Westview Church Podcast

There are times when you need to know what you know. You need to have a confidence and certainty in your knowledge because of the situation. Before the apostle starts in on addressing false teachers, he begins 2 Peter by focusing on what we as Christians need to be confident of. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 2 Peter 1:1-4 for more.

Gen Z has never known a time without the connection of smartphones, yet studies show this generation reports the highest sense of isolation and loneliness. The prevalence of smartphones has served to hide ourselves rather than connect us to other. This hiding is an expression of shame. Listen to Brian Wiseman's exhortation to us to put away shame by drawing near to God.

"Tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!” It may not be Braveheart but certain lines from movies draw us in and summon us to action. We are likewise summoned to action in 1 Peter 5:8-14 as we must be ready to face a fearful lion. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon for more.

What is more valuable, the goose or the golden egg—a fish or knowing how to fish? While wisdom is at the basis of any kind of value, data and information alone does not constitute wisdom. This holds true in our relation to God. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for more.

The tornado that recently tore through 200 miles of Kentucky demonstrated power that humbled all who were in its path. No one needed to be told to get down upon experiencing that display of greatness. Yet we need to be told to humble ourselves before God. Listen to Pastor Zach's sermon on 1 Peter 5:6-7 for more.

"I didn't get to it." "I was too busy." "I didn't have time." Those phrases or similar ones really are just deflections helping you avoid the reality that you prioritized something else over the task in question. There are 8,760 hours this year. How will you make the time to do what serves your soul best? Listen to Pastor Brett's exhortation for more.

In addressing elders and the church as a whole, he keys in on the necessity of humility to mark both groups. In the complementing roles of leading and following, shepherding and submitting, humility is to be the hallmark of both. And this because it is the way of the Chief Shepherd. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Peter 5:1-5 for more.

In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Scrooge says at the end after his transformation, "I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." We can't actually keep the centrality of Christmas all year—that centrality is that Christ is king. However, we would rather do what is right in our own eyes rather than follow Christ as king. Listen to Pastor Dan's exhortation for more.

At our Christmas Eve service we let the prophet Isaiah stir our anticipation for and joy in the coming of Christ our Savior. Listen as Pastor Dan and Pastor Brett share exhortations flowing from Isaiah's writings in the hope, faith, joy, and peace of Christ.

According to one source, there have been 117 billion people that have ever lived. There are about 8 billion people currently on the planet. Thinking of all those people, we can feel small and alone. Add in the isolating effects of suffering, and it gets worse. Yet God became one of the 117 billion that we would know our lament is not the last word. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on Lamentations 5...

"Which way ought I go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to." "I don't much care where." "Then it doesn't matter which way you go." This exchange from "Alice in Wonderland" is worthwhile to consider in our pursuit of following Christ in all of life. If you don't care where you go, you'll never get there. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for more.

As a young British officer, George Washington addressed the officers under his charge, "Remember that it is the actions, and not the commission, that make the officer, and that there is more expected from him, than the title." Much of the pain in our lives that we lament is the result of our leaders who failed to heed that counsel. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on Lamentations 4 for more.

During this time of the year, we can place high expectations on all the things we want to do and get done. However, if we go about all of those good things in such a rigid, graceless fashion, we do them in vain. Listen to Pastor Zach's exhortation and consider that you might be a Pharisee if ... .

Reading good books draws you into the story and heightens the tension as we experience the drama of the main characters. Sometimes it can get intense for us as readers, leading us to ask, "Why does the dramatic part have to last so long?!" In the Greatest Story God is writing, this is the question we ask in lament. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon for more.

So many of our memories of Christmas are from childhood, and so much of our focus on the Christmas story is on the infant Christ. Yet we overlook the intervening years. Imagine all those years as a boy growing up, living obediently to the Father in the repetitive small things. We too must live obediently in the small things. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for more.

You see a friend on a Sunday who clearly looks burdened by sorrow. He's a father of six whose infant daughter died five years ago and wife died two years ago. Now, his oldest son may be paralyzed from a combat injury. What do you say to him? How is this happiest time of year when there is still so much sorrow? Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon as we learn to lament this Advent.

The cultural phenomenon of "preppers" is grounded in a desire for self-sufficiency. Such a motivation stands in opposition to the biblical call to love God and love neighbor. It is for this two-fold summons that Paul commends the Thessalonians, and thus holds out to us that we might abound in faith and love. Listen to Pastor Dan's exhortation for more.

There are those days that you readily remember with vivid detail—the special days where it is easy to rejoice. But not all days are like that, and it is a battle to press into the deep-seated, enduring hope of the promises of God. 1 Peter 4:12-19 offers five exhortations to help us rejoice in suffering. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon for more.

What do you think of when you consider Jesus' commendation of children? Odds are it is a passive posture. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation to take an active, humble posture that continues to ask questions of God, lest we think we've learned it all.

We are not in a financial position where we are desperate for year-end gifts to meet our expenses, but we are looking ahead to 2022 and beyond and asking the Lord to bless us that his way may be known on earth (cf. Psalm 67).

Often, a helpful framework to advance a discussion among a group is to distinguish between principles and practices. Where are there differences between fundamental principles verses the outworking in practices? When looking at 1 Peter 4:7-11, it is helpful to clarify the fundamental principles of coming judgment, implications for living as Christians, and the certainly of the glory of Christ. Lis...

Before a child tries cake for the first time, you can pull out the most decadent cake and she will think nothing of it. But after having had a bite? "Give it to me!" Psalm 34:8 exhorts us to taste and see the Lord is good. Have you tried cake? Revive your yearning for the goodness of the Lord by fasting from good gifts. Listen to Pastor Brett's exhortation for more.

Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian pastor from the 20th century, brought attention to the persecuted church through his own sufferings and writings. He said, "A faith that can be destroyed by suffering is not faith." How do we prepare ourselves to suffer well so our faith is not destroyed? Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Peter 4:1-6 for more.

As the end of the year slowly comes into sight, we begin to think about the finances God has entrusted to us. From purchasing gifts and special meals, we must take into consideration two ditches we can fall into as it relates to money. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for more.

Why did God save *me*? It's a question that can intellectually challenging and emotionally straining. Why has God blessed me as he has? It's a question that comes to the same answer as the first: that God might be known on earth. Listen to Dr. Paul Akin, Dean of the School of Missions at Southern Seminary, expound on Psalm 67.