Setting Captives Free
February 19, 2023 • Bryan Fojtasek • Acts 16:16–34, John 8:31–32
What must I do to be saved? There are countless important questions we wrestle with throughout our lives, but there's nothing more important than understanding how to find salvation. God carefully orchestrated a series of events that led to a Roman jailer asking this question in the context of God setting captives free. And that helps us understand that salvation is about freedom. The takeaway for us is that Jesus wants to set us free from everything that holds us captive.
Loving People to Jesus
September 11, 2022 • Adam England • John 13:34–35
Jesus' words in John 13:34-35 are a powerful reminder of our purpose at Westside: Loving people to Jesus. In this message, our Youth and Family Minister Adam England shares more about Westside's mission and Jesus' call to love one another from the heart.
The True Vine
March 23, 2022 • Bryan Fojtasek • John 15:1–8
In the Old Testament, God described his chosen people as a vine that he planted, hoping they would produce good fruit. Instead, they only produced bad fruit. God sent Jesus into the world to be the true vine that would produce good fruit. We are the branches that are connected to Jesus, and that means we can produce the good fruit that God desires!
The Resurrection and the Life
March 9, 2022 • Bryan Fojtasek • John 11
Jesus is our resurrection and our life. He is the one who transforms our dead ends into new opportunities. When Jesus shows up to Bethany to visit Mary and Martha, it seemed like he was too late. Their brother Lazarus had already been dead for four days. But Then Jesus transformed the entire course of their lives forever: re resurrected Lazarus! In the same way, God shows up at our lowest moments to give us hope for the future.
The Bread of Life
February 9, 2022 • John 6
Jesus is the bread of life, the sustainer of our souls. Bread was a necessity for the people of Israel and represented the staple food in their diet. Jesus fills our spiritual hunger the way nothing else can, but we spend a lot of time trying to fill that hunger with the things of the world instead of Jesus himself.
As I Have Done For You
John 13:1–17
A third reason why Christians are called to practice hospitality is because of the example that Jesus himself gives us. In John 13, Jesus shows us the full extent of his love by washing his disciples feet, an important customs that symbolized the moment when a stranger became a guest. Jesus often served as a gracious host, both to his friends (like in John 13), as well as strangers (like when Jesus fed the 5,000 in Matthew 14). After washing the disciple's feet, Jesus tells us that we will be blessed when we follow in his footsteps.
Hope for the Doubter
October 10, 2021 • John 20:19–29
Doubting Thomas had a hard time believing the unbelievable news about Jesus' resurrection. There's an important lesson for us to learn about the role doubt plays in our journey by looking at how Jesus and the rest of the disciples responded to Thomas' lingering doubt.
Hope for the Weary
Bryan Fojtasek • Galatians 6:1–2, Matthew 11:28–30, John 10:7–10
Life brings people down, but Jesus gives people hope. Too many of us are constantly feeling tired, exhausted, and weary. We're stuck in the same routines day in and day out that never really bring us the meaning and satisfaction we're hoping for. Jesus has some powerful and inspiring words for those of us who are feeling weary: Come to me, and find rest for your souls.
The Bullseye
August 11, 2021 • John 10:14–18, 1 Timothy 2:1–7, Galatians 3:26–29, Colossians 3:11, 1 Corinthians 15:1–8
This message wraps up our class on the book "The Faith of the Outsider." We'll discuss how to put everything we've studied into practice, by making sure to take the Gospel to all people and stop drawing lines where God hasn't drawn them.
Fulfillment (Week 9)
August 8, 2021 • John 14:6–7, Jeremiah 31:31–34, Ezekiel 36:24–27, Acts 13:32–33, Luke 24:44–47
Jesus came to be the blessing that Israel couldn't be. Everything that God planned and promised in the Old Testament was fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.