Here you will find two particular tools Westwood members use weekly that enhance our participation in our weekly worship services. First, you will find our weekly Worship Prep Guide that Pastor Gerald puts out each Friday. This guide includes some thoughts to help us all prepare for the message coming up on Sunday. Second, you will find our weekly Life Group Guide. This guide includes a small way to interact with Sunday’s message & passage that helps each of us to reflect upon and internalize God’s Word.

Week of February 10, 2019

This Week’s Passage: Acts 7:54-60
Use this daily guide to help you internalize this week’s passage & message!
 
Sunday [KNOW]:
In a journal, reflect on today’s sermon by finishing any or all of the following:
I never knew…
I was reminded…
A question I still have…
I was challenged…
I was convicted…
A truth I could share is…
 
Monday [KNOW>BE]
Spend some time today doing the following:
  1. Select a portion of this week’s sermon passage to memorize this week.
  2. Write your selected portion and read it to yourself throughout the day today.
 
Tuesday [Be]:
In a journal, spend some time meditating and writing about the following:
  1. Read the sermon passage again.
  2. Write a prayer of response, guided by the sermon passage. (May include adoration, confession/repentance, thanksgiving, petition, etc.).
  3. Write your selected portion of the Scripture several times to aid in memorization.
 
Wednesday [BE>DO]:
Think about this week’s questions for group discussion:
  1. If pressed in a similar way as Stephen, could you narrate the Old Testament story that culminates in Christ if someone asked you to do so? How are you seeking to grow in your ability to give a faithful account of the grand story of God?
  2. What is your reaction to Stephen’s willingness to forgive his murderers? Do you need to forgive some people in your life? What advice would Stephen give you?
  3. It is clear here that Stephen viewed his accusers as primarily enemies of Jesus, not of himself. How does this perspective change the way we view the people in our culture who we would view as ‘enemies’? What happens when we get this backward?
 
Thursday [DO]:
In a journal, spend some time considering the following:
  1. What insights have you had while internalizing this week’s passage?
  2. How specifically will you seek to apply its truths in your home/workplace/life in general?

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Week of February 3, 2019

This Week’s Passage: Acts 6:8-7:53
Use this daily guide to help you internalize this week’s passage & message!
 
Sunday [KNOW]:
In a journal, reflect on today’s sermon by finishing any or all of the following:
I never knew…
I was reminded…
A question I still have…
I was challenged…
I was convicted…
A truth I could share is…
 
Monday [KNOW>BE]
Spend some time today doing the following:
  1. Select a portion of this week’s sermon passage to memorize this week.
  2. Write your selected portion and read it to yourself throughout the day today.
 
Tuesday [Be]:
In a journal, spend some time meditating and writing about the following:
  1. Read the sermon passage again.
  2. Write a prayer of response, guided by the sermon passage. (May include adoration, confession/repentance, thanksgiving, petition, etc.).
  3. Write your selected portion of the Scripture several times to aid in memorization.
 
Wednesday [BE>DO]:
Think about this week’s questions for group discussion:
  1. Read Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11-12; and John 15:18-27. How do we see all of these prophetic messages from Jesus fulfilled in this account of Stephen?
  2. How does this account of Stephen help us understand persecution and opposition to the gospel from an eternal perspective?
  3. What connection does our ordinary, every day walk with Christ have with persecution that we are sure to encounter because of that walk? Can you say that your walk right now is preparing you for those situations?
 
Thursday [DO]:
In a journal, spend some time considering the following:
  1. What insights have you had while internalizing this week’s passage?
  2. How specifically will you seek to apply its truths in your home/workplace/life in general?

Read more...

Week of January 27, 2019

Use this daily guide to help you internalize this week’s passage & message!
 
Sunday [KNOW]:
In a journal, reflect on today’s sermon by finishing any or all of the following:
I never knew…
I was reminded…
A question I still have…
I was challenged…
I was convicted…
A truth I could share is…
 
Monday [KNOW>BE]
Spend some time today doing the following:
  1. Select a portion of this week’s sermon passage to memorize this week.
  2. Write your selected portion and read it to yourself throughout the day today.
 
Tuesday [Be]:
In a journal, spend some time meditating and writing about the following:
  1. Read the sermon passage again.
  2. Write a prayer of response, guided by the sermon passage. (May include adoration, confession/repentance, thanksgiving, petition, etc.).
  3. Write your selected portion of the Scripture several times to aid in memorization.
 
Wednesday [BE>DO]:
Think about this week’s questions for group discussion:
  1. What does it mean to have shared ministry in the local church? Why is this so vitally important?
  2. What does this passage teach us about the constant threats to the unity of the church Body? Why must remain vigilant? What does that look like?
  3. How passionate are you to see the church grow? What do you believe your role is in that? Are you filling that role?
 
Thursday [DO]:
In a journal, spend some time considering the following:
  1. What insights have you had while internalizing this week’s passage?
  2. How specifically will you seek to apply its truths in your home/workplace/life in general?

Read more...

Week of January 20, 2019

This Week’s Passage: Acts 5:12-42
Use this daily guide to help you internalize this week’s passage & message!
 
Sunday [KNOW]:
In a journal, reflect on today’s sermon by finishing any or all of the following:
I never knew…
I was reminded…
A question I still have…
I was challenged…
I was convicted…
A truth I could share is…
 
Monday [KNOW>BE]
Spend some time today doing the following:
  1. Select a portion of this week’s sermon passage to memorize this week.
  2. Write your selected portion and read it to yourself throughout the day today.
 
Tuesday [Be]:
In a journal, spend some time meditating and writing about the following:
  1. Read the sermon passage again.
  2. Write a prayer of response, guided by the sermon passage. (May include adoration, confession/repentance, thanksgiving, petition, etc.).
  3. Write your selected portion of the Scripture several times to aid in memorization.
 
Wednesday [BE>DO]:
Think about this week’s questions for group discussion:
  1. Read v. 13. What do you think elicited such a response from outsiders looking in? Is this the response from the culture surrounding the church today? Why or why not?
  2. What do we learn about how God’s people should operate in response to persecution and threat in this passage?
  3. If you were to begin to develop a biblical understanding of suffering (resulting from persecution), what could you glean from these verses? How does our own culture corrupt or hinder a proper understanding?
 
Thursday [DO]:
In a journal, spend some time considering the following:
  1. What insights have you had while internalizing this week’s passage?
  2. How specifically will you seek to apply its truths in your home/workplace/life in general?

Read more...

Week of January 13, 2019

This Week’s Passage: Acts 5:1-11
Use this daily guide to help you internalize this week’s passage & message!
 
Sunday [KNOW]:
In a journal, reflect on today’s sermon by finishing any or all of the following:
I never knew…
I was reminded…
A question I still have…
I was challenged…
I was convicted…
A truth I could share is…
 
Monday [KNOW>BE]
Spend some time today doing the following:
  1. Select a portion of this week’s sermon passage to memorize this week.
  2. Write your selected portion and read it to yourself throughout the day today.
 
Tuesday [Be]:
In a journal, spend some time meditating and writing about the following:
  1. Read the sermon passage again.
  2. Write a prayer of response, guided by the sermon passage. (May include adoration, confession/repentance, thanksgiving, petition, etc.).
  3. Write your selected portion of the Scripture several times to aid in memorization.
 
Wednesday [BE>DO]:
Think about this week’s questions for group discussion:
  1. In what aspects of the Christian walk are believers in our culture prone to be pretenders? What about your own life?
  2. What criteria should we use in checking our motives prior to engaging in acts of service? What pitfalls should we avoid?
  3. How does participating in community guard against pretension and hypocrisy? What new commitments does this week’s passage cause you to want to make in the new year?
 
Thursday [DO]:
In a journal, spend some time considering the following:
  1. What insights have you had while internalizing this week’s passage?
  2. How specifically will you seek to apply its truths in your home/workplace/life in general?

Read more...

Week of December 16, 2018

This Week’s Passage: Acts 4:1-31
Use this daily guide to help you internalize this week’s passage & message!
 
Sunday [KNOW]:
In a journal, reflect on today’s sermon by finishing any or all of the following:
I never knew…
I was reminded…
A question I still have…
I was challenged…
I was convicted…
A truth I could share is…
 
Monday [KNOW>BE]
Spend some time today doing the following:
  1. Select a portion of this week’s sermon passage to memorize this week.
  2. Write your selected portion and read it to yourself throughout the day today.
 
Tuesday [Be]:
In a journal, spend some time meditating and writing about the following:
  1. Read the sermon passage again.
  2. Write a prayer of response, guided by the sermon passage. (May include adoration, confession/repentance, thanksgiving, petition, etc.).
  3. Write your selected portion of the Scripture several times to aid in memorization.
 
Wednesday [BE>DO]:
Think about this week’s questions for group discussion:
  1. How does the reaction of Peter and John to the persecution they face encourage us as we face or prepare to face various forms of it ourselves?
  2. How does persecution open opportunities for gospel proclamation? How does understanding this help us in preparation to face it? How should it shape the way we pray in preparation for it?
  3. Did it strike you at all the way Luke shares about the community of believers and how they acted together? How does this passage show us the importance of community for individual believers in a world hostile to the gospel?
 
Thursday [DO]:
In a journal, spend some time considering the following:
  1. What insights have you had while internalizing this week’s passage?
  2. How specifically will you seek to apply its truths in your home/workplace/life in general?

Read more...