There is a qualitative difference about Jesus that is unmistakable. Nothing in him echoes our frenetic and worried pace. With Jesus nothing hurries, nothing diminishes, nothing wastes, nothing stalls. He is life itself.

John, the beloved disciple, puts it simply: “In him was life, and that life was the light of all people” (John 1:4, TNIV). As John comes to write about Jesus, he knows he is touching the infinite. He charmingly says that the world is too small to record what could be said (John 21:25).

So… what to do? John chooses seven representative moments, seven real and tangibly physical signs of how the eternal life comes into our material world. Everything is concretely real and experience-able: wa- ter and wine, hunger and bread, blindness and sight, being dead and being alive. We learn that the life of Jesus is not removed from where we live, but deeply present, if we can see him.

As we now begin our move towards Easter, we follow seven reveal- ing moments in the life of Jesus. In the real physicality of our human experience, John will show us who Jesus is: God’s presence and his very self.

February 12:
February 19:
Special Ash Wednesday Service: Wednesday Feb 22 7pm
February 26:
March 4:
March 11:
March 18:
March 25:

Holy Week
April 1: Palm Sunday
April 6: Good Friday
April 8: Resurrection Sunday

A quick and honest test: what occupies your mind the most? Before you give the safe or polite answer, think a little harder. It’s rather obvious, don’t you think?

This series will address our human fascination with sex and money. While some topics (like prayer and mission) appear to be more “spiri- tual”, the topics of sex and money can appear to some to be almost crass, mundane, too earthy for discussion in a place of worship. But we think the opposite: we think that these topics are central to who we are and where we live. And we know that God has something to say to us in these matters.

Instead of leaving these aspects of our lives “in the closet”, we want to bring out all we are into the light of God’s transforming and healing grace. We want to think Biblically about sex and money.

Jan 15:
Jan 22:
Jan 29:
Feb 5:

Everyone loves a good story. And the story of Esther, queen of Persia, is as good a story you will find. It is also one of the more surprising parts of Scripture: would you believe there is a Bible story where God is everywhere at work but nowhere named? That’s the story of Esther.

Over the past few years, we have seen how story can embed very meaningful ideas. Here are a few of the ideas we will explore in this series:

providence — despite appearances which can suggest otherwise, God is deeply embedded in the stories we are part of
culture and context — we are given a time and place in which to shine
evil — there is always a force that threatens
crisis — a moment comes when courageous and just decisions must be made
character — the honors and gifts that God gives are for the benefit of others
hopeful reversal — in the face of real danger, there is always the hope of gracious and good outcomes (this is a resurrection story)

Esther is a story about God without a lot of God-talk. That might be a lesson in itself.

Last year we introduced a simple three-part strategy for what we do together here at Westside. We connect with each other, we seek ways to grow intentionally and on purpose, and we find ways to serve meaningfully. Connect, grow, serve.

This year we want to continue in this three-fold way. We want to do the same thing but do it better, do it with more understanding, do
it together. We want to maintain our course but go “further up and farther in” (one of our favorite Narnia quotes). In other words, when you find a good path, stay on it.

In our world of choice, it is easy to get distracted by the many possi- bilities that present themselves. What we could do is not always what we should do. Paul gives a wise piece of advice to his young protégé Timothy: “as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of…” (2 Timothy 3:14, TNIV).

This year we are going to keep on connecting, keep on growing, and keep on serving — but in new ways, and with greater depth and clarity. We have found a good path.

June 26
David and Samuel – Upsetting the order
1 Samuel 16:1-13

July 3
David and Goliath – Living with a God-dominated imagination
1 Samuel 17

July 10
David and Saul – Service in hostile settings
1 Samuel 16:14-23; 18-19

July 17
David and Jonathan – Friendship in the midst of struggle
1 Samuel 18-20

July 24
David and the Desert – Life in wait
1 Samuel 21-24

July 31
David and his Company – A community of misfits
1 Samuel 22:2

August 7
David and the Kingdom – The city, the kingdom, and the promise
2 Samuel 5-7

AUGUST 14
David, Abigail, and Mephibosheth – Kindness received and given
1 Samuel 25; 2 Samuel 9

August 21
David, Bathsheba and Nathan – Correction and repentance
2 Samuel 11-12

August 28
David and Absalom – Heartbreak and loss
2 Samuel 15-18

September 4
David and God – Worship and a truly human life
The Psalms

Working hard? Getting anywhere? How deep is your tiredness? When you allow yourself to dream, where does your imagination take you?

This series intends to ask some fundamental questions about the world we live in and the patterns of life we take for granted. Taking Paul’s letter to the Colossians as our guide, we want to re-order ourselves around the gospel and its implications for how we actually live:

We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me. (Col.1:28-29, The Message)

Placing the message of Colossians against the backdrop of “the suburban dream”, we want to get basic, and move towards spiritual maturity.

The Christian faith is an Easter faith. And that means it is a joyous and hopeful view of the world. Christ has triumphed over the enemies of life. Death, sin, and despair have been given an expiry date. Love, hope, and mercy have fully guaranteed futures.

But the Easter faith we embrace does not come cheaply or without challenge. There is a pathway to joy that must be taken seriously. Our Scriptures tell us this about Jesus: “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12: 2, TNIV).

As we prepare ourselves for Easter, we want to look more closely at how Jesus rejected the shortcuts to joy. We want to see how, for the sake of maximized joy, he followed the path that led him to his cross.

As we prepare ourselves for the celebration of Easter, let’s make sure this is a pathway we understand.

Apr 3: Bread
Apr 10: Worth
Apr 17: Tests

Apr 22: Good Friday 10:10am

Apr 24: Resurrection Sunday 9:29 + 11:11am

There is no unedited spirituality or Vespers this weekend. At Easter we join together with all of the Westside communities to remind ourselves of the larger universal church of Christ.

One of the unique qualities of our humanity is our ability to think in sequence, to understand meaning through the lens of past, present and future. Simply put, we live in a storied world. And the question for every story is this: how will it end?

Jesus taught from these three aspects of reality: there is a past from which we live, an explanation for the way things are; there is a way we ought to live in the present, responsibilities defined by the story we are part of; and there is a future to live toward, a hope that motivates and comforts us.

The Christian gospel doesn’t hold together without a strong sense of the future. Jesus talked a lot about the future, more than we often realize. Our question in this series is simply this: what does Jesus have to say about the future in and through his parables?