Atlanta Westside Presbyterian Church

December 14. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 1:18-25|

December 7. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Luke 5:1-25|

November 30. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Luke 1:57-80|

November 23. 2025 | Josh Kim | Numbers 9:15-10:10|

November 16. 2025 | Nagib Hermes | Galatians 4:1-7 |

November 09. 2025 | Russ Whitfield | 1 John 3:16-24 |

November 02. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 |

October 26. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 |

October 19. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 |

October 12. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 |

October 5. 2025 | Ray Cortese | Micah 4:1-7 |

September 28. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 |

September 21. 2025 | Elliot Grudem | 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13 |

September 14. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16 |

September 7. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 |

August 31. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 Timothy 2:1-7 |

August 24. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 |

August 17. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 John 1:1-10 |

August 10. 2025 | Josh Kim | Psalm 100, Revelation 19:6 |

August 03. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 |

July 27. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Acts 2:41-47 |

July 20. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Esther 4:4-17 |

July 13. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 Samuel 25:23-35 |

July 06. 2025 | Walter Henegar | 1 Samuel 1:1-20 |

June 29. 2025 | Everett Pollard | Ruth 1:6-22 |

June 22. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Judges 4:1-16 |

June 15. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Joshua 1:1-15 |

June 8. 2025 | Josh Kim | Genesis 38:27-30, Matthew 1:1-3 |

June 1. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Genesis 16:1-16 |

May 25. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Acts 1:1-11 |

May 18. 2025 | Byron Johnson | Luke 24:36-49 |

May 11. 2025 | Joe Parker | Luke 24:13-35 |

May 4. 2025 | Walter Henegar | John 20:19-31 |

April 27. 2025 | Nagib Hermes | John 21:1-25 |

April 20. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 7:24- 8:1 |

April 13. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 7:15-23 |

April 06. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 7:12-14 |

Mar 30. 2025 | Dr Sinclair Ferguson | Matthew 7:7-11 |

Mar 23. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 7:1-6 |

Mar 23. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 1:1-6 |

Mar 09. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 6:7-15 |

Mar 02. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 6:7-15 |

Feb 23. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 6:1-4, 16-18 |

Feb 16. 2025 | Justin Giboney | Matthew 5:38-48 |

Feb 09. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 5:33-37 |

Feb 02. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 5:27-32 |

Jan 26. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 5:21-26 |

Jan 19. 2024 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 5:17-20 |

Jan 12. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 5:13-16 |

Jan 05. 2025 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 5:1-12 |

Dec 29. 2024 | Matthew Terrell | 1 Peter 1:1-9 |

Dec 22. 2024 | Walter Henegar | John 14:1-7 |

Dec 15. 2024 | Walter Henegar | Luke 12:35-40 |

Dec 08. 2024 | Josh Kim | John 16:4-15 |

Dec 01. 2024 | Walter Henegar | Mark 12:1-12 |

Nov 22. 2024 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 4:12-25 |

Nov 17. 2024 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 4:1-11 |

Nov 10. 2024 | Walter Henegar | Matthew 3:13-17 |

Nov 04. 2024 | Josh Kim | Joshua 5:13-15 |

Oct 27. 2024 | Walter Henegar | Romans 14:1-23 |

Oct 20. 2024 | Walter Henegar | Romans 13:1-14 |

Oct 13. 2024 | Walter Henegar | Romans 12:9-21 | Christians should be known for their love, both in private and in public. In Romans 12, this love is characterized by humility, hospitality and hope. Loving our "enemies," including our political enemies, is impossible without the Gospel of Jesus.

Oct 6, 2024 | Irwyn Ince | Hosea 14:1-9 |

Sep 29, 2024 | Joe Novenson | Proverbs 11:30 |

Sep 22, 2024 | Walter Henegar | Philippians 3:12-4:1 |

Sep 15, 2024 | Walter Henegar | Romans 2:1-6 |

Sep 8. 2024 | Walter Henegar | John 3:1-21 | Healthy public faith begins with a clear understanding of what the Church is and how God intends for it to relate to the World.

Sep 1, 2024 | Walter Henegar | Psalm 85 |

Aug 25, 2024 | Josh Kim | Psalm 1 |

Psalm 130

Jake Fulwiler

Hebrews 13:20-25

The closing verses of the book of Hebrews pray that God will "equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ" (v. 21). This sermon celebrates all the ways that God has already answered that prayer in the previous chapters.

July 21, 2024

Hebrews 12:8-29. We all want some combination of change and stability. The author of Hebrews argues that the Gospel gives us both sweeter stability and sturdier hope than living under the law. A Christian's "address" is no longer the scary, gloomy Mount Sinai where God gave Moses the Law, but the full and festive Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem where angels, saints and God himself rejoice for all eternity.

July 28, 2024

Hebrews 13:1-6 commends a surprising combination of four virtues that are all forms of "brotherly love." Each of them identifies something of great weight or value—including isolation, mistreatment, sex and money—and pairs it with a corresponding aspect of the grace of God. Jesus matches the weight of isolation with the grace of providence, the weight of mistreatment with the grace of empathy, the weight of sex with the grace of judgment, and the wight of money with the grace of steadfast love.

NOTE: Our denomination's prison ministry is called Metanoia. You can expl...

Hebrews 13: 7-19

How do you assess whether spiritual leaders are worthy of your trust? The author of Hebrews provides at least six key criteria, which we can apply to leaders across the spectrum—from any man, woman or child who "spoke the word of God to you" (v. 7) to the official church leaders we should trust and defer to. At the center of all criteria is the person of Jesus, who "is the same yesterday, today and forever" (v. 8).

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Both celibacy in singleness, and sex in marriage, are valid choices for believers. Paul's counsel demolishes multiple assumptions of our current culture, including: a) that sexual orientation or practice is at the core of your identity, b) that marriage is always Plan A, and c) that your decision is entirely up to you, or entirely up to God (it's both). In its place, Paul casts a vision for a life of "undivided devotion" to the Lord in which celibate Christians bear witness to our eternal marriage in Christ, while building up the church in relationships with both single and...

The race of faith requires discipline. Discipline includes embracing hard circumstances that God sends our way, and also hard choices that we make to fight our own sin. In both cases, we trust that we are God's beloved children, and he wants to redeem our pain to make us more like himself. Because discipline hurts, we must remember that Jesus always goes before us, trusting his Father's will to the point of shedding his blood for us.

Some resources on "straightening the path":

- Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Pete Scazzero

...

In this very personal gratitude psalm of great deliverance, we come back to the simple truth that God's grace has radically liberated us from death. The Gospel changes everything, and we are called to sing this with everything in our beings. No matter what stage of life we are in, if you are in Christ then you have been delivered. With that, our praise of deliverance should come forth in our public worship. But, how often do we truly live like this? If we are alive in Christ, then why are we still doing dead things? And how can...

Psalm 30 teaches that despite our moments of despair and sin, God's mercy endures forever. He transforms our despair into joy and reminds us of His care even in darkness. Our identity is secured through Christ, where we find true freedom to dance as His beloved children.

Faith is a way of seeing the present through the lens of the future. The first half of Hebrews 11, often called the "Honor Roll of Faith," illustrates how the Old Testament patriarchs "saw" two vital elements of life: God's commendation, and God's inheritance. In both cases, those who believe experience a foretaste in this life, and the complete fulfillment in eternity.

Psalm 123 is one of 15 Psalms of Ascent, so named because God required his people to make the mountainous journey to his temple in Jerusalem three times a year. Psalms of Ascent were written to sing and were very communal, drawing God’s people together as they made their uphill journey toward the temple.

Outside of whatever difficulties we face in attending church each Sunday, we really can’t compare the journey God’s people took to get to Jerusalem. However, something we do have in common is that we are all to take a journe...

How do we draw near to God? Hebrews 10:19-29 describes five essential ways: Through Jesus, with a true heart, without wavering, all together, till the Day.

If Christians permanently, perfectly forgiven, why don't we feel it? Hebrews 10 suggests that we still tend to lean on the old repetitive patterns of the law, including Baton Theology (Jesus saves us, and we take it from there), A Debtor's Ethic (we earn our ongoing forgiveness), and Gamifying God (we try to measure our performance rather than lean into his love). Because Jesus completed the work of redemption once for all time, none of these efforts work. Yet this very fact then becomes our greatest motivation to hate sin and love righteousness. Liberated from the burden of satisfying God's...

Jesus draws a contrast between the intoxicating agony of ministry and the helpless wonder of salvation. It's not wrong to rejoice that Jesus is pleased to channel his power through us, but it is infinitely more awesome that he saves us at all. Ironically, those who rejoice in their salvation above all become more effective channels of his power. Walter preached this sermon for the opening worship service of Metro Atlanta Presbytery.

Joy is possible despite our circumstances because we know Christ and have an identity not based on our efforts but based on all that Christ has done. It is tempting to put our confidence in the value system of the world around us, but what Christ offers us is far superior than anything else we could ever possess. Our achievements or accolades cannot be the basis for our identity because ultimately God doesn't want you to impress him; he wants you to trust him.

In this passage, we meet a man in crisis: His life has come apart, and he comes to Jesus for rescue. But he is afraid: even if Jesus can help him, would Jesus even want to? This story reveals Jesus as more than simply a miraculous healer, but also a compassionate God, who knows us better than we might suspect. 

The old covenant sacrificial system viscerally illustrated the truth that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). Jesus perfects this principle, presenting his own blood “once for all” in the true tent, the actual presence of God. This new and better covenant doesn’t just purify our bodies, but even our consciences—assuring us that we belong with him forever. For all who believe, the Bible’s constant talk of blood and sacrifice is not an embarrassing relic of primitive ages but an ongoing cause for gratitude and wonder.

What kind of story are Christians living in? Hebrews 8 reveals a sharp contrast between the default story of human progress and the Gospel story of grace.

Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones is a dramatic picture of the hope of the Gospel. Not only will all who trust in Jesus be physically resurrected, as Jesus was, but his Holy Spirit both dwells in us and fills up in us. As a result, we like Ezekiel can preach to the dry bones in our lives, and pray to the Breath to give them Life.

A meditation for Good Friday.

Everyone needs "priests" to give us authorized external confirmation that we are good enough, but all of our earthly priests will fail us, consigning us to a life of perpetual struggle. Jesus, however, is better than every priest who ever lived, even the mysterious priest-king Melchizedek, because his offering for us was final, and his prayers for us are perpetual. His once-for-all sacrifice on the cross, and his constant intercession for us at the Father's right hand, enable us to engage in the imperfect, two-steps-forward, one-step-back work of sanctification without fear.

Why should we trust the promises of God? Hebrews 6 gives us three reasons: a compelling example, a proven principle, and a satisfying metaphor. The compelling example is Abraham, patiently (and sometimes impatiently) waited for God to fulfill his promises. The proven principle is God swearing by his own self. Though oaths like this are less relied on today, they expose the personal acts of trust at the heart of all knowing. The satisfying metaphor has three parts: an anchor, the holy place behind the veil, and a forerunner—Jesus himself. Altogether, these reasons provide those who have fled for re...

It can be hard to tell the difference between an immature Christian and an inauthentic one. According to the author of Hebrews, the main difference is growth. While it is possible for people with significant spiritual experiences to "fall away," those who receive the gift of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus cannot lose it. At the same time, God wants us to keep growing into this salvation—to build on foundational practices and graduate from milk to solid food, giving us practical wisdom for every situation in life.

Many of us wake up each morning weighed down by the stress of life’s difficulties, pains, miseries, and so on. The world is constantly looking for solutions, but so far every man-made effort has failed. However, Jesus met every qualification to be that better solution. He became human, with limitations, who suffered and endured weakness, just as we do. And because of this, he understands us.

Christians who believe the Good News of Jesus can be confident that they will one day enter eternal rest with God in the new heavens and new earth. Until then, we can also rest in God’s peace, regardless of our circumstances. But this, too, requires strenuous believing, starting with the promise that Jesus has achieved our rest for us—so we don’t have to! It also involves practicing sabbath in community, embracing our limits and letting the Gospel expose the thoughts and intentions of our hearts.

When believing gets painful, Christians have a choice: Either let your heart get hardened, which is easy, or hold fast to your hope, which is hard. Thankfully, your heavenly calling was already secured for you by the Father, earned for you by the Son, and sustained for you by the Holy Spirit. This means you only have to “take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you” (Philippians 3:12 NIV). And you don’t have to do it alone. As Hebrews will keep reminding us, we must “exhort (or encourage) one another every day.”

Jesus was made like us so that we could be made like him. The author of Hebrews reminds us, citing Psalm 8, that we were made to be kings and queens, ruling God’s world on his behalf. At present, however,  sin has made us slaves to the fear of death instead. To remedy this situation, Jesus had to become like us in every respect, forging bonds of shared understanding that help us to trust him. And by suffering in all these ways, even through the cross and the empty tomb, Jesus blazes a trail of transformation for us to foll...

God is speaking to you. Are you listening?  If Jesus is not supreme to you, something else will be. And you’re not paying close attention, the current will carry you away from him. But if Jesus is supreme to you, and if you are paying closer attention to what he has said, you can become an agent of his divine speech.