Pastor's Page

Plans for 2022 - Do you have any?

Make a plan to share the Gospel.

Because nothing else we do means much at all unless we share the amazing grace of God with those who don't know Him.

“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest." John 4:34 CSB

December 2, 2021

This is the outline I share with our Men's Ministry last night. We live in a day of great confusion and great negativity. It's time for us as believers to get ourselves out of all the junk of the world and truly start following Christ. We can choose to do this.

Philippians 4:8-9 CSB

8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.

9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Choice

We choose to do what God wants us to do

We choose to live a godly life

We choose to live for Christ

Attitude

We take on an attitude that is positive and helpful

We present an attitude that helps other people

We take on the attitude of Christ

Example

We set an example that is worth following

We set an example for others to follow Christ with us

We set an example to show others Christ in us

Take the time to pray and seek God. If we truly seek God we will find Him and He will be able to do great things through us. We know we need revival. We know we need a spiritual awakening.

We need to choose: Will we seek God or will we just continue doing the same old stuff? A few minutes a day in prayer can lead us to a life changing spiritual movement. Surely we can find the time to choose God and follow Christ!

Philip Marshall pastor, Westwood Baptist Church

October 6, 2021

Lamentations 3:40-42 CSB

40 Let’s examine and probe our ways, and turn back to the Lord.

41Let’s lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven:

42 “We have sinned and rebelled; you have not forgiven.

On my desk I have a copy of the scripture:

“For the shepherds are stupid: They don’t seek the Lord.” Jeremiah 10:21 CSB

This scripture is truth. If you don’t seek the Lord, you are acting in a stupid manner. Acting stupid and being stupid or two different things. The shepherds knew better than to not seek the Lord. We know better than to not seek the Lord. Yet, so often in our lives we do everything but seek the Lord.

This scripture is also a valuable promise. If you seek the Lord, you won’t be stupid. In other words, you will know the truth, you will know God’s will, and you will be blessed by God as He guides your way. Why would we want anything else?

Why are we settling for a lesser walk with God?

In Lamentations chapter three, Jeremiah issues a call for us to examine ourselves. “Examine and probe our ways,” Many people never stop doing stuff (being busy and tired) long enough to communicate in any relevant way with God. So, it’s time to stop being so proud and self-reliant. It’s time to turn back to the Lord.

When we seek the Lord, we stop seeking ourselves and our own desires. We turn around. We repent. The scriptural truth is that we have sinned and rebelled against God. We have left out repentance and we have not tasted the sweetness of forgiveness.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the person who seeks him.” Lamentations 3:25 CSB

There are a lot of words being spoken, printed, and broadcast that are supposedly about God. There are more materials produced than ever in the history of the world about God. There are sermons, books, tracts, podcasts, videos, and other types of media about God everywhere you turn. But . . . something is missing. What’s missing is God. We must come back to God. His word (scripture) is truth.

2 Timothy 1-4 CSB

1 But know this: Hard times will come in the last days.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good,

4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people.

Now we get back to the “stupid shepherds.” We know what God wants. But . . . we try to find another way. This generation loves the appearance of being religious but despises God. We want our sin and get angry if anyone tells us that our sin is wrong.

God says to stop sinning, turn around (repent) and follow Jesus. Jesus is Lord. We are to follow Jesus. We are not to see if Jesus will just “ride along” with us. We are to stop going our way and start following Him. This means we will have to give up some stuff. This means we will let God change our lifestyles. This means we will let God be in charge, of all of our resources. This means that Jesus is Lord of our lives.

We are not the Lord over Jesus.

We do not tell Him what to do.

Somehow, we got this backwards.

“Let’s examine and probe our ways, and turn back to the Lord.” Lamentations 3:40 CSB

Philip Marshall pastor,

Westwood Baptist Church

September 27, 2021

Can you compromise with sin?

Isaiah 1:16-20 CSB

16 “Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from my sight. Stop doing evil.

17 Learn to do what is good. Pursue justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.

18 “Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.

20 But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

People are natural negotiators. We always want a better deal. We always want more. We always want to feel like we got the better end of things. This causes a problem when we deal with God. God does not negotiate with us. He does not have to. He is God and He makes the rules.

People don’t like rules that’s why we enjoy breaking them all the time. We always are looking for ways to lower the standards or lower the price so we can get something that we truly don’t deserve.

The Biblical truth we need to embrace is that there is no room for negotiation when it comes to sin.

>We are all sinners.

>The penalty for sin is death.

>The only way to escape the penalty of sin is through Christ.

The only response we should have to God is to accept His Word, turn from our sins, and follow Christ. This is the only path to salvation and a relationship with God. There is no other way.

We don’t take sin seriously.

God does take sin seriously. He sent Jesus because of our sin. He died for our sin. We wink at sin. We enjoy our sins. We don’t want to let our sins go. For most church goers, sin is just something that we talk about, but it is not something that we take seriously. We feel no remorse and we have become numb to the Holy Spirit’s conviction in our lives. This shows in our daily lives through our thoughts, our actions and our attitudes.

People you know and spend time with everyday are going to spend eternity in Hell because of their sin.

This is a Biblical fact. If this fact does not concern us, then we can go on and spend our lives in just pleasing ourselves. We can have a “casual” Christian life that is solely about us getting our own personal needs met. We can mistakenly live by the false idea that the only thing that matters is how we feel about ourselves. This is the basis for much of modern liberal theology. We don’t like what the Bible says so we change it or ignore it. We want a religion that fits in with our life. We don’t want the Christ who calls us to leave everything and follow Him.

This self-centered theology has led to the state of the church in 2021. We reject the Bible. We accept sin and compromise our belief system so that people who are living sinful lifestyles are made to feel comfortable and accepted in our church meetings. We don’t want them to know that their sin is Biblically wrong, so we reject God in order to please the sinners. We are so afraid of people that we foolishly turn our backs on God.

Luke 12:4-7 CSB

4 “I say to you, my friends, don’t fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more.

5 But I will show you the one to fear: Fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear!

6 Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.

7 Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.