WestGate Church Teaching

Q Series - Live Questions and Answers

In the past 17 years, the overall suicide rate has risen 24 percent. It rose for every racial and gender category except African-American men. But why? Why should modern people feel more hopeless when, arguably, our lives are more comfortable and we are living longer than ever before? Perhaps it’s because there is a deep crisis of hope. In part 2 of his deeply personal talk on suffering, WestGate Church lead pastor Steve Clifford talks about what the teachings of Jesus and the Bible say about hope. And why the Christian story provides exactly what everyone who is suffering truly needs: confidence that God has better days ahead (even if that seems impossible).

In the past 17 years, the overall suicide rate has risen 24 percent. It rose for every racial and gender category except African-American men. But why? Why should modern people feel more hopeless when, arguably, our lives are more comfortable and we are living longer than ever before? Perhaps it’s because there is a deep crisis of hope. In part 2 of his deeply personal talk on suffering, WestGate Church lead pastor Steve Clifford talks about what the teachings of Jesus and the Bible say about hope. And why the Christian story provides exactly what everyone who is suffering truly needs: confidence that God has better days ahead (even if that seems impossible).

Everyone loves the parts of the Bible that are filled with love, affirmation and glowing promises. But what about when you get to parts of the story that are confusing, contradictory - or worse - seem to cast doubt on God’s character? Most folks simply avoid those passages because we’re secretly afraid if we dig in, we’ll find out something bad about God that will show He’s not that...good. In this message, Bible scholar and Sunnyvale Campus pastor David Kim chooses a particularly confusing verse - and shows us practical, scholarly, intelligent techniques to help us understand what’s going on in that part of the Bible so we can move from avoidance and suspicion to understanding and trust.

Last week, we delved into the caricatures of hell that exist in popular culture, and showed how the Biblical narrative gives a much different and much more full picture of what hell is. In part 2 of our examination of the topic of hell, we examine the terrible necessity of hell. Because of the gift of free will, humans have the chance to reject God, and hell becomes a symmetrical necessity because of free will and God’s character (which is incompatible with sin). Lead pastor Steve Clifford dives head-first into a topic that is heart-breaking for many, including apparently God Himself.

Many today believe hell is a "skeleton in God's closet," a tough topic that, if looked at closely, would reveal a cruel, vindictive tyrant rather than a good and loving God. And we aren't comfortable with the answers we've been given. Portland pastor and author Joshua Ryan Butler stops by to pull these bones out into the open to exchange popular caricatures for the beauty and power of the real thing. We'll discover that hell was never really a skeleton at all but a proclamation of a God who is good "in his very bones," not just in what he does, but in who he is. And we’ll find - by studying the Biblical picture of hell - that God is good and coming to redeem his world.

There is no doubt that hypocrisy in the church has done real damage to the spiritual lives of many people. But if we are honest, hypocrisy doesn’t just exist in other people - we often will fail to practice the kind of behavior we expect from other people. In this message, we examine the disastrous roots of hypocrisy, and see what real steps can we take (with Jesus) to arrest this deadly cancer. And in the process, live bravely and in freedom.

If religion is supposed to make you a better person AND make you happy, what do you do when you meet a person who is both good and happy - and irreligious? Does this mean that Jesus isn’t necessary for either? In this week, we dive into the heart of Jesus’ teachings - the famous Sermon on the Mount - and see that Jesus talks about both what it means to be happy and what it means to be good. And Jesus’ definitions and advice on these crucial matters are as shocking today to our modern ears as they were for His ancient listeners. And just as important to consider.

There's no doubt that Jesus Christ is the most influential figure in history. But why? Join us this Easter as we explore the story of the Resurrection of Jesus, an ancient story that still has a powerful impact on us today. We'll explore why it takes faith to doubt this story, what problems result when you dismiss it out-of-hand, and why we think it's the most beautiful story ever told.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered into Jerusalem, accepting the praise of the crowd as a King. But Jesus was a different sort of King, with a different sort of Kingdom. This weekend, we’ll examine stories about how this King has been bringing about His Kingdom in our particular community through our 90 Days of Prayer and through Beautiful Day (last weekend). Then we’ll keep looking at this King, and we’ll examine a passage where Jesus sees clearly the destruction and non-Kingdom-of-God-ness of death and sin and He weeps. But it doesn’t end there: Jesus, the Good King, then goes and does something about it.