West Pines Community Church

It is the grand climax of a beautiful journey. This final episode of Grandpa Abraham’s life is loaded with intensity and brimming with emotion. In response to an unimaginable command of God, Abraham demonstrates one of the greatest acts of faith in human history. In this story God is painting a vivid picture of a truth that is critical for you to know. It is for anyone who feels like God is indifferent towards their present circumstances. It is for anyone who doubts God’s unquenchable love for them. It is for anyone who is struggling with cooled emotions towards God. It is for anyone who is resisting the surrender of a dimension of their lives to God. This is The Time Abraham Took a Hard Walk.

We just finished up five days of camp. Five days of serving out in our community, partnering with organizations that are doing good work all throughout South Florida. Our students also experienced nightly teaching and music that pointed them to the inexhaustible love of Christ. So now what? No doubt lives were changed, commitments were made, and passion was sparked. But what happens when we’ve made the change, commitments, and the passion is there, but God doesn’t seem to be holding up on his end of the bargain? Was it all real or was it just an emotional high? In Luke 7, Jesus helps us to deal with some of these difficult questions, by giving us a rather shocking And now, John, who had witnessed all of that. An incredible and unforgettable experience of hearing God’s voice from heaven, begins to call into question the things he once held so tightly. answer.

West Pines Community Church Leadership

As we enter into another new year, most of us will take some time to reflect on what we can do this year to make our lives better. Whether that is matters of health, finances, family, vocation, or some other area of personal growth, we often make those plans based only on how the results will have some type of personal reward. What if we took the time to reframe our goals for the new year through the lens of what would bring the most glory to God. That might mean changing some goals but it also might just mean changing our motivation and therefore reclassifying what the reward should be. In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus sets expectation for how we should invest the “talents” or resources that God has given us. What if we applied that idea to our goals and resolutions for the coming year?

It is a motivating charge from a mentor. In fact, it may have been some of the final words from a father figure to a young man he had invested so much in. Paul charges Timothy to stand unwaveringly on the perfect scripture. He tells Timothy to be ready to preach boldly no matter the opposition. That will require immovable courage. So what will that look like in the church today? What does it look like to proclaim truth no matter the cost? That is not an easy question to answer. It is especially difficult in the arena of politics...

One of the most powerful forces in the world is bottled up in one word: HOPE. Think about the phrase “a glimmer of hope.” Just a glimpse of something as catalytic as hope, is more than enough to spur on the remarkable. If we are honest, virtually all of us have a situation in our lives that we are desperate for something to hang our hope on. Maybe it’s an area of doubt. Maybe it’s something that is broken in your life. Maybe it’s a sinking loneliness. Maybe it’s a general feeling of being lost. In some way we all need just a whisper of hope. But what if there is more than just a glimmer of hope that’s available? What if this Christmas is promising a THRILL OF HOPE for your weariness...

Mark 9:14-24 NLT When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him. “What is all this arguing about?” Jesus asked. One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy

The world is going to end! Okay, we all know that to be true. The real question is: when? Some scientists say that we only have a billion years left on the planet before the sun gets too hot for life to be sustained. But others say the final judgment of the earth will happen in a lot less time… 3 days from now to be exact. The challenge is that there are end of the world predictions all the time. And many of them are from Christian leaders. They point to a combination of political events, astronomical events like “blood moons” and biblical prophecy to make their claims. How are we supposed to react to all of that? How do we sort through what is hype and what is real? There is a clear, precise answer to this, according to Jesus. He spoke directly to the “when” question of the end of the world. And what He said should affect your plans this week...

There is one fact, one matter of truth, that matters more than anything else in the world. Are you sure, with 100% certainty, that when you die, you will be with God in heaven? And Is it even possible to have such complete certainty? In John 10, Jesus addresses this topic by teaching us what it means to be His, and how we came to be His. If you struggle with doubt over whether or not you are saved and going to heaven, you can leave today with 100% certainty of where you stand with God. And if you are already certain of where you stand with Jesus, then let’s clear up some misconceptions about how we often act as though we aren’t so sure. Let’s leave this place today assured and secured.

01-11-15 Rescue 119, Part 1: Mathetes by West Pines Community Church

01-18-16 Rescue 119, Part 2: Rescued by West Pines Community Church

01-25-15 Rescue 119, Part 3: Awestruck by West Pines Community Church

02-01-15 Rescue 119, Part 4: Mobilized by West Pines Community Church

The story begins poetic, profound, and awe-inspiring. The grandeur of the power displayed is something truly hard to grasp. The story of the creation of humanity, as described in Genesis 1 and 2, reveals God’s intentionality and expertise as an inventor. All throughout the first two chapters God continually looks at what He has made and says it is good. Then after He makes humans he stops and says, “it is very good.” But then he sees something that he says is NOT good. He sees Adam working in the garden diligently, but all by himself. He says it is not good for the man to be alone. Sometimes we think just the opposite. We don’t operate as if we need others in our lives. The truth is God wired us for companionship.

“God created the heavens and the earth.” There are few phrases that are more hotly debated, discussed, and dissected than that. The reason the question of the origin of the universe is so provocative is because the implications are immense. If the universe merely sprang into existence due to a sterile, inanimate processes, then there is not necessarily a higher reason or purpose. However, if this universe was created then there is a Creator that has rights to it. That means the Creator has a grand design and purpose for the cosmos. To fundamentally understand ourselves, we have to wrestle with whether we have a creator who intentionally invented us or we are a meaningless part of a developing universe. The truth is, we are not accidents. We are all HARDWIRED. And that is essential for understanding ourselves.

When God creates our universe he does so in a way that lays out a rhythm for our life. That rhythm includes various forms of and times for rest. If the creator of our universe - who does not need rest - models it for us, we should pay close attention to what he is showing us and realize the important role it plays in our life. We often refer to that rest as a Sabbath. Keeping that Sabbath is a form of mending in our life that is necessary for us to achieve God’s other purposes in our lives. Unfortunately our world tends to reward busyness and ignore the impact or necessity of rest. If we follow that path, the results are disastrous to ourselves, our families, and our calling.

Light-bulb moments. You’ve probably experienced them. They are these moments where the things around us just don’t seem to make sense. But then the light comes on. You see the missing piece, the cause of all the confusion. This is precisely what happens when we begin to wrap our minds around this inescapable truth: Humanity is wired in the image of God. Where this truth is embraced, honored, and preserved, humanity flourishes. However, where this truth is forgotten and neglected, humanity suffers. Whether we realize it or not, understanding that we are made in the image of God determines the way we relate to God, others, and the rest of creation.

So many of the small details in the biblical story of Creation have monumental implications. One of the most beautiful details is that after each day of creation, God sees what has been made and says that it is good. However, at the end of creation He sees all He has made and says it is “very good.” Why does this have massive implications? It means that God doesn’t do things, establish things, invent things, create things that are second rate. What He does is good; perfectly good. The question is then: whose version of “good” do we embrace? Do we go with what our surrounding culture declares as good or do anchor our view of good on the Creator’s perspective? If we believe we are WIRED PERFECTLY it drastically affects our lives.

The story of creation in the Bible is extremely revealing. Particularly insightful is what God immediately did with the first human he created. He put him to work. He planted a garden with the intention of humans working it and caring for it. But does that mean God just created a bunch of worker drones to do His dirty work? If we look a little closer that is not the dynamic happening here. We learn from this passage that humanity is WIRED FOR WORK. God’s original intention is that we would feel wholly fulfilled and satisfied by work. However, we would all admit that work doesn’t feel like that. Work is hard and difficult and often unfulfilling. Something changed. It is immensely helpful for us to understand humanity’s relationship to work. When we know God’s intentions for humanity and how the story unfolded, we are far better equipped for work.

One of the most explosive issues in our world today centers on a question of how humans are wired. It is the question of gender and sexuality. Are humans hardwired as two particular genders? Are we wired for a particular sexual orientation, or is that for each person to decide for themselves? How does this impact the definition of marriage? These are topics that must be treated with incredible care because of how personal the subject matter is. Further, in our society there has been much hurt and division over this topic and how the discussions are carried out. The Bible addresses these questions. Sometimes scripture is selectively applied to this topic. But as we look through the Bible, many are surprised by what it says about this, and about how this subject should be addressed.