Westside Church Podcast

From the series, "Rooted and Reaching" with Dave Stimers. Part 4: Nonviolence. One of the most powerful and challenging aspects of Jesus' teaching is to love one's enemy. This is good news that isn't always easy to follow.

From the series, "Rooted and Reaching" with Dave Stimers. Part 3: Church and State. Politics can be scary because there's so much at stake. As Christians, it can be hard to know how to engage, who to cheer for, and what our place is. In a chaotic and unstable world, our Anabaptist ancestors had a radical perspective, not only on politics but also on the role of the church in the world.

From the series, "Rooted and Reaching" with Mark Wall. Part 2: The People Who Make Us. What if community isn't just a place to belong, but the very place where God shapes us into who we're meant to be? In a world that is becoming increasingly lonely, discover why we were created for community and why it's essential to our spiritual growth!

From the series, "Rooted and Reaching: From Anabaptist Beginnings to a Fruitful Future" with Mark Wall. Join us across four weeks as we explore why our past matters, how community shapes our faith, the church's relationship to power, and why Jesus-centered living remains essential today. We believe we can have a fruitful future as we learn from those who have gone before us!Part 1: Why It Matters. Do you ever struggle with your past, wondering how it impacts your future? Join us as we explore how God uses our history and invites us into a courageous future. Discover how remembering His faithfulness and the faithfulness of those before us gives hope, resilience, and purpose for the challenges we face today.

Special post Easter message called, “More Than Meets The Eye” - A fresh vision for life and spirituality.After Jesus' death, skeptics and seekers alike wrestled with deep questions about their world and what they thought God was up to. In the aftermath of Easter, we are invited to join them and explore the possibilities that there's more to find than we ever thought!

Easter Sunday message with Dave Stimers. In a world that is often filled with pain and confusion, sometimes it can be hard to see what's right in front of us. Easter is an invitation for us to see with eyes of faith, hear the voice that names us as beloved, and embrace the God who makes all things new!

Good Friday message with Dave Stimers. On Good Friday, the scene at the cross speaks loudly about the world we live in and the God who sent his son in love. It's ugly. And it's beautiful.

From the series, "Divine Disruptions" with Dave Stimers. Part 4: Glory - Palm Sunday. In this message, we will learn that we are all invited to be part of something bigger than ourselves, to be part of what God is doing in our world!

From the series, "Divine Disruptions" with Dave Stimers. Part 3: Justice. If we want to know God deeply, we must understand what and who He cares most about. Throughout the Scriptures, we learn that God longs for His people to be a people of justice.

From the series, "Divine Disruptions" with Dave Stimers. Part 2: The New Covenant. Disruption. It's uncomfortable, it's disorienting—and sometimes, it's necessary. Especially if we want to grow and experience the new things that God has for us. In this message, we're going to explore how God might be inviting us to let go of the old and embrace the new.

From the series, "Divine Disruptions: Ancient Words to Shape Our World" with Dave Stimers. This 4-week sermon series will take a look at four different texts in the Old Testament Prophets. Some of the themes we will explore together are going to be around justice, knowing God, prioritizing love, mercy, justice, and caring for the oppressed. We're going to look at some of the powerful words that shaped the people of God in the Bible and how those ancient words shape us still today.Part 1: Mercy. Are you done with empty rituals and hollow religion? So is God. Jesus made that clear and not only that, but he helped to shape a much more transformative way to experience God's healing presence in our world.

A special stand alone message with guest speaker, Natalie Frisk - Raising Disciples: Every Child, Every Grown-Up.While we will often send our kids 'off' to children's church or youth group, to be discipled (hopefully well), the reality is that the entire church has a role to play in the discipleship journey of the generations as they come up. Jesus took time to connect with families and highlight the importance of children, and the Church should, too!

A special stand-alone message from Burlington Pastor, Mark Wall. Sometimes hope can be hard to grasp – hard to hold onto during the ups and downs of life. But what if hope is more than just wishful thinking? What if hope in Jesus can be an act of resistance? A discipline we can cultivate? A trust in someone greater than our circumstances?This message is about real, unshakable hope that's rooted in God's promises and made alive through the resurrection of Jesus.

From the series, "The Four Loves" with Dave Stimers. Part 4: Agape. In this series, we've been exploring what we mean when we talk about love. As we conclude, we want to expose one of the great enemies of love and how to overcome it!

From the series, "The Four Loves" with Dave Stimers. Part 3: Passion. Passionate love can be powerful and intense. Therefore, we need to think about how best to steward this great gift of love!

From the series, "The Four Loves" with Dave Stimers. Part 2: Friends. Of all of the types of loves, perhaps the most overlooked is the kind that exists between friends. And yet, the rewards are so great. We so desperately need to learn to forge good friendships!

From the series, "The Four Loves" with Dave Stimers. Without love, we cannot thrive. We need it to grow and flourish in our lives. We all know that, but ‘love' can mean so many different things. In this 4-week sermon series, we will seek to better understand the life-giving love that all of us need to give and receive.Part 1: Family. The love between family is foundational to forming our identity. We can't go without it. Jesus helps us reframe how to live in this powerful reality in a radical and counterintuitive way.

From the series, "A Mighty Wind" with Dave Stimers and Steve Cox. Part 4: Q&A. We've been having a great time talking about the Holy Spirit in this series and now we're going to answer some of the most popular questions from you! So tune into the conversation as we finish our series with a special Q&A.

From the series, "A Mighty Wind" with Dave Stimers. Part 3: Progress. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to help us grow. He provides the power, but that doesn't mean we don't play a part!

From the series, "A Mighty Wind" with Dave Stimers. Part 2: Power. Do you ever get discouraged because you don't see meaningful change and progress in your life? That's one of the most common experiences we all have in our spiritual lives. In this message, we take a look at the place we need to start in order to see real transformation. Also, at the end we announce our Winter Clothing Drive results and our grand total from our 2024 Christmas Fund.

From the series, "A Mighty Wind" with Dave Stimers. This 3-part sermon series will explore the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of individuals and the church, emphasizing the presence, power, and purpose of the Holy Spirit in our daily walk with God. Each sermon will focus on a specific aspect of the Holy Spirit's work in the believer's life. Part 1: Presence. As we enter the new year, we often long for change, growth, and hope for a better future. In this message, we explore how we too are invited to live in anticipation of God's transformative presence, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Did you know that for 2024, Oxford's word of the year is ‘brain rot'? Sometimes we can be so consumed with online content that we lose track of time and lose opportunities to listen to God speaking to us. As we step into 2025, join Zac and Danielle Boot for a special Sabbath Sunday message, featuring a challenge from scripture to embrace the goal of living a quiet life.

Christmas Eve message from Dave Stimers. Afraid? Discouraged? Feeling like there's too much that depends on you? If any of that resonates, then the Christmas message is for you!

From the series, "What's Wrong With Christmas?" with Dave Stimers. Part 4: The “Wrong” Politics. We live in uncertain and anxious times, filled with worries about the economy, politics, and all kinds of competing ideologies. Yet, the Christmas story offers a subversive and contrarian political position. Also, we have a special interview with Maryam from our Alpha group at the beginning, and a financial update from Todd our Treasurer at the end.

From the series, "What's Wrong With Christmas?" with Dave Stimers. Part 3: The “Wrong” Perspective. Waiting is hard. Especially when our circumstances are difficult. One of the lessons we are taught in the season of Advent is how to learn with patience, endurance, and hope. Also, we have a special interview with Justin from 541 Eatery & Exchange. They are one of our community partners this year for our 2024 Christmas Fund. To learn more and to give, visit ⁠westsidehamilton.com/christmasfund⁠.

From the series, "What's Wrong With Christmas?" with Dave Stimers. Part 2: The “Wrong” Priorities. Christmas can be a stressful time, but if we lean into the Christmas story we can find a powerful principle that brings us peace!

From the series, "What's Wrong With Christmas?" with Dave Stimers. The Christmas story is full of twists and turns, unexpected people, and scandalous circumstances. It's a beautiful adventure of sorting through everything that has gone wrong and finding everything that is right. Part 1: The “Wrong” People. The Christmas story doesn't start with perfection, it begins with a list of imperfect people. It's a beautiful reminder that we should expect God to work through unexpected people!

From the series, "Troubled & Afraid" with Mark Wall. Part 2: Peace and Quiet? Sometimes it feels like experiencing peace in our lives isn't possible. Whether it's a broken relationship, busy schedules, or personal struggle, peace can be that part of our lives that we grasp for but never catch. Jesus tells us that He has left us His peace. What does it look like when we truly have peace? How do we experience His peace even in our daily lives?

From the series, "Troubled & Afraid" with Mark Wall. There are so many things in our lives that are beyond our control. Outside circumstances can seem to rule our lives, and often in negative ways. Jesus says to not be troubled and afraid. But how do we respond to all the things happening around us and not live in worry and fear? How do we experience the peace that Jesus offers? Part 1: Fearless. It seems like every other day there is another life-altering event that brings uncertainty. Another reason to be afraid of the future and worried about today. But Jesus offers us a path away from fear, a meaningful life that is rooted in Him.

From the series, "For the Good of the City" with Dave Stimers. Part 4: For Real. The powerful invitation that Jesus gives us is to follow him. We have the opportunity to experience the kind of life that Jesus offers if we take up the challenge of becoming his disciples!

From the series, "For the Good of the City" with Dave Stimers. Part 3: For The One. One of the most intimidating aspects of being a Christian for many of us is when someone tells us that we should share our faith. There are a lot of reasons why that's difficult, but there's one truth that makes it a joy!

From the series, "For the Good of the City" with Dave Stimers. Part 2: For Our Neighbours. In this series, we're exploring what it means to be a church that is called to be for our city. In this message, we are talking about one important filter that helps us to discern how to live out that calling as we commit to being for our neighbours.

From the series, "For the Good of the City" with Dave Stimers. We believe that God has an exciting and hopeful future for Westside Church. In this series, we'll explore who God is calling us to be and how we plan to live out that calling! Part 1: For Good. We may not be able to know exactly what the future holds, but we know it will be good!

From the series, "A City Connected" with guest speaker, Will MacLaughlin from CAP (Christians Against Poverty). Jesus' invitation to the weary and burdened is one we all need to hear. In a cultural moment when so many of us are feeling stressed and worried about finances, rent prices, interest rates, groceries, and gas - how can we lean in and find the peace and rest Jesus promises?

From the series, "Westside Stories." Stories are essential because they connect, inspire, and shape our understanding of the world and ourselves. From time to time, we will take the opportunity to pause and hear personal stories from within our church community. This special Sunday features a baptism testimony, stories from Alpha at McMaster, and a message celebrating around the communion table! Bread from Heaven – We all know the symptoms of being hungry. We get tired, weak, irritated. If we don't eat for long enough, we become malnourished and get sick. Jesus invites anyone who is hungry to come and be satisfied.

From the series, "Identity Crisis" with Dave Stimers. Part 4: Be Yourself. God wants you to be yourself. The person that you really are. The best version of you. And He wants to give you the power to do that!

From the series, "Identity Crisis" with Dave Stimers. Part 3: Living Out of Blessing. Whenever you build something you need to make sure you have a strong foundation because the strength of everything you build will depend on it. What are we building our lives on?

From the series, "Identity Crisis" with Dave Stimers. Part 2: Overcoming Shame. One of the greatest threats to being able to live out our true identity as God's children is shame. Shame tells us that we are unacceptable and so if we're going to be able to live as God's beloved we need to find an antidote to that lie.

From the series, "Identity Crisis" with Dave Stimers. Just be yourself! ... You do you! It's advice we give and receive all the time, but have you ever stopped and asked the deep questions, Who am I? Many of us feel immense pressure to be someone we're not, but there's also a lot of pressure to decide who we are in the first place. That leads many of us into an identity crisis. What does it really mean to be ourselves and to become the best version of who we are? Part 1: Who Do You Think You Are? What kind of person do you want to be? How we answer that question will make a profound impact on the kind of lives we live. So, what do you say? Who do you think you are?

From the series, "Faith That Works" with guest speaker, Isaac Odame. Jesus invites his followers into God's Kingdom, which is here and now. As salt and light of the earth, we help preserve the moral fabric and dispel the darkness of sin, evil, and suffering around us through our love for God and others. Work and the workplace, where we spend half of our wake time, offer ample opportunities to be this salt and light to a needy world. That's what it means to live in God's kingdom.

From the series, "Faith That Works" with guest speaker, Leslie Pashuk. Although Jesus is our most precious belief, we often carry core beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world anchored in challenging past experiences - some going back to our childhood. These experiences can impact how we see ourselves, others, and even God. Left unexamined and unhealed, they can keep us from showing up in life the way we want to.

From the series, "Faith That Works" with guest speaker, Matt Collins. How do I live out my faith in the workplace and still get the job done? One of the great opportunities that we have to express our faith is through the work that we do. Wherever we focus our time, energy, and abilities, we can find rich and meaningful ways to find God and to love others. In this series, we are looking forward to hearing from members of our Westside Church family about how their work and faith intersect.