West Church Peabody Podcast

This week we begin our all new series, “If God is For Us…” We will study our way through Romans 8, learning how we may have spiritual confidence in a very tumultuous world. This Sunday we will begin by considering how Jesus provides complete freedom from condemnation. He does this both by the cross and the giving of the Holy Spirit. He has not abandoned us in our weakness, but provided our deepest needs in a powerful and transforming way. When we realize this we have a place of security to stand so that we can face what life may bring at us.

This Sunday is the first day of the New Year! I want to take our first worship service in 2023 to reflect on the state of our church. We will remember some of the highlights of the year. We will consider how we have grown and changed. We will ponder some of the challenges we have faced. Reflecting on the ministry also helps us to envision some goals for 2023. We will talk about what we may need to add or improve about our ministry.

The Apostle Jon will explain to the children how Moses was always his greatest hero...until he met Jesus. In Moses' day, God lived in a tent. At Christmas, God became a man. I will explain how Jesus causes us to experience grace and truth like no other.

This Sunday, we will be looking at John 1:6-8, which mentions John the Baptist. God sent John the Baptist to help prepare the world for the coming of His Son, Jesus. As the ministry of John the Baptist is described, I noticed three ways that God wants us to prepare for Jesus' coming this Christmas: 1) You Understand Jesus, 2) You Trust Jesus, 3) You Consecrate Yourself to Jesus. That is how we can prepare our hearts and lives for Him this Christmas. I look forward to sharing this with you all.

John talks about Jesus' coming as something “from the beginning.” The beginning, is not when Jesus was announced, conceived, born or started his ministry. The beginning is eternity past with God the Father and the Spirit. What happened at Christmas goes way back there and is about the glory of God and his intentions to redeem from the beginning. This Christmas story will be a bit different from the familiar tale of Mary, Joseph and the shepherds. It is the story of God with Us. May our hearts be elevated with awe for the Savior who came.

This Sunday will be our last Sunday in the sermon series, Who Am I?, where Pastor Bill will be discussing the final part of the third lens, Redeemed.

This Sunday we will continue in our series “Who Am I?” Answering the question through the lens of redemption. Our texts will be Romans 12:1-2 and parts of Galatians 5. As the outcome of metamorphosis is a beautiful butterfly the outcome of God's work in us is a transformed life: body, mind and emotions. Redemption answers the question “Who am I?” “I am being transformed.” God wants all of who we are to be dedicated to Him and his glory. He desires every part of our individuality for Himself. As we give ourselves to God, he is continually making us new in every dimension of our personhood. Being transformed is an amazing way to live with God.

This will be our first look at the question through the lens of redemption. We've looked at "who I am" from the lens of creation, and the lens of the fall, and now we'll look at it from the lens of redemption. The Fall says: I am a sinner, I am broken, I am frustrated. The fall cries out for hope and redemption answers, “I am redeemed!” We'll ask the questions "Redeemed from What?" and "Redeemed to What?"

This Sunday, we will be celebrating the Lord's Supper and Pastor Rick will be sharing a message based on 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

This will be our final look at the question through the lens of the Fall. Because of the Fall, everyone must answer the question of “Who Am I?” with the sad answer, “I am Frustrated.” 1) We are frustrated by the power of evil, 2) We are frustrated by broken relationships, 3) We are frustrated by our lack of success. It's not a pretty picture. The Fall causes us to cry out to God for something new, something better, something hopeful. The Fall can lead us to look up. We need a Redeemer. The frustration of the Fall may lead us to Christ. Please pray towards that end. Also this week, Bob Harris will be sharing his testimony before the Scripture reading. His is an amazing story of sadness and redemption.

Pastor of Kampala Baptist Church, Andrew Mwenge speaks of his work in Uganda. Learn how leaders are trained to do the work of Christ in Uganda. This is part of the Unashamed 2022 Missions Conference at West Church.

This Sunday starts our annual missions conference, where we focus on the work of global missionaries. Our first missionary speaker is pastor trainer Rev. Dave Jones. After serving as a career pastor in Massachusetts and New York, he followed the Lord's leading into discipleship and mentoring of pastors. Join us as Rev. Jones speaks on God's Power from Romans 1:1-17.

As we continue in our series, “Who Am I?,” we will see how the Fall affected who we are as persons. God's design was that we are each unique persons with a mind, will, emotions and body from him. But the Fall has damaged that beautiful original design. The contagion of sin has infected all of who we are. This is the sad truth. We deny it to our own harm. So we will look at the truth

We continue our series entitled, “Who Am I?” this week, but we are changing our glasses. We are putting on different lenses in order to answer the question. The lenses of the Fall. It is a sad story. Sad but true. When we look at what Adam and Eve did to God and thought about God, it is…not good. God's response is…surprising. There is hope mixed with the sadness. God intends to be merciful. That's encouraging.

We continue our series “Who Am I?”. We finish answering the question through the lens of Creation this week. We will see that “Who am I?” means not only who we are as individual persons that we looked at last week, but also includes what we do and how we give back within community. Genesis tells us that: 1) I am a family member and 2) I am a Contributor to Society. The answer of creation to “Who Am I?” is diverse, rich and empowering. Many modern answers are considerably “less than” being made in the image of God and do not enable us to flourish in God's world. But the utopian answer of creation to “Who Am I?” opens the door to the question “What went wrong?” that we will answer in the following weeks.

This Sunday will be our 2nd sermon in the series “Who Am I?” We will look at the biblical answer of the “image of God.” The image of God tells us what it means to be a person. In part, it means that: 1) I am a whole Person and that 2) I am a unique person. The image of God described in Genesis is a rich, challenging, and uplifting perspective that provides deep and wholesome meaning for understanding who we are in the world.

Who Am I? A Response to the Modern Identity Crisis. This series will be about what it means to be human from a biblical perspective. This week will be an introduction. We will spend three weeks considering the answer of Creation, then 3 weeks with the answer of the Fall, then 3 weeks with the answer of Redemption. We will also consider this week what it means to be a creature of the Creator and how that adds beauty and peace to who we are.

This Sunday, Labor Day Weekend, will be our final message in our Acts series. We will look at chapter 15 where the churches are working together to understand with great clarity what it means to have a relationship with God. What is expected of us and how we can get along together, even when we are so different from one another.

This Sunday, Pastor Rick will be speaking on "Success and Struggle among the Gentiles" based on Acts 14:1-28 as part of the Advance sermon series.

This Sunday we are welcoming our global partners, Phil and Anneliese and their children. During worship, Phil will be sharing a message based on Matthew 22:1-14. All are invited to attend Prayer Watch 7PM, Sunday evening, when Phil and Anneliese share more about their lives and work overseas.

As we continue our Advance series in Acts, we will look at a message that Paul and Barnabas delivered to a Jewish synagogue in the Roman city of Antioch in Pisidia. And what we will see is how they brought the message of Jesus to the level of those they were trying to reach. We will consider: 1) How he connected with his listeners, 2) How he critiqued his listeners and 3) How he appealed to his listeners. That's what he did. That's what missionaries do. That's what we do for those we want to relate to. How can we share the best news we have ever heard with modern listeners today? That's what we'll consider.

This Sunday we continue in Acts with the initiation of Paul's first missionary journey from Antioch. The church is now going on the offensive with the message of the gospel. Pastor Bill noticed three things about that offensive: It is going into the world, It is going against the devil, and it is going for the hearts of people. This is such an inspiring moment in the life of the early church. Please pray that our Father would inspire us.

We read about an execution, an escape and a sudden unexpected death. It is pretty fast paced, with some interesting twists. This is what I've found: 1) Sometimes the wicked win and Christians lose, 2) Sometimes Christians win and the wicked lose, 3) The wicked never win against God. His truth and grace sustain and empower us.

This Sunday, we welcome our global partners Greg and Clarisa Rhodes. Greg will be sharing a message based on Isaiah 55:1-3a (below). The Rhodes will also be sharing during Prayer Watch, 7PM Sunday, in the upper room. "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that with is not bread, and/or labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in reich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live"

After an amazing week of VBS, we'll hear from the team about the week, and Pastor Bill will speak on The Beauty of the Church from Acts 11:19-30.

This Sunday we will finish out the story of Peter and Cornelius. When Peter gets home and the report of his adventure goes public, some people suggest that he did something wrong. But when Peter explains how God helped him to overcome his preconceptions and prejudices, they are calmed and amazed at the work of God. Isn't that the way. When God helps us in our struggles, he gives us something to help others with. Not only do we grow, but they grow and God is magnified. Grace really is amazing.

This Sunday will be our second look at the scene that brings Peter, the Jewish apostle of Jesus, and Cornelius, the Gentile Roman Centurion, together (Acts 10:24-48). We will see that when we join God in what he is doing, you recognize him working and you appreciate his grace. The Christian life is so much more than just trying really hard to do what God wants you to do. It is cooperating with Him. He is the one who is working, we are joining him in his work. The results when we cooperate with him are much more than the sum total of all our efforts, they are his results. The results reflect him and they reflect his glory.

This Sunday we continue in Acts 10:1-23. This passage is about God's determination to help his church know that He definitely intends for the good news to go to the nations, the Gentiles. He makes it so clear to Peter and Cornelius. In doing so, God breaks down so many lesser barriers that we use to judge and separate us from one another. Even Peter struggled to understand this and needed God's help. And what we find is that God does this through us through the simple means of sharing together at a meal. Come prepared to be challenged.

As we look at Acts 9:23-43, there is a summary statement in verse 31 that highlights the way in which the church at the time was strong in the Lord. Pastor Bill will highlight the four ways listed: God is raising leaders, God is calling people to faith, there is a Holy Spirit culture and God is doing amazing things through his people. These are not the only ways that God strengthens the church, but they are meaningful and important ways for us to recognize God's hand at work. Please pray that God would strengthen us like this as the body of Christ and the family of God.

This Sunday will be our second in the new Summer series “Advance” on Acts 8-15. We will look at the story of the conversion of Saul, who became known as the Apostle Paul (9:. What struck me as I read this story again was the before and after. Who was Saul? Who did he become after that? Jesus rescues us from who we were and transforms us by his life into someone new. And yet we are the same person, just better, because of grace and mercy.

This week we will begin a new Summer series entitled “Advance! The Good News is Going Out.” This will be a verse by verse study of Acts 8-15. I taught Acts 1-8 back in 2020 and we are continuing where we left off. We will see how the gospel continues to advance to the the nations ( the gentiles) through the service of Philip, Peter. Barnabas and Paul. This week we will look at the strange and wonderful story of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch. If you are like me, perhaps you find some of the stories of how God used people to spread the good news a little intimidating. Where did the early believers get the confidence and the boldness to do what they did? How did they find people to talk with? As we look a little closer, we will see that their actions were actually made of a gradual process of ordinary actions that any Jesus follower can make.

This Sunday we will be highlighting 3 reasons why the writer of Hebrews exhorts us to worship God as a way of Life. Hebrews 13:15 states "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." The 3 reasons given to us in the passage are found in verses 9-14. 1. We approach God now by Grace not merit 2. We have a better place to meet with God; the Throne of Grace in Heaven 3. We have a better destination; New Heaven and New Earth

This Sunday is the fourth installment in our series, The Church at Worship. This week we're aiming high, really high, as high as heaven. In Hebrews 1218-29, the writer says, “You have not come to Mt. Sinai. You have come to Mt. Zion. So don't hang up on God. Worship Him. You're gonna make it.” Pastor Bill will hang his thoughts on two headings: 1) You now have the best. 2) Appreciate it. He hopes to illustrate for you how to visit Mt. Zion.

As we continue our series “the Church at Worship,” we will be looking at the passages where Paul says we should “sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” We will see that singing for Christians is something that we are to “put on.” Singing is a replacement behavior for something else we are supposed to “put off.” Singing helps us to be different in our Christian life. Singing is a gift that God has given us that engages our whole person: body, mind and spirit. When we sing praise to God, God changes us. He changes us from who we were, our old habits, attitudes and ways of thinking, to new people who think like and act like Jesus. That's an amazing reason to sing, so we can be transformed.

This Sunday, we will be looking at John 4:1-30 where Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, “…the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” Whatever Jesus was saying about worship means that he was doing something different and new. What we will find is that Christian worship is in a new Spirit and we worship in a new truth. Christian worship is different from Samaritan worship and it is even different from Israelite worship because we have a new Savior, a new Messiah.

This Sunday we will look at Psalm 100. The big ideas here will be: 1) Who God is, 2) Shapes How We Worship Him. Psalm 100 makes two fundamental claims about God: 1) The LORD is God and 2) The LORD is good. The Psalm gives us a variety of ways in which we are to come to him based upon who he is: a joyful noise, gladness, thankfulness, praise and blessing. How are we to worship knowing that Yahweh is God and Yahweh is good? Surely our praise should be god-sized and good-sized. We'll think about that.

This Sunday, Resurrection Sunday! We will be looking at the third scene in Luke 24:26-53. What struck me was how needy, doubting and weak Jesus first followers were and how patient, encouraging and promising Jesus was with them in their condition. I see a lot of myself in them. He really speaks to our need, in at least four ways: 1) He comforts us because he is a real person, 2) He explains “why” to us, 3) He lets us know what's next, 4) He gives us more and more of God. The risen Jesus really is an amazing Savior.

This Sunday will be the second in our series: “He's Alive.” We will look at the next scene in Luke 24:13-35, the road to Emmaus. Here we will see: 1) If Jesus had just died we have no hope, 2) If Jesus was raised we have joy filled purpose. It's a puzzling surprising story of how the resurrection of Jesus changes everything in our lives.

We are beginning a new series, HE IS ALIVE, preparing us for the celebration of Easter. Our passage will be Luke 24:1-12. After you read the passage a few times you will observe that both the women and men had a built-in resistance to believing that Jesus was truly alive. Even though during Jesus public ministry he had taught them on several occasion that He would suffer, die and then rise on the 3rd day. You will note that women were perplexed that Jesus body was not there. The men when they heard the report that Jesus was alive thought it was a fable and did not believe. The reason: they had a built-in resistance to believing and accepting this new spiritual reality. We too suffer from the same malady due to our fallen nature.

This week will be our final in the series entitled “Come to Me.” Jesus invited the thirsty to come to him. He promised to quench their thirst and cause a spring to burst forth in their lives. Every person is made in the image of God and has a thirst for him. But Jesus gives us more than enough living water for ourselves. The overflow is the Spirit moving through us wherever we go. God never wastes a single drop of living water and gives us more than we need.

Many people wanted Jesus to become a hero, but he came to be a Savior. He told his disciples about his death and resurrection. They didn't like it and didn't get it. But then he went on to say that his way of life would be a pattern for his followers. They would die and be raised. The only way to save your life is to lose it for him. The value system of life for a Christian is completely different from the world. Life for Jesus followers is the life of Jesus, not the life of a hero in this world. What a challenging calling.

This week we will continue in our series, Come to Me. We see Jesus joyfully protecting and welcoming children. The way they approach him is a model of how people should approach God. But what does that mean when we grow up? The young man who comes to Jesus is the opposite of childlike. His life is all put together. He's devout and wealthy. He wants to know what else he needs to do. Give it all away. Stop trusting in yourself. Everything you have prevents you from coming to me. It is almost impossible for the rich to come to Jesus. The disciples on the other hand had let go of everything they had to follow Jesus. Their childlike lives will rewarded by their God with eternal life.

So we are off to the races with our new preaching theme, “Come to Me.” This week we will be looking at John 6:20-71, in particular Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. We will explore the truth of how Jesus really satisfies and how we receive the satisfaction he promises.

Our new sermon series for the next five weeks is Come to Me: Jesus Invites Us to Follow Him. We will look at five major passages in which Jesus called for those listening to come to Him. What he offered and what he meant. This week will be Matthew 11:25-30, “Come to me all you who are weary…” We will consider the beauty of his invitation. The heart of his invitation and the mystery of his invitation.

This Sunday will be our final message in the “Breaking Down the Walls” series on Matthew 18:15-35. This is the classic passage where Jesus talks about confronting our wayward brother. This really is the climax of what we have been studying. Jesus leads us to the ultimate goal of all these talks about difficult relationships: “to win your brother/sister!” When we win people back to ourselves and back into the family, that is the ultimate win. Then he tells us how to do it: 1) We love them with the truth, 2) We love them with prayer, 3) We love them with forgiveness. That's how we win people back. And when they come back, that's the ultimate win for them and for us.

The book of Proverbs is all about living our lives as God's Covenant people wisely and not foolishly. It contains short sayings, statements, comparisons, contrasts, to reveal to us how to live out our lives as God intended. Wisdom is applying God's knowledge for practical living. This book about how to navigate live, to have savvy, smart, and avoid the consequences of living foolishly. Living wisely is doing things God's way and living foolishly is doing thing your own way. The purpose of the book is stated clearly for us in Proverbs 1:1–7 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. The early chapters of Proverbs contain an appeal, a cry for us to seek wisdom, and the value of wisdom. The value is the blessings that come from living as God calls us to live. In Chapter 4 we see the same pattern repeated. The appeal to gain wisdom, follow the commands of God, the benefits of wisdom, don't forsake the ways of wisdom by walking in the path of evil and wickedness. There are consequences for which way we choose V. 19 The way of Wisdom and righteousness leads to life and blessing, The way of wickedness and foolishness is deep darkness and falling. The verses that I want us to focus on that I believe have so much to do with relationships and keeping them healthy are v.20-23 Three things I want us to hear this morning that a direct correlation to having and maintaining healthy relationship 1. The Promise­- Listen Truth and put it into practice it will result life and healing 2. The Practice – Guard your heart 3. The Reason - Out of our hearts flow the issues of life.

This Sunday we will be looking at Matthew 5:21-26 entitled, “When We Harm Someone.” We will take a closer look at one of the most crucial elements of rebuilding broken relationships: Admitting that we are wrong. Admitting that we have harmed someone. We will be guided in part by Dr Mark Fee's description of a “Love Based Apology vs a Shame Based Apology.” 1) When we Harm Someone, 2) We admit our Harm, 2) We do our best to set things right.

This Sunday we will be looking at Ephesians 4:11-32. In particular we will focus on the phrase “Speaking the truth in love.” We will see that truth is the foundation of any good relationship. Truth must be handled with love. We grow in Christ in community.

This Sunday begins a new series titled "Breaking Down Walls." We will start by looking at Genesis 50:15-26. As a mature believer, Joseph is still confronted by the deep brokenness that existed in his family, but he has learned in his relationship with God how to respond in a better way.