagined God… is off? In this message, we step into Palm Sunday—a moment where two very different pictures of power enter the same city. One built on force, control, and fear. The other quiet, unexpected, and easy to miss. Jesus doesn’t just challenge political power. He challenges how we imagine God. If God looks like Jesus, then power, authority, and even peace may not be what we thought they were. Lent brings us to this turning point— where we’re invited to reconsider wh...
Mar 29, 2026•27 min
What do you do when God doesn’t show up the way you expected? In this message, we step into the story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus—a story filled with urgency, disappointment, and unanswered questions. Jesus is close enough to help, but he doesn’t come. And the silence leaves people asking the question many of us have asked: Where were you? This moment sits right on the edge of something bigger. But before anything changes, there is grief, confusion, and the weight of not understanding. Lent doe...
Mar 22, 2026•26 min
Why didn’t the disciples understand what Jesus was doing? Even after hearing his teaching, watching his miracles, and sitting with him at the Last Supper, they were still arguing about who would be the greatest. In this message, we step into the world of the Roman Empire to understand why. The entire system of Rome was built on hierarchy—power, status, and honor flowing from the top down. It shaped how people saw the world, how they understood success, and even how they imagined God’s kingdom. B...
Mar 15, 2026•31 min
Why didn’t the disciples understand what Jesus was doing? Even after hearing his teaching, watching his miracles, and sitting with him at the Last Supper, they were still arguing about who would be the greatest. In this message, we step into the world of the Roman Empire to understand why. The entire system of Rome was built on hierarchy—power, status, and honor flowing from the top down. It shaped how people saw the world, how they understood success, and even how they imagined God’s kingdom. B...
Mar 08, 2026•41 min
Every culture has a story about power. The victors write history. The strong rise. The important take the seat at the table. But in this second week of Lent, we’re invited to remember a different kind of story. At a Passover table, Jesus does something no one expected. In a room full of arguments about who is greatest, he kneels. Then he takes a cup and reframes everything they thought they understood about redemption. Lent is a season of remembering. Remembering what real strength looks like. R...
Mar 01, 2026•26 min
What happens when everything starts to fall apart? We begin Lent 2026 with a story about a public mistake, a quiet interruption, and a surprising sign. This message explores what Jesus is like in moments of exposure — and what that might mean for us as we enter this season. If you’re carrying something heavy… Or if you think you’ve got things figured out… This might be the right place to start.
Feb 22, 2026•35 min
This message concludes our seven-week series exploring the questions that quietly shape our lives. In Part 7, we wrestle with the final question: Do I have a purpose? For many of us, purpose feels tied to achievement, calling, or dramatic moments. But this teaching reframes the conversation. Purpose isn’t something we discover by escaping our ordinary lives. It’s something we live out in them. Tracing the story from Genesis through Jesus, we’re reminded that even in fracture—work that feels exha...
Feb 15, 2026•31 min
This message continues a seven-week series exploring the questions that shape how we see ourselves and God. In Part 6, we face one of the most painful questions many of us carry beneath failure, comparison, and performance: Am I good enough? This teaching names shame for what it is—not guilt over what we’ve done, but a belief that something is wrong with who we are. Through personal story, Scripture, and Jesus’ encounters with people caught in shame, we’re invited to see how shame isolates, hide...
Feb 08, 2026•33 min
This message continues a seven-week series built around the questions that quietly shape our lives. In Part 5, we explore a question many of us carry beneath our drive and ambition: Am I successful? Through personal story, cultural reflection, and Scripture, this teaching examines how success becomes tangled with worth—and how failure can feel like a threat to belonging itself. Drawing from Jesus’ words in John 15 and wisdom from Ecclesiastes, we’re invited to untangle who we are from what we do...
Feb 01, 2026•29 min
This message continues a seven-week series centered on the questions that shape how we see ourselves, God, and one another. In Part 4, we wrestle with a deeply human question: Am I wanted? Not just tolerated. Not useful. But genuinely wanted—for who we are, not what we contribute. Tracing this question through the Old Testament, the life of Jesus, and the early church, this teaching challenges the idea that belonging is earned through success, strength, or religious performance. Instead, it reve...
Jan 25, 2026•43 min
This message continues a seven-week series exploring the questions that quietly shape how we live. In Part 3, we turn to one of the most personal questions we carry: Am I loved? Not as an abstract idea, but as a lived reality—felt in moments when we wonder if anyone really sees us, hears us, or knows us. This teaching explores how the desire to be loved is often expressed through our need to feel known, seen, and heard—and how, when love feels uncertain, we begin searching for it in ways that le...
Jan 18, 2026•43 min
This message continues a seven-week series built around the questions that quietly shape our lives. In Part 2, we wrestle with the second question many of us carry beneath our anxiety: Am I secure? Using Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, this message reframes worry—not as a lack of faith, but as a sign of how deeply we long for safety and stability. Jesus isn’t dismissing real needs or practical concerns. Instead, he’s exposing how anxiety grows when security becomes something we hoa...
Jan 11, 2026•35 min
This message opens a seven-week series built around the questions we ask when life feels uncertain. The first question is simple, but it sits beneath so much of our fear and anxiety: Am I safe? Using the story of Jesus calming the storm, this teaching explores why the disciples weren’t just afraid of the waves—they were afraid of what it meant to be in the presence of a God they couldn’t control. The answer Jesus offers isn’t a promise that storms won’t come. It’s a deeper assurance: I am safe. ...
Jan 04, 2026•22 min
Dec 28, 2025•1 hr 22 min
Merry Christmas, Westwinds! Thank you for joining us for our annual Christmas Eve service. We had a wonderful time together in the heart of downtown Jackson at the Michigan Theatre–sharing stories of hope, holiday cheer, and a big helping of Christmas magic. Follow Westwinds Church on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram for more videos like this, or go to westwinds.org to stay up to date with what's going on at the Winds!...
Dec 25, 2025•1 hr 2 min
Merry Christmas, Westwinds! Thank you for joining us for our Christmas Eve services. We had a wonderful time together in the heart of downtown Jackson at the Michigan Theatre–sharing stores of hope, holiday cheer, and a big helping of Christmas magic. Follow Westwinds Church on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram for more videos like this, or go to westwinds.org to stay up to date with what's going on at the Winds!
Dec 24, 2025•1 hr 2 min
For many of us, faith feels heavy. Like God has done so much for us that we must now repay Him with obedience, effort, or guilt-driven devotion. In this message, Pastor Josh reframes John 3:16 through the lens of Christmas, generosity, and love. God doesn’t come demanding repayment. God comes giving Himself. From a child giving a gift to their parent, to the vulnerability of a newborn baby, we’re reminded that love doesn’t ask, “What do I owe?” Love asks, “What can I give?” Christmas isn’t God h...
Dec 21, 2025•18 min
John 3:16 is often treated like a slogan, but John meant it as a story — a story told through real people and real encounters. In this message, Pastor Cory walks through the Gospel of John and shows how God’s love isn’t an abstract idea. It shows up through people: a teenager finding faith through kindness, a religious leader searching for status, a woman burdened by shame, a grieving family, a doubter who needs proof, and a disciple who can’t believe he’s still loved. Eternal life, John says, i...
Dec 14, 2025•25 min
When Jesus said, “God so loved the world,” John chose a surprising word. Not earth. Not humanity. Cosmos. All of creation. Everything God made. In this message, Pastor Phil unpacks how the love of God stretches far wider than we usually imagine—from mountains and oceans to the thin places where time and eternity brush up against each other. Through temple imagery, incarnation, and the presence of the Spirit, we see how God doesn’t stay distant. God comes near. God dwells. God fills creation—and ...
Dec 07, 2025•23 min
We spend so much of life trying to find God—trying to earn, deserve, or prove something. But the story of Scripture is the opposite: God comes to find us. From Abraham to Jesus to John 3:16, this message explores what makes the Christian story different from every other story humans have told about God.
Nov 30, 2025•25 min
A lot of people haven’t just walked away from church — they’ve lost the framework they once trusted. In this message, Pastor Cory returns to the stories of people who’ve been wounded, pushed out, or disillusioned, and asks a deeper question: how do you begin putting faith back together again? Using four “containers” — Construct, Deconstruct, Reconstruct, and Mystery — Cory walks through how people actually rebuild faith in real life. He looks at Timothy holding onto what formed him, Jesus crying...
Nov 23, 2025•41 min
For over a century, American Christianity has been shaped by fear—fear of losing power, fear of being wrong, fear of outsiders. But what if that fear has distorted the way we see God, the Bible, and even each other? In this message, Pastor Cory traces how American fundamentalism took root, how it still shapes our instincts today, and how Jesus offers a better way—a faith not rooted in control, but in trust. Because as John wrote, “Perfect love drives out fear.”
Nov 16, 2025•45 min
What happens when faith stops working the way it used to? In this message, Pastor Josh unpacks how seasons of doubt, disillusionment, and disappointment can actually become sacred ground. Using Elijah’s story, he shows that spiritual growth often follows a rhythm—order, disorder, reorder. When everything falls apart, God doesn’t demand quick fixes or blind optimism. He meets us right there, in the quiet, with gentleness and grace. Sometimes the breakdown is the beginning of something deeper....
Nov 09, 2025•34 min
Many of us have walked away from church—not because we stopped believing in God, but because of the pain, hypocrisy, or exhaustion we found there. In this message, Pastor Cory shares stories of people who left the church for good reason… and how the way back isn’t found in guilt or performance, but in rediscovering loyalty, honesty, and theology—in that order. It’s an honest look at what went wrong, what could go right, and how God’s loyalty always makes room for our honesty.
Nov 02, 2025•43 min
Jesus doesn’t stay distant from the mess — He moves toward it. His ministry shows us that the heart of God beats for those who are overlooked, unseen, and left out. To follow Jesus is to be with the Littles, the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely — not out of pity, but out of shared belonging. When we make room at our tables and in our hearts, we’re not just helping others; we’re meeting Christ Himself. The gospel is not about status, but about presence — a love that shows up, stays near, and calls...
Oct 26, 2025•39 min
Reconciliation isn’t a quick fix — it’s a process of being made new, one step at a time. The love of Christ compels us to let go of self-protection, to enter into the realities of pain and healing, and to receive and extend God's grace. True reconciliation mirrors the cross: it costs something, it feels something, and it changes everything. It shows up not just in words, but in the small, ordinary acts of care — in feeding, forgiving, showing up, and letting ourselves be seen. God is making all ...
Oct 19, 2025•23 min
The Holy Spirit can fill our lives so that generosity flows naturally—not out of guilt or obligation, but out of joy. Sharing isn’t just about money; it’s about what’s already in your hand—your time, your encouragement, your prayers, and your life. Just like the early believers and Barnabas, when we give freely, we bless others and experience freedom ourselves. True generosity changes hearts, builds community, and shows the world what God is doing.
Oct 12, 2025•30 min
We live in a culture built around convenience—cancel anytime, unsubscribe, skip the hard parts. But what happens when that mindset spills into the things that actually matter—our relationships, our faith, our community? In this message, Pastor Josh explores the sacred rhythm of making and keeping commitments. From Abraham’s covenant to Jesus’ table, we see a God who remains faithful even when we don’t. Commitment isn’t about perfection—it’s about presence. And when we keep showing up for each ot...
Oct 05, 2025•32 min
If you wanted to find Jesus, where would you look? Near the end of his life, Jesus told his disciples exactly where to find him—not in temples, not in power, but in shared practices that form a different kind of community. Baptism. Prayer. Scripture. Reconciliation. Generosity. And especially, the table. In this message, Pastor Cory explores why the table was—and still is—the place where eyes are opened, enemies become neighbors, and Jesus is recognized in bread broken and shared. The invitation...
Sep 28, 2025•38 min
Prayer isn’t about escape. It isn’t about begging God to take away all the hard things. In Acts 4, when the early church faced persecution, they didn’t pray for protection or revenge. They prayed for boldness. In this message, Pastor Cory explores how prayer has always been the place where God reshapes our desires, opens our eyes, and fills us with courage. It’s where we learn to see God making all things new—even in the face of evil—and where we find the confidence to live differently in the wo...
Sep 21, 2025•35 min
