Oleg Pavlenko, our co-worker in Chernihiv, tells the good news:

We distributed humanitarian aid for children in Chernihiv. In these difficult times for our country it is young families that are most exposed to the time of hardship, especially those in which husbands defend Ukraine. Help for them is always timely. Before giving people packs with diapers, we preach about Christ during all available time. We also show Biblical movies. The most important thing is for as many people as possible to hear about the Gospel.

Sergiy Severin, our brother and minister from Druzhkivka, reports:

April really pleased us with its warmth, it was very blooming. But despite the warmth, in our volunteer chaplaincy hub in the bathhouse and laundry the number of guys has not decreased. We continue to help the Armed Forces, our defenders, we clean their clothes, warm their tired bodies in the bathhouse. Two washing machines work for 10 hours, as well as the bathhouse, Sunday is also a working day, after the meeting in the church, we get back to work.

The amount of laundry washed per day is about 30-35 kg - per month it's about 1000 kg. Also, more than 15 guys wash every day, that is, about 450 per month. We are very grateful for the help of our Brothers-Volunteers Dmytro, Denys and Ivan, who shared this work with us, as well as the ministers of God, chaplains, for uniting in a good cause!

Olexander Nikytchuk, God's laborer in Irpin, says:

Today we visited the family of Sergiy, whose wife Vera is seriously ill. On March 2, 2022 their house was hit and they were left without housing. At the moment they live in a modular town. Conditions for a bedridden person are not very good but they are thankful for the little things they have. The family is very nice and friendly, despite the difficulties they always meet us with joy and love. Sergiy also finds a moment to visit our events that are held in the church and the foundation. We spend a lot of time with this family because they need not only support in the form of food, but also communication. We are often visited by people who are in difficult circumstances, families with many children, families with small children who have received help in baby food, diapers and food kits, it is very pleasant to see the joy in their eyes and hear sincere words of gratitude.

Olga Tretyakova, our minister in Kyiv, shares about her work:

Community Center for Children "Second Wing". In April we suspended the Robotics classes. And we started new activities/meetings: "Personal example is the key to successful upbringing of a child". This meeting was mostly practical - a variety of games, communication, crafts. It is very important that children and parents did it all together! We will continue to organize such meetings. The first art-therapeutic meeting for mothers and grandmothers of our children took place this month. We organized a board games club for children. Our children continue to study financial literacy.

Sergiy Shupishov, our missionary, writes from the Mykolaiv:

In April, our team was able to make two missionary trips to Mykolaiv in two groups of 3 people. Our small groups of 3 people, mostly consisting of brothers, are aimed at helping the local team for 2-3 days to conduct evangelism, Bible studies, home visits, distribution of humanitarian aid, organization of Sunday meetings and preaching. Such trips help young brothers gain experience for effective service in the field of God. In addition to ministry, an important component of our work in the field of God in Mykolaiv is the support of our team members, a married couple, Serhiy and Olha, who live in the city, care for people and teach God's Word.

As much as we are able, we share in the work, fellowship, food, and communion. We pray for everyone involved that God will bless their lives and desires for His glory. Please remember Serhiy, Olga and our future brothers and sisters in Christ here in your prayers. In April, our team was able to organize a social gathering for people who attend Bible classes and Sunday services. Sitting around the table was an opportunity to learn more about people's lives, their experiences of the war, and what they like about Christ and the Church.

We plan to continue to hold informal conversations to get to know people better. For the second month in a row, Sunday meetings have been held with an average attendance of 25 people. During the Sunday meeting people learn the basics of salvation in Christ, understanding the Church and Christian life. We pray that God will convert these people, so they would be saved, and strengthen His church in Mykolaiv. Please pray with us.

Thank you for your support, prayers and participation in the work of God's field in Mykolaiv. May God bless you, we pray for you and send greetings from our team.

Tamerate, pictured left, studied the World Bible School lessons with his teacher who lives in America. Jackie, his teacher, said he was a man with many questions. She reached out to our brothers in Addis Ababa, and they invited him to come study with them. He understood well the clear teaching of God’s word and was convicted by it. (John 16:7-9) He is deaf and Moges, pictured with Tamerate on the left, taught for several years in our School for the Deaf before becoming a gospel preacher. They are pictured as Moges takes his confession. Moges baptized Tamerate into Christ. Pictured on the right following the baptism are Brothers Dinku, Moges, Tamerate and Behailu. Tamerate has a master’s degree in counseling and is employed at the Black Lyon Hospital. He has been serving as a volunteer youth minister of the deaf in a local religious group. He told the brethren that he will teach what he has learned to all the deaf people he knows and bring them to a complete understanding of the truth found in the word of God. Behailu has requested that we all pray for Tamerate as he begins his walk in Christ because he will face opposition from all who know him in his former ministry.

After delays caused by the late rains that made it impossible to reach the drilling sites and with several repairs on the old rig that required parts from America, drilling has finally started. Monte Hininger spent over a month in Ethiopia repairing and updating the rig. Monte will be returning to Ethiopia in late January to retro fit the new rig with some local manufactured parts to make it useable in our program. Monte is a gift from God for this ministry! These 60 new wells will provide lifesaving clean water to many thousands of people in the Sidama area of the southern region. If the weather holds, all 60 wells should be completed by the end of May 2024.

On December 3rd and 4th students from our School for the Deaf entered the UNICEF
International Day of Competition in fine arts and poetry among all the schools for
handicapped children in the city. Twenty of our upper-level students participated. Muse,
in the upper right picture, is our school director and he reported our students were first
place competition winners in all the various categories they entered. It was a day of
excitement and happiness for everyone.

New schoolbooks have been purchased and distributed to deaf students. A curriculum was introduced by the government and that caused the need for new books. Many more books are needed! Bro. Moges is pictured teaching at the AABTI. He and Alemayehu will teach this session. Behailu has completed teaching the book of Acts. The class is very focused on learning!

We express to all of you our sincere appreciation for faithfully praying for and supporting all the ministries in Ethiopia. We pray that you will have a great New Year in 2024 and that your personal ministries in the Kingdom of God will flourish!

Kevin and John Ed Clark

To download this newsletter to PDF, click here; 

Westside is thrilled to participate in the ministry of Operation Christmas Child this year, both as a congregation that is packing boxes, as well as a drop-off location the week of November 13-20.

Westside Church of Christ (7300 Stockdale Hwy., Bakersfield CA 93309) will be open to accept your packed boxes during the following times:

• November 12 — During Worship
• November 13-15 — 4-6pm
• November 16 — 12-2pm
• November 17 — 4-6pm
• November 18 — 10am-12pm
• November 19 — During Worship or from 4-6pm
• November 20 — 10am-12pm

When you arrive, please pull into the main parking lot and watch for signs and volunteers who will direct you to the right place.

If you would like information on the process of packing and dropping off a box, you can visit this link on the Samaritan's Purse website: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box/

We are living in a time of anxiety and fear, unlike any other time in our lives. In my 90 years I have never seen a situation like the present. The only exception might be World War II when some people feared we might we might not win the war. Hoarding in 1942-45 was a result of the fear of not having enough food, gasoline, tires, clothing, etc.for themselves or their families.  

God does not want his people to live in fear, anxiety, or worry. He wants us to live in peace of mind, whatever the circumstances. Listen to God speaking.

• Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious (worry) about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
• Philippians 4:13 “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
I John 4:28 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear. Because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
• Galatians 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
• Romans 8:13 “If by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
• Romans 8:26 “The Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses.”
• Ephesians 3:16 “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strength you with power through his spirit in your inner being.”
• Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all you can ask or imagine according to his power, that is at work within us.” (Read all of passage Ephesians 3:16-21.)

So, what have we learned from these passages? First and foremost, He wants us to live without fear, anxiety, and worry. He wants us to turn our fears over to Him and let Him handle it, whatever it is. In other words, “Let go and Let God handle it. Not easy, but it can be done. How?

It can be done with God’s help through the Holy Spirit, which He gives us when we are born again (Acts 2:38) Paraphrasing that passage “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and you will receive two gifts: one, the forgiveness of sin (which makes it possible for you to be reconciled to God) and the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

If you read the passages above you will note that one of the component parts of the fruit of the Spirit is peace. The opposite of peace is fear. Note the passages you read that emphasized the help that the Spirit given to us to Do Things in which we often fail in our battle with Satan’s temptations. But with God’s help through the power which God gives through His Spirit, we can and will prevail. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:27). The Holy Spirit within us helps us to win the battle with Satan, wants us to live with fear and anxiety.

Okay, if the Holy Spirit lives within us, how do I harvest that power?

There are 4 steps to obtain that power. Note closely the 4 steps.

1. We yearn to live without fear or anxiety. This is a real and heartfelt desire. If I have not had food for several weeks, I feel starved. Paul calls it a mindset. Romans 8:5. Paul says “Have your mind set on what the Spirit desires.”
2. A realization that I need help to achieve peace, which I presently do not have. Think of Alcoholics Anonymous. They quote the following in their meetings: “My name is ———– and I have an addiction which I cannot overcome without help from a Being higher and greater than I am.” Our addiction is sin. We cannot win the battle with sin, without help. Think of the words of Jesus (John 14:1) These are His words: “trust in God, trust also in me” Not trusting in God makes no sense if we are Christians.
3. An eager willingness to yield to the Holy Spirit’s power is meekness, which means having a spirit of humility. Recognizing the need and eagerly claim that help. In other words, “Don’t quench the spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19). Remember to Let Go and Let God.
4. PRAY. Remember again, Pray. (Philippians 4:6) You do more than talking to God. Think of a man in quicksand, screaming for help. No one is around and he’s screaming for help. Pray with that intensity, Reread Ephesians 3:20, There is a power from God who dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, beyond man’s ability to explain. The Holy Spirit’s Power is seldom used by those of us who call ourselves Christian. May God forgive us.

Before closing I want to return to I John 4:18, where John writes “Perfect love casts out all fear.”What is he saying? What is perfect love? It is when we totally put others before self. “Think of Jesus leaving heaven and coming to earth on our behalf.

When we change our focus from self to others, then fear goes away. Think of the following story: A family’s house is burning down in the middle of the night. The family is on the lawn watching their house burn down. Five firemen are trying to put the fire out with water, when suddenly a 6-year old boy yells from a bedroom on the second floor, “Mommy, Daddy, help help! The mother heads for the front door. A fireman grabs her and yells maam, you can’t can’t go in there. You would be dead in ten feet. Question? Why is she not afraid? Answer: Her love for her son.” “Love overcomes fear. In other words, change your focus in life and it will change your life forever. Your life with the help of the Holy Spirit will succeed.  

If these words were of help to you, then share them with your voice and also social media. You may go to my website for additional information: it is GarthBlack.com.
Your brother in Christ,
 Garth Black

Garth Black preached a sermon called "Living Without Fear" in August 2019. It was the last time sermon he gave after decades of ministry and service to the Westside Church of Christ family. We hope you'll take some time to watch it again.

ETHIOPIA GOSPEL OUTREACH

Woodward Park Church of Christ

P.O. Box 3836,  Pinedale, CA 93650




August 28, 2023


NEW ADDITIONS IN THE DEAF MINISTRY:  Report from Brother Moges
“We praise our almighty God and His powerful word that is convicting the hearts of more people among the deaf community from Eretria here in Addis Ababa.  Senay Tewelde and Aranshi Nereye, left, are husband and wife.  Bro. Nebeyu, minister for the deaf in Addis, is pictured taking their confession in sign language prior to their baptism.  The  two brothers who were baptized last month, named Abel G/Michael and Meron G/Silase, (pictured on the right wearing grey sweaters) brought Senay and Aranshi to study with  
Nebeyu.  There are some differences between Amharic sign language and Eritrean sign language but they were able to overcome the differences quickly.


Following the first  studies two additional young ladies expressed their desire to be baptized into Christ.  Nebayu is pictured taking their confessions in sign language.  Their names are Lidia Habte and Haimanot.  The new brother Abel, left, has been very active in reaching out to all the deaf refugees from Eritrea and in bringing them to study with our brethren at the Makanissa church in Addis Ababa.



Bro. Nebeyu, right, prepared an easy to understand teaching chart to help the deaf understand the plan of salvation and  he and Abel shared the message using the Eritrean sign language.  I made a video of their lesson and gave it to Nebeyu to share through internet media with  their Eritrean friends who are living in different  places in Ethiopia and other countries.

Standing on the left is a visitor that came with the group.  His name is Esayas and he is a teacher by profession and also a refugee.  He is a leader among the group and had been serving as a minister for a protestant group before coming to Ethiopia.  He is on his way to another African country to live.  He told us it was very difficult to meet in his home country.  We are trying to set up a study with him.  Please pray for this effort as he is a well educated man and will be a leader of his people wherever he lives. (For several years Ethiopian refugee members of the church scattered all over the world and there are congregations of the Lord’s Church everywhere they were resettled.  This is a great way of spreading the gospel through the planted churches.)

This was our bible class for the Eritrean deaf. I was invited to teach. (Moges is standing in the center of the picture and is wearing a blue tie).”  Moges Wolde


This movement among the deaf refugees from Eritrea can have a far reaching effect in many places.  If they are declared as International Refugees they will be settled in different western countries.  They will carry the gospel message wherever they go and the deaf in other places will be reached.  Resettlement usually takes a few years to complete.  Pray that our brethren in Addis Ababa concentrate on grounding these  New Testament Christians in their new found faith while they have the opportunity.



LOCAL CHURCHES REPORT FELLOWSHIP AND GROWTH:
On the left preachers from the Dale area of Sidama meet for their monthly gathering at the Wenenata church building.  Each one of these brethren represents a congregation.  On the right are pictured  some of the members of the Worko congregation in the Sidama region.  Churches all over the southern region have recovered completely from the effects of the Covid pandemic. All of us across America can understand how blessed we felt when we were able to return to a new normal of worship and service following Covid.

HONORING 50 YEARS OF FAITHFUL SERVICE:


The  Makanissa  Church of  Christ  presented  Brother  Workeye,     left, a plaque recognizing  him for the 50 years of faithful service   he has offered as a sign language interpreter in the deaf church. He  has  been a  member of  the  Lord’s  church  since  the early 1960’s.  He is  pictured  with Bro. Demere at the presentation.  

We express  our sincere  appreciation to all of you who faithfully
 pray for and support the Lord’s work in Ethiopia. 
   
                                                                                                              Kevin and John Ed Clark

We recently finished a Bible study on the Fruit of the Spirit at Westside, and we'd like to make our class handouts available to everyone, free of charge. Use the link below to download the class handouts we used during our Bible Study. 

Each section of the Bible study focuses on one aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit. Our class sessions explored some of the following questions:

• What did these words mean in the original first century context?
• Where else are these word used in the Bible, and what can we learn about them from those passages?
• Are there any noteworthy quotes or insights about the various aspects of the Fruits of the Spirit from authors, New Testament scholars, or other church leaders?
• How did Jesus demonstrate each of these characteristics in the Gospels?
• Why is it important for followers of Jesus to demonstrate these characteristics in their lives?

Please contact our Lead Minister, Bryan Fojtasek.

This is the third post in our series on Spiritual Formation. We invite you to join us for our Sunday morning message series "The Heart of the Matter" that explores these themes in more detail.

Our hearts begin to take shape from the moment we are born. That invisible center of our lives is formed by our families, friends, experiences, and society. Even people who grow up in loving, Christlike homes have internalized a great many things from a society that lives in opposition to the Kingdom of God. For that reason, we not only need to be spiritually formed, but spiritually transformed! Perhaps that’s what Paul had in mind when he wrote these words in Romans 12:2:

While Paul uses the language of conform and transform to describe the need for spiritual change, Dallas Willard uses the term renovation:

When you renovate a home, you start by tearing down all of the old stuff that needs to be replaced. You can’t put in new cabinets or appliances without first starting the tough, dirty work of breaking things down and throwing them away.

In the same way, many Christians are in need of some serious spiritual demolition—a clearing out of worldly ideas, values, and priorities. Only then will there be room for God to breathe new life into the hearts, and to change them from the inside out.

When David was confronted by the prophet of God about his sinful affair with Bathsheba, he was cut to the heart. He wrote the words of Psalm 51–words of confession and repentance–in response to his affair. Listen for the way he asks God for a new heart, a restored heard–a renovated heart:

This is the second post in our series on Spiritual Formation. We invite you to join us for our Sunday morning message series "The Heart of the Matter" that explores these themes in more detail.

In our first post on Spiritual Formation, the main point was that what we do in a visible way flows from who we are on the inside. The second major principle (which we will explore in this post) is that the Bible uses the language of “the heart” to describe who we are on the inside. 

In his book The Deeply Formed Life, author and pastor Rich Villodas talks about how important it is to love God from the heart and let God transform us all the way down to the depths of our being. The following quote asks an especially poignant questions for all of us. What is the point of changing who we are on the outside if we're not willing to let God transform us on the inside?

In our day and age, the heart is a symbol of a person’s emotions. Walk down the aisles of your favorite stores around Valentine’s Day and you’ll see hearts everywhere you look, because companies know that when we see a heart, we think about romance, love, and affection. But as it turns out, that wasn’t always the case.

The writers of the Bible used the word “heart” differently. In their culture, the heart represented the invisible center of a person’s identity—who we really are on the inside. One dictionary of New Testament words calls the heart the “center and source of the whole inner life, with its thinking, feeling, and volition,” (BDAG, 508). A dictionary of Old Testament words defines heart as “the inner man in contrast with the outer” and “the inner, middle, or central part,” (BDB).

The reason the God places such a high priority on the condition of our hearts is because our hearts stand at the center of our existence. The heart represents the most honest and authentic portrayal of who we are. That's why God places such a high emphasis on loving him from the heart. 

When Jesus commands us to love God with all our heart (Matthew 22:37), he’s not talking about loving God emotionally, although that could certainly be part of it. Reading it that way superimposes a modern understanding of heart over top of what Jesus and the authors of the Bible meant when they used that word thousands of years ago. When we do that, we misinterpret and misapply the words of Jesus.

Jesus is actually talking about loving God from the depths or center of our being. The opposite of loving God will all your heart might be going through the motions of the Christian religion or practicing the Gospel of behavior modification. This is all about external change—the outside of the cup.

To love God with all our heart is to love him from the very center of who we are. There, in the inner workings of our hearts, there is no room for deception or even the self-deception of going through the motion of religion. The heart is the place of total sincerity, so to love him from the heart removes any possibility of duplicity.

And on that point, we are reminded of what God told Samuel when it was time to anoint a new king over Israel: “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7.

Religion can quickly become fixated on outward appearances, but Scripture calls us to have a renewed focus on the inner world of our hearts. Peter Scazzero writes, “What we do matters—to a point… But who you are is more important than what you do.”

And who we are on the inside is one of the central questions in the realm of Spiritual Formation. 

What comes to mind when you think about the day-to-day aspects of your Spiritual Life? When we pause to reflect on what a relationship with God or a commitment to church looks like in practice, we realize that our spiritual lives involve an inner world of being and an outer world of doing.

On one side of the coin is what we do (concrete actions)—we go to church, read our Bibles, serve the needy, and so forth. But on the other side of the coin is who we are (heart and character). We strive to be kind, patient, and compassionate. While the outer world of our actions is visible to those around us, the inner world of our character is largely hidden beneath the surface. For example, people can see if we are (or aren’t) attending church services, but they can’t always see the inner workings of our heart. Almost by default, there is more emphasis on the outer world of what we do than the inner world of who we are.

Because of that, the unseen world of a Christian’s heart, character, or inner spirit is all too often neglected in favor of the visible world of our actions and behaviors. Christianity becomes what Dallas Willard calls a “Gospel of Sin Management” — something that deals primarily with behavior modification while ignoring the weightier goal inner transformation.

This approach to Christianity is often labeled “moralism” because of its overemphasis on moral behaviors instead of Christ-like character. The problem with moralism is that Jesus cares just as much about our heart as he does about our actions. While we might be able to put on a good show and keep the true condition of our heart hidden from other people, there’s no fooling God, because God sees past the surface level into the hidden world of our heart and mind.

In his book The Deeply Formed Life, Rich Villodas uses the analogy of an iceberg to illustrate this principle: “The iceberg brings to mind the goal of spiritual formation in Christ—namely, that Jesus wants to form his life in us. Significantly, about 90 percent of an iceberg remains unseen beneath the surface. And Jesus wants to transform our entire beings, not just the 10 percent that shows.”

To reinforce that point, consider what God tells us in Jeremiah 17:10: “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind.” And in Hebrews 4:13 we encounter the same truth again: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” To use Jesus’ language, while it’s great to clean the outside of the cup, it really doesn’t matter how clean the outside is when the inside is full of dirt and filth.

Jeremiah 17 and Hebrews 4 teach us an important point: What happens in the inner world of our heart is of paramount importance. We see this principle in the life of Jesus, who frequently called out religious leaders when their hearts didn’t seem to match up with their actions: “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” —Matthew 15:7-9.

If all that mattered was what people did for Jesus, then worshiping him with our mouths would be more than enough. But the fact is, Jesus calls that kind of action-without-heart worship “vain.” On this point, Peter Scazzero writes, “What I do matters. Who I am matters much more,” (The Emotionally Healthy Leader)

“For nearly two decades, I had ignored the emotional component in my spiritual growth and relationship with God. It didn’t matter how many books I might read or how much I devoted myself to prayer, I would remain stuck in repeated cycles of pain and immaturity unless and until I allowed Jesus Christ to transform aspects of my life that were deep beneath the surface.” -Peter Scazzero,The Emotionally Healthy Leader.

When we buy into the myth that Christianity is primarily about doing the right things, we end up ignoring the one thing that God tells us to make our top priority: the condition of our hearts. “Above all else…” God says In Proverbs 4:23, “…guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”  Virtually every word in that sentence deserves careful thought and meditation.

• “Above all else” tells us how important this concept is. It should always be be a top priority.
• “Guarding” your heart indicates how precious and valuable the heart truly is, while at the same time reminding us that it can be vulnerable to attack unless it is intentionally defended.
• “Everything you do flows from it” speaks to a fundamental truth about our human nature: We have an inner world of the heart that directly flows into the outer world of our actions.

And along those same lines, Proverbs 4:23 reveals the way that our inner world of being connects with our outer world of doing. Contrary to popular opinion, what we do does not determine who we are; rather it is who we are on the inside that determines what we do. Jesus illustrates this principle with the analogy of good and bad trees during the Sermon on the mount:

Echoing Proverbs 4:23, Jesus tells us that our words (and by extension, all our actions) are a reflection of whatever is stored up in our hearts—whether good or bad. And then in Proverbs 27:19, King Solomon phrases this principle this way: “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.”

The first principle of Spiritual Formation is this: What we do in a visible way flows from who we are on the inside. Change that starts in the exterior world of our actions rarely penetrates to the interior world of our hearts, but change that originates in our heart will always be reflected in our life. And if that’s truly the case, it means we need to pay much closer attention to the spiritual condition of our hearts.

Westside is transitioning to a new app and website for our church directory. The old version of the church directory (ACS / Church Life) will no longer be supported, so we are sharing all the information you need to get access to our new and improved church directory. Keep reading for information on how to access the church directory online through a web browser and how to download the church directory app on your phone or tablet.

Our church directory is available to view on your computer! Instant Church Directory - the program we use to build our church directory - has a member website.  

To get started, go to https://members.instantchurchdirectory.com/

You will be asked to enter the email address we have on file for you in the church office. This is almost always the e-mail address where you receive our periodic church announcements and our weekly bulletin on Thursday afternoons. If you aren't sure which e-mail address we have on file for you (or if you would like to update it), please contact Jill in the church office (661-831-4460 or westside@westsidelife.org). We are available Monday-Thursday from 9:00am-5:00pm.

Please remember that our church directory is only for current, active members of Westside Church of Christ. The way we limit access is by requiring the e-mail address you enter to match the one we have on file for you. This is a crucial part of limiting the directory to church members and protecting everyone's privacy.

Once you enter your email address, follow the directions on-screen to complete the create log-in process. After you sign in, you'll see the most up-to-date directory for our church. Any time updates are made, they will show on the Online Members' Website, too.

For a step-by-step guide on accessing the church directory online, download the PDF "Website Instructions" below.

Our church directory is available to view on your mobile device! Instant Church Directory - the program we use to build our church directory - has a free app for church members to download on their Apple and Android devices.
 
To download the app to your Apple device, click here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/instant-church-directory/id589542221?ls=1&mt=8

To download the app to your Android device, click here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instantchurchdirectory.members

You will be asked to enter the email address we have on file for you. This is a crucial step in limiting directory access to current church members and protecting everyone's privacy.

More information can be found at www.InstantChurchDirectory.com/app.

For a step-by-step guide on downloading the church app, download the PDF for your operating system (Apple / iOS or Android) using the links below.

Instant Church Directory (the company we are using) has put together a fact-sheet on the safety and security of the church directory. To download that fact sheet, use the link below. 

This week we are dwelling in the Word and exploring the seven “I Am” statements of Jesus. Today’s reading is John 15:1-8, where Jesus says that he is the true vine, we are the branches, and the Father is the gardener who prunes us so that we might bear fruit.

Jesus uses an analogy that would have been very familiar to his original audience. There are a few key places in the Old Testament where God refers to Israel as a vineyard that he planted with the hopes that it would bear fruit (by following God’s laws, loving their neighbors, and pointing people to the goodness of God). But Israel did not always honor God the way he hoped, so the vineyard bore no fruit.

Jesus is telling us that the key to bearing fruit is to stop trying to accomplish everything on our own. Just like you can’t cut a branch off of a grape vine and expect it to keep producing fruit, we can’t separate ourselves from the source of all goodness and life and expect to produce good things in our lives. What Israel failed to do on their own (bear the fruit God wanted), Jesus can empower us to do through our relationship with him.

Jesus wants us to experience the full and abundant life. A big part of that means being strengthened by Jesus so that we can live up to our calling and produce good fruit in our lives. If we want to bear that kind of fruit, we need to stay connected to the one true vine.

This week we are dwelling in the Word and exploring the seven “I Am” statements of Jesus. Today’s reading is John 14:1-14, where Jesus tells his disciples that he is the way, the truth, and the life.

At this point in the Gospel of John, Jesus knows that his time on earth is coming to an end. He is spending a few last moments with his disciples, sharing his final words with them before he goes to the cross. Jesus promises his disciples he will go to prepare a place for them in his Father’s house, but they are confused about what he’s really talking about.

Jesus wants them to know that he is the one and only way to our Heavenly Father, the ultimate truth in a world full of contradictory ideas and opinions, and the one and only source of life to the full.

Jesus is making a bold claim in this passage—that no one can come to the Father except through him. This goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve were cast out of God’s presence after committing humanity’s first sin. The consequence of our rebellion is guilt and separation, but Jesus’ death washes both of those away. His blood purifies us from our sin, and his death reconciled us back to God.

Only Jesus has the power to reverse the curse of sin and death, which is why he declares that no one is able to come to the Father without a relationship with Jesus.

Jesus wants us to experience life to the full, and that means following Jesus as our way, embracing him as our truth, and trusting him with our lives.

This week we are dwelling in the Word and exploring the seven “I Am” statements of Jesus. Today’s reading is John 11:1-37, the story of Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead. It’s in this story that Jesus declares he is the resurrection and the life.

Jesus was very close with Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus. When Lazarus died, Jesus went to comfort the two sisters and weep with them. His loving presence in their time of grief is a powerful example of the ministry of presence—not trying to fix people, or say the magic words that will take away their pain, but to simply stand with them in solidarity.

Martha expressed some frustration that Jesus hadn’t come earlier to save Lazarus before he died. But Jesus reframed that conversation to teach her (and us) something critical about our Christian faith: the one who believes in Jesus will live, even though they die.

Jesus used the tragic occasion of a dear friend’s death to communicate the beauty of the eternal hope with have in God. But Jesus did not end the encounter there. Instead, he brought Lazarus back from the dead!

Jesus has the power to turn our weakness into strength, to change our mourning into dancing, and to turn our sorrow into joy. We believe in faith that we can have hope and joy in every situation because the promises of God will always transcend the difficulties of our circumstances.

Jesus wants us to experience life to the full, and the story Lazarus is a powerful example of what that looks like!

This week we are dwelling in the Word and exploring the seven “I Am” statements of Jesus. Today’s reading is John 10:11-19, where Jesus tells us that he is our good shepherd. This is a continuation of the metaphor he began earlier in the chapter. Israel had a lot of leaders, but hardly any of them were being good shepherds of the flock of Israel.

Instead of caring for the sheep, they were exploiting them for their own personal gain. Or, they were abandoning their sheep at the first sign of trouble. A good shepherd is devoted to their flock. They protect them, feed them, guide them, and are willing to lay down their lives for the good of the flock.

Many of us are familiar with the words of Psalm 23, which describe God as our shepherd. This picture of a loving, caring shepherd was a stark contrast to the kinds of leaders that were over Israel during the time of Jesus. He wanted us to understand the difference between worldly leaders and the Good Shepherd.

Jesus offers us life to the full, and that involves following Jesus as our Good Shepherd. He loves us, cares for us, provides us what we need, and was willing to lay down his life so that we might be saved.

This week we are dwelling in the Word and exploring the seven “I Am” statements of Jesus. Today’s reading is John 10:1-10, where Jesus declares that he is gate for the sheep.

Here’s a few thoughts to guide your reading of the Word. It’s a relatively unflattering reality that the Bible often compares human beings to sheep—who are not necessarily the sharpest tools in the shed. People need protection, guidance, and constant care, just like sheep.

In Jesus’ time, sheep would spend the day out in the pasture and then be gathered together in an enclosure for safety and protection. Only the shepherd could enter through the gate or opening of this enclosure, because any thieves, robbers, or imposters would be instantly spotted and driven away by the shepherd if they tried to waltz through the front door.

Jesus knew that Israel’s leaders (both civil and religious) weren’t being very good shepherds. They were acting more like thieves and robbers than shepherds who genuinely cared about the flock. Jesus is telling us that he actually has our best interest in mind. He is the gate we need to pass through to find safety, nourishment, and protection.

Jesus wants us to have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). The analogy of the gate helps us understand that life to the full means entering through Christ and dwelling in his presence.

This week we are dwelling in the Word and exploring the seven “I Am” statements of Jesus. Today’s reading is John 8:12, where Jesus declares that he is the Light of the World.

John begins his Gospel by saying of Jesus, “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” (John 1:9). But what does it mean that Jesus is our light?

Jesus made this claim this during a Jewish Celebration called the Festival of Tabernacles or Booths (see John 7:2 and 7:14). During this time, the Israelites would live in temporary shelters (like tents) to remember the days when Israel wandered through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. It was a time to remember how God faithfully provided them with everything they needed—like the pillar of fire that lit up the night sky and showed them the way to go.

In Jesus’ time, part of this festival involved lighting four huge menorahs in the Temple courts in order to provide light for the religious festivities. In Jewish thought, darkness represented chaos and evil, while light represented order and good. When Jesus says that he is the light of the world, he’s drawing on this imagery of a bright light breaking through the darkness of chaos and evil.

Life to the full means walking in the light of Christ, who guides us, sustains us, and illuminates our path. We no longer have to live in fear because the light of Jesus brings hope and joy to our hearts.

Yesterday we challenged our church to spend seven days reading through the "I Am" statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John. In each of these sayings, Jesus reveals something about who is he and the blessings he is offering us through our relationship with him.



Today's reading is John 6:25-59, where Jesus says that he is the Bread of Life. Here's a few key points to consider as you read this passage.



1. Jesus said this during the time of Passover (John 6:4), which commemorates God saving his people out of slavery and leading them to the Promised Land. There's something about the Passover story that helps us understand what it means for Jesus to be the Bread of Life.



2. Jesus specifically compares himself (the bread of life) to the manna the Israelites ate in the wilderness during their 40 years of wandering. But the bread Jesus offers leads to eternal life--not just a full stomach (John 6:58).



3. Jesus had just finished feeding a crowd of 5,000 people with just a few loaves of bread and some fish (John 6:1-15). This physical bread gave him an opportunity to talk about a different kind of bread that only Jesus can provide (John 6:51).



Jesus came to offer us life to the full. Part of the full and abundant life is feasting on Jesus, the bread of life, who sustains us on our journey and enables us to have eternal life.

To be meek is to exhibit a calm and soothing disposition. When we are faced with a crisis or a threat, our bodies react with the flight or fight response. Our nervous system floods our bodies with chemicals that make us ready to attack the threat or run away.

Meekness represents an alternative to fighting or hiding. The Greek philosopher Aristotle defined it as “a mean [average] between bad temper and spineless incompetence, between extreme anger and indifference.” The Theological Lexicon of the New Testament says that a meek person “keeps his serenity in all the misfortunes that come his way, bearing them calmly and patiently.”

In more recent times, President Roosevelt famously lived by the motto “Speak softly, and carry a big stick.” Meekness is not weakness, it is a quiet strength of character that exercises restraint. Another common translation for this Bible word is gentle, which is used twice to describe Jesus:

• Matthew 11:29, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (NIV)
• Matthew 21:5 (quoting Zechariah 9:9) ,“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” (NIV)

In the New Testament, the Apostles urge us to live with this same gentle and humble attitude:

• 2 Timothy 2:25-26 “Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” (NIV)
• 1 Peter 3:15-16 “ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” (NIV)

Jesus promises that those who exhibit this kind of gentle strength and patient restraint are the ones who will inherit the land. This was a revolutionary statement that once again reverses Israel’s assumptions about the way life worked.

In Israel, the people who owned the land almost always took it by force. Richard Rohr explains it this way:


The irony that Rohr refers to the difference between the kind of people that usually took possession of the land and the kind of people Jesus says will inherit it. The land belonged to the latest person (or nation) to take it by force—and the Jews knew that full well. They had to take their land by force (during the conquest of Canaan), and then they lost their land at various times to the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans.

Jesus is contrasting the gentleness of God’s people with the vengeance and violence of the rest of the world, and promising that God will bring about an unexpected reversal of the way life typically worked. Instead of the land going to the rich and powerful, it would be given to those who are humble and gentle.

This beatitude seems to be a direct quote of Psalm 37:11, “But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.” Psalm 37 (which Westside recently studied in our shepherding groups) teaches us to stop worrying about what the rich and powerful are doing in the world, and humbly trust that God will bless his people in the end.  

In world where people forcefully take hold of whatever they can get, Jesus is reminding us that it is the humble and gentle at heart who will receive the blessing that others are violently fighting for. Are we willing to make his kind of gentleness our way of life?

One key theme in the beatitudes is the reversal of fortunes. The poor (who are assumed to be outside of God’s favor) are the ones who are blessed and included in the Kingdom. Likewise, those who mourn will be comforted. Jesus seems to be drawing on the following passage from Isaiah 61:1-3,


You may recall that this is the passage Jesus read from during when he began his public ministry in Luke 4. We see several connections between the beatitudes and this “year of the Lord’s favor” passage, such as the poor, the brokenhearted (pure in heart), comfort for those who mourn, righteousness, and the promise of a reversal of fortunes.

It seems likely that Jesus was intentionally drawing on the themes of Isaiah 61 in order to say that the promises God gave his people in the Old Testament were coming to fruition through his life, death, and resurrection. And in a similar vein, Jesus’ presence on earth is an early taste of the kind of comfort God will one day provide to all of his chosen people (e.g. when God wiped away every tear from our eyes, Revelation 7:17).

John Stott reads the Beatitudes in a highly spiritualized way: The poor in spirit recognize their spiritually poverty; they mourn over the sin of the world and their personal sins; their awareness of their sin leads them to develop a humble (meek) attitude, and in response to their spiritual shortcomings they strive to pursue righteous living. Reading the beatitudes in an exclusively spiritual way would mean Jesus is referring to mourning over sin, as Stott argues:

While I agree that spiritual mourning is part of what Jesus has in mind, I struggle to accept that it is all he intended. Other scholars take mourning to refer to the pain and heartache we feel over all kinds of tragedy and oppression, including from the loss loved ones, oppression and suffering, one’s personal sins, and the brokenness of the world.

To me, the wholistic view of mourning seems most appropriate. One thing we can do to try and understand Jesus’ intent in this passage is look at the times and places Jesus wept:

1. In Luke 19:41, Jesus wept as he looked over the city of Jerusalem—mourning its spiritual decline.
2. In John 11:35, Jesus wept alongside Mary and Martha when Lazarus died.
3. In Hebrews 5:7, Jesus prayed to God with fervent cries and tears.

Jesus wept over the spiritual decline of God’s people, he wept over the loss of life, and he wept aloud as he wrestled with God in prayer. His example shows us that he likely intended “mourning” to be an inclusive term that encompasses all forms of grief—not just mourning over sin.

In Psalm 34:18, David writes about the comfort of God’s presence in times of trouble: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” This is the kind of comfort Jesus is talking about. God has not promised to take away every circumstance that might cause us to mourn, but he has promised to be close to us in our grief and walk alongside us in our times of tragedy.

There’s another reason why I see God’s presence as the primary way we experience his comfort. The word Jesus uses for “comfort” is the same word he uses to describe the Holy Spirit in John 14:26 (“Comforter,” “Advocate,” or “Helper”). The original word refers to calling someone alongside you to advocate on your behalf. The comfort that the Holy Spirit provides is not something we experience from a distance; rather, the Spirit dwells within us and is the primary way we experience the presence of God in our lives.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”- Matthew 5:3 (NIV)

In Luke’s version of the sermon on the mount, Jesus says “Blessed are you who are poor” (Luke 6:20). The addition of “in spirit” in Matthew’s Gospel has been the source of considerable debate. One theory is that in Luke, the emphasis is on physical or economic poverty, while in Matthew, the focus is spiritual poverty.

The reality is that Jesus’ Jewish audience would not have drawn a sharp distinction between spiritual and financial poverty. Stated another way, their theology of wealth and started with the assumption that God blessed righteous people with financial prosperity and cursed unrighteous people with poverty and affliction (based on passages like Deuteronomy 28). It was more or less assumed that the reason a person was financially poor was because they were spiritually bankrupt, and God was punishing them for not following the Law of Moses as closely as they should. That means there wasn’t much of a difference between being poor physically and being poor spiritually for Jesus’ Jewish audience. They were two sides of the same coin.
This both/and reading of poverty is the way Scot McKnight approaches the issue in his commentary:

The word Jesus uses here for “poor” refers to the very bottom class—not just the typical peasants in Israel, but those who are truly destitute. My go-to Greek dictionary of Biblical words defines “poor” as “economically disadvantaged,” “being thrust on divine resources,” “lacking in spiritual worth,” or "extremely inferior in quality.”

Because these people had absolutely nothing, they were completely dependent on the generosity of others, and especially God. This created a sense of humility and dependence on God, such that the poor in the Old Testament came to be associated with those who rely completely on God instead of the world—a positive example for the of Israel to follow.

If humility is one characteristic of the poor, loneliness and isolation would be another. Several scholars connect “the poor in spirit” to a class of people called the Anawim in the Old Testament. The Anawim were the ones left behind in Israel when all of the worthwhile people were taken off as slaves to foreign nations. They were so useless that they were left behind instead of being forced to work.

Randy Harris tells a story in his book Living Jesus about being on a softball team and having to ride the bench, even though his team was short a player. They’d rather have him sit down and do nothing than let him fill an empty spot on the field. That’s what it means to be among the Anawim.
Scot McKnight identifies three key characteristics of the Anawim in the Old Testament:

1. They were economically poor, yet trusted in God
2. They met together at the Temple
3. They longed for the Messiah to return and bring justice to their lives.

First-century Jews assumed that wealth as a sign of God’s  blessing, but Jesus had a different message: The poor in spirit are the ones who are blessed by God, and the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. I hope you realize how dramatic and shocking this would have been. It turned his audience’s assumptions about wealth and righteousness upside down, as Michael Wilkins has said:


Why did Jesus call the poor in spirit blessed? Why did he say that God’s Kingdom belonged to them? Perhaps the most compelling reason is that the poor in spirit were humble enough to admit they had nothing holy, spiritual or righteous to offer God.

This idea—that the poor in spirit are the ones who recognize their lack of spiritual merit—is one of the most consistent points that Bible commentators make about the first beatitude. Consider the following statements from three commentators:

1. Richard Rohr writes that to be poor in spirit is “to live without a need for our own righteousness.”
2. John Stott says “To be poor in spirit is therefore to acknowledge our spiritual poverty, indeed our spiritual bankruptcy, before God. For we are sinners, under the holy wrath of God, and deserving nothing but the judgment of God. We have nothing to offer, nothing to plead, nothing with which to buy the favour of heaven.”
3. Michael Wilkins says, “This also includes those who recognize that they can produce no spiritual or religious self-help before God. They are spiritually bankrupt.”

Unlike the Pharisees who are convinced they have earned God’s blessing through a strict observance of the Law, the poor in spirit recognize they are sinners in need of a savior. Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and a tax collector praying at the Temple is a perfect illustration of those who think they are spiritually rich versus those who know they are spiritually poor.

The blessing that Jesus offers this group of people—poor, downtrodden sinners who know they need a savior—is that they are blessed by God, and the kingdom of heaven is theirs. In contrast to the pervasive cultural and theological assumption that the poor were living under God’s curse, Jesus assures them God sees them, cares for them, and extends his blessings to him.

The third major name for God (used around 400 times in the Old Testament) is Adonai, the plural form of the Hebrew word for lord or master. This word has to do with dominion, authority, and ownership. A person’s Adon (singular) is the one they submit to as the final authority in their life.

Masters, for their part, are not to use and abuse those entrusted to their care. On the contrary, they have a responsibility to care for their subjects the way that a kind and benevolent ruler would care for their people. While some human lords might be tempted to use their power for their own selfish gain, God is different. He is our compassionate King and Lord who genuinely cares for us.

It All Belongs to God

Throughout the Bible, we see that everything belongs to the Lord (Psalm 50:10, 97:5). God is the creator and master of everything and everyone, which means he is our ultimate source of authority, power, and protection. There is nothing we have that we possess apart from God, just as there is no authority on earth apart from the authority God has established (Romans 13:1).

1. God is Elohim, a powerful creator who speaks worlds into existence.
2. God is YHWH, a personal God who is directly invested in our everyday lives.
3. God is Adonai, our master and owner who compassionately cares for us.

Let’s reflect for a moment on how to bring all these concepts together.

• If we reject God as Elohim, then he is a personal God and authority figure who is nevertheless powerless to help us.
• If we reject God as YHWH, he is powerful and mighty but cold, distant or unconcerned.
• And if we reject God as Adonai, we expect him to be powerful and personal while rejecting his authority over us.

You can see a fatal flaw in each of these scenarios, because in each case we deny an essential part of God’s character.

If we want to experience the power (Elohim) and presence (YHWH) of God, we need to acknowledge him as our master (Adonai). We shouldn’t expect God to work miracles (Elohim) in our lives if we reject a personal relationship (YHWH) with him or deny his authority over us (Adonai).

Instead, we need to recognize that God’s essential nature includes power, presence, and authority— and live our lives in Christ accordingly.

The most common name for God in the Bible is his personal name, YHWH. Modern spellings of this name include Yahweh and Jehovah (more on that later). Although this name is used over 6,500 times in the Old Testament, we’re not actually sure how it was originally pronounced. There’s two reasons for that: first, the original manuscripts of the Old Testament don’t contain any vowels, and second, the Jewish people stopped saying this name out loud for fear of accidentally taking the Lord’s name in vain.

Can I Buy a Vowel? Unfortunately, No…

You’ll notice that YHWH is spelled without vowels, and there’s a good reason for that. If you were to look at an ancient Biblical manuscript of the Old Testament (like the Dead Sea Scrolls), all you would see are consonants from the Hebrew alphabet. The vowel sounds—which were added later in order to help facilitate oral reading—are typically placed underneath the Hebrew consonants. What’s sometimes rather surprising to English speakers is that Hebrew vowels aren’t really letters at all; they’re more like small dots or lines that indicate which vowel sounds to make. This is all very different than the way English works!

God’s personal name in the Old Testament consists of four Hebrew consonants: You, Heh, Waw and Heh, or YHWH using English letters. The missing vowels make it impossible to know for sure how this name was originally pronounced. Usually there was enough of an oral tradition of how a word was pronounced and preserved throughout history to know the pronunciation, but not with YHWH.

Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain

Originally, the name YHWH was spoken out loud any time Jewish readers came to it in the Scriptures without any second thoughts. But as time went on, the people came to believe that mispronouncing the personal name of the Lord—even unintentionally—was tantamount to taking the Lord’s name in vain. As such, they stopped pronouncing YHWH altogether, and began substituting a more generic term for God (Elohim, “The Name,” or Adonai, which comes next in our series) anytime they came to YHWH in the Bible. With that substitution, the proper pronunciation was lost to history.

Without the vowels or an oral history to guide us, we’re just not sure how to pronounce YHWH. It would somewhat like seeing B-R-N and needing to guess how to pronounce it Is it Brain? Bryan? Boron? Baron? Byron? Without the vowels you really wouldn’t be able to tell.

The History of “Yahweh” and “Jehovah”

So if we don’t know how to pronounce YHWH, why do we use the name Yahweh? The explanation is actually pretty interesting. The third major name for God in the Bible is Adonai (which means Lord). If you take the vowels from Adonai (a-o-a) and insert them in-between the consonants of YHWH, you get YaHoWaH. When Hebrew is passed through Latin, the Y turns into a J and the W turns into a V, giving us JaHoVaH. From there, it is further anglicized into Jehovah or Yahweh.

Finding YHWH In Your Bible

Most Bible translations do not print YHWH or Yahweh. Instead, they typically translate this name as “the LORD” (notice the capital letters). Since there are multiple words for “Lord” in the Bible, some of which apply to humans (i.e. masters) instead of God himself, Bible translators needed something to differentiate between YHWH (“the LORD”) and the more common word for “lord.”

YHWH Is the Personal God.

God first reveals his personal name to Moses during the burning bush scene in Exodus 3. Moses is apprehensive about delivering his message to Pharaoh (let my people go!), and needs to know the name of the God who was sending him. God’s response is to reveal his personal, divine name YHWH. This name is likely derived from the Hebrew verb “to be,” and brings to mind the idea of eternal, unchanging existence. Perhaps we can hear God saying, “I am who I am, I will be who I will be, and nothing will change that!”

Moses would go on to write much of the first five books of the Old Testament. After hearing God’s personal name, he included it in earlier parts of Israel’s story to indicate that this same God was personally involved in the lives of his people all along, even if he hadn’t revealed his personal name to the Patriarchs of Israel.

If Elohim brings to mind God’s creative power, YHWH brings to mind his personal interactions. And that’s precisely what we see the first time YHWH is used (Genesis 2:4). In Genesis 2, God creates the first man and woman. He is directly, intimately involved in the story. He is not a distant God who does everything from afar, or a generic deity who made the world and then left it to its own devices. Instead, he is here, with us, intervening our lives in undeniable ways.

Consider the ways YHWH takes direct action in Gen. 2:

• Made the heavens and earth (2:4)
• Formed the man (2:7)
• Planted a garden (2:8)
• Made all kinds of trees grow (2:9)
• Took the man and put him in the Garden (2:15)
• Commanded the man (2:16)
• Made a helper for Adam (2:18)
• Formed the beasts / birds (2:19)
• Caused Adam to fall asleep (2:21)
• Created Eve (2:22)

If Elohim is about God’s power, then YHWH is about God’s presence. Tony Evans writes about the significance of keeping both of these concepts in mind as we reflect on the nature of God:

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The first name of God we encounter in the Bible comes in Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. Elohim is the only name for God used throughout the entire creation account. The next name for God (YHWH) occurs in Genesis 2:4. So what does this first name reveal about God? Let’s find out!

Elohim is Our Powerful Creator

First impressions are lasting impressions. When you meet someone for the first time, that initial encounter can really set the tone for the relationship moving forward.

So what kind of first impression does God make on us? Since Elohim is the exclusive name for God throughout the creation account, one of the strongest associations we have with that name is God’s creative power. God (Elohim) spoke the universe into existence. Before God and without God, there was nothing. But God created something out of nothing when began speaking the words, “Let there by light…”

In his book on the names of God, Dr. Tony Evans explains that one definition for Elohim is “strong one.” God’s strength is on display through his unique ability to create things simply by speaking them into existence. Artists, engineers and inventors can take raw materials that God has created and form them into something new, but that is not an action of creation per se—it is is an act of shaping or rearranging the things God has already created.

God alone has the power to create. So the first thing that the Bible invites us to understand about God is that he alone has the power of creation.

Elohim is Plural

In Hebrew (the language of the Old Testament), “El” is the singular word for “god,” and Elohim is the plural form (gods). Even though God is one, the Bible uses the plural form Elohim to describe him. Something that would probably bother English teachers is that throughout the Bible, the plural Elohim is given singular adjectives and verbs.

For an example from the Bible, let’s consider these lines from Genesis 1:26-27: “Let us (plural) make mankind in our image… So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he (singular) created them.”

The very grammar of the Bible shows us that God is both many and one at the same time, a theological concept called the Trinity that isn’t fully revealed until the New Testament (which refers to God as Father, Son and Spirit—e.g. Matthew 28:19).

Elohim Brings Order to the Chaos

Another noteworthy aspect of Elohim’s nature is his desire to transform chaos into order. Genesis 1 shows us how God changes a “formless and empty” world into a world teeming with light and life. By the end of the chapter, that dark, chaotic world was something that God looked down upon and called “very good.” That process of transformation began with the simple words, “Let there be light.”

Today, Elohim is still hard at work transforming our chaos into peace and order by shining his light upon us. Except now, we experience that light through his son Jesus Christ—the light of the world. As it says in John 1:4, “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

Elohim: The Big Ideas

Elohim is the first name of God found in the Bible. It is associated with God’s creative power, his three-in-one nature, and his desire to bring order to our chaos.

“In the ancient world generally, a name was not merely a convenient collocation of sounds by which a person, place, or thing could be identified; rather, a name expressed something of the very essence of that which was being named. Hence, to know the name was to know something of the fundamental traits, nature, or destiny of that to which the name belonged.” Karla G. Bohmbach, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 944

Do you know what your name means? Most names have a backstory or a deeper meaning behind them. This is especially true of names in the Bible. which were often shorter phrases that captured that person’s inner character (or what the parents hoped the child would grow up to be). To know a person’s name was to know the person’s true identity.

God has many names in the Bible, but they all point us to the one true God. Studying his names allows us to know him better and relate with him in healthier and more faithful ways. When we stop to consider who God is at his core, it helps us understand the kind if relationship he desires to have with his children.

A study like this can turn into more and more information, but we need to always remind ourselves that the goal of our relationship with Christ is transformation. I am praying that this study helps us understand who God is so we can interact with him the way he always intended.

So let’s dive right into our study of the names of God in the Bible!

On a few occasions, the Bible takes one of God’s three common names (Yahweh, Elohim, or Adonai) and adds an additional description to reveal something new about God. Generally this happens after someone has an extraordinary experience where they discover more about the heart of God and how he loves us.

One example would be Abraham calling God “Jehovah-Jireh” after God intervened to stop him from sacrificing his son Isaac, and instead provided an alternative sacrifice  so Isaac could be spared (Genesis 22:12-14). Jehovah-Jireh means The Lord (Yahweh) Provides, which makes perfect sense in the context of the story.

In addition to names, the Bible uses a wife variety of metaphors and images from everyday life to describe God and the way he interacts with us. Here is a small sample:

• A shepherd who guides us (Psalm 23:1)
• A king who leads us (Psalm 5:2)
• A warrior who fights for us (Exodus 15:3)
• A father who loves us (Psalm 103:13)
• A mother who nourishes us (Isaiah 66:12-13)
• A rock we can depend on (Deut. 32:4)
• A light to show us the way (Psalm 27:1)
• A refuge to give us sanctuary (Psalm 9:9)
• A shield to protect us from danger (Genesis 15:1)

Metaphors and analogies are helpful tools to convey information quickly. But when the Bible uses human imagery to describe a God who exists outside of time and space, there are certain limitations. These metaphors tell us something about God, but not everything. And they certainly have their limits. God is a rock, but every rock I’ve encountered just sits there passively and doesn’t have any thoughts or speech. God is a rock, but he’s more than a rock. In that way, human images are a helpful tool to describe God, but they’re far from perfect.