Westside Church Podcast: Recent Episodes
Westside Church
As Christians, we are called to move beyond superficial judgments and divisions, recognizing that true reconciliation and love require acknowledging our own brokenness and approaching others with grace and humility.
True contentment, joy, and peace come not from material wealth but from a life of generosity that aligns with God’s mission to bring good news to the poor.
Jesus invites us to experience true rest and renewal through a rhythm of Sabbath, where we step away from the relentless demands of life and delight in God’s presence, aligning ourselves with His grace and finding peace for our souls.
Living with humility and embodying forgiveness is essential for the followers of Jesus to heal the world He has placed us in.
Sin is more than personal vices; it’s a cosmic evil distorting our relationships with God and others, leading to shame trying to convince us of our unworthiness before God.
Although worldly success and self-reliance allure us, we find true fulfillment and rest by seeking and dwelling in God’s presence.
God’s covenant with Israel highlights our need for forgiveness and God’s readiness to offer it. We experience genuine healing and transformation when we extend this forgiveness to others.
Contentment comes from actively participating in Christ’s life and surrendering worldly desires. This focus on spiritual fulfillment leads to genuine godly contentment.
This week Pastors Evan, Amelia and Josh it down and talk about Philippians 4:4-9 and what it looks like to find Christ and his joy and peace through suffering and hardship.
True fulfillment comes from abandoning earthly achievements for a deeper relationship with Christ, transforming suffering into a pathway to divine closeness and future glory.
Pastors Evan, Lindsay and Dave sit down to talk about following Jesus and Philippians chapter 2 & 3.
From his prison cell, Paul offers insight into Christ’s humility and service, urging believers to forsake selfishness, power, and personal image in pursuit of a life that reflects Jesus Himself.
Listen this week as the Speaking Team of Westside discuss part 3 of the Philippians series; Philippians 2:1-11 and what humility in Christ looks like.
In this week’s Behind the Message, Pastor Evan sits down with Brent Earwicker, Alex Mutagubya and Jackson for part 2 of the Philippians series. They talk through the concept that Paul presented when he said, to live is Christ, to die is gain.
Whether in chains or in crisis, our circumstances can be opportunities to magnify Christ to others when our focus remains on Him.
The Book of Philippians calls us to embrace our identity in Christ, lean into our faith amidst challenges, and actively engage in changing the narrative of the church through love, service, and unity.
In this week’s Behind the Message, Pastors Ben and Evan kick off a 6-part discussion through the book of Philippians. In week 1, they explore Paul’s opening address to the church in Philippi, where he expresses his gratitude and thankfulness for the young church.
Whether your response to Jesus’ resurrection is filled with faith like Mary, or plagued with doubt like Thomas, the risen Savior will meet you with the grace and love He has made accessible to us all.
The same crowd that recognized Jesus as the Messiah on Palm Sunday soon rejected Him, calling for His crucifixion. Unmet expectations continue today among the followers of Jesus, but we don’t have to walk alone as we wrestle with doubts and disappointments.
Jesus’s parables illuminate justice & grace in the kingdom of God, redefining our understanding of fairness and generosity. When we experience God’s love, we can embrace a heart of service, seek spiritual wholeness, and prioritize loving God, our neighbors, and ourselves.
Jesus fed thousands and walked on water to teach us about reliance and trust, rebuking those who would misuse his miracles for personal gain. He invites his followers to embrace a life of selflessness and service, symbolized by taking up our crosses to follow him.
The wisdom of God is seen in his perfect acts, from Creation to Jesus' death and resurrection and in between, all God does flows from his infinite fullness of wisdom.
Often when we think of the justice of God, our minds go to an angry, vengeful God who executes judgment on the wicked. However, a closer look at scripture shows us that justice is action taken on behalf of the vulnerable. Throughout the entirety of the Bible, we see God’s heart for the outcast, orphan, and downtrodden. From the mosaic law to the sermon on the mount, it is clear that God’s heart is for those who cannot help themselves. As Christians, we must follow and embody the heart of God, taking on the cause of the vulnerable and making it our own.
The revolutionary understanding of God's nature as love sets Christianity apart and should guide our interactions with the world. Jesus provides the full and true understanding of God: Jesus shows us the mature working-out of love. In Jesus, God and love are linked accurately, intricately, indissolubly.
Old humanity dies with Christ & becomes new humanity exemplified by Mercy, Generosity, Forgiveness & Love.
Paul teaches us there are two cultural pressures tempting us to compromise our faith: the worship of many gods (that Jesus conquered on the cross) and the observance of the Jewish laws (that He fulfilled). As believers hidden in Christ, we take off the pressures of our culture and rest in the easy yoke of our Savior.
Paul does not see his imprisonment as punishment but as his participation in Christ's suffering as Messiah. Our challenge is to see our own hardships as joy.
Relationship with Christ is the point and the plan of the gospel. When we have Christ we have everything. Everything we pray about concerns Christ because he is in everything and all things are held together through him.
Paul is imprisoned and writes a letter to a group he has never met and a church he did not found. The church is going well, but experiencing cultural pressure. Paul gives two prayers to the church: 1. Grow in wisdom & understanding. 2. A poem about the Messiah.
In declaring Himself to be the Good Shepherd, Jesus stood out from false messiahs (thieves) and Pharisees (bad shepherds) alike. Jesus modeled the heart of the Father for people, one that willingly lays down religious rules to rescue those who are lost and broken. As found people, our allegiance is to our Good Shepherd alone.
The early church devoted themselves to prayer. They practiced regular times of prayer and set aside space in their lives for ongoing and continuous prayer. How important it is for us to pray at all times during these uncertain days and to maintain a deep connection with God.
Intercessory prayer emerges from a great need and results in more of God's presence and power. God is speaking to us in this season and we will intercede for what God is speaking to us.
In Acts 13, the Apostle Paul and Barnabas are sent out of the church he co-pastored in Antioch. Although the church sent them, these leaders would return to Antioch as their home church.
What we believe about God and the Bible matters. But not everything matters equally. In Acts 15, church leaders decided it was more important to remove barriers to the Gospel than to get everyone to agree. by the time Paul gets to Athens, he's ready to use their pagan altar to point to Jesus. There's only one way to the Father, but the paths we take to find Jesus are many. Who do we exclude from our community based on differing views or opinions?
Saul's conversion represents something that is almost unbelievable: not that a sinner can find grace, but that judgmental, religious minds can be transformed by an encounter with Jesus. Like Ananias, can we overcome disgust for the self-righteous and extend hope for them, too?
The miraculous manifestations of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost call back to Old Testament moments that represented failure. The pillar of fire that led the people into the wilderness is now the flame that leads each believer in the world. The scattering at Babel is remedied with the Gospel spoken in every language on the streets of Jerusalem. The 3,000 lost in the wilderness rebellion are juxtaposed to the 3,000 saved when the Holy Spirit is poured out. If God can rewrite those endings, what might he do for us today?
The final words Jesus shared with his disciples before his arrest spoke of a mysterious gift: the Holy Spirit. Jesus is leaving; the Holy Spirit is coming. The Holy Spirit will be in them, doing in them what Jesus did among them.
When Cleopas and his friend leave Jerusalem, they leave behind their hope that Jesus was the chosen one. Their mysterious walking companion patiently meets them on their turf: walking them through the law and the prophets and, in the process, reignites their hope. Their story gives us hope that skeptics can still encounter Christ and be re-enchanted by the mystery, even on the way out of faith.
What sounded like nonsense was news too good to be ignored: The crucified Jesus was alive!
On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus boldly overturns convention to express the mercy and welcome of the Father to broken, hurting people.
When the Samaritans reject Jesus, the disciples ask permission to call down fire on them. Jesus rebukes them, and then tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Like the disciples, our bias towards violence is broken by a God of mercy.
Living out of a cruciformity to the cross of Christ challenges America's individualism and judgementalism toward others. It informs how we live in community, our commitment to the weak and marginalized, and our response to enemies.
The power of the cross flies in the face of the powers and principalities in the heavens and in the earth (explore the Pax Romana and present systems of power). It is a power denoted by weakness and by suffering and has the power to change the world for the good.
As carriers of the death and life of Christ, we are conformed and transformed into the image of Christ. Our identification with and participation in the cross of Christ informs every aspect of our lives and our relationships.
The pilgrimage that takes place during these songs of ascents is both an invitation and a command of and to the people. This is also true for blessing – we are invited to bless the lord and commanded to bless the lord. Our feelings about the need for perfect honesty or authenticity don’t change that. Bless the lord. Lift your arms and eyes.
Repentance is the decision to admit that you’re wrong. That you’re wrong about your ability to be your own God and make it on your own. And it is deciding that God, through Jesus Christ, is telling you the truth. How do we make this turn to create a new life path?
Countless have been to church and many claim Jesus as savior, but it’s difficult to seek discipleship. We must allow ourselves to be formed to the way of Jesus by our practices and community.
Jesus sees us and listens to us. This seems like a simple thing, but in a world where loneliness runs rampant, being seen and known can be the first step to living a life of hope, peace, love and joy. Accepting the love of Jesus changes everything. It gives us a new perspective on ourselves and our fellow humans. When we accept the love of our Wonderful Counselor is makes space for working toward and caring about others and that leads to living in peace and working towards the flourishing of all creation.
The people of God were waiting for deliverance through a Mighty God, a heroic God that would come with swords blazing. Instead he shows up in the smallness of a baby. How do we reconcile what we think a Mighty God should be with how he actually displays his mightiness and brings hope to the world.
Those who truly experience grace will also experience a transformation in the way they view others. If grace is the distinctive of the Christian faith, it ought to be extravagantly offered in our communities.
The idea of grace is so powerful and compelling that it can seem dangerous. What if we throw it around too easily? What if we give people a license to sin? How do we make sure grace is “balanced” by truth? But grace is always lopsided, it’s always scandalous or it isn’t grace. Grace meets us and embraces us long before we “deserve” it. The life of Paul shows us a living color demonstration of the scandalous grace of Jesus. “Knocked flat on the ground on the way to Damascus, Paul never recovered from the impact of grace: the word appears no later than the second sentence in any of his letters." (Phillip Yancey).
In the face of injustice, a price must be paid. We all have a label we deserve to wear for the rest of eternity. There is a price for our sins and our wrongs and it’s way too rich for our blood. But God…paid the price himself to set us free. This is grace.
We've long loved the metaphor of being an "Army for the Lord." It can be confusing. Especially today. Jesus offers a beautiful metaphor in the form of shelter from the storm. Jesus teaches us from the ethos of the Beatitudes and the pathos of the cruiciform that which gives Christianity it's distinctive beauty. This is the beauty we must embrace.
Jesus is tempted in the desert with safety, influence and political power; or, the most common desires of the world. Over the last generation or so, the evangelical church has been more adept at endorsing these dominant desires and is in need of recovering its true form and beauty.
Beauty, mystery and wonder. All three of them go together. We wonder at things that are beautiful and mysterious. Children most often find themselves in a state of wonder because everything is a new journey into beauty and mystery. The greatest wonder of all is the Incarnation. Gazing on the Word made flesh keeps the gospel beautiful.
The world is confused and confusing, true religion cuts through the noise and leads us to eternal perspective (and this perspective is seen most profoundly in the way we communicate.)
True religion is more than hearing and even more than believing, it is building a life that manifests the character of Jesus.
The testing of our faith is gift that produces endurance and reveals where it’s lacking.
We will fall into the trap of Babylon if we declare the supremacy of God without the self-sacrifice and love for our enemies that Jesus demonstrated on the cross.
In exile, identity is challenged and alliegence is divided. There was conflict in the Jewish community in Babylonian exile. Some wanted to hear Jeremiah’s call for a peace ethic in Babylon, but others wanted to hear Hananiah’s call to a resistance ethic. Should Israel just accept their fate as an exiled and broken nation and absorb completely into Babylon? Or should they resist their overlords and actively work to undermine Babylon? Or should they do something in between?
Often times people feel displaced in life. Many people feel melancholic, knowing they should be at home here on earth, but often times wondering why life can be so hard and why humans make it harder with how they behave. Walker Percy says the fundamental mystery of the universe is why we feel so alone in the world.
The Bible states that the solution to both Israel’s exile problem and humanity’s exile problem is the same solution. A king who will come and deliver them and reunite heaven and earth for all.
Our modern Bible was shaped by the Jewish people who were exiled from their homeland in 586 BC by the Babylonian Empire. The cultural trauma of that event influenced the writings that Christians hold dear today. The 586 exile colors all of the Bible, start to finish. The Hebrew authors who wrote the Bible used the exile experience to prophecy of a new king, a king who would deliver them from their occupiers.
The exile metaphor is a theme that runs through the entire Bible. The Hebrew Bible authors wrote Genesis believing that humanity has been exiled from the Garden of Eden and perfect unity with God. The Hebrews believed that their exile represented all humanity’s exile of heaven and earth being separated from each other. After humanity is banished from Eden, we embark on the first exile journey - settling in a world that is no longer home. When God calls Abraham to leave Babylon (Ur), he and Sarah lack a true home but Abraham has a promise from God that he will have a “promised land.”
The health of your soul isn’t just a matter of being saved or unsaved. It’s the hinge on which the rest of your life hangs. It’s the difference between deep, satisfied spirituality and a restless, dispassionate faith.