WestGate Church Teaching

What do you do when God tells you to marry a prostitute? Well, if you’re an 8th Century prophet in Israel named Hosea, you do it. Andy Gridley stops by to share why this small book in the Bible packs a major punch in helping us understand what it means to “love God” not because it shows us what to do, but because it shows us what God already did. Also: WestGate Church Care Pastor Ben Pierce shares his own story about a catastrophic bicycle accident that left him with a broken neck and a broken career. What does it means to receive God’s love, even when you can’t “perform”? All this, and some not-so-hidden Easter Eggs featuring 90s R&B.

Every Fall, as we come out of summer and prepare to launch into a new school year, we take time to pause and reflect on our three “loves” that WestGate Church is built around. Love God. Love One Another. Love Your Neighbor. These loves represent the core of who we are as a community, what we’re about, and who we’re trying to become. This week, we examine the nebulous term “love God.” What does that phrase even mean? How can we “love God” when He’s...uh...invisible? We’ll look at some practical ways that we can prioritize our own relationship with God.

For a long time, I thought Jesus’ last name was “Christ.” As in Mr. Christ. But...that’s not correct. Jay Kim stops by to talk about what this term “Christ” or “anointed one” means in the Biblical story, how it relates to Lebron James and the Lion King, and the powerful and profound implication it has on our lives. Plus! Bible Nerd Out Time with Sarah K. Lee.

By far the most primary and familiar title of Jesus is CHRIST. “Jesus Christ” may be the most famous, well-known name in world history. But “Jesus Christ” wasn’t his actual name. The word “Christ” is a title that means “anointed one” that has a deep and rich Biblical background. In the Old Testament, God commands that both kings and priests be anointed. And the term “Christ” means that Jesus is both a king and a priest. And as we explore this title, we see not only a great deal more about Jesus, who He was and what He did (and is doing) in the world - but also see a great invitation for us to be “a royal priesthood” as well.

In Matthew chapters 8 and 9, Matthew records story after story of people who come to Jesus in crisis, He meets them, and completely changes their lives. One of the lessons is clear: come to Jesus with your whole life. Even if it’s a complete mess. Even if it’s so broken, it’d take a miracle to put it back together again. But this isn’t always easy. This week, we listen to a break-out session put on by our friend author, pastor and speaker Joshua Ryan Butler (from Redemption Church in Tempe, AZ) given at our Summer ReCharge Conference back in late June. In this talk, JRB talks about Spiritual Formation, focusing on how we often hide, even in prayer, even from God. He shows us how the Scriptures show that God is inviting us to be wholly authentic with Him - and how that can change everything.

In the book of Matthew, Matthew records story after story of people who come to Jesus in a desperate state of crisis. A few of those times, those people call Jesus “the son of David” - a title that goes back to the Old Testament, where God promised King David that one day, one of his offspring would be a king whose kingdom would never end. The Messiah. What’s fascinating is that Matthew deliberately tells the story so that the people who *should* be able to see Jesus as the Messiah miss Him, and the people who shouldn’t do. And ironically, it’s some blind people who see Jesus the best. Matthew is challenging us. Do we see Jesus clearly? Do we see what He’s up to? Because if we did, that could change everything.

Imagine if Jesus went around calling Himself “Luke Skywalker.” Or “Frodo Baggins.” If you’d never seen Star Wars, or read “Lord of the Rings” then those references would go right over your head. But if you had, those allusions would be chock-filled with meaning and story and impact. In the Gospels, Jesus refers to Himself more than 80 times as the “son of man.” This phrase is so uncommon in the Greek, that many ancient listeners likely wouldn’t have understood what it meant. But Jewish listeners, if they paid attention, might have caught that Jesus was referring to a figure in the Book of Daniel that appears to Daniel in a vision. And by using this phrase, we learn that Jesus finds in Daniel a paradigm of suffering, enthronement, and authority that he utilises to describe His own journey and interpret Himself. Jay and David sit down to talk through this mysterious “Son of Man” figure in Daniel - and what it means for Jesus and us.

In the ancient world, it was incredibly common for powerful rulers to attempt to seize divinity to cement their authority and assert their power. As such, calling yourself a “god” or a “son of God” was fairly common. Even Octavian Augustus Caesar was called the “son of God.” It would make sense, therefore, that Jesus would call Himself that title, too. After all, if anyone has the right to use that title, it’s the *actual* son of God. Right? But He doesn’t. Instead by far the most common title that Jesus uses to refer to Himself is the phrase “the son of man” - using it more than 80 times in the Gospels. And in examining this phrase we learn something about Jesus - and hear an invitation from the Son of God Himself.

Of all the lies floating around the world, that old playground limerick might be one of the worst. “Sticks and stones can break my bones” it says “but words can never hurt me.” This is a bold-faced lie because we all know the power of words to hurt us. BUT...we also know how healing words can bring. How they bring life. In this episode, we talk about the title of Jesus as The Word, given to Him in the opening pages of John’s Gospel. Also, we talk to some staff about a time when they experienced the healing power of words, and we kick off a brand-new feature: Bible Nerd Out Time with our friend Sarah K. Lee.

The apostle John opens up his story about the life of Jesus in a very curious way. Instead of focusing on the familiar birth story of Jesus, with Mary, and the wise men and the star and silent night, holy night, John zooms way, way back. In the beginning, he writes, was the Word. John is linking Jesus and His life back to the opening pages of the Bible, in Genesis 1:1, where God speaks into the void, into the wild and waste of the Universe and with that Word brings forth beauty and order and goodness. This Word is Jesus, John says. And in Jesus, the “Word” of God isn’t just audible words spoken, but an actual person. Come to Earth. In human form. In Jesus. And just like in Genesis, this Word has the power to bring life, order, beauty and goodness everywhere.