Special Message: How Did We Get Our Bible? at both the 8:30 and 11:00 services
4:00 PM - What Would Socrates Do? A lecture and discussion on classical vs. modern ethics
Sermon Chat - At 6:00 PM - Sermon Chat - questions and answers concerning the morning sermon.
Come let us reason together!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
What is happening at First Church West
Sunday
Worship service at 8:30 A.M. except for the last Sunday of the month
Bible Study and Sunday school at 9:40 A.M>
Fellowship time at 10:30 A.M. – Coffee, snacks, and conversation
Worship service at 11:00
Communion Sunday – Combined Service to focus on the sacrifice of our Lord Christ
Community Love Feast the last Sunday of every month following Communion
Sermon Chat – 6:00 PM – Every Sunday except the last – An opportunity to have a dialogue about the sermon
Socrates Café – 3:00 PM – The last Sunday of every month aimed at giving honest answers to honest questions and encouraging dialogue between believers and non-believers.
Rejoicing in Grace – Radio Program on WAFG at 8:00 PM
Thursday
Daughters of Destiny for women at 7:00 PM
Saturday
Made to Count Men’s Breakfast and Study at 8:30 AM
Worship service at 8:30 A.M. except for the last Sunday of the month
Bible Study and Sunday school at 9:40 A.M>
Fellowship time at 10:30 A.M. – Coffee, snacks, and conversation
Worship service at 11:00
Communion Sunday – Combined Service to focus on the sacrifice of our Lord Christ
Community Love Feast the last Sunday of every month following Communion
Sermon Chat – 6:00 PM – Every Sunday except the last – An opportunity to have a dialogue about the sermon
Socrates Café – 3:00 PM – The last Sunday of every month aimed at giving honest answers to honest questions and encouraging dialogue between believers and non-believers.
Rejoicing in Grace – Radio Program on WAFG at 8:00 PM
Thursday
Daughters of Destiny for women at 7:00 PM
Saturday
Made to Count Men’s Breakfast and Study at 8:30 AM
Communion on January 27 at 11:00 AM
We grow in grace through the word of God, prayer, and particpation in the sacraments. The Lord's Supper is a vital part of our gaining the grace of God through union with Jesus Christ. The presence of the resurrected Christ is in a special way granted to those who take of the communion in faith. We would urge you to attend and to come ready to recieve from Christ grace, mercy, and direction by the taking of the bread and the cup.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Thoughts on Romans 2:2
Thoughts on Romans 2:2
By Dr. Norman R. Wise
And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. (Romans 2:2)
YLT Romans 2:2 and we have known that the judgment of God is according to truth, upon those practicing such things.
Paul is saying that “we” see or perceive that God’s judgment of just wrath is administer in accordance to the truth about our ethical conduct and not simply the perception that we or others may have of our righteousness. Those who judge others also commit the very crimes that they condemn others for doing. This is part of everyone’s broken humanity. The worst “sinner” is inclined to become filled with righteous wrath when someone sins against them.
Others hide their sinful thoughts and desire either by having an outward life of decency and an inner suppressed world of vice, or by giving way to bitterness and self righteousness inwardly as they deny their own temptations and evil desires. Paul says that we know that God will hold all human beings in a righteous judgment of their attitudes and actions. As the preacher says:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: afear God and bkeep His commandments, because this applies to cevery person. 14 For aGod will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Our “knowledge” of this ethical universe comes from our conscience. The conscience is the reflection of God’s law in our heart which has been downloaded into our sub-consciousness by God in our creation (Romans 2:15). Now our conscience can become wrongly informed because of a dysfunctional home and cultural environment. It can report to us evil as good and good as evil. It can also become “seared” and made dysfunctional if we practice not responding to it in a healthy manner (1 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:15). We can become hard hearted and unable to feel the pain of guilt which conscience produces when we do wrong. The fall and curse can distort and hinder our ability to properly judge right and wrong and for this reason the objective Word of God must be used to purify and awaken our conscience. When our conscience is functioning properly it is not wise or good to violate it.
This verse also tells us that the conscience is only warning us by a self judgment of the judgment of God upon our actions. The properly functioning conscience produces guilt, shame, and fear of God. That is why one of the primary aims of all Christian instruction can be seen as the redemption and restoration of our conscience.
NAU 1 Timothy 1:5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
In a time when there has been a consistent attack upon the standards of the Word of God being used to inform and instruct the conscience and the militant promoting of relativism as the new absolute moral standard, we must be careful to guard our conscience and seek to keep it rightly informed and sensitive. The lost of conscience makes the preaching of the gospel useless. Where there is no guilt there is not hunger for the salvation offered by Jesus Christ and His death upon the cross. While Jesus Christ can be offered as a means of gaining “success” or “happiness” in such a situation, He cannot be offered as a true sacrifice for objective moral guilt before the face of God. We must first make sure our own hearts are sensitized to sin and then strive to awaken the conscience of our society.
C.S. Lewis saw the danger of our times in which we educated people to see all “values” as just subjective feelings or socially subjective impressions that had no objective reality. In other words conscience was not tied to the law of God but was simply a psychological/social conditioning with no reality behind it. Such people he warned would be people without “chests”, without hearts, and without conscience.
When a society had succeeded in indoctrinating a generation in such views and values then it would face a horrible reality. The very “virtues” needed to make society survive are being ripped away from a generation through modern culture and education, and now society itself is in danger of collapse.
“And all the time—such is the tragi-comedy of our situation—we continue to clamor for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more 'drive', or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or 'creativity'. In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” C.S. Lewis - The Abolition of Man -
Therefore, we must help people “know” that the judgment of God will come upon every human being in accordance to truth and that in light of this “the fear of the Lord” is the beginning of wisdom. This is the great need of our times to have our own conscience and that of our society awakened.
By Dr. Norman R. Wise
And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. (Romans 2:2)
YLT Romans 2:2 and we have known that the judgment of God is according to truth, upon those practicing such things.
Paul is saying that “we” see or perceive that God’s judgment of just wrath is administer in accordance to the truth about our ethical conduct and not simply the perception that we or others may have of our righteousness. Those who judge others also commit the very crimes that they condemn others for doing. This is part of everyone’s broken humanity. The worst “sinner” is inclined to become filled with righteous wrath when someone sins against them.
Others hide their sinful thoughts and desire either by having an outward life of decency and an inner suppressed world of vice, or by giving way to bitterness and self righteousness inwardly as they deny their own temptations and evil desires. Paul says that we know that God will hold all human beings in a righteous judgment of their attitudes and actions. As the preacher says:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: afear God and bkeep His commandments, because this applies to cevery person. 14 For aGod will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Our “knowledge” of this ethical universe comes from our conscience. The conscience is the reflection of God’s law in our heart which has been downloaded into our sub-consciousness by God in our creation (Romans 2:15). Now our conscience can become wrongly informed because of a dysfunctional home and cultural environment. It can report to us evil as good and good as evil. It can also become “seared” and made dysfunctional if we practice not responding to it in a healthy manner (1 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:15). We can become hard hearted and unable to feel the pain of guilt which conscience produces when we do wrong. The fall and curse can distort and hinder our ability to properly judge right and wrong and for this reason the objective Word of God must be used to purify and awaken our conscience. When our conscience is functioning properly it is not wise or good to violate it.
This verse also tells us that the conscience is only warning us by a self judgment of the judgment of God upon our actions. The properly functioning conscience produces guilt, shame, and fear of God. That is why one of the primary aims of all Christian instruction can be seen as the redemption and restoration of our conscience.
NAU 1 Timothy 1:5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
In a time when there has been a consistent attack upon the standards of the Word of God being used to inform and instruct the conscience and the militant promoting of relativism as the new absolute moral standard, we must be careful to guard our conscience and seek to keep it rightly informed and sensitive. The lost of conscience makes the preaching of the gospel useless. Where there is no guilt there is not hunger for the salvation offered by Jesus Christ and His death upon the cross. While Jesus Christ can be offered as a means of gaining “success” or “happiness” in such a situation, He cannot be offered as a true sacrifice for objective moral guilt before the face of God. We must first make sure our own hearts are sensitized to sin and then strive to awaken the conscience of our society.
C.S. Lewis saw the danger of our times in which we educated people to see all “values” as just subjective feelings or socially subjective impressions that had no objective reality. In other words conscience was not tied to the law of God but was simply a psychological/social conditioning with no reality behind it. Such people he warned would be people without “chests”, without hearts, and without conscience.
When a society had succeeded in indoctrinating a generation in such views and values then it would face a horrible reality. The very “virtues” needed to make society survive are being ripped away from a generation through modern culture and education, and now society itself is in danger of collapse.
“And all the time—such is the tragi-comedy of our situation—we continue to clamor for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more 'drive', or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or 'creativity'. In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” C.S. Lewis - The Abolition of Man -
Therefore, we must help people “know” that the judgment of God will come upon every human being in accordance to truth and that in light of this “the fear of the Lord” is the beginning of wisdom. This is the great need of our times to have our own conscience and that of our society awakened.
Why Believe In God?
A new series of "Why Believe" messages will be given once a month on the third Sunday of the month. Each message will deal with one of the big questions of our faith. On January 20th the first of these questions will be addressed. That question will be "Why should I believe in God?"
Pray for this series and plan to bring your friends who have questions.
Qoutes of the Week
John Calvin:
The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul.
Martin Luther King, jr.:
An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law
Thomas Paine:
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul.
Martin Luther King, jr.:
An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law
Thomas Paine:
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
New Ladies Study
New Ladies Bible Study
Focused on the book: Amazing Grace
Starts in January
This is at 10:30 AM at FCW on Tuesdays
Call Terry or Pricilla at 954-452-4404 for details
Quote For The Week:
I entreat you to devote one solemn hour of thought to a crucified Savior--a Savior expiring in the bitterest agony. Think of the cross, the nails, the open wounds, the anguish of His soul. Think how the Son of God became a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, that you might live forever. Think as you lie down upon your bed to rest, how your Savior was lifted up from the earth to die. Think amid your plans and anticipations of future gaiety what the redemption of your soul has cost, and how the dying Savior would wish you to act. His wounds plead that you will live for better things. - Albert Barnes
Blue Print For Life Seminar on January 19th 2008
From 9 AM to 12:30
Cost: $25 which includes a complete Blue Print For Life Kit!
From 9 AM to 12:30
Cost: $25 which includes a complete Blue Print For Life Kit!
Blue Print for Life Seminar
A golden opportunity for the next year. Put it on your calendar today!
Have you been looking to define and seek God’s will and purpose in your life? This seminar will be the door way which will give you the tools to know and fulfill God’s will for your life.
Blueprint for Life’s Christian life planning and coaching system helps you understand that you don't have to max out in life to reach your full potential. Christian life planning and coaching along with soul searching exercises reveal the unique marks God left on your soul when He created you. From this foundation, you will create your strategic Christian blueprint containing goals and action steps for five key areas of living a strategic Christian life: Spiritual, Relational, Physical, Financial and Career.
This seminar could be the most life changing of any you have attended in your life.
Call 954-452-4404 today to register.
Looking for a ministry to teenagers from grades 6 to 12?
We need a group of people who will plan, organize, and execute a monthly event for teenagers from grades 6 to 12. This event should be focused on fun and fellowship. Call Pastor Norm at 954-914-8650 if you have interest in this. This is a great need in our church and would help us grow if we could carry it out with excellence. Please pray we can develop such a ministry. It would be great to have our first event in January!
New Ministry to children grades 1-6
Beginning on February 2nd we will be having a new ministry to children on Sunday Nights at 6 PM on the first and third Sundays of the month. There will be a discussion group for the adults in which the message of the sermon will be discussed. Pray for this new ministry and plan to bring your children to this new spiritual opportunity. More information will be coming on all the activities planned. Praise God for this answer to prayer.
New Men’s Ministry – Made To Count Journey!
Every Saturday Morning Beginning January 5th
From 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM – Continental Breakfast included Free!
Am I living a life that matters? It’s not about settling for a career. It’s about celebrating a calling!
WHAT is the Made to Count Journey?The Made to Count Journey takes men through the eight biblical principles of living a called life as an fully engaged disciple of Jesus, while providing tangible ways of implementing the on mission lifestyle into their world in a rubber meets the road manner.
Make plans to attend as often as you can. Even more radical, make a decision to be there every week. This time of focus and fellowship has the potential to change your life from surviving to thriving. What is your plan to make 2008 better than 2007? Could this group be part of God’s plan for your life? Why not try it and see.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas
First Church West prays that God will grant you a Christmas filled with His joy, peace, comfort, and strength. May the Lord allow you to know His presence on this holy day.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Qoute For The Week
Irenaeus's Against Heresy.
"For by no other means could we have attained to incorruptibility and immortality, unless we had been united to incorruptibility and immortality. But how could we be joined to incorruptibility and immortality, unless, first, incorruptibility and immortality had become that which we also are, so that the corruptible might be swallowed up by incorruptibility, and the mortal by immortality, that might receive the adoption of sons?" (Book 3, Chapter 19)
"For by no other means could we have attained to incorruptibility and immortality, unless we had been united to incorruptibility and immortality. But how could we be joined to incorruptibility and immortality, unless, first, incorruptibility and immortality had become that which we also are, so that the corruptible might be swallowed up by incorruptibility, and the mortal by immortality, that might receive the adoption of sons?" (Book 3, Chapter 19)
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Quote For The Week
Quote For The Week:
“What does it mean to love God? True love is passionate. “Cold love” or “unfelt gratitude” are contradictions. When we love someone, we like to talk about him or her. Such conversations are rarely without emotions. We want to be with them. We delight in doing things for them. We love to show them how we feel. The mention of their name makes our hearts pound and our faces light up. “
William Wilberforce – Real Christianity
“What does it mean to love God? True love is passionate. “Cold love” or “unfelt gratitude” are contradictions. When we love someone, we like to talk about him or her. Such conversations are rarely without emotions. We want to be with them. We delight in doing things for them. We love to show them how we feel. The mention of their name makes our hearts pound and our faces light up. “
William Wilberforce – Real Christianity
Join The New Men's Ministry!
New Men’s Ministry – Made To Count Journey!
Every Saturday Morning Beginning January 5th
From 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM – Continental Breakfast included Free!
Am I living a life that matters? It’s not about settling for a career. It’s about celebrating a calling!
WHAT is the Made to Count Journey?The Made to Count Journey takes men through the eight biblical principles of living a called life as an fully engaged disciple of Jesus, while providing tangible ways of implementing the on mission lifestyle into their world in a rubber meets the road manner.
Make plans to attend as often as you can. Even more radical, make a decision to be there every week. This time of focus and fellowship has the potential to change your life from surviving to thriving. What is your plan to make 2008 better than 2007? Could this group be part of God’s plan for your life? Why not try it and see.
Every Saturday Morning Beginning January 5th
From 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM – Continental Breakfast included Free!
Am I living a life that matters? It’s not about settling for a career. It’s about celebrating a calling!
WHAT is the Made to Count Journey?The Made to Count Journey takes men through the eight biblical principles of living a called life as an fully engaged disciple of Jesus, while providing tangible ways of implementing the on mission lifestyle into their world in a rubber meets the road manner.
Make plans to attend as often as you can. Even more radical, make a decision to be there every week. This time of focus and fellowship has the potential to change your life from surviving to thriving. What is your plan to make 2008 better than 2007? Could this group be part of God’s plan for your life? Why not try it and see.
We Need People To Organize Teenage Ministry
Looking for a ministry to teenagers from grades 6 to 12?
We need a group of people who will plan, organize, and execute a monthly event for teenagers from grades 6 to 12. This event should be focused on fun and fellowship. Call Pastor Norm at 954-914-8650 if you have interest in this. This is a great need in our church and would help us grow if we could carry it out with excellence. Please pray we can develop such a ministry. It would be great to have our first event in January!
We need a group of people who will plan, organize, and execute a monthly event for teenagers from grades 6 to 12. This event should be focused on fun and fellowship. Call Pastor Norm at 954-914-8650 if you have interest in this. This is a great need in our church and would help us grow if we could carry it out with excellence. Please pray we can develop such a ministry. It would be great to have our first event in January!
Need People To Organize Ministry To Grades 1-5
Looking for a ministry to children grades 1-5?
We need a group of people who will plan, organize, and execute a monthly event for children from the first to the fifth grades. This event should be focused on fun, fellowship and discipleship. Call Pastor Norm at 954-914-8650 if you have interest in this. This is a great need in our church and would help us grow if we could carry it out with excellence. Please pray we can develop such a ministry. It would be great to have our first event in January!
We need a group of people who will plan, organize, and execute a monthly event for children from the first to the fifth grades. This event should be focused on fun, fellowship and discipleship. Call Pastor Norm at 954-914-8650 if you have interest in this. This is a great need in our church and would help us grow if we could carry it out with excellence. Please pray we can develop such a ministry. It would be great to have our first event in January!
This Sunday - Christmas Dessert & Music
Christmas Dessert and Music
December 16th, 2007 at 6:00 PM
We will be having a fellowship wide Christmas dessert and special music for the whole family. Please be sure to put this on your calendars and make an effort to attend. It will be great to celebrate Christmas with our newly decorated sanctuary with new Christmas decorations also. Be sure to bring friends and family to this FCW Christmas celebration.
December 16th, 2007 at 6:00 PM
We will be having a fellowship wide Christmas dessert and special music for the whole family. Please be sure to put this on your calendars and make an effort to attend. It will be great to celebrate Christmas with our newly decorated sanctuary with new Christmas decorations also. Be sure to bring friends and family to this FCW Christmas celebration.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Dedication of New Worship Space
This Sunday, December 9th 2008, we are dedicating our new worship center to the glory of God and for His use. We would invite you to join us in this time of joy and praise. The time is 11:00 AM. (There will be no traditional service on this Sunday)
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