VOLUME ONE Westwood Community Church WINTER 2020-2021Friday and Saturday, December 4–5 and 11–12 from 5:30–8:30pm at the Chanhassen and Bush Lake Campuses For more info: westwoodcc.org/lights Experience the Christmas story in a whole new way with the Christmas Lights Drive-Thru. This free, family experience features light displays, live animals, snacks, and more!You are invited to join us, wherever you are this Christmas Eve! For the full schedule of service times on December 23 & 24, and to RSVP, head to: westwoodcc.org/christmasFront Doors Keri and I replaced our home’s front door recently. While we hope to gain some energy savings, functionality, etc. from the new door, the change was primarily aesthetic, to increase our home’s curb appeal. We wanted our front door to match the warmth and hospitality we’ve designed into the interior of our home. The front door serves to welcome people in, hoping they will sit and stay awhile. The front door plays an enormous role in your home’s first impression. Front doors matter! The church has a front door. Because we want to be attractive to those seeking Jesus, at Westwood we put that same intentionality into our campus entrances with landscaping, planters and glass doors leading to attractive commons spaces. We have done so hoping people new to the community, or those seeking faith, would come through the front door, sit, and stay awhile. There was a time when many would even drive into the parking lot during the week. They would come in, look around, and pick up a brochure to learn about the church. Welcoming spaces remove obstacles for people. Today, the primary front door to Westwood is digital. That shift was happening prior to COVID, but the pandemic has accelerated it. Today, visitors primarily come to our website and to our Online Campus. And why wouldn’t they? Digital reaches people where they are, often from the security and comfort of their couches. Since they don’t have to travel and enter an unfamiliar facility with people they don’t know, their willingness to come increases. And since the Online Campus knows no boundaries, the seeds of the gospel are being spread far and wide! We wel- comed a new member recently from Anoka, hardly our neck of the woods, but between attending with family from Eden Prairie and the online campus, he felt connected enough to Westwood to join the church! During COVID, most people have participated in our online services. While physical attendance will certainly increase as we emerge from the pandemic, the experts say there is no going back to the way it used to be. The new normal includes digital! While we will always encourage in-person worship, we will seize the exciting possibilities of digital ministry to reach people with the love of Jesus! Online ministry makes our services and content available, on-demand, whenever a person wants or needs to engage with it. Outside of Sundays, an additional 600-700 people view our services across Westwood Online, Facebook and YouTube throughout Joel K. Johnson, Pastor the week. That number is growing all the time. According to the research of the National Center for Biotechnology Information, the average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to just 8.25 seconds in 2015. That’s approximately a 25% drop in a little more than a decade. The front door of our online experience must be compelling! In 2021 we’ll be thinking everything through digitally the way we think through every- thing physically for the unchurched. The first impression made by the digital front door of our webpage, Facebook page, Instagram account or Twitter feed will focus on moving online participants from visiting to engaging with Westwood. We are designing high-touch follow up to invite people into the “living room” of the Westwood community. Our goal—to engage with “viewers” and invite them into journeying with us as fellow disci- ples of Jesus Christ. This Christmas season and into 2021, besides inviting people to in-person services at West- wood, consider family members and friends who might say “no” to an in-person visit, but would be willing to come through the front door of our online services from their own living rooms. You send them the link; we’ll make sure the door is open and the greeting is warm. We’ve always been about opening the front door. It’s just now—that door is digital. “Since the online campus knows no boundaries, the seeds of the gospel are being spread far and wide!”Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. JOHN 14:27 I was invited to pray for a friend recently via Zoom. My friend, Debby, is in advanced stages of cancer and a group of us gathered online from all over the country to lift her up in prayer. While we wove healing into our prayer requests, the most prevalent prayer offered was for peace. The importance of having internal peace when facing challenging circumstances struck me. We can’t control our circum- stances—whether they include illness in a pandemic or the fallout from job loss—but we can control how we face them. Will we let anxiety and inner turmoil rule us as it did Job? “I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil” (Job 3:26). Or will we seek to invite Christ, the Prince of Peace, to reign in our hearts and minds? Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In the Old Testament, peace often refers to an absence of conflict with surrounding kingdoms. The New Testament, however, approaches peace in primarily three differ- ent ways: peace with God, peace with one another, and peace within. Pursuing Peace in a Pandemic Peace with God is essential before you can enjoy peace with others or within. “God… sent Christ to make peace between himself and us” 2 Corinthians 5:18 (CEV). “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Peace with others is possible because God offers us relational peace. “If you want to strengthen your relationship with others… strengthen your relationship with God,” said Rick Warren in Three Kinds of Peace God Wants to Give You This Christmas. “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). Peace within ourselves, or the peace of God, is the peace I want to address here. When I have peace with God, then I have the peace of God inside me. Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” When God’s peace rests upon us, our cares melt away. The cancer may still be there. We “We can’t control our circumstances— whether they include illness in a pandemic or the fallout from job loss—but we can control how we face them.” by Roberta Nicholsmay still be without work, in a difficult relationship or in the middle of a pandemic. Amidst all of this, we can still know, experience and rest in His peace. His peace can guard our hearts and minds when doubt and fear assail us. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understand- ing, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Psalm 34:14 tells us to seek peace and pursue it. Pursue means to chase, follow or seek. Peace doesn’t just show up in our lives, we must seek it out. How do we pursue it? Through prayer and petition with thanksgiving. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” We must pursue peace by praying about all that threatens it and then give it over to God with thanksgiving that he will answer. Leaving our concerns in God’s hands allows his peace to guard our hearts and minds. Seek Peace through Prayer and Petition Memorizing and meditating on scripture can calm our hearts and minds. It takes the focus off our troubles and reminds us of what is true. “Those who love your laws have great peace of heart and mind and do not stumble” (Psalm 119:165 TLB). Seek Peace in His Word Spending time with God in prayer, read- ing scripture, and offering praise and thanksgiving helps us enter God’s pres- ence. Psalm 22:3 says the Lord inhabits (or is enthroned upon) the praises of His people. James 4:8 tells us to “come near to God and he will come near to you.” As C. S. Lewis said, “God can’t give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.” Pursuing the Prince of Peace, who is himself peace (Ephesians 2:14) allows us to be at rest in him and receive his peace. Seek Peace in His Presence HOW DO WE EXPERIENCE PEACE WITHIN OURSELVES? My Prayer for You May God extend his peace to you like a river (Isaiah 66:12). May the peace of Christ rule in your heart (Colossians 3:15). May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way (2 Thessalonians 3:16). May his perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge (John 14:27 AMP). May the Lord be with you. Amen. Roberta Nichols has attended Westwood for more than 15 years and currently serves on the Missionary Care Team and as a Mentor Mom for MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). She and her husband Chaz live in Chaska and have two sons, Ben (age 22) and Mark (age 20).Unextinguishable Hope Social distancing, aimed at addressing the spread of the virus, is really messing with our holiday plans! Hard conversations are taking place within many of our homes concerning significant changes during the holidays. My family is no exception. Like most, we face being apart from loved ones at Thanksgiving and Christmas. We, too, are wrestling with how to celebrate certain family traditions long distance. It’s tough to pass the turkey, piece together a puzzle, and play countless hands of up-and-down- the-river via Zoom. Although, there is one tradition we will continue, no matter the miles between us. Each of us will still have sloppy joes, Old Dutch ripple chips, and fruit salad on Christmas Eve! All kidding aside, we all feel the discouraging effects of distancing in our personal lives and families. More than ever, it is vital that we draw on our faith to be reminded of God’s presence. It’s also essential to find creative ways to demonstrate our love and care for one another. by Dave Trautmann Community Care Pastor “More than ever, it is vital that we draw on our faith to be reminded of God’s presence. It’s also essential to find creative ways to demonstrate our love and care for one another.” To that end, allow me to offer a word of promise and a suggestion. The promise is likely very familiar to you. So don’t rush pass it. Really slow down and sit with it. Read it several times and allow the Spirit to renew your joy and remind you of Jesus’ reigning presence and peace in and through each of our lives.Announced nearly 900 years before the birth of Christ, the Prophet Isaiah strikes a match and lights the candle of inextinguishable hope: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the shadow of death a light has dawned… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. (Isaiah 9:1,2,6-7) To be sure, these are dark days. All the more reason that we invite the light of Christ to illuminate our hearts and shine through us! One added suggestion. Bring your family and invite a friend or neighbor to enjoy Westwood’s Christmas Lights Drive-Thru. It’s a simple and fun way to shine the light of Christ in our community! May this be our prayer: “O star that shone o’er Bethlehem, now let your kindly light, with tranquil hope and glory shine, in every home tonight. To every dark and anguished heart, send down your ray divine; and may the light of God’s own love, like Christmas candles shine.” (Lyric from “Now Shine a Thousand Candles Bright”) The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the shadow of death a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2Next >