Atlanta Westside Presbyterian Church

A distraught father and a sick woman who come to Jesus have more in common than we might think. Both exercise desperate, risk-taking faith in the power of Jesus to heal, and both are rewarded with a bigger vision of Jesus and a new relationship to him. As we learn to distrust our own limited resources, we discover Jesus to be more than enough for us, too. 

By calling a tax collector as a disciple and eating a meal with his friends, Jesus sparks a debate: What sort of people should God's people associate with? His response uses metaphors about weddings, garments and wine to reframe the whole question. Rejecting simplistic binaries like righteous vs. sinners, fasting vs. feasting, or new vs. old, Jesus centers everything on his own person and work. Be...

Jesus healed a paralytic in front of the religious leaders, which, perhaps unexpectedly, sparked a controversy. This is because Jesus healed the paralytic by saying, “your sins are forgiven,” which the scribes felt was a right only ascribed to God. Exactly. Jesus is clearly revealing that he is God, not just some teacher or healer. Moreover, we won’t see Jesus is God if we fail to believe that God...

Jesus’ healing of two demon-possessed men illustrates his authority over the forces of darkness. It also raises some sticky questions about the reliability of the Bible and the reality of evil. By wrestling with them we learn that Scripture is reliable and trustworthy, even if it keeps us a bit off-balance with some of its little riddles; that demons are real and active in the world, but they are...

Jesus' calming of the storm reveals his authority over all of creation, not just sickness and evil spirits. His disciples' surprise suggests that even they hadn't fully grasped who he is—and Jesus' gentle challenge confirms it: "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" (v. 26). Our faith in Jesus, then, can be little or great, weak or strong, and everywhere in between. Ultimately, though, the q...

Jesus' healings remind us that his grace always comes first, and our faith is always a response to it. Faith means confidence in the absolute power of Jesus and a willingness to follow wherever he leads. Actually following him in the details of our lives is harder. Learning to trust him requires us to name our own internal obstacles and compare them to the soaring promises of Jesus to those who fo...

When Jesus heals people, it's not just about their bodies. The leper needs more than being restored to community, and the centurion needs more than a healed servant. Like us, they both need a deeper kind of inclusion that only Jesus can give and only Jesus can ensure. That's why faith—trusting in the absolute power and wisdom of Jesus—is the instrument for entering into his new kingdom reality, bo...

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An imaginative exploration of what Jesus’ first three days might have looked like, to help us understand the mystery of the incarnation.

The familiar images of Isaiah 40 surprise us with a powerful duel message: God wants to comfort us with his coming, and he wants us to prepare for his presence.

Isaiah 11 has three peaks of prophetic fulfillment: in Isaiah’s time, in the first coming of Jesus, and finally in his second coming to make all things new. When we put our hope in the God of this story, he enables us to live lives marked more by wonder than worry.

God tells us that he desires to bring peace to us - not just the end of the conflict, but the full flourishing of all things. That's why he sends the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to us. To be a King over us who brings endless boundless peace. God wants to make you whole, but to do it, he has to rule over you. Refusing to let God rule will lead to a self-wrought ruin and darkness that comes from rejectin...

Matthew 1:23 declares that the birth of Jesus fulfilled a sign promised by Isaiah over 700 years before. Isaiah's original prophecy, however, was not a simple prediction of a future event. The same God who took on flesh in the person of Jesus was present with his untrusting people through centuries of perilous uncertainty. Isaiah's challenge to be "firm in faith" (v. 9) is our same challenge today...

The doctrine of hell is repugnant to most people today, yet no one talked about it more than Jesus himself. In his parable-like picture of separating sheep and goats, Jesus shatters our stereotypes about his final judgment and presents a costly vision of how he both saves us and transforms us by grace. Along the way, he gives us some insight into what hell is like, why it exists, and what to do wi...

Five short responses clarifying the preacher's interpretation of the passage, about whether God can be present in hell, about why faith is the mechanism for salvation, about predestination, and about hopelessness... also three longer responses about how God can hold people accountable if they haven't heard the Gospel, about how there could be no sadness in heaven if people we love aren't there, an...

Distorted versions of Christianity aren’t good for anyone, but true Christianity is. Jesus refuses to let Christians narrow the circle and scope of their love, but instead compels us to love our enemies, just as he loved us when we were his enemies. Even if non-Christians never believe, the generous, pursuing love of God through his people should always bless and benefit them.

God doesn't tell us why suffering exists, but Romans 8:28 does give us hope in the midst of it. Unfortunately, this verse has also been misused as a band-aid that overreaches and silences sufferers. In order to find its true comfort, we must see how "all things" includes the bitterest forms of suffering, how God uses bad things for good without calling them good, and how the cross of Jesus leads u...

Questions about how God can be all-knowing, all-powerful and al-good; about distinctions in interpreting Romans 8:28; about inviting God into the journey of suffering with us; about knowing whether Christianity is true or prayers are answered; about where sin came from, and about free will in light of God's knowledge of the future.

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Six short responses to questions about polygamy, homosexuality, gender dysphoria, marrying not-yet-believers and moral shades of gray; five longer responses about whether people out of sync with he Bible can actually be saved, about our denomination's statements about gay or same-sex attracted people, about flourishing single sexuality and about married and single people flourishing together in co...

Few teachings are more incomprehensible to the modern secular person than traditional Christian teaching on sex. The heart of Paul’s argument is that Christians have been “bought” with the blood of Jesus, therefore everything we do with our lives, including our bodies, should be aligned with his purposes. In fact, the  bond created by human sexual intimacy is actually a shadow of the ultimate inti...

Worship is weird. When Christians pray, sing, recite old words, ponder scripture, and participate in sacraments, those who don't yet believe may wonder what on earth is going on. Is it a concert? A seminar? A variety show? In Psalm 145, David helps us understand worship by worshiping. As we ponder and speak and sing his words, we find ourselves drawn into the act of worship ourselves.

Questions about God's greatness as "unsearchable," about women in the church, about local & global outreach, about Christians justifying wealth, and how Christians experience the Holy Spirit.

No one is more critical of the failures of God's people than Jesus. In his six "woes" to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, Jesus not only eviscerates the hypocrisies of false religion, but warns true believers against falling into the same errors. Ultimately, the integrity of the Gospel is not preserved by Christians behaving perfectly, but by acknowledging their chronic weakness, returning c...

Questions on the canonization of the Bible, logic vs. feelings, identifying fake Christians, interacting with inconsistent Christians, how to know if we're not elect or just hypocrites, and asking hard questions vs. childlike faith.