The leadership of Willow Creek believes God wants to unleash unprecedented levels of compassion into our broken world. The Bible says someday all things will be made new, but until then, instead of sitting around waiting for the world to change, Creekers have decided to get off their hands and do something about it.

“It floors me that God would call us, people in desperate need of grace, to go out and be grace dispensers on this planet,” said Teaching Pastor Mike Breaux. “We get to partner with God to redeem and restore.”

In Luke 10, Jesus tells one of the most famous stories of compassion in the history of literature—the story of the Good Samaritan.

“As parents, we need to teach our kids that it doesn’t matter what size, shape, or color someone else is,” said Mike.

Luke 10:36-37, Jesus explains who our neighbor is. In the case of the Good Samaritan, it was the one who showed mercy and Jesus instructs us to follow the Samaritan’s example. Extending mercy to our neighbors means living the kind of faith that goes beyond a church building and out into the world where the pain is real and raw. It means unleashing compassion through our lives and living the kind of faith that really loves others.

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. (Romans 12:9 NLT)

Compassion—A Mandate and a Privilege

God is doing something huge in the hearts of the people of Willow Creek; He is expanding our hearts. As we get to know and love our neighbors—in Chicagoland, in the Gulf Coast, in Latin America, in Africa—generosity flows like a river. When love emerges as a core value, love defines us and compassion becomes the heartbeat of our church.

Saving souls is a partial expression of the business of the church. It’s hard to open the Bible without coming across God’s passion for those who are marginalized. Extending compassion is both a mandate and a privilege for Christ followers.

When churches get holistic in caring for the needs of the people, things change. People become open to the possibility there might be a God who loves them and they are exposed to the salvation message. The Extension, Global Connections, and Community Care ministries at Willow Creek are putting legs to compassion and justice—at home, across the street, in the suburbs and the inner city, in places like the Gulf Coast, Latin America, and Africa.

When we become others-centered and love those God loves, our lives take on a whole new meaning.

“Imagine what could happen in our neighborhoods, schools, and communities if we got strategic about dispensing love,” said Mike. “Imagine what God could do through hearts full of compassion that were totally surrendered to Him.” We could do something about social injustice. Resources would flow from grateful hearts. We would be so full of joy, mercy, grace, and compassion that people would want to know why. And they would hear that it was because of the love of Jesus.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. (Ephesians. 2:10 NLT)

We Will Make a Difference

Last year, as part of Celebration of Hope, Willow Creek filled over three 40-foot trailers with clothing, shoes, computers, power tools—things that went to our neighbors in need. This year, when we expanded Celebration of Hope into our neighborhoods and opened Regifting Depots in 160 garages throughout Chicagoland, we filled over 16 trailers! Ministry partners in the Dominican Republic, Chile, Angola and Malawi could only handle 10 trailers.

“The remaining six will go to respond to local needs,” said Lead Pastor Gene Appel. “We dream about what could happen if compassion for our broken world were not just one of the many things we do at Willow, but if it were one of the top three things we did.”

Celebration of Hope is one example of what can happen when we are unleashed to care.