The Westside Podcast—featuring Jonathan Hansen

Paul: Confronted by Grace | The Damascus Road That Changed Everything

The conversion of Saul on the Damascus road is one of the most dramatic transformations in all of Scripture. In this episode, we explore how a man who was passionately committed to persecuting Christians encountered the risen Jesus—and everything changed.

Saul was a highly educated Pharisee who believed he was defending God’s truth. But in a powerful and unexpected moment, Jesus confronted him with grace. That encounter not only transformed Saul’s life, but also redirected the course of Christian history as he became the Apostle Paul.

In this message recap, we unpack what this story reveals about the difference between religion and relationship with God, how our mental picture of God shapes our faith, and why true spiritual conversion happens through encountering Jesus personally. We also look at how God uses ordinary people—like Ananias—to participate in His extraordinary plans.

Paul’s story reminds us that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. Whether someone sees themselves as religious or far from God, the transforming power of Christ is available to all.

Join us as we reflect on the life-changing moment when Paul was confronted by grace and what it means for our own faith journey today.

Global Impact Episode 2: Beyond the Walls

What happens when you step out in faith… before you see the provision?

In 2014, a single mom faced what felt impossible. Her daughter, Ashlyn, sensed God calling her to go on a mission trip to Ecuador—with only weeks to prepare and $1,600 to raise. For a family living on a teacher’s salary and walking through the pain of abandonment, it seemed out of reach. But within days of saying “yes” to God, anonymous donors covered the entire cost.

That moment didn’t just fund a trip—it launched a legacy.

What began as one daughter’s courageous step of faith grew into years of missions involvement for their entire family. Both daughters served internationally. Their mom eventually transitioned from participant to leader—now helping coordinate family mission trips to Guatemala and leading student spring break experiences. Along the way, they learned to budget for missions as their annual “vacation”—and watched God faithfully provide above and beyond what they could plan.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• How God provides when we take bold steps of faith
• Why modern missions is about partnership—not parachuting in
• The power of coming alongside local leaders and empowering the local church
• How unity across denominations is transforming communities in Guatemala
• Why short-term mission trips often change participants more than the places they serve
• How family mission trips can shape spiritual legacy for generations

You’ll also hear how a partnership model in Guatemala has grown from connecting three pastors to a thriving network of more than 30 churches across multiple denominations—working together for prayer, support, and citywide outreach. When churches move from isolation to unity, the impact multiplies.

If you’ve ever wondered whether God could use your ordinary “yes” to do something extraordinary, this conversation is for you.

🌍 Explore upcoming global mission trips:
https://www.westsidefamily.church/global-trips

👉 Subscribe for more stories of faith in action.
👉 Share this episode with someone who needs encouragement to take their next step.
👉 Learn more about missions opportunities and how you can get involved.

Lessons from Stephen's Extraordinary Faith

Stephen’s story in Acts of the Apostles reveals a powerful truth: God uses ordinary people who are fully surrendered to Him.

In this episode, we unpack the life of Saint Stephen—a table server in the early church who became a bold defender of the faith. His courage before the Sanhedrin and his unwavering trust in Jesus challenge us to examine our own faith. Is it intellectual belief, or life-changing conviction?

We also explore the historical impact of the early church’s radical generosity—especially their care for widows—and how simple, faithful service helped fuel Christianity’s growth across the Roman Empire.

This conversation is for:

• Seekers curious about the truth of Christianity

• Believers wanting deeper spiritual growth

• Anyone wrestling with fear, comfort, or doubt

• Christians longing to be filled with the Holy Spirit

Key themes include:

• Being both sinner and saint by grace

• What it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit

• Courage under pressure

• Faith that moves from head knowledge to heart transformation

• Serving others as a pathway to joy

Stephen’s life reminds us: when we stand for Jesus on earth, He stands for us in heaven.

If this episode encouraged you, subscribe, share, and leave a review to help others discover hope and truth.

Global Impact Episode 1: Beyond the Walls

What happens when ordinary people say yes to God’s call to go?

In this powerful Global Trips conversation, three Westside leaders—David, Yulia, and Paul—share how short-term mission trips to Thailand and South Africa transformed their faith, leadership, and everyday lives.

After 16 years of leading trips to Thailand, Paul reflects on how he went from being skeptical about short-term missions to seeing firsthand how God uses global missions to shape hearts. David and Yulia share how a 2022 trip to South Africa—initially motivated by photography and curiosity—became a turning point in their understanding of following Jesus. What began with mixed motives became a life-changing encounter with God’s purpose.

Together, they discuss:

• Moving from a tourist mindset to a learning mindset on mission trips
• Why feeling unqualified is often the starting point for obedience
• How God uses delays, disruptions, and imperfect motives for good
• The difference between a task mindset and a relationship mindset in ministry
• Why global missions should ignite local ministry in places like Kansas City

This episode is a reminder that mission work isn’t just about the impact you make—it’s about the impact God makes in you. When God calls you to go, He equips you. Don’t let fear, finances, or feelings of inadequacy keep you from stepping out in faith.

Whether you’re considering your first short-term mission trip, exploring global outreach opportunities, or looking to live on mission in your own neighborhood, this conversation will challenge and encourage you.

👉 Ready to take your next step?

Learn more about upcoming global mission trips and how you can get involved. https://www.westsidefamily.church/global-trips

When Failure Isn't Final: Lessons from Peter's Life

Have you ever felt disqualified by your past? Like your failure, shame, or mistakes are too big for God to use?

In this powerful message, we explore the life of the Apostle Peter — a man full of bold faith and glaring contradictions — and how Jesus transformed him from a fearful denier into a courageous leader of the early Church.

Centered around two “charcoal fire” moments in Scripture — Peter’s denial of Jesus and his later restoration — this sermon reveals a life-changing truth: failure is not final with Jesus.

Peter, an uneducated fisherman, became the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit and a foundational leader in the early Church. Why? Because God doesn’t call the qualified — He qualifies the called. And the very place of Peter’s greatest shame became the starting point of his greatest calling.

If you’ve ever struggled with guilt, regret, spiritual failure, or feeling unworthy, this message is for you.

In this sermon, you’ll discover:
• How Jesus meets us in our shame instead of turning away
• Why your past does not disqualify you from God’s purpose
• How the Holy Spirit empowers ordinary people for extraordinary impact
• How your greatest failure can become fuel for future ministry
• What it means to run toward Jesus instead of away from Him

Whether you’re exploring faith, returning to church, or looking to grow deeper in your walk with Christ, this message offers hope, restoration, and practical next steps.

Take a moment today to bring what you’ve been hiding into the light. Through prayer, confession, or simply acknowledging God’s presence throughout your day, you can begin walking in freedom.

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👉 Share this message with someone who needs hope today.

Conversations with Troy Kennedy | S2: Episode 6- Finding Freedom in Spiritual Maturity

Finding Freedom in Spiritual Maturity | Moving Beyond Performance to Love

Are you tired of a performance-driven faith and longing for something deeper with God? In this episode, we explore what spiritual maturity really looks like—and how to move from doing more for God to living with God in freedom, love, and dependence on the Holy Spirit.

Many Christians feel stuck in cycles of striving, burnout, or spiritual dryness. This conversation invites you into a healthier, more transformative vision of the Christian life—one rooted in love, surrender, and spiritual formation, not behavior management or religious hustle.

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What Is Spiritual Maturity?

True spiritual maturity isn’t measured by how busy you are for God or how many ministries you serve in. Instead, it’s marked by:

• Growing love for God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength

• Growing love for your neighbor as yourself

• Obedience that flows naturally from a transformed heart

Spiritual growth is not about trying harder—it’s about becoming the kind of person who loves like Jesus.

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Navigating Dry Seasons of Faith

Every believer experiences spiritual desert seasons—times when God feels distant and faith feels dry. These seasons are not failures; they are often where God does His deepest work.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Remembering God’s faithfulness

• Staying connected to Christian community

• Being honest with God in prayer

• Practicing remembrance and reflection

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Common Traps That Hold Us Back Spiritually

Many Christians struggle with misplaced spiritual focus, including:

• The performance trap – trying to earn God’s love

• The expert complex – needing to appear spiritually impressive

• The illusion of control – believing everything depends on us

Spiritual maturity invites us to release control and trust God’s work in us.

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What Advanced Spiritual Maturity Looks Like

As we grow, faith begins to shift from doing to being:

• Deep contentment and peace

• Freedom from approval-seeking

• Natural obedience rooted in love

• Christlike compassion for others

This is the fruit of a life shaped by apprenticeship to Jesus.

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Training for Spiritual Growth

Spiritual maturity requires intentional training—not to master disciplines, but to become more like Christ. We discuss:

• Scripture immersion in the Gospels

• Prayer, fasting, solitude, and reflection

• Daily rhythms that form Christlike character

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The Goal: Transformative Union with God

The ultimate goal of spiritual maturity is a life fully oriented around God’s love—where obedience is natural, humility is deep, and fear loses its grip. This isn’t perfection; it’s transformation.

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Reflection Questions

• Where are you still operating from performance rather than love?

• How might God be inviting you to move from doing for Him to being with Him?

• What would it look like to trust God more deeply with your life and growth?

 

Conversations with Troy Kennedy | S2: Episode 5- Learning to Abide

What if spiritual exhaustion isn’t failure—but an invitation?

In this episode of Conversations with Troy Kennedy, Troy explores what spiritual formation leaders call the inner journey—the often uncomfortable but necessary transition from doing faith through willpower to being with God through surrender and intimacy.

Many followers of Jesus reach a point where striving, serving, and “doing all the right things” no longer produce lasting peace or joy. Instead of more effort, God invites us deeper—into abiding, surrender, and authentic relationship. Drawing from Scripture, personal experience, and spiritual formation wisdom, Troy unpacks what it means to move from performance-based faith to a life rooted in Christ.

This conversation is especially for anyone who feels spiritually tired, stuck, or quietly wondering if there’s more to faith than trying harder.

In this episode, you’ll explore:

• Why spiritual discontent can be a sign of growth, not failure

• What Jesus meant when He said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5)

• The difference between producing spiritual fruit through effort vs. relationship

• Why surrendering ambition and expectations is essential to spiritual maturity

• How practices like Scripture meditation, listening prayer, and silence create space for intimacy with God

• The role of biblical community during seasons of questioning and doubt

Key Scriptures Referenced:

John 15:5
Psalm 23:4–5
Romans 12:2
Psalm 1:2–3
Mark 12:28–31

Reflection Questions:

• Are you relying more on willpower or abiding in Christ?

• What “doing” habits might need to be balanced with deeper “being” practices?

• What ambitions or expectations might God be asking you to surrender?

• Who are the people in your life who lovingly tell you the truth and point you toward Jesus?

Life Application:

This week, choose one practice that helps you abide rather than achieve—whether it’s 10 minutes of quiet listening prayer, meditating on a single Scripture, or intentionally slowing down to be present with God. Focus on being with Jesus, not just doing for Him.

If you’re in a season where faith feels harder than it used to, this episode offers hope, permission to slow down, and a reminder that transformation comes not through effort—but through surrender.

👉 Subscribe for more conversations on faith, formation, and following Jesus in real life.

 

How to Hear God's Will for Your Life: Moving Beyond the Need for Certainty

How do you discover God’s will when Scripture doesn’t give clear answers?

When facing major life decisions—career moves, relationships, transitions—we often want God to give us a detailed roadmap. But the Bible rarely works that way. In this message, we explore a freeing truth: God is more concerned with who we are becoming than with giving us complete information upfront.

Rather than providing a Google Maps–style plan, God leads us like a lamp to our feet—one step at a time—using every season, including waiting and uncertainty, to form our faith, deepen our trust, and shape us into Christlikeness.

This sermon unpacks seven biblical principles for discovering God’s will, including:

• Saturating your mind with God’s Word

• Trusting that God never wastes seasons of waiting

• Surrendering your preferred outcomes

• Letting the peace of Christ guide your decisions

• Seeking wisdom from mature, godly counsel

• Moving forward faithfully one step at a time

• Trusting God’s character more than your need for certainty

At the heart of God’s will is sanctification—the ongoing process of becoming more like Christ. God often uses difficult or unexpected circumstances not to make us comfortable, but to grow our faith, dependence, and trust in Him. Even closed doors and wrong turns can become part of God’s redemptive work when we follow Jesus relationally.

Key Scriptures:
Psalm 119:105 • 1 Thessalonians 4:3 • Colossians 3:15 • John 14:27

If you’re wrestling with uncertainty, waiting on direction, or trying to discern your next step, this message will encourage you to release control, trust God’s faithfulness, and move forward with confidence—one step at a time.

▶️ Watch, reflect, and take your next faithful step.

Episode 4- When Life Hits the Wall • More Than We've Known | Conversations with Troy Kennedy

There comes a point in many faith journeys when the familiar patterns stop working. Prayer feels dry. Service feels empty. Certainty begins to crumble. In More Than We’ve Known, Season 2 of Conversations with Troy Kennedy, we explore these moments not as spiritual failure—but as invitations into deeper life with God.

In this episode, Troy unpacks “the wall”—a season of spiritual struggle that often marks the transition from the first half of our faith to something deeper and more surrendered. The wall is a confrontation between our will and God’s will, often experienced through spiritual dryness, burnout, suffering, or faith crisis.

We explore the three common responses people have when they encounter the wall:

• Bounce back to what feels familiar

• Bail out of faith altogether

• Break through into deeper intimacy with God

Breaking through the wall reshapes our faith in powerful ways—moving us from willpower to Spirit power, from self-protection to vulnerability, and from achievement-based faith to humble submission. In this season, weakness becomes a gift, creating space for God’s strength to be revealed.

If you’re questioning, weary, walking through loss, or supporting someone in a difficult season, this conversation offers both hope and practical guidance. The wall is not the end of your story—it is often the place where God begins His most beautiful work.

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🧭 Life Application

If you find yourself at the wall—through illness, loss, disappointment, or spiritual dryness—receive this season not as punishment, but as an invitation. God is not surprised by your doubts or questions. He is present in your weakness and wants to meet you there.

This week, prayerfully identify one area where you’ve been trying to maintain control. Instead of striving to fix or change your circumstances, practice simply showing up faithfully with God in the midst of them.

Reflect:

• What am I trying to control that I need to surrender to God?

• How might God be using my current struggles to draw me closer to Him?

• Where have I been relying on my own strength instead of His power?

• What would it look like to show up faithfully rather than focus on outcomes?

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📘 Resources & Show Notes

Spiritual Life Inventory
Discover your stage in the spiritual journey
👉 https://homeworld.ejay563.com/Spirit/survey.php

Westside Essentials
Loving Jesus • Becoming Like Jesus • Sharing Jesus
👉 https://www.westsidefamily.church/essentials

Care & Support
If you’re experiencing crisis or despair
👉 https://westside-family-care-center.squarespace.com

Additional Resources

• Dr. Liz Hall — processing suffering
  👉 https://www.drlizhall.com
  (Upcoming book: When the Journey Hurts)

Recommended Reading

• Even When — Sara Cormany

• A Grace Disguised — Jerry Sittser

• Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering — Tim Keller

• Journey of the Soul — Bill & Christie Gualtiere

• The Critical Journey — Janet Hagberg & Robert Gulich

Contact Troy Kennedy
📧 TKennedy@WestsideFamily.Church

Prayer over listeners — Sara

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▶️ New episodes weekly
▶️ Subscribe for conversations on spiritual formation and the deeper life Jesus invites us into

The Way Forward Is Backwards | Ancient Paths to Real Freedom

At every crossroads in life, we face a choice: pursue immediate gratification or pause to seek God’s wisdom.

 

In this episode of the Westside Podcast, we explore the “ancient paths” from Jeremiah 6:16—not as outdated traditions, but as life-giving practices that shape lasting spiritual health. Through prayer, Scripture, community, confession, and repentance, God forms us over time into people of peace, joy, and wholeness.

 

We also unpack how true wisdom comes from decisions that bring integration rather than disintegration in our relationships with God, others, creation, and ourselves. Repentance is reframed as good news—an invitation to turn from destructive paths toward life-giving ones. T

 

True freedom isn’t doing whatever we want, but having the power to choose what’s genuinely good for us. The kingdom of God is where we were designed to flourish—and every decision can move us closer to Christ-likeness.

 

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