Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland's Podcast

In chapter one, Peter describes Jesus as our living hope. Here, in chapter two, he describes our Lord as a living stone who has become the chief cornerstone. Though Jesus was rejected by men, He is chosen and precious to God. To those of us who believe, Jesus is precious, but to those who are disobedient and unbelieving, He is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. We too, who are believers i...

Peter's first letter is called a general epistle as it's not written to any one church or person. It's written to the saints living in the Northern part of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Peter's readers were facing persecution for their faith. Because of its focus on suffering, 1 Peter is often referred to as the "Job" of the New Testament. Peter encourages these readers and us to not focus on the tr...

Have we come to the realization that we all have sinned against God? Meaning that we have intended to live our lives our way, ignoring God's Commandments and the warning that the wages of sin is death. Not just physical death, which we all will experience, but a spiritual death, which is the daily emptiness of a life that eventually begins to have no meaning or fulfillment. Without God in our live...

Today, beginning in Lamentations 3, we will do an abbreviated word study of Grace in the Bible. You will learn of the rest and peace the Lord provides in times of turmoil.

The Book of Romans is the most comprehensive book on why Christ had to come and die for our sins. It causes us to see how far humanity has gone away from their Creator and His plan for the human race. We all have been, and are being infected daily by the power of sin and the worship of self. We cannot, apart from the working of the Holy Spirit, comprehend the state of our hearts and the bondage an...

Titus, a gentle, was a faithful co-laborer with Paul who was considered a son, a spiritual brother, a partner and helper, and a godly example to believers. Like Timothy, Titus was tasked with the assignment of bringing spiritual order to a Church planted in a pagan and immoral city. Like the Church today, Paul encourages Titus to Ordain godly leaders, teach sound doctrine, and refute false teacher...

After Paul was arrested and brought bound by the governing authorities he was given a chance to speak. The audience he began to testify to was just like before his encounter with Christ. As Paul at one time hated Christians and persecuted them with imprisonment and torture he was now facing persecution himself for preaching Christ as The Messiah. The fact that God had miraculously saved Paul from...

Today we study the final season of the Apostle Paul's Ministry. Paul's heart was always prepared to live his life for God's Glory and the blessings of others. He planned to meet with all the church plants to make sure things were stable, healthy, Truth based upon the scriptures and spreading the Good News. He realized based on his life of trials and adversity that we all need to be empowered to li...

This portion of scripture deals with loneliness, abandonment, and persecution. But the mercy of God endures forever. Having assigned missionary destinations to his trusted assistants Paul requested Timothy to be diligent to come to him quickly. Paul was all alone after being forsaken by Demas who turned back to the world. Only God can promise to never leave us nor forsake us.

Throughout the pastoral epistles, Paul emphasizes the importance of teaching sound doctrine to Timothy. Paul has made teaching truth the focal point of his ministry. In a time when there were so many false teachers and deceivers it was critical that Timothy sticks to feeding his flock the truth of God's word. So in Chapter 4, the last commands that Paul would make before being executed, he charges...

After declaring that the Perilous times will be characterized by the depravity of false teachers and unbelievers, Paul now encourages Timothy, as well as you and I, to continue in the things he has learned from faithful sources. Paul uses his own life, which Timothy has observed, as an example to imitate. He also reminded Timothy to remember the Holy Scriptures he learned from his youth. We too sh...

Whenever there is a dramatic change in people's lives, it begins to impact the normal rhythm of life in all places. In Ephesus, as a result of the Bible study Paul led daily for over two years, people were beginning to change their former interests in idolatry. Instead of spending their money on superstitions and pagan occult trinkets, the new Christians were spreading the Gospel everywhere. This...

The Apostle Paul began a Bible training center in Ephesus where he taught people The Way of Christ. Lives were transformed because of the power of the Holy Spirit transforming lives freeing people from the destructive influences of sin. The Word of God was changing the lives of many people who were forsaking the pagan idolatrous lifestyle of the city of Ephesus. In the midst of this Paul was exper...

In this chapter, the Apostle Paul begins a School of Ministry to disciple the new believers in Ephesus. During his 3rd missionary journey, he stays in one town for a long time. In order to see Christian's lives be transformed and become more like Jesus takes time, prayer, and study of the scriptures. We know the work of the Holy Spirit in daily living as He desires to work in and through us wherev...

Here in Chapter 3, Paul becomes the prophet as he declares the perilous times of the Last Days. Paul discusses the character of the last days and instructs Timothy how to respond. The emphasis of this chapter is on knowledge of the times and Timothy's responsibility. It's important that we take heed to what the word of God says about these days and take action according to that knowledge. We are t...

Tradition holds that the Christmas story we all read and love to tell is found in Matthew and Luke. However, The apostle John tells the Christmas story from an eternal perspective. The Word, from all eternity who was, who was with God, and who was God, was made flesh. John gives us all the true reasons to celebrate Christmas. He shares that The Word, who came as a lowly babe, came not to condemn o...

Merry Christmas! We celebrate with all the world the Birth of Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Today we review the key events from the Book of Luke and how it came to pass the miracle of all miracles, God becoming man and dwelling among us. The only way we can be delivered from the bondage of sin and death is to be united through repentance with God Himself revealed to us in the life of Jesus, the only b...

Paul now discusses with Timothy the characteristics of approved and disapproved workers in the church. Every church has vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor. In this section, we will discuss both. However, the grace of God always gives us an opportunity to be delivered, through repentance, from being a disapproved worker or a vessel of dishonor and become an approved worker or vessel of honor,...

In the development of the Church, we learn that nobody is so important that God's work is impaired when changes occur throughout the centuries. Last week, we saw the difficult breakdown in leadership between Paul and Barnabas, yet God always raises up new leaders to continue His ministry in the Church. Eventually, Paul would be martyred and no longer a physical presence in the early Church, yet Go...

The end of Acts 15 is an uncomfortable section of scripture as it deals with division among brothers in Christ. Paul and Barnabas had become very close and had seen God work miracles to bring many to Christ. However, they had an argument because of different personalities and perspectives regarding who to take with them on future outreach. The argument was quite intense, and it separated them from...

We along with Christians all over the world reflect upon the days leading up to Christ's death and resurrection in what is known as Holy Week. There are specific events that occurred to fulfill the plan of the Holy Trinity to redeem mankind from the curse of sin. We will today look at the key events of Jesus' last days leading up to His death that freed us from our sin. Preparing for next Sunday's...

There are many approaches to building a church by man-made philosophies. They may grow numbers, but they don't establish disciples of Christ. It is His church and He said He will build it and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. In today's message, we will study what the early church began to do right after the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was sent down to the believers. It's th...

Paul concludes his first letter to the Thessalonians, with directions on how we should respond to Leadership, to various types of people in the Church, to worship.

Can you imagine God being arrested by the very people He created? Yet this had to occur in order for the death of Christ on the Cross to be accomplished. There was no other way for mankind to be redeemed, forgiven, and justified that we might inherit forgiveness of our sin and receive eternal life. The trials, denials, and betrayal were all part of the plan even though we see this as a setup. God...

After Jesus completed His teachings on His Second Coming in Matthew 25, He now tells about His impending death. The composure of Christ's teaching while knowing He will be violently crucified is genuinely supernatural. He never let anything or anybody prevent His ministering to the people in need of mercy and grace! We will walk with Jesus in the teachings and final hours of His experience of life...