Church guide

Why Do We Lose Our Young People? (Part Two) Audio from Sunday evening's sermon

Why Do We Lose Our Young People? (Part One) Audio from Sunday morning's sermon

How's work going? Though we rightly devote much of our attention to what we do on Sundays, scripture also speaks about what the believer's life ought to look like on a Monday. Let's talk about that at the Westside church in Cabot - Sunday morning at 10:00.

This Sunday at 10:00...Are you a Christian? Are you a disciple? What does being a disciple mean? What does discipleship look like on a Sunday?

GOD'S VIEW REGARDING LIFE [Bulletin Article for this Sunday] This past week two major events occurred relating to the “pro-life, pro-choice” debate in our nation. Tuesday marked the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision which made abortion legal in this country. In Washington, D.C., hundreds of thousands of “pro-life” advocates marched in protest of this decision, as they have done for the past 45 years. Then on Wednesday, New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation permitting abortions up until the baby’s due date if the mother’s health is said to be at risk. This new law removes abortion from the state’s criminal code and allows medical professionals other than licensed physicians to perform abortions in New York. Cuomo proudly stated, “I promised that we would enact this critical legislation within the first 30 days of the new session – and we got it done.” In addition, he directed state landmarks such as the spire of One World Trade Center to be lit in pink to “shine a bright light forward for the rest of the nation to follow.” State senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said, “We’re saying here in New York, women’s lives matter. We’re saying here in New York, women’s decisions matter.” What does God say? What matters to Him? In scripture, the expression “with child” is used 26 times in reference to pregnant women. It is interesting that terms such as “fetus” or “clump of cells” are not used. Luke writes of Elisabeth conceiving John, saying that “the baby leaped in her womb” (1:41). The Greek word here is βρέφος, which just so happens to be the same word used to describe Jesus after He was born (2:12, 16). What this shows us is that God views the unborn baby and the newborn baby in the same way. Both are living human beings. As he is suffering, Job cries, “Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child. Like infants who never saw light?” (3:16). The unborn child is called an infant. In Psalm 139, to illustrate God’s power, David describes himself as an unborn child in his mother’s womb, writing, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.” When you compare biblical teaching with the thoughts and actions of many current leaders, it appears that the characteristics of the leaders God described in Isaiah 5 apply to some, if not most, of our leaders today. - They “draw iniquity with cords of vanity” (5:18). - They “call evil good, and good evil” (5:20). - They substitute “darkness for light, and light for darkness” and “bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter” (5:20). - They “are wise in their own eyes” and “clever in their own sight” (5:21). - They “take away justice from the righteous man” (5:23). - At some point, they will be devoured because they have rejected God’s law (5:24). Perhaps Ronald Reagan said it best when he quipped, “I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.”

Toxins are abrasive and corrosive, which means that they eat things away. In a very real sense, this is what unhealthy relationships can and will do to us! This lesson examines some characteristics of toxic people, making the unfortunate point that sometimes we see them in places that should be a refuge for us (like our homes and/or churches). How do we deal with toxic relationships? (Click the link for the audio)

Much is said in scripture about the way of God. As we think about life as it should be, we must understand that a contrast is made throughout scripture between the way of the righteous and the way of the ungodly (Psalm 1:6). Sunday morning at 10:00 we will introduce our theme for the year by exploring the differences between living God's way and living the world's way. Come join us or listen online!

Every table tells a story. In 2 Samuel 9, King David's desire to fulfill a years-old promise leads to an unlikely individual sitting around his table. The story of David and Mephibosheth parallels our relationship with God. Join us Sunday morning at 10:00 as we discuss this story from 2 Samuel 9.

Since it was first promised, mankind has been speculating about the return of Jesus and the end of the world as we know it. From the Mayan calendar to Y2K to spacecraft following a comet, there have been all kinds of wild predictions, and they all have one thing in common ... every one of them has been WRONG! Sunday morning at 10:00, we are going to spend some time considering what the BIBLE says about this subject. Come join us if you are in the Cabot area!

Do you remember the show "MacGyver"? That guy could do just about anything, as long as he had his Swiss Army knife and duct tape in his pocket. Being equipped with the right tools makes a job go much better, doesn't it? As disciples, we have work to do. Battles must be fought, and on our own, we are ill-equipped to do the job. The good news is that God has given us the resources we need to effectively push Satan back. This lesson examines Ephesians 6 and discusses three tools - God's word, prayer, and our brethren - which God has provided for us as we work in the kingdom.

SPIRITUAL GOALS...There was a lady who got caught in a snowstorm. The visibility was nearly zero and she wondered how she was going to make it home. She finally remembered her father’s advice that if she ever got caught in a blizzard she should wait for a snow plow to come by and follow it. Sure enough, in just a few minutes, a snow plow went by and she started to follow it. Everywhere it went … she went, for nearly an hour. After some time had passed the snow plow stopped, the driver got out, and signaled for her to roll down her window. He wanted to know if she was alright because she had been following him for a long time. She said that she was fine, but she was following her father’s advice of following a snow plow in a blizzard. The driver replied, "Ma'am, it's okay if you want to keep following me, but you should know that I'm just cleaning off the Walmart parking lot." Isn't that how life is sometimes? We wander around without any real sense of direction. Progress without a plan is nearly impossible. As we think about spiritual growth, goals are the “map” that will guide us toward our God-given purpose and potential. This lesson examines what the Bible says about making goals, and discusses two kinds of goals for disciples.

Imagine a family sitting around the dinner table and the children saying to the parents, “We have decided that we no longer believe in the labels of parent and child. We do not like the way you are handling curfews and after all, we are all a part of this family.” Imagine a CEO and founder of a Fortune 500 company sitting at a conference table and the junior vice president of sales declares, “I am ready to take over this company. You need to step aside.” Imagine members of a local church coming to an eldership and saying, “We think you should step down because we don’t like the way you are handling this situation. We should all get a say.” Imagine being called by God to lead a nation out of slavery and making sure their every need was met, only to have a disgruntled cousin come along and say you’ve gotten too powerful and that he and his friends could do a better job. We do not have to imagine that last scenario – because that is exactly what happens with "Korah's rebellion" in Numbers 16. This lesson examines the pattern that a rebellion follows, and gives us some guidance on how to avoid those who would cause such trouble in the family, workplace, or church.

WHEN OTHER BELIEVERS HURT YOU? Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4 about Alexander the coppersmith, a man who had done him great harm and was going to try to hurt Timothy as well. The sad truth is that there are people like Alexander the coppersmith today. Sometimes other believers hurt you the worst. This lesson addresses what we should do when we are dealing with our Alexander the coppersmith.

Will Rogers once said that there were three periods in American history: the passing of the buffalo, the passing of the Indian, and the passing of the buck. He added, “We are living in that third period.” Over the years, the term “passing the buck” has become a symbol of shifting personal responsibility or refusing to accept blame for an action taken. President Harry Truman understood well when he said, “The buck stops here.” That meant that he took responsibility for making the decisions and enacting those decisions. That also meant that he took the blame if things went wrong. This lesson discusses the idea of attempting to shift the blame when we commit sin. Shifting the blame is as old as sin itself. However, it is never pleasing to God. The alternative is repentance. What about us? When we sin, how do we respond?