In This Edition:
The Struggles We Face (and Making Every Moment Holy)
2025: Follow Me: Practicing The Way of Discipleship
In Defense of Hope: A New Course Beginning Jan 27!
Healthcare Ethics Initiative Update
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The Struggles We Face
1 I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
3 He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.
5 The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon at night.
7 The Lord keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.
8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.
(Psalm 121 NLT)
"Help me in my time of need! There is a rift between my children and me. And I don't know what to do."
“My Dad left my mom a decade ago. Now he’s invited me to his wedding. Should I go?”
“This grief is unbearable. I relive his absence every time I come to church. How can I go on in the face of such terrible loss?”
And you come to church, week after week, in terrible pain.
We see you. We love you. And we want to help you.
Church is where we share life together. We welcome each other’s joys and shoulder one another’s pain; we laugh and cry, rejoice and weep; give up our self-conceit and also bear each other’s burdens. We live as family, finding light in the darkness, strength for the journey, and refreshment in the dry patches of life.
In a recurring series at West Side, we will seek the heart of God to find strength and encouragement for any parent, child, husband, wife, brother, sister, or friend who feels estrangement, grief, and loss. Let God speak into this.
January 19: “Estranged Children: When It Is Up To Them” (video / podcast)
January 26: “Estrangement: When It Is Up To Me” (video / podcast)
Recurring (with new topics) April 27-May 4; July 27-Aug 10; Oct 5-12.
If you are a fellow struggler, may I recommend the excellent trilogy of books titled Every Moment Holy. They have blessed my life, and will bless yours as well.
This is a recurring sermon series at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) entitled “The Struggles We Face.” These lesson are (and will be) available to watch or listen, and appears on the Life on the West Side podcast. Available on all podcast platforms.
2025 West Side Sermon Focus: Follow Me—Practicing The Way of Discipleship
In 2025, the West Side Sunday morning sermon focus will be on discipleship—following Jesus in everyday life. The lessons will be arranged into several mini-series, but each of these will contribute to the larger whole. Mini-series titles include the following:
-Apprentices to Jesus
-Holy Connection: Being with Jesus
-Formational Growth: Becoming Like Jesus
-Contributing Mission: Doing What He Did
-Taking up your Cross
-Struggles we Face
-Habits for Growth
A major conversation partner—and the underlying study guide—is John Mark Comer’s Practicing The Way. If you are not familiar with this work, here is Brad East on why reading Comer is important, and here are helpful resources from Comer’s website and a Right Now Media course. I hope you will join us this year as we seek to emphasize the calling of Jesus to follow Him.
Two of our shepherds—Jim Shelton and Larry Bankston—will be leading a “Dive Deeper” course on Sunday mornings at 10:30 on the same topic. Come join us!
In Defense of Hope: A New Course (Begins Jan 27)
On Monday night, January 27, Dr. Keith Stanglin will begin a new course on faith, reason, and Christian apologetics titled “In Defense of Hope: Why Christianity Makes Sense.” I am honored to be delivering one of the class lectures, along with Jim Baird, Mark Powell, Stacey Rodenbeck, and more. Sign up for the course here.
Healthcare Ethics Initiative Update (Feb 7)
As you may know, I serve as the director for the David E. Smith Healthcare Ethics and Human Dignity Initiative at Harding University. Our launch in November was a rousing success, as Dr. Scott B. Rae of Biola University presented the first Smith healthcare ethics lecture on “Making Moral Choices” (video available here). On February 7, our second Smith lecturer will be Dr. Christopher Tollefsen, professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina. He will be lecturing on his book The Way of Medicine. We will also be blessed to have a panel of academics, physicians, and philosophers who will respond to Dr. Tollefsen’s presentation immediately following. Dr. Tollefsen will be on campus for two full days, and will be offering a number of smaller presentations and discipline-specific conversations during his stay. You are cordially invited to attend. Reach out to me for more information.
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My name is Nathan Guy. I serve as associate professor of philosophy, theology, and ethics and as the director of the David E. Smith Healthcare Ethics and Human Dignity Initiative at Harding University (Searcy, Arkansas). I am also privileged to serve as preaching minister for the West Side Church of Christ in Searcy. I joyfully adjunct courses for the School for Professional Studies at St. Louis University and enthusiastically serve as chairman of the board for the Center for Christian Studies. I am happily married to Katie and am the proud father of Grace (who is 3) and Henry (who is wee). You can find more resources on my website over at nathanguy.com. You can follow me (@nathanpguy) on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), Threads, Bluesky, and YouTube.