Atlanta Westside Presbyterian Church

Solomon’s temple spared no expense to create a house for God, with at least three purposes: 1. to preach the point of life (communion with God) 2. to showcase the character of God (trustworthy, priceless, beautiful, perfect, holy and merciful) 3. to situate us in our story (Garden -> tabernacle -> temple -> spiritual house -> body of Christ -> New Jerusalem) Knowing this, we have al...

Solomon's wisdom led Israel into an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity, but at no small cost. His expansive "breadth of mind" illustrated the numerous ways we can serve and glorify God today. God even used him to partially fulfill many of his ancient promises to Abraham: for people, place, protection and a program of blessing the nations. Yet Solomon's achievements still fell short of God's...

Solomon's famous wisdom was not a clever trick but evidence of a deep attunement to the heart of God. Three marks characterize it: 1) taking people seriously, 2) listening for the heart, and 3) keeping mercy and justice together. All three are embodied most fully by Jesus, whose cross finally explains how God can show us both mercy and justice. By the grace he earned for us, ordinary Christians no...

God’s extraordinary offer to Solomon challenges us to consider how we ourselves might respond.  Solomon’s bases his answer on three assessments: of God, of his father David, and of himself. Ultimately, his request for wisdom – for, literally, a “hearing heart” –  doesn’t prioritize his own needs, but the common good of God’s people whom he is called to lead. This godly choice can only come from a...

missing description

missing description

We can forget that for God’s people before Jesus came, waiting for the Messiah involved some risk. If God comes in power, is that good for us or bad? When Gabriel visits Mary to announce the Messiah’s birth, we see that God’s mighty power is pointed toward us in love and because of his grace—to save us. What’s more, it’s worth the risk to obey God while we wait for him to come again, even at perso...

missing description

missing description

The first advent of Jesus was marked by the presence of angels, but who are they, and what is their relationship to him? Hebrews 1 explores this relationship, emphasizing the absolute supremacy of Jesus over all things, including the scary-cool angels. Even more striking is that both Jesus and his angels have stooped to seek and serve human beings. We, then, are called to respond to this great sal...

Embracing limitations does not mean lowering expectations. When we acknowledge our real physical, spiritual and emotional limitations, God delights to show his power working through them, or through other people. Embracing our limitations becomes, paradoxically, a way of maximizing collaborations, expecting God to do more than we could ever try to do ourselves.

missing description

God designed people to live in dependence on him and in interdependence with the created world: In Hebrew, humankind is adam, and the ground is adamah. This design has been complicated by our fall into sin, but it is being redeemed by the work of Christ. When Christ returns, he will fully restore our relationship to himself, to our bodies, and to the earth. Until then, Christians have the privileg...

The story Zaccheus illustrates how the grace of Jesus restores us to a healthy relationship with God, with each other, and with our community.

missing description

The Good News of Jesus is not just preached but felt, embodied in the lives of people in community.

missing description

What steeps in your heart steers your whole life – either closer to the Lord, or farther away from him.

missing description

This sermon explores the model of conflict resolution modeled in Philippians 4:1-3, which is one way to fulfill our third handshake vow, "If we ever have conflict, I will work with you to resolve it Biblically."

missing description

Our second handshake vow, "I won't gossip about you," seeks to heed James's command not to "speak evil against one another." This means any speech that unduly damages the reputation of another believer, whether it is sharing false information (often called slander) or true information (often called gossip). James knows such speech can poison communities, but here he focuses on how it poisons gossi...

missing description

Walter Henegar preached this sermon on Matthew 7:1-6

missing description