Westgate Church Knoxville

11/05/2026

Thursday, November 9 — read Mark 10:42-34
“…Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”
‭‭Jesus and His disciples were walking to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way, which was a courageous thing to do as He was now a “wanted man” by the religious leaders, and His life was clearly in danger. As they were going, Jesus paused to tell His disciples what was going to happen to Him in a very short time. The fact is, Jesus had told them some of these things several times over the last few months of His life and ministry; but they never seemed to understand it or accept it, as He was the Messiah and they believed that no harm could come to Him.
In this instance, Jesus was quite clear on describing the subject, for He would first be betrayed, then arrested, tried, and condemned to death, then handed over to the Gentiles (Romans), then mocked, scourged, spit on, and killed. Not a very rosy picture as they were traveling to Jerusalem where all of this was soon going to take place! Why not go somewhere else? Go a different direction? Hide out or lay low somewhere until the “heat” is off? Because this was His mission as He was sent to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29), and nothing was going to stop Him from obeying and fulfilling that assignment. It was a matter of life and death…His and ours.
Jesus went on to say that the Jerusalem experience was not going to end at the tomb, for “on the third day He will rise again.” Hallelujah! Reading on you will discover that these things came to pass just as He said, and because Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, we can have abundant and eternal life as we put our faith and trust in Him! Thank you, Lord!

11/04/2026

Wednesday, November 4 — read Mark 10:28-40
“Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.” So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.”
Jesus had told the rich young ruler to give all of his possessions to the poor and to take up his cross and follow Him. This was followed by Jesus’ warning that riches could get in the way of salvation if we put our hope and trust in them instead of in God. Now Peter responds by saying, “We have left all to follow You,” which is to say that we have done what you have asked of us, “left our nets to follow You in order to become fishers of men” (Matthew 4:20). And Jesus’ response to Peter’s obedience and sacrifice is also His response to our obedience and sacrifice: we will receive blessings, rewards, and persecutions in this life, and eternal life in the age to come.
It’s interesting that in the middle of Jesus’ description of our receiving blessings, and even 100 fold blessings at times, that He adds that persecution will also come with them. Why? Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first,” and “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:18,20). Jesus went on to say, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John‬ ‭16‬:‭33‬).
We can and should expect blessings from the Lord as we follow Him; however, don’t be surprised when there are also trials and tribulations along the way as well…but count it all joy, rejoice in the Lord always, and in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus!

11/03/2026

11/03/2026

Tuesday, November 3 — read Mark 10:24b-25
“Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Notice Jesus did not say it is bad to be rich, nor did He say that everyone who is rich has to give away their riches, as with the rich young ruler. What Jesus said was that when someone has riches, they can begin to trust them for their life, needs, supply, and even salvation instead of putting their faith in God to be their source and supply. In a similar way, the Apostle Paul wrote that “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and some who coveted after it lost their faith, and they were pieced through with many sorrows” (I Timothy 6:10). Money was not the issue, the love of it was. Pursuing, coveting, and always needing more can turn money into an idol very quickly.
The Apostle Paul went on to write, “Warn the rich people of this world not to be proud or to trust in wealth that is easily lost. Tell them to have faith in God, who is rich and blesses us with everything we need to enjoy life.” (I Timothy 6:17). He didn’t tell people they could not be rich, have nice things, or enjoy the things money can buy; rather, Paul warned them not to trust in their wealth as it is “uncertain riches,” and could easily be gone tomorrow (i.e., stock market crash, Great Depression, bad economy). Instead they were to put their trust in God who provides and blesses us with all we need.
It is ok (and even good) to have resources and wealth so that we can live and have funds to “give to every good work;” for the kingdom of God needs finances to continue, and to advance and spread the Good News of the Gospel to the world. The problem comes if our wealth and resources have us, and heartfelt generosity is a good remedy to keep that from happening.

11/02/2026

Monday, November 2 — read Mark 10:21-22
“Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
‭A young man approached Jesus to ask about having eternal life, and Jesus responded by saying, “Keep the commandments,” and proceeded to list the ones that relate to people. The young man responded, “I have kept them all from my childhood.” Jesus didn’t argue that point with him at all, which doesn’t mean He agreed; instead, He gave the young man a great challenge: “One thing you lack: Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, take up the cross and follow Me.” This challenge had three components that dealt with the “spirit” of the commandments vs the “letter” of them.
1) Sell all you have. The young man could not comply for he had great possessions and these things were an idol, a security blanket that he had accumulated and he could not part with it. Which is not consistent with the command to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.” 2) Give what you have to the poor. Again, he no doubt gave alms to the poor; but to sacrifice his wealth for the poor, who most viewed as “cursed by God,” was not going to happen. Which flies in the face of “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” 3) Take up your cross and follow Me.” In other words, live your life doing My will and not your own. Which could also be said this way, “Not my will but Yours” vs “Not Your will but mine.” And the young man went away sad because he couldn’t/wouldn’t do what Jesus asked.
The reality is that following Jesus, taking up our cross, doing His will, and keeping the commands isn’t always easy, and doing it perfectly is impossible. Which is why we cannot be saved by our works, our goodness, or our trying to doing everything right, for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Roman’s 3:23). That’s why we must rely on God’s goodness, righteousness, mercy, and grace for salvation. “For by grace you are saved through faith, it cannot come from yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:9).

11/01/2026

Sunday, November 1 — we moved our clocks back one hour, but our Service at Westgate Church Knoxville and Westgate Kids is still at 10:30 AM 😊
If you don’t have a good church to call Home, come check us out, and I believe you will discover there’s a place here for you! Also, if you can’t attend in person, you can join us via live stream on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/
We encourage you to visit our website: www.westgatechurchknox.com, for activities and information about fall and winter events.
Have a blessed Sunday!

10/31/2026

Remember to
Fall Back
One Hour Tonight!
Joy, Joy, Joy 😏

10/30/2026

Friday, October 30 — read Mark 10:18-19
“So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
A young man approached Jesus and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus then challenged him in the use of the word “good,” for “there is no one good but One, and that is God.” The truth is, there is a world of difference between our being good and God being good. According to Isaiah 64:6 says, “…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…,” and Romans 3:10 adds, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” Often we view goodness compared to the way others live or act or think; but the only true standard of goodness is God, and we all fall short of His glory and goodness.
Jesus then went on to say, “You know the commandments, ‘Don’t commit adultery, murder, steal, lie, or covet, and honor your father and mother.” And we know that Jesus taught on these in earlier chapters, where He expounded on them and showed that the commands went deeper than their face value, as they really had to do with the thoughts and desires of the heart. For instance, “Thou shalt not kill” really meant not thinking evil, hating, or of doing any kind of harm to someone, for that is the “seed” that leads to murder. And what was the young man’s response to Jesus and the commandments? “I’ve kept them all from the time I was a child.”
In other words, “I’m good in my own eyes;” or “I’m good compared to others;” or “I’m good enough to go to heaven;” however, something inside him had no certainty of eternal life, which is why He went to Jesus in the first place.
We do not receive salvation because we are good, but because Jesus is good, and we are saved as we put our faith and trust in Him alone.

10/29/2026

It will be a fun evening and we invite you to join us!

10/29/2026

Thursday, October 29 — read Mark 10:17
“Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
What must I do? Thats the age old question that is asked and discussed in every religion that offers some kind of life after death. What must I do? What good deeds? What acts of kindness? What sacrifices? What mindset? What way of living? What kind of giving? What must I do? And really that is one of the greatest differences between religion and the blessing of having a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The gods and the religions in our world require some kind of “doing” to appease, to earn, to receive, or to inherit eternal life; however, Jesus came to bring salvation and He did all of the “doing” so that we could simply believe and receive the gift of eternal life. He lived a sinless life. He carried our cross. He took our place. He shed His blood. He died for our sins. He was buried and rose again so that we might have life. What must we do to receive that life? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 26:31).
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬).