Westtown Church

Pursuing love in worship and in life means pursuing self-denial out of selfless consideration for what is good for building up, respecting, and honoring others who are around us.  We see this most supremely in the selflessness of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross, as He died for our sins and for our salvation.  Support the show

Christian worship is spiritually rich and personal, but the Apostle Paul reminds us that Christians can sometimes be self-centered and unloving, even in Christian worship.  What does it mean to "pursue love" (1 Cori. 14:1) in Christian worship and what difference does that make in our lives?  Sunday we will explore that together. Support the show

Christian faith and Christian hope need love to work properly in the Christian life.  Love keeps our faith and hope from being insensitive to others and abusing people, as we hold to the truth of God by faith and promote the cause of Christ in hope.  John says, "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and so our faith and hope must be infused and exercised in love, for that is how the world will know...

If you don't exercise, your muscles atrophy and become weak.  It is the same in the Christian life.  We often think about exericising our faith, but we also need to exericise our hope in Christ.  Fyodor Dostoevsky once said, "Totally without hope one cannot live.  To live without hope is to cease to live.  Hell is [filled with] hopelessness."  This Sunday we will consider together t...

Faith is the essential foundation of Christian life, serving as both a gracious gift from God and our personal responsibility. Just as the roots of an oak tree receive nourishment, our faith receives salvation, providing us with a shield in spiritual warfare against life's challenges. As we actively exercise our faith, it cleanses our understanding of God’s love, frees our conscience from gui...

What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in this world?  What is the greatest love you have ever experienced in relationships?  What revealed truth has given the greatest light to a problem in your life, enabled resolution and granted times of peace to flood your soul?  What experience of goodness has most filled you with delight in life?  Now what if you could look face to face with Go...

Every wise investor knows to take into consideration the long view of things.  And every wise person knows to keep eternity in view, for eternity gives light to the one thing that matters most in our brief life:  love--love for God and one another. Support the show

Love is not a sprinter but a marathon runner.  The world record in the dead lift is currently over 1,104 pounds!  That is strong!  But love is stronger--as the Song of Songs says, even stronger than death.  God is love.  Love endures all things.  We see this so clearly in the sufferings, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Support the show

One of the important aspects of a faith that powerfully loves others is hope.  Spiritual vision of God's glorious future promised to His people is what ensures we treat others in a way that refuses to let their sins and failures have the last word.  We see in the Cross of Christ it is God’s saving love, not our sin, that got the last word. Support the show

Scripture says "love believes all things." Does this mean Christians are to be naive in our relationships? If we are to love others, does this mean we Christians are expected by God not to face reality in our relationships?  By faith, love wears a hard hat because it knows it lives in the midst of God's constructions zone. This Sunday our Lord will help us understand and grow in our...

By the grace of Jesus, we are empowered to do what is right even when it is difficult. Support the show

God makes Himself known—but not just through the beauty of nature. While creation points to His power and majesty, it’s through special revelation—His Word—that we come to know His grace, His righteousness, and His desire for relationship with us. Join us this Sunday for worship, as we read through Psalm 19 – We’ll see how God's revelation, both general and special, is meant to lead us not ju...

God is love, and love is like a good roof that covers, protects, endures, and never leaks. Support the show

God is love, but God is also light and truth and just.  He is a God who is merciful and forgiving, but who will by no means clear the guilty.  Jesus is not only the Savior of sinners but the Judge of all men.  This is why the true prophets had broken hearts and Jesus Himself wept over Jerusalem, a city that hated Him.  It is also why the father of the prodigal son joyfully celebrated his son'...

In personal relationships, resentment is an accountant who keeps a record of wrongs, but love is a firefighter that quenches relational fires big and small.  We see this most beautifully and supremely in Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross for us and for our sins. Support the show

What happens in your heart when someone wrongs you? In this profound exploration of 1 Corinthians 13:5, we discover the supernatural quality of love that remains unshaken even when deeply wounded. "Love is not irritable or easily provoked" challenges us at our core, revealing how far we are from Christ's example of perfect love. Let's commit to the means of grace: corporate wor...

Jesus concludes The Lord's Prayer in Matthew with "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever.  Amen."  This closing praise to God our Father who is King, who is in control, and who gets the glory.  Spoiler alert!  It isn't us!  But that is good news!  Together we'll understand why as we venture Forward in Faith! Support the show

A friend of ours lives in the mountains of Tennessee.  One morning she walked out early into the dark onto her porch, only to realize there was a bear at the edge of her porch.  She quickly proceeded back inside.  But do you realize that there is a lion waiting for you each morning, afternoon, and evening, prowling around, ready to devour you and your family and your church?  Jesus is teaching us...

Have you ever considered that your soul can live and act without your body but your body cannot live and act without your soul?  In this fifth petition of The Lord's Prayer Jesus teaches us that the vital importance of caring, not just for our bodies, but for our souls.  And there is nothing more critical to the care of our souls than God forgiving our sins, even those sins that sometimes hau...

Jesus teaches us to pray for daily bread.  Not weekly, monthly, or yearly, but daily.  Daily bread.  Not filet mignon, sea bass, or chicken fettuccine alfredo, but bread.  If we are experiencing discontent, grumbling, or filled with anxiety and fear, we need Jesus to teach us to truly pray this fourth petition of The Lord's Prayer, that we might live our lives with contentment, gratitude, and...

What gives life ultimate meaning and purpose?  What will make the way you live your life today matter in 500 years, or 500,000 years, or 500 million years?  How do we face personal tragedy and suffering and death?  There is only one adequate answer:  Jesus Christ is bodily risen from the dead!  This Lord's Day let's celebrate together this glorious fact of history that puts eternal meani...

Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem on Sunday, at the beginning of what we call Passion Week.  Why is Jesus' riding of a donkey into Jerusalem so important, for it is recorded in all four Gospels?  Jesus was "crossing the Rubicon" for the salvation of the world!  In this event the beauty of Christ's heart for sinners is on full display. Support the show

What is your favorite food?  Jesus told us what His favorite was in John 4:34, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work" (ESV).  This third petition of The Lord's Prayer reminds us we need to align ourselves with God's will revealed in His Word and with His will revealed to us by His providence--that is, those things He appoints in our life.  In...

We cannot understand what is going on inside of us or in the world around us unless we understand that we live in a world where there is a clash of kingdoms--the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, the church and the world.  This second petition of The Lord's Prayer reminds us that we cannot fix what is wrong with us or with the world.  W...

What is the purpose of a coffee maker?  It certainly isn't designed to make ham sandwiches.  It's purpose is to brew coffee.  That's why it was created.  What is the purpose of an adopted child of God our Father?  Jesus teaches us in the first petition of The Lord's Prayer and this purpose gives direction to all things in the Christian life.  See you Sunday as we continue Forwa...