Atlanta Westside Presbyterian Church

Hebrews 13:20-25 The closing verses of the book of Hebrews pray that God will "equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ" (v. 21). This sermon celebrates all the ways that God has already answered that prayer in the previous chapters.

July 21, 2024 Hebrews 12:8-29. We all want some combination of change and stability. The author of Hebrews argues that the Gospel gives us both sweeter stability and sturdier hope than living under the law. A Christian's "address" is no longer the scary, gloomy Mount Sinai where God gave Moses the Law, but the full and festive Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem where angels, saints and God himself...

July 28, 2024 Hebrews 13:1-6 commends a surprising combination of four virtues that are all forms of "brotherly love." Each of them identifies something of great weight or value—including isolation, mistreatment, sex and money—and pairs it with a corresponding aspect of the grace of God. Jesus matches the weight of isolation with the grace of providence, the weight of mistreatment with the grace o...

Hebrews 13: 7-19 How do you assess whether spiritual leaders are worthy of your trust? The author of Hebrews provides at least six key criteria, which we can apply to leaders across the spectrum—from any man, woman or child who "spoke the word of God to you" (v. 7) to the official church leaders we should trust and defer to. At the center of all criteria is the person of Jesus, who "is the same ye...

The race of faith requires discipline. Discipline includes embracing hard circumstances that God sends our way, and also hard choices that we make to fight our own sin. In both cases, we trust that we are God's beloved children, and he wants to redeem our pain to make us more like himself. Because discipline hurts, we must remember that Jesus always goes before us, trusting his Father's will to th...

In this very personal gratitude psalm of great deliverance, we come back to the simple truth that God's grace has radically liberated us from death. The Gospel changes everything, and we are called to sing this with everything in our beings. No matter what stage of life we are in, if you are in Christ then you have been delivered. With that, our praise of deliverance should come forth in our publi...

Psalm 30 teaches that despite our moments of despair and sin, God's mercy endures forever. He transforms our despair into joy and reminds us of His care even in darkness. Our identity is secured through Christ, where we find true freedom to dance as His beloved children.

Faith is a way of seeing the present through the lens of the future. The first half of Hebrews 11, often called the "Honor Roll of Faith," illustrates how the Old Testament patriarchs "saw" two vital elements of life: God's commendation, and God's inheritance. In both cases, those who believe experience a foretaste in this life, and the complete fulfillment in eternity.

Psalm 123 is one of 15 Psalms of Ascent, so named because God required his people to make the mountainous journey to his temple in Jerusalem three times a year. Psalms of Ascent were written to sing and were very communal, drawing God’s people together as they made their uphill journey toward the temple. Outside of whatever difficulties we face in attending church each Sunday, we really can’t comp...

How do we draw near to God? Hebrews 10:19-29 describes five essential ways: Through Jesus, with a true heart, without wavering, all together, till the Day.

If Christians permanently, perfectly forgiven, why don't we feel it? Hebrews 10 suggests that we still tend to lean on the old repetitive patterns of the law, including Baton Theology (Jesus saves us, and we take it from there), A Debtor's Ethic (we earn our ongoing forgiveness), and Gamifying God (we try to measure our performance rather than lean into his love). Because Jesus completed the work...

Jesus draws a contrast between the intoxicating agony of ministry and the helpless wonder of salvation. It's not wrong to rejoice that Jesus is pleased to channel his power through us, but it is infinitely more awesome that he saves us at all. Ironically, those who rejoice in their salvation above all become more effective channels of his power. Walter preached this sermon for the opening worship...

Joy is possible despite our circumstances because we know Christ and have an identity not based on our efforts but based on all that Christ has done. It is tempting to put our confidence in the value system of the world around us, but what Christ offers us is far superior than anything else we could ever possess. Our achievements or accolades cannot be the basis for our identity because ultimately...

In this passage, we meet a man in crisis: His life has come apart, and he comes to Jesus for rescue. But he is afraid: even if Jesus can help him, would Jesus even want to? This story reveals Jesus as more than simply a miraculous healer, but also a compassionate God, who knows us better than we might suspect. 

The old covenant sacrificial system viscerally illustrated the truth that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). Jesus perfects this principle, presenting his own blood “once for all” in the true tent, the actual presence of God. This new and better covenant doesn’t just purify our bodies, but even our consciences—assuring us that we belong with him forever...

What kind of story are Christians living in? Hebrews 8 reveals a sharp contrast between the default story of human progress and the Gospel story of grace.

Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones is a dramatic picture of the hope of the Gospel. Not only will all who trust in Jesus be physically resurrected, as Jesus was, but his Holy Spirit both dwells in us and fills up in us. As a result, we like Ezekiel can preach to the dry bones in our lives, and pray to the Breath to give them Life.

A meditation for Good Friday.

Everyone needs "priests" to give us authorized external confirmation that we are good enough, but all of our earthly priests will fail us, consigning us to a life of perpetual struggle. Jesus, however, is better than every priest who ever lived, even the mysterious priest-king Melchizedek, because his offering for us was final, and his prayers for us are perpetual. His once-for-all sacrifice on th...

Why should we trust the promises of God? Hebrews 6 gives us three reasons: a compelling example, a proven principle, and a satisfying metaphor. The compelling example is Abraham, patiently (and sometimes impatiently) waited for God to fulfill his promises. The proven principle is God swearing by his own self. Though oaths like this are less relied on today, they expose the personal acts of trust a...

It can be hard to tell the difference between an immature Christian and an inauthentic one. According to the author of Hebrews, the main difference is growth. While it is possible for people with significant spiritual experiences to "fall away," those who receive the gift of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus cannot lose it. At the same time, God wants us to keep growing into this salvation...

Many of us wake up each morning weighed down by the stress of life’s difficulties, pains, miseries, and so on. The world is constantly looking for solutions, but so far every man-made effort has failed. However, Jesus met every qualification to be that better solution. He became human, with limitations, who suffered and endured weakness, just as we do. And because of this, he understands us.

Christians who believe the Good News of Jesus can be confident that they will one day enter eternal rest with God in the new heavens and new earth. Until then, we can also rest in God’s peace, regardless of our circumstances. But this, too, requires strenuous believing, starting with the promise that Jesus has achieved our rest for us—so we don’t have to! It also involves practicing sabbath in com...