FaithWestwood UMC

January 6, 2018 Jesus was able to love people because he took time to listen when no one else would. We’ll see him do that with a blind beggar from Jericho named Bartimaeus. Listening is one of the best ways you can bless someone. As Jesus’s brother James says, “Be quick to listen.”

December 30, 2018 A message from the life of Ruth. God is in the everyday.

December 24, 2018 A reset is a second chance. You may face consequences for your choices, but God never gives up on you. He gives you a second chance – as many as it takes. That’s what makes Christmas worth celebrating. God loves you so much he sent his only Son, and when you put your faith in him, that’s the reset button. Your life won’t end in death. You will have Life - forever.

December 23, 2018 God’s reset button for us is also a repent button. We can’t start over until we let go of what’s holding us back. But Jesus said not to focus on what you’ve left behind. Focus on where you’re going. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Only then will everything else fall into place.

December 16, 2018 The word Advent means “coming.” And while we look back and celebrate the first Advent of Jesus, we also look forward to his second Advent. That will be the final reset button, where all who belong to Jesus will live with him in the New Jerusalem, “and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17). Be encouraged.

December 9, 2018 2018 Kid's Christmas Pageant

December 2, 2018 It’s December already! Where did the year go? Time may be our most valuable treasure, our scarcest commodity. You can see how you’ve spent that treasure by looking back through your calendar. What story does your calendar tell? God’s story, like ours, was marked by progress and setbacks. Then God hit the reset button. “In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:...

BLESS - November 25, 2018 Message with Holly & Darren Timberlake

November 21, 2018 Message on self-forgiveness by FaithWestwood member Katie Snyder

November 18, 2018 Reciprocal friendships are great. But don’t limit yourself. Look to befriend someone who can’t give you what you give them. That’s what Jesus did. And he told us to put as much energy into our neighbor’s well-being as we do our own. We call it the Golden Rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

November 11, 2018 There’s bound to be a group that you label “those people.” Jesus sees beyond those labels and judgments. He sees the hard, hidden battle each person is facing. And in Jesus’s vision of the world, even Jews and Samaritans come to love each other as neighbors. Pastor Scott Sauls says, “In Christ, we have more in common than we think.” What if you began to see how much Jesus loves “...

Jesus loved to recruit people for his Kingdom team. He challenged four fisherman to give up their nets and embark on his God-and-people project. One of them later said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!” Jesus challenged a tax collector​ to walk away from his comfortable job and join him on this Kingdom-sized adventure. Some accepted his offer; others declined. What about you? Are you...

October 28, 2018 So what if all my friends look like me? And talk like me? I’m not prejudiced. On the other hand, what if I’m missing out on some rich relationships? What could I learn from a friend who sees life differently? God, what do you want to show me?

October 21, 2018 I’m good at hiding. I’m embarrassed. And ashamed. And I pay a price. Hiding is lonely. Only when I face my sin can I turn my back on it. Only then can I turn to those I’ve alienated and be reconciled.

October 14, 2018 I try so hard to be accepted. I desperately want others to see something in me they admire, that I’m funny, or wise, or strong, or talented, or hard-working, or good-looking. Who wouldn’t love to be known for all those things? But a life consumed with performance and perfectionism never leads to meaningful relationships. What if there was a friendship I didn’t have to earn?

October 7, 2018 My friends on social media, do they really know me? And why do so many of my friendships stay stuck at cheering for the same team, or going to the same meetings, or working in the same department? Am I unknowingly sabotaging my opportunities to have deep, genuine relationships? What kind of friend would I be if I was at peace with myself?

September 30, 2018 - Guest Speaker: Jason Buss Unkindness has its reasons. “I didn’t get what I deserved. They started it. I was hurt. I couldn’t help myself. That’s how the world works.” But that’s the old you talking. God has created a new you in Christ. All you have to do is believe it and live into it every day. And when you do, amazingly, kindness now has more reasons.

September 23, 2018 Jesus showed kindness by striking up a conversation with – of all people – a Samaritan woman of questionable repute! She in turn told everyone in town about this person she’d met, and soon, faith in the Messiah was passed to them. Through the kindness of friendship, may many come to call him Savior!

September 16, 2018 •You can do all manner of miracles and still be unkind. •You can have an amazing knowledge of scripture and still be unkind. •You can demonstrate heroic self-sacrifice and still be unkind. First Corinthians 13 says admiration from others means nothing if we’re mean. By walking with Jesus we become less arrogant and more humble, less rude and more respectful, less irritable and m...

September 9, 2018 If you’re amiable, pleasant, and possess good manners, you’re called nice. But it takes more than that to be kind. Being kind means you’re generous and helpful. Then Jesus takes kindness to a higher level. He calls us to be like God, who is kind to the least deserving. These ten verses from Luke 6 will shock you. They’ll scare you. That’s why we need them. Fortunately, we have Je...

September 2, 2018 • Does your work matter? • Does your day on the job make the world a better place? • Can your labor be an act of love for God? You were made for work! God worked, creating the heavens and the earth. God gave Adam the tasks of tilling the garden and naming the animals. How can the daily grind be elevated to glorifying God? On this day, we’ll explore what it means to “work at it wi...

August 19, 2018 “How can I worship a God who’s doing such a lousy job of running the world?” It’s a fair question. Yet despite the horrors and dangers of life, we believe in a God who continues to work out his redemptive plan. That plan is like a scroll that needs to be unrolled and read. John said, “I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll.” But shortly after tha...

August 12, 2018 Does worship ever feel flat to you? Like you’re not sure if you really get it? Or you don’t know how to bring your whole self to the moment? Today we’ll come before the Holy Presence with the help of a first-century disciple named John. Describing his vision he said, “And there before me was a throne in heaven.” You may even find yourself worshiping beside the living creatures befo...

August 5, 2018 A new day begins, and as your body awakens to its fresh start, many things begin to infiltrate your blissful state-of-mind. Like the radio blasting the latest shocking news, your current family drama in the next room and the messy stack of bills right next to your coffee pot. With a deep breath you say, “What to do next?” It could feel like life’s demands are exhausting your practic...

July 29, 2018 It’s easy for modern Americans to believe nothing’s more important than our happiness, that we’re entitled to do whatever pleases us. Maybe it’s human nature. Before they could enter the Promised Land, the ancient Israelites had to learn that being God’s people means putting holiness over happiness.