Westview Church Podcast

Here is an article titled, "Finding Identity," written and read by Annie Chase. You can read this article at https://westviewchurchmn.com/blog.

If God needs nothing, ultimately acts for his own glory in all things, and eternally delights in himself, why should we worship? Listen to Pastor Zach's sermon on John 4:23-24 for more.

Here is an article titled, "Pursuing Joy in Generosity," written and read by Pastor Brett. You can read this article at https://westviewchurchmn.com/blog.

The wrath of God against sin was famously and rightly highlighted in Jonathan Edwards' sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” We do well to reflect on such truths. Listen to Toby Phillips' exhortation for more.

Why are certain men called “father”? It isn't a mere biological reality, nor is it a projection for us to refer to God as Father. Men are fathers because God is. And God is Father means he pursues happiness. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on John 17:24-26 and God's delight in God for more.

We have begun publishing articles on our website, westviewchurchmn.com/blog. To make these resources more broadly accessible to our members, equipping you in following Christ in all of life, here is “The Market Demand for Chaplains” written and read by Pastor Brett.

Are you walking according to the Spirit? How would you know? Listen to Pastor Brett's exhortation for more.[Tag: Romans 8:1-8, Galatians 5:16-26]

"All men seek happiness." That is conclusion of 17th century philosopher Blaise Pascal. We experience happiness when we function according to our design. However, if we're going to do that, we need to know our Designer's purpose. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on Ephesians 1:3-6 in answering the question, "What is God's greatest purpose?"

The brief book of Jude exhorts us to keep ourselves in the love of God by building, praying, and waiting. Doing so moves us to overflow in evangelistic joy, "snatching them out of the fire." But we are not left to ourselves to attain this—God is the one who keeps us (v.24). Listen to Gabe Johnson's exhortation for more.

As we listen to the prophet Joel, we hear him speak of devastating judgment, redeeming restoration, and sharing in the blessing that comes through repentance that is inward, outward, and Godward. Listen to this reading of the book of Joel and Pastor David's sermon on the whole book.

The commendation for being a fellow laborer is invalid if we do not commit ourselves to any activity sanctioned by Jesus for his disciples. We must exert ourselves in the things Scripture exhorts us in with gospel sweat. Listen to Pastor David's exhortation to do the work for more.

Hell is real. Unity is hard. Christ is coming. In verses that can too easily be glossed over, we see the apostle brings 1 Corinthians to a close in a similar way to how he began it: giving attention the theological reality of God's blood-bought people and the preciousness of Christ himself. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Corinthians 16:19-24 for more.

If you walk into a dirty room that is just utterly filthy, you will quickly recognize that the occupant needs to learn how to clean. The same is true in seeking and offering forgiveness. We can't just offer up a generic, "Sorry." We need to confess fully. Listen to Pastor Zach's exhortation for more.

In a passage like 1 Corinthians 16:10-18, we need to do the diligent work of moving from the original context, across the bridge of the universal principle, in order to land on application for our lives. In doing so, we see we ought to be subject to fellow workers and act like men. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon for more.

There is a place for godly ambition—doing great things, daring great things in the name of the Lord. But we must not, particularly moms, be discontent with the simple faithfulness of our place in life. Listen to Pastor Brett's exhortation for more.

Robert Moffat spent fifty-four years laboring for the advance of the gospel among the Tswana people of South Africa. He saw little fruit of his labors. What could keep him at such work for so long? The perfect patience of Christ to save sinners. Listen to Connor Kennedy's sermon on 1 Timothy 1:15-17 for more.

We ought to be stirred up in our diligent labors by looking to the ant. It requires no parent, no supervisor, no authority, yet labors faithfully. Work is good, and no small work should be despised. Listen to Michael Urch's exhortation to not walk in idleness for more.

You give it away and try to get more every day. You have argued about it, but you don't talk about it with others. What is it? Money. The love of which is the root of all kinds of evils (1 Timothy 6:10). There are a number of ways to safeguard against such a danger, one of which is planned generosity for gospel partnership. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Corinthians 16:1-9 for more.

Are you ready for the world to come? Are you ready to engage in that life that Christ has secured for eternity? There will be no one in Heaven who does not want to be there, so is there even now a growing desire for the Kingdom of God? Listen to Pastor David's exhortation for more.

"Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten." Is that a motto you would ascribe to for your life? It comes from an 18th century German count who saw no disconnect between the resurrected Christ and the work to be done today. Neither does the Apostle Paul. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:58 to be challenged be steadfast in the hope of the resurrection by abounding in the work of the Lord knowing such work will not be in vain.

The Tenth Commandment might not be climactic but it is different as it takes place in the heart. What happens in your heart when a friend receives something good? Listen to Pastor Zach's exhortation to not covet for more.

When was the first time in your life you experienced death? How do you make sense of this world in light of the problem that is death? First Corinthians 15:51-57 not only provides the solution but provokes us to the boldness of confident hope that God is giving us the victory. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon for more.

Why is stealing wrong? Because when we take what we haven't worked for and what we don't deserve, we tarnish the image of God that we bear. And even if you've never shoplifted, you still might be a thief; stealing takes many forms, but it always robs God of something he has entrusted us or others to steward. Listen to this week's exhortation from Toby Phillips for more.

Wake up, and know your God! The reality of the resurrection of the dead transforms how God's people live: we are to proclaim the resurrection through a life of sacrifice, and we have hope and contentment now as we fix our eyes on Christ, our ultimate treasure. Listen to Pastor Zach's sermon on I Corinthians 15:29-34 to learn how to live in the knowledge of the resurrection.

The lifelong covenant of marriage is like a greenhouse that allows sexual expression to flourish and bear fruit. Meanwhile, adultery is a blight to the one-faith union, telling lies about the gospel. And lust is adultery in seed form. Listen to Pastor Zach's exhortation on the Seventh Commandment to learn why our sexual behavior matters to God.

As we grieve, lament, and question the pervasive presence of death in this world, our perspective is that of Mary and Martha: we wait between the promise of resurrection and its possession. But we do not wait in vain. Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, and his resurrection guarantees both the resurrection of all believers and the triumph of God's kingdom. Listen to Pastor David's sermon on I Corinthians 15:20-28 for more.

Jesus intensifies the Sixth Commandment when he says any who are angry are liable to judgment. Murder begins at the heart and overflows from there. Its root is the disease of anger that can only be remedied by One who was so filled with love there was no room for anger. Listen to Michael Urch's exhortation for more.

Omitting the resurrection from a presentation of the gospel is to leave the work of Christ without effect. There is no salvation if Christ is not raised. And that's the claim we make by believing—or functioning as though—we all will not be raised. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:11-19 for more. 

The command to honor your father and mother is one to be obeyed throughout your life, not just when you are a child. This is because this commandment serves as a training ground for honoring the LORD who is the one to grant the promise associated with the command. Have you maximally honored your parents? Listen to Pastor Brett's exhortation for more.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. One may think 1 Corinthians 15 marks a turn to a great exposition of the significance of the resurrection. It is, but Paul does so because the Corinthians do not merely have a church problem, they have a gospel problem. This gospel problem threatens to reveal that they believed in vain. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 for more.

The Sabbath command has caused no little disagreement over its present day observation. But at the heart, the command to remember the Sabbath is a command to remember who it is that we rely on for our provision. Who is it that you are really trusting in? Listen to Pastor Brett's exhortation to remember the Sabbath.

Whether addressing little children, middle schoolers, or a legislative body, rules are responses. The stem from a particular situation to not be repeated or are a proactive attempt to steer the desired direction. The Apostle Paul provides gracious guidelines in 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 to direct churches to walk according to God's design of gatherings being decent and orderly. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon for more.

Who gathers to talk about death—your own death? In contemporary culture, death has been pushed to the margin. Meanwhile, 150,000 people die every single day. Psalm 90:12 says we gain heart of wisdom when we learn to number our days. Listen to Pastor Zach's homily from the Memento Mori service.

A family will exhibit characteristics that give shape and definition to what it means to be a member of that family. The clearest example of this is a common last name. When a child is adopted, the last name is taken on. And this is what the Lord calls us to in bearing his name. Listen to Toby Phillips' exhortation to bear the name not in vain for more.

Tools have a clear design and purpose. You can use a tool for an undesigned purpose, but using the right tool for the right job works far better. The same is true in our zeal and desire for spiritual things. Rather than fixate on all receiving the same gift all the time—like how some Christians have regarded the gift of tongues—we ought to desire any gift that the Spirit deems best for the building up of the common good. Listen to Pastor Brett's second sermon on 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 for more on this gift of tongues.

In the incident with the golden calf, we see the difference between the First and Second Commandments. God is not only concerned with who we worship but how we worship. Our God is rightly jealous for the worship that is due to him alone. Listen to Pastor Zach's exhortation to make no idol for more.

If you believe Jesus of Nazareth is God who became man and rose from the dead after being professionally executed, why can it feel like such a stretch to believe that God can lead a Christian to communicate in a way suited for the encouragement of others? The "flaw of the excluded middle" helps explain our hesitation to especially desire that we would prophesy. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 for more.

Like the Corinthians, we think too highly of our gifts and ourselves and too little of one another—and certainly too little of glory. The gifts of the Spirit, they are partial and will give way to the perfect, to completion. So, we need our gaze drawn upward to that world of love that it would flow back upstream into our experience together here and now. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Corinthians 13:8-13.

The absence of love divests spiritual gifts of their value. Love is imperative, but what is it? It's not defined by the one who wields it. If we are going to be governed by love, we need to understand its source, beauty, and practice. Listen to Pastor David's sermon on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 for more.

You are standing at the kitchen sink doing dishes, grumbling to yourself about the overcooked chicken. The murmuring multiplies, fixating on the mess, the laundry, the homework. In that moment, you're not thinking about the majesty, awe, and glory of our great God. Is there any point when you are most tempted to sin where you are in that moment thinking more of God? Listen to Pastor Brett's exhortation to think more of God.

Our varied roles and positions will not be enough to save us, and we will have no hope if our focus is on preserving our own lives. Rather, God must be our treasure. Christ will have your whole heart or have you in Hell. What things in this world do you cling to most? Listen to Gabe Johnson's exhortation to remember Lot's wife for more.

There is a stage of parenting where if dad says, “Kids, it's eight o'clock. Time to go!,” there is a high probability that he will hear the reply, “No, it's 7:57, Dad.” “Ok. That's not the point. Get in the car!” The Apostle Paul may have a similar response to how 1 Corinthians 13 is regarded today—quoted at so many weddings as "The Love Chapter." But is that the point? Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 for more.

Many have experienced or known someone who has wrestled deeply with doubt. It has even led some to reject Christianity altogether. Doubt is not a good place to remain—it is an unstable double-mindedness. We need not hide our doubt nor flaunt it. And when we find it, we ought to look to Jesus to find the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Listen to Pastor Zach's exhortation for more.

We face threats from without and from within. One internal threat is disunity. It starts innocuously, a preference for that person or this style. But sprinkle in some gossip with a helping of pride and marinade that in some bitterness, and a church can be divided into camps. Add in the elevation of certain personalities to the marginalization of others, and you get Corinthian confusion. Paul undermines disunity within a local church by applying a gospel solution in God's sovereign, wise, and good design of the body. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 for more.

When the Spirit works in someone to profess, "Jesus is Lord," that requires obeying him. Our hearts are prone to wander, and we must repent when they do. Where have you done in disobedience to the Lord Jesus? What have you left undone that he would have you do? Listen to Pastor David's exhortation to obey the Lord Jesus for more.

Fire shows up in the in two dramatic ways for Israel after leaving Egypt: the pillar of fire in the wilderness imparting God's preserving presence and the "strange fire" that Nadab and Abihu offered resulting in judgment. When we consider the gifts of the Spirit and their place today, which kind of fire are they more like? Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 for more.

There are many settings where fear's voice is loud, saying something you value is under threat. Fear has a voice but should never make your choice. Listen to Pastor Zach's exhortation to listen to God's voice, not Fear's.

You have need of endurance. That's the overarching message for a passage that is focused on for its secondary implications. Paul doesn't want us led astray from Christ, being helped by the Spirit's gifts. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon on 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 for more.

Churches can laugh off arriving late as something akin to operating by "Westview Time" or individuals saying they are not a morning person. And while coming late to public worship is much more to be desired than not coming at all, there are distinct benefits to not only arriving on time but coming early. Listen to Pastor Brett's exhortation for seven motives to come early to public worship.

Scripture and prayer going together. Reading Scripture without praying is the road to dead orthodoxy, and praying without reading the Bible is the road to paganism. Jesus is eager for us to pray and not lose heart that we would be ready for his return and overcome worldliness. Persevering prayer is a privilege in accomplishing God's mission. Listen to Pastor David's sermon on Luke 18:1-8 for more.

The use and allocation of our time is the substance of our faith. Peter says the time that is passes suffices for all manner of sin, and Paul exhorts us to make the best use of the time because the days are evil. At this point in the year, reassess your use of time. Listen to Pastor David's exhortation to do so and give it careful consideration.