WestGate Church Teaching

In the opening lines of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus invites us to call God “Father.” But what happens if when you hear the term “father” nothing positive comes to mind because of your own bad experiences with your own family of origin? What happens if when you hear the term “father” you think “absent” or “gone” or “uncaring” - or God forbid, something worse. Jay and Corinna share their stories and how the story of the Bible helped them heal from their own stories of abandonment from their own father. Also, taking a cue from Stranger Things, we ask, “What song would bring you back into the realm of the living if the evil Vecna tried to curse you?”

Speakers: David Tieche + Jay Kim + Corinna Girard

If there were a list of the words of Jesus that have been most often quoted by people, Matthew 6:9-13 - called The Lord’s Prayer - would have to be included. But because this prayer is so familiar, the danger is that we’ll stop seeing it well and the words will become unfamiliar. IN this week, we’ll examine the opening words, and the fact that one of most important elements of this prayer that we’ve lost is the importance of the order of the prayer. Jesus first invites us to consider that God is a Father, and that everything else flows from that understanding. God is a good King, yes, but he’s more than that. He’s a good Father. And Jesus is reminding us straightaway, that’s who we pray to, in the Lord’s prayer—our good King, our good Father.

Jay is back from Summer Vacation! In this passage, Jesus hits the same note three different ways as He talks about how dangerous it is to “play” or “perform” religion in front of people (and in front of God). Jay nerds out on some Greek words, talks about how our modern digital world has shaped millions of people into “performers” and the beauty of Jesus’ invitation to get off the treadmill of impressing people and be fully known by a God who truly sees you. Also: Dave finds out that Chris Pratt cannot actually tame velociraptors.

Every person (deep in our core) wants to be noticed and seen. We want the credit when we do something good and the acknowledgment of people around us. But this can get out of hand - especially when it comes to religion. In this verse, Jesus warns against doing good religious deeds for the sake of drawing attention to oneself, saying that’s as empty and fake as an actor in a play. Instead, Jesus turns toward internal motivations again, assuring His listeners (and us) that even if you’re anonymous and not famous, God still sees you and knows when you’re trying your best to live honestly before Him and reflect His character by doing good in the world.

Producing outrage (stoking anger) and hyper-sexualization (inflaming lust) are a big part of how our modern world (especially our online worlds) operate.  In fact, those things are MONETIZED.  In light of that, what are Christians to make of Jesus’ strong warnings against anger, against lust and toward loving your enemies.  Are we really supposed to gouge out our eyes to stop lusting?  And isn’t hating our enemies a way to show God we’re really on His side? Steve Clifford and David Kim stop by to help make sense of how to live out Jesus difficult teachings found at the end of Matthew 5.

If the first part of Matthew 5 (the Beatitudes) were about who the Kingdom of God can - and is! - coming to…and Jesus’ next words – His instruction to live as salt and light – was about living out this Kingdom faithfully in a world that has rot and is dark, then the next salvo of teachings from Jesus show what living the kingdom out faithfully looks like.  And this list is NOT fun to read, because Jesus cuts to the heart of the matter: we often excuse our own sin and bad behavior.  It’s just easier to be angry, give in to lust, lie when it’s convenient, break promises when things don’t work out for us the way we want and hate people who we consider our enemies.  Jesus says, “This can’t be the way you live.”  And we’re left dropping to our knees, repentant and asking God for help.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls His followers “salt” and “light” - which assumes that Christians are to be a preservative in a world that’s filled with decay and death and light in a world full of darkness. WestGate Church’s College Crew director Ruth Nazanin shares a powerful story from both Scripture and her own life about what it means, practically, to be salt and light in a world that needs both desperately.

This past weekend was Father’s Day, and Ruth Nazanin knows about the impact that a father can have.  Ruth, who leads WestGate CHurch’s College Ministry, lost her father to cancer when she was just 10 years old, but his faith in Jesus continues to inspire and impact her.  She stops by to talk to Dave about the origins of her name, the legacy of her father, and what it means to be salt and light for her and the next generation she helps to lead.

If there were a list of modern Beatitudes for the Bay Area, that list might read something like “blessed are the wealthy, for they will be comfortable” or “Blessed are the pure in purpose, for they will achieve with stunning efficiency.” But in Matthew 5, Jesus lays out 9 statements about who is actually blessed - who lives life with God and in peace, with joy. Jesus’ list is as shocking today as it was 2,000 years ago. Steve goes through this surprising list, discussing why each one is so surprising. And in the end, we see that the Kingdom is coming - God Himself is coming - to people you’d least expect in ways that heal and transform.

Ever gone swimming in the ocean and gotten caught in a riptide or undertow? Those swiftly-moving currents can rip you right out to sea, no matter how hard you swim. Well, our culture has a strong undertow, and it’s not in the direction of Jesus’ teachings in the Beatitudes. Steve and David go through the Beatitudes - one by one, sharing thoughts and reflections about why each one is so not only counter to our culture, but counter to our own hearts. And in the end, we talk about how each of these statements in Matthew 5 creates a mosaic whose picture is Jesus (and why that’s good news for us). Also, Steve shares his thoughts on which Beatitude is most needed to be embodied by Christians in the world we find ourselves in now.