Teachings
The Mission of Jesus
We begin the New Year thinking about "The Mission of Jesus." As a traveling rabbi, Jesus gathered large crowds and he told them stories that they could identify with in order to point them to the truth about himself. We will look at a well known one, the parable of the sower. Our reading helps us understand Jesus' Method, Message and How the Message Would Spread. As we think about our future as a church heading into 2026, it is really helpful to focus on Jesus, what he was about. How does this translates into our mission and ministry as a local congregation? We will see.
State of the Church 2025
On the final Sunday of each year, I like to take my teaching time to reflect on the life and ministry of our faith family. I am so grateful for each person who worships and serves at West Church. The ministry is a huge team effort, and you make it a joy. What are some of the high points of our year? What are some of the challenges we face and need to prepare for? As we ring in 2026, we pray for the grace and strength that our Savior gives to live into his mission and calling.
Mary
This Christmas Eve we revisit the story of Mary in Luke 1 and explore what her response to God reveals about genuine faith. Mary begins with simple, willing trust—“Let it be to me according to your word”—but her journey shows that faith doesn’t stay static. It grows, stretches, and deepens through confusion, hardship, and wonder. From Jesus’ birth to His ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection, Mary continually relearns who her son truly is: the Son of God, the Savior, the risen King.
The message invites us to reflect on our own faith this Christmas. Do we merely acknowledge Jesus, or do we trust Him, love Him, and yield our lives to Him? Like Mary, we’re called to let God interrupt our plans, shape our hearts, and lead us into a deeper, more mature faith—one that believes He is with us, loves us, and carries us through every season.
The Bathsheba Scandal
In our Advent series "Grace Required: The Family Tree of Jesus" we will consider David & Bathsheba. The setting is one of the highpoints in the history of Israel, the reigns of King David and his son, Solomon. But the scene is one of dismal failure and shame. Bathsheba is caught in the middle of the struggle. At the beginning of the story, she's laregely the victim. Towards the end of the story, she rises above her circumstances and has a positive influence. She becomes active in redeeming the kingship in Israel for one more generation. Through her dark ordeal, she becomes a light. She probably would not have chosen what happened. But God was at work graciously preserving his people until a better, different King would come. We are not just victims of the evil around us. By God's grace in our lives, He may still do something special with our lives, if we rely on Him and show up when needed.
Rahab - A Person with a Past
This Advent our theme is "Grace Required: the Family Tree of Jesus." We are looking at the stories of the people who make up the family tree of the Lord Jesus. This week: a Canaanite prostitute in the city of Jericho named Rahab. You never know where a new believer may come from. But you will come to recognize them by the shape of their faith. Rahab was an unclean person with a soiled past. She was afraid of the God of Israel and his people. That fear matured into faith and she married into the community of Israel. Jesus came at Christmas so that he might cover over our shame, deliver us into his love and give us peace and joy, as a gift. All this, only when we believe. If you are hungry for the grace of God, "Come and get it!"
The Family Tree of Jesus
This Sunday we will focus on Advent in our teaching series entitled "Grace Required: the Family Tree of Jesus." We will see why the coming of Jesus to be born to redeem was so much more than a "Hallmark Moment." It was absolutely necessary if there was ever a hope for the world We will consider some of the special names singled out in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. This week we will look at the life of Tamar & Judah in Genesis 38, talk about dysfunctional. If ever there was a family that needed grace, it was the family of Jacob/Israel. It becomes abundantly clear, even among the people who know the One True God, that they were desperate for the mercy, grace and kindness of God. If you are not a Hallmark Christian, from a Hallmark family with a Hallmark life, then you are just the kind of person Jesus came for...grace required. Join us this Advent to see why the hope of the good news is so necessary.
Deep Connections
After this Sunday, I will pause our series "Your Best Life Ever Now!" for Advent. But this week we will look once more at Philippians in 2025. We gain a window into Paul's personal relationships and how relationships between believers were fostered and treasured in the New Testament time. There were deep and meaningful friendships, some even inseparable. They made generous sacrifices for one another: traveling, giving, caring, learning and suffering together. News and prayers were treasured gifts in the days of foot travel. Surely one of the reasons Paul stood firm as a prisoner was because of good friends. We will consider what the situation was like for them and the shape of Christian friendship. Next week we will begin our Advent series "Grace Required: The Family Tree of Jesus."
Working Out Your Salvation
This Sunday we continue in our series, "Your Best Life Ever Now." Have you ever received a gift that you absolutely loved? What did you do with it? Most likely you opened it up and started enjoying it in whatever way it was meant to be enjoyed. God has given us an infinite gift. It is called salvation. And we are invited to open it and enjoy it for the rest of our lives. Paul tells us in Philippians to "Work out your salvation." It is a beautiful perspective on the all new life and relationship that God has given us. We will consider what this means, what it looks like and the results it brings.
Have This Mind
In our series "Your Best Life Ever Now," we arrive at Philippians 2:5-11. It is one of the most beautiful and profound descriptions of who Jesus is and what he chose to do for us. It also describes how God the Father honors what his Son went through for us. It starts in heaven, comes down to all the ugliness of the earth, and returns to the heavens. This is what our Savior did, what he chose to do. What kind of God humbles himself like that? He's a God of lavish love, unthinkable authority, and unimaginable glory. Jesus lets go of all that was his, empties himself, humbles himself, and dies on a cross, for us. We're told that we should "have the mind of Christ." God intends to help us with this.
No One is an Island
In Sunday's passage, we will see Paul encouraging the church in Philippi to live their lives for and with each other. Contrary to what our culture tells us, there are no self-sufficient human beings, and certainly no self-sufficient Christians. We will see that a life lived for others is truly the best life we can live- one marked by unity, humility, and generosity.
Worthy
In our series "Your Best Life Ever Now" we look at another transformative life perspective from Paul: You are a worthy Citizen of God's Kingdom. We belong to something that God is doing in the world right now to make us ready for the next. What God is doing now is transformative, redemptive and lasting. He tells us 4 things citizens of the kingdom do and he shows us how and why they do them. Come and belong to the Kingdom this Sunday
Centered
We continue in our series "Your Best Life Ever Now." Here we see that Paul has a completely new center to universe of his life. This new center changes everything for him. "To live is Christ." Christ is his life. Religion was not his life. Ministry was not his life. Success was not his life. Freedom was not his life. Christ was his life. Jesus was the sun of Paul's solar system. Everything revolved around Jesus. This new center gave him purpose, relationships and hope. Is Christ your center? How does he change these things for you?
I Am Still Useful to God
Have you ever doubted that you had anything to offer God? You look at others who seem so "gifted" and think, I could never be like that. Or perhaps circumstances have changed for you and you aren't as available to do the things you used to do for God. Or perhaps you feel like a spiritual novice. You don't feel like your life is kind of messy and you feel like all the people around you at church have it "all together." I suspect Paul may have had those feelings, having been a zealous missionary who was now rotting in prison for several years. However, he also discovered something else while there: I am still useful to God. Knowing that lifted his spirits and even brought him joy. Please join us Sunday for our second in our teaching series, "Your Best Life Ever Now."
God is at Work in You
his week we begin an all new series entitled "Your Best Life Ever Now' through the book of Philippians. Have you ever been in a really negative situation in which, no matter how much you wanted out, no matter how hard you tried, there was almost nothing you could do? If you are in a situation like that, I empathize with you. If you remember one, you're probably happy it's passed. We want out of those situations ASAP and hope never to go back again. Paul was in one of those situations. He was in a Roman prison awaiting trial. While there he wrote a letter to the church he started in the city of Philippi. He was stuck there and there was little he could do about it. But it happens to be one of the most positive letters of all the ones that we have. Paul is encouraged, he is strong, he is confident, he is hopeful. How is it possible to live a positive life in the most negative of circumstances? If that makes you curious, let's try to learn together how he did it beginning this Sunday.
Gideons
This Sunday will be the first of the 2025 Missions Conference. The order of service will be familiar, but we will have guests from the Gideons sharing during the sermon time and a Missions Flash from one of our other partners before we pray. In addition, there are a variety of fun events planned throughout the week.
The End
This Sunday we conclude our series "Living In God's World, Even When It's Hard." Daniel's final vision takes us to the end, the very end of time. God wants people to know that he has it all sewn up. He has his people to the very end. The only thing we need to do is endure, to hang on. We endure by trusting that our Redeemer is able to redeem us to the very end. And the ending is great—resurrection. The resurrection of the righteous in to bright and glorious light after all that they have been through. The resurrection of the wicked to final judgement and the pure justice of God on those who resist and oppose him. Our story has an incredible ending. We just have to keep reading, living, walking, praying, believing. The ending is God himself forever, the greatest gift anyone could ever ask for.
Power!
As we near the end of our series "Living in God's World, Even When It's Hard" I would like you to consider this question, "Have you ever worked for a great boss? And what made them great?" A boss is a person who has authority, they are the boss. But a great boss uses that authority in a way that benefits the employees, benefits the company and benefits the customer or the community. They use authority well. This Sunday's reading is about power in the world. The nations that would arise after Daniel would wield great power. They would battle back and forth to gain it or to keep it. The passage is about how power is wielded in the world. The people of God often find themselves subject to powers that purpose to harm them. They are often at the short end of the stick. God warned us that this would happen. As believers in Jesus we often talk about the power of Jesus in our lives. Power is not evil in and of itself, but it is the people who have it and what they do with it that is the problem. How does know Jesus as our Savior and Lord change the way we view and exercise authority? Let's think about that together.
Now You See It
We are counting down to the finish in our series, "Living in God's World, Even When It's Hard." Daniel 10 is the prelude to Daniel's final vision in 11-12. We find Daniel spiritually hungry and weakened in body and spirit. Messengers come to strengthen and encourage him. God actually wants to strengthen us and help us when we come to him in weakness and longing for him. God's presence is so breathtaking, we need grace to even receive it. It is also revealed to Daniel that the battle that he has been living first in Babylonian empire, now in the Persian Empire is also a cosmic spiritual battle between heaven and the powers of darkness. We tend to see our struggles in life only from a limited, human perspective. The Bible informs us that there is a cosmic spiritual struggle going on both within ourselves and within the heavens and the earth. We need strength beyond ourself to engage. Our God is with us.
The Pharisee Within
This Sunday, join us as Joshua Rizzo shares with us on a focus on how internal attitudes and actions, mirroring the Pharisees' behavior in the Bible, can create barriers for others to embrace a true relationship with Jesus.