Westside Church Northwest Podcast

In this message, Rick Renner goes after a question many believers still wrestle with: When life is crushing you, did God send it—or allow it from a distance?

We walk through James 1:1, 13, 17, and 5–8 and show from the Greek why James uses a double negative: stop saying God is the source of what destroys you. God cannot be tempted with evil and does not give evil. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights—habitually, abundantly, with no shadow of turning.

You’ll hear:
- The difference between God acting directly vs. people blaming Him remotely
- Why Old Testament thinking (“everything comes from God”) still shows up in the church
- The test for whether something is from God: is it good, advantageous, and moving you upward?
- How to ask God for wisdom
- Why a double-minded person is unstable and why faith has to be rooted, not tossed

He also talks honestly about self-sabotage, personal responsibility, drawing near when you don’t have answers, and lining your mind up with who God actually is.

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We’re in Romans 5, and this message is about capacity. Not just being saved from wrath, but living in the “much more” of Jesus: reconciled by His death, saved by His life, and called to reign in this life.

When Adam sinned, death spread. When Jesus finished the work, grace didn’t merely balance the scale — it blew it out of the water. Now the question isn’t whether God has more for you. It’s whether you’ll let Him size you up so He can pour more through you.

In this episode:
- Romans 5:10–17 — “much more” reconciliation and the gift of righteousness
- Seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 1–2)
- Your position determines your condition
- Ruling and reigning in this life, not just the next

If you’ve been living on one extension cord — barely enough for the lights — this word is a call to increase capacity so God can use you to power more than your own house.

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God is calling His people higher. Higher in holiness. Higher in endurance. Higher in the fullness of the Spirit.

In this message from our Romans series, we walk through Romans 5 and then follow the thread all the way to the end of the age.

We also look at one of the most important “much more” statements in the New Testament: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We have been justified by His blood, and we are not appointed to wrath.

That leads us to the catching away of the church, the marriage supper of the Lamb, and the parable of the ten virgins. The oil in the lamps is the Holy Spirit. Wise believers stay full. They stay ready.

This church believes what the Book of Acts actually says: repentance, water baptism, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. That gift is not weird. It is not passed away. It is how the Holy Spirit prays mysteries through you that your mind cannot even comprehend.

Stay full. Stay ready. The Bridegroom is coming.

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You are not who you used to be.

In this message from the Identity series, we look at what actually happened on the inside when you were born again—and why seeing yourself the way God sees you changes how you live, how you handle fear and anxiety, and how you walk out your assignment.

Religion keeps people small. Relationship with Jesus raises you into sonship and daughtership. The Gospels give us a picture of Jesus’ ministry. The Epistles give us the X-ray of what God did in you: you became a new creation. Old things passed away. All things became new.

In this message, we cover:
- Putting on the new man (Colossians 3:10)
- Why your spirit already knows things the Holy Spirit is trying to get into your mind
- Philippians 1:6 — He who began a good work in you will complete it
- Feelings as warning lights, not your identity (fear, anxiety, and depression are not your portion)
- You are complete in Him — the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, and you are in Him (Colossians 2:9-10)
- Taking off the old man and putting on the new (Ephesians 4:20-24)
- Living from God instead of trying to live for God
- Short-term identities, long-term identities, and the only identity that actually matters: who you are in Christ

You are a King’s kid. Heaven’s resources are behind you. Speak to the mountain. Function like who He says you are.

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What are you pouring into your spirit?

In this Ladies Night teaching, we talk about the difference between a cup that’s empty, a cup filled with the wrong things, and a cup overflowing with the Holy Spirit, the Word, and the goodness of God.

We live in dark days — but we don’t have to live empty, anxious, or dry. Scripture calls us to walk in wisdom, stay filled with the Spirit, and keep our hearts with all diligence, because out of the heart flow the issues of life.

If your cup has felt empty, full of fear, or just lukewarm — this is an invitation to come back to the Source. He still fills. He still overflows. He still multiplies what you give.

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Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” That is not a slogan. It is your identity.
Your spirit was made new. Your soul (mind, will, emotions) and your body were not. That is why so many believers still feel like the old person even after they prayed the prayer. The work now is to let the new creation on the inside take over—nail the flesh to the cross daily, feed the spirit with the Word, and learn to check your spirit instead of your feelings.

We walk through:
Galatians 2:20 — crucified with Christ
1 Thessalonians 5:23 — spirit, soul, and body
2 Corinthians 5:1–17 — this tent is temporary; you are a new creation
1 Corinthians 2:16 — you have the mind of Christ
Romans 12:2 — transformed by the renewing of your mind
1 John 2:20 — the anointing that teaches you

Mature Christians handle life differently because they know who they are and who lives in them. The old man is gone. There is a new sheriff on the inside.

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Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Abraham was fully convinced that what God promised, He was also able to perform—and that faith was credited to him as righteousness. Paul says it was not written for Abraham’s sake alone, but for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus from the dead.

Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses and raised because of our justification. That means we are no longer at war with God. His wrath and justice have been satisfied. He is not mad at you. He is not your enemy. Through Jesus we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand—and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

In this message Pastor Cory walks from Romans 4:20–25 into Romans 5:1–2 and asks a simple question: if we say we believe this, does it show up in how we live, plan, and stand?

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Culture is constantly trying to rewrite who you are. In this message, Pastor Cory opens a new series on identity in Christ—how God sees you, how the enemy attacks that picture, and how a new family line changes everything once you are born again.

You’re not defined by your last name, your past, your family history, or the labels culture hands you. When you gave your life to Jesus, you were crucified with Christ, raised with Him, and seated with Him. Old things have passed away. You became a new creation—fused with the Spirit of God.

This teaching walks through Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 5:20, Ephesians 2:4–6, and Romans 8:9–11 and calls us to stop identifying with struggle and start identifying with the Son. Sons and daughters don’t stand outside the door. They walk in.

If you’ve ever felt unworthy, stuck in family patterns, or unsure who you really are, this word is for you.

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If you’re believing God for healing, provision, family, or anything that looks impossible in the natural, this word is for you. Abraham didn’t wait to see Isaac before he believed. He took God at His word, refused to consider the deadness of his own body or Sarah’s womb, and stayed fully convinced that what God promised, God was able to perform.

In this message from Romans 4, Pastor Cory walks through the last half of the chapter and shows how faith actually works:
- The promise comes by faith so it can be according to grace
- God gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were
- Unwavering faith is strengthened by giving glory to God
- Being fully convinced is how the promise becomes visible

This is not positive thinking. This is standing on the same promise Abraham stood on—because everyone who believes is an heir of faithful Abraham. 

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Faith isn’t just what you believe on Sunday. It’s what protects you the rest of the week.

In this message, Pastor Cory wraps up our series on Faith and finishes the teaching on the shield of faith. We recap how faith works—what it is, how it comes, how it gets released, how it gets fed, and how it leads—then look at why Paul said “above all, taking the shield of faith.” What you believe about God determines what the enemy can get through.

You’ll hear why unused faith is like ammo still in the box, how to starve out negativity and speak life, why “deconstructing” your faith is a trap, how Jesus answered when the devil quoted Scripture, and a testimony of God’s favor in the middle of layoffs.

God already laid the spread out. Faith is how we stop leaving the good stuff on the table.

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