I would like to welcome you on behalf of our president, Gary Wilkerson, and our COO, John Bailey. This platform is a resource to help pastors who find themselves in a variety of contexts all around the world. We aim to provide a variety of content that we pray will enrich your ministry, strengthen your walk with God, and serve as an encouragement as you live out God's calling on your life. We will be talking about the trials and joys and all the beautiful challenges that come with the privilege of shepherding God's people and preaching God's word. We look forward to connecting with you and walking alongside you in the good fight of faith.
In Christ,
Joshua West
Discover how Pastor Lee Shipp transitioned from a legalistic understanding of faith to embracing the fullness of God's grace. This episode explores the transformative power of realizing that salvation and sanctification are through faith alone, leading to a church revitalized by love, joy, and freedom in Christ.
As Joshua explains, preaching involves proclamation, explanation, and application. True biblical preaching leads to transformation, especially as preachers are obedient to God’s Word.
Exposition, proclamation, and application are key, but so is knowing your audience. While a biblical sermon can encourage believers, unbelievers must be called to repentance that can lead to salvation.
While expository is the most common form throughout church history, textual and topical have their place. No matter what type of sermon you preach, it’s important to handle God’s Word carefully, preaching the whole counsel of God.
In part four of his nine-part series, Joshua West shares how crucial it is to see through the lens of the Bible. Citing passages such as Titus 1:9 and 1 Timothy, we can understand the centrality of Scripture and the importance of reading it publicly.
In part five of his series, Pastor Joshua West highlights eight incredibly useful tools that will help you succeed in your pastoral calling. Some of these critical tools include a good Bible translation, original language resources for understanding Greek and Hebrew, Bible commentaries, systematic theologies, and more.
In part six of his series on biblical preaching, Pastor Joshua West exhorts pastors to remember the importance of prayer as a crucial spiritual discipline and as part of our preaching. Drawing from many biblical passages in Matthew, Mark, Romans, and Colossians, Pastor Joshua shares the need to humbly ground ourselves in prayer, seeking God’s guidance in all things—direction, correction, and power.
As lifelong students of God’s Word, pastors need to pray, prepare their hearts, and study before preaching. Pastor Joshua underscores the importance of carefully reading the biblical text and understanding exposition, hermeneutics, and homiletics.
While there’s no perfect way to write a sermon, Pastor Joshua West offers several helpful tips to help you communicate clearly, while also reminding us to handle God’s Word correctly. After providing an overview of the expository method, Pastor Joshua informs viewers how to craft a good homiletical outline, noting that a biblical text is always at the heart of a strong sermon.
Only by trusting fully in Christ, not in ourselves, can we glorify God in our preaching. In this final video in his nine-part series on biblical preaching, Pastor Joshua West encourages viewers to trust in God and his guidance. Successful preaching is not a formula but is rooted in our faithfulness to God and his Word. Pastor Joshua calls preachers to allow their love for Christ and the church to motivate them.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2 (ESV) In Romans chapter 8:1 the apostle Paul delivers one of the most profound statements in the entire Bible
For those who claim to be in Christ, there many misconceptions about the person and teachings of Jesus. This is not referring to actual scholarly debates where men and women who are true students of the Bible have differences of opinion about various points of theology or have different
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the
By Mark Renfroe What has changed in global missions that affects your local church today? The answer to the question could be a book, but I will present ten points to help you minister locally and globally for the glory of Jesus. Some of these are opportunities, some are challenges, and some are
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world
Throughout the Scriptures, when the judgement of God fell on Israel, he would look throughout the land, not for a strong man or a smart man or even a wise man. He looked for a praying man, a man who was grieved by sin the same way he was, who strived to live righteously and longed for the holiness
“For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the
In Matthew 5, Jesus talks about the blessing of being persecuted for the sake of Christ and the kingdom of God. It’s interesting that it never says, “blessed are the blessed” or “blessed are the rich.” But to prop up the notion that financial gain is godly we hear many preachers say this. Jesus says
In the modern Western church we have the outside of the cup polished to a perfect sheen. For most today, you past a sign that says “Welcome Home” outside, and there’s coffee available in the lobby, and the services start right on time (or a minute after), then there’s a pitch for women’s ministry or
“The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.” Proverbs 10:28 (ESV) The greatest aim in the lives of most people is to be happy. This is what we think we are chasing when we chase anything in this life, relationships, careers, hopes and dreams. We do this in
The church isn’t every group of people who gather together on Sunday. The remnant, or the true church, was established and is built and sustained by the person of Jesus Christ. Where should we gather? A great kids program, a state-of-the-art sound system and multimedia setup, a great band or coffee
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” 2 Peter 3:10 (ESV) Any Christian apologetic or meaningful evangelism message
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV) For as long as I have been studying the Scripture I have been
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1 (ESV) We use the term relationship a lot in Christianity, but I prefer the term fellowship. You have a relationship with everyone you know
True joy is supernatural; it is an outworking and evidence of the Spirit of God living in you. Nothing in this world can give you joy and nothing in this world can take it away. The joy and peace of the Lord are present in your life during the good times and the bad. In fact, it is often more
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?” 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 (ESV) Before we can talk about
The biblical premise for the growth of the church of Christ is because we are preaching the gospel and making disciples. The perverted form that this has taken in America today is something else entirely. Is what we do in the American church a good representation of what Christ intended when he
People tend to seek the path of least resistance, the “easy way.” As Christians, we shouldn’t look for the easy way or the hard way. We should focus on walking down the path of truth no matter where it leads. We should be far more concerned about the character of our life than the condition of our
In the Old Testament, Israel was rebuked repeatedly because of the worship of Baal—a god worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities. The Canaanites apparently considered him a fertility deity and one of the most important gods in the pantheon. He was also called the Lord of Rain and Dew
The term social gospel comes from a movement that gained prominence in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Christian intellectuals aimed to use Christian ethics to solve problems such as war, poverty, social injustice, crime, and addiction. While trying to tackle these problems in and
We live in a culture that is so self-absorbed and self-centered that it is hard for us to see far beyond ourselves. It’s hard to not get caught up in the spirit of this age. If you want to live a life that is holy and pleasing to God you have to really work at keeping yourself separated from a
Compared to the conditions in which most people of the world live, being born in the United States is like winning the lottery. Even the poorest among us are more blessed than most people in places like India and much of Africa. We have great access to food, water, and the basic necessities required
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along
