Westminster Talking the Text Podcast for Sunday, October 26, 2025
 | Joel 2:23-32, Luke 18:9-14 | with Donovan Drake, Ashley Higgins, Stephanie Boaz, and Guy D. Griffith

Luke 18:9-14

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

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Westminster Talking the Text for Sunday, October 19, 2025 | Jeremiah 31:27-34; Psalm 121; Luke 18:1-8 (The Parable of the Unjust Judge)  | with Guy D. Griffith, Stephanie Boaz, and Donovan Drake.

Worship Bulletin for this episode!

Jeremiah 31:27-34 

27The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. 28 And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say: "The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." 30 But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge. 31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. 

Psalm 121

Luke 18:1-8 (The Parable of the Unjust Judge) 

18Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" 6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

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Westminster Talking the Text for Sunday, October 12, 2025 | Luke 17:11-19 | with Guy D. Griffith, Sophie Maness, and Donovan Drake.

Luke 17:11-19

11On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean.15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

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Westminster Talking the Text for Sunday, October 5, 2025 | 2 Timothy 1:1-14 & Luke 17:1-10 | with Guy D. Griffith, Stephanie Boaz, and Ashley Higgins

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Guard the treasure entrusted to you 

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 

1:2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 

1:3 I am grateful to God--whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did--when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.

1:4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.

1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.

1:6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands,

1:7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

1:8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God,

1:9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Jesus Christ before the ages began,

1:10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

1:11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher,

1:12 and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard the deposit I have entrusted to him.

1:13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

1:14 Guard the good deposit entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Luke 17:1-10

Faith the size of a mustard seed 

17:1 Jesus[a] said to his disciples, “Occasions for sin[b] are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come! 

17:2 It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to sin.[c] 

17:3 Be on your guard! If a brother or sister sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. 

17:4 And if the same person sins against you seven times a day and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”

17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

17:6 The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

17:7 "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'?

17:8 Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you m

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Westminster Talking the Text for Sunday, September 28, 2025 | Psalm 146 & Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 | with with Donovan Drake, Stephanie Boaz, and Ashley Higgins

Psalm 146

Help and hope come from God 

146:1Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!

146:2I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

146:3Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.

146:4When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.

146:5Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God,

146:6who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;

146:7who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free;

146:8the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.

146:9The LORD watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

146:10The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD!

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

Jeremiah buys a field 

32:1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.

32:2At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah,

32:3awhere King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him.

32:6Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me:

32:7Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, 'Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.'"

32:8Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the LORD, and said to me, "Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself." Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

32:9And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the silver to him, seventeen shekels of silver.

32:10I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the silver on scales.

32:11Then I took the sealed deed of purchase containing the terms and conditions and the open copy,

32:12and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard.

32:13In their presence I charged Baruch, saying,

32:14"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time.

32:15For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land."

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Westminster Talking the Text for Sunday, September 21, 2025 | Psalm 113 & 1 Timothy 2:1-7 | with with Donovan Drake, Guy D. Griffith, Stephanie Boaz, and Ashley Higgins

Living Out The Word

• When do you pray? 
• If God’s desire is for everyone “to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth,” what is the evidence that is our desire, too? 
• How do you think prayer works?   Put another way, what is your theology of prayer?

Psalm 113 

God, the helper of the needy Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD; praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time on and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised. The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!

1 Timothy 2:1-7 

Make thanksgivings 

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and acceptable before God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all-this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth.

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Westminster Talking the Text for Sunday, September 14, 2025 | 1 Timothy 1:12-17 and Luke 15:1-10 | with with Donovan Drake, Guy D. Griffith, Stephanie Boaz, and Ashley Higgins

1 Timothy 1:12-17

Christ Jesus came for sinners 

1:12I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful and appointed me to his service,

1:13even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,

1:14and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

1:15The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance; that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the foremost.

1:16But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, as an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.

1:17To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 15:1-10

Lost sheep and lost coin 

15:1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.

15:2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

15:3So he told them this parable:

15:4"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?

15:5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.

15:6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.'

15:7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

15:8"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?

15:9And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.'

15:10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

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Westminster Talking the Text for Sunday, September 7, 2025 | Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Luke 14:25-33 | with with Donovan Drake, Guy D. Griffith, & Stephanie Boaz

There was an error in the recording and the correct text is Luke 14:25-33. Thank you for understanding.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity,death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Luke 14:25-33

25 Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

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Westminster Talking the Text for Sunday, August 31, 2025 | Proverbs 25:6-7 and Luke 14:1, 7-14 | with with Donovan Drake, Ashley Higgins, & Stephanie Boaz

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Proverbs 25:6-7

6 Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great,
7 for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

Luke 14:1

14 On one occasion when Jesus[a] was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.

Luke 14:7-14

7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host, 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

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Westminster Talking the Text for Sunday, August 24, 2025 | Luke 13:10-17 | with with Donovan Drake, Guy Griffith, Ashley Higgins, & Will Wellman

Luke 13:10-17

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” 13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it to water?16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame, and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things being done by him.

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