Content Warning: This week’s scripture and sermon discuss mature themes, including sexual content, assault, and violence.

Pastor Matthew Watson opens up our new sermon series on the Women of Advent by examining the story of Tamar. [Matthew 1:1-3; Genesis 38:6-30]

Guest preacher Rev. Tonetta Landis-Aina looks at the intersections of identity and power in the story of Hagar and Sarai. She challenges us to examine our own identities and privileges in order to live into the vision of being a “multi” church. [Genesis 16:1-14]

Rev. Tonetta Landis-Aina is a native of North Carolina and moved to Washington DC in 2004. She holds a Masters of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary and is passionate about marginalized people finding their stories in scripture as well as about the new shapes the church will take in the 21st century. When Tonetta isn’t geeking out on the Bible or trying to piece together what God might be doing in the beautiful city that is DC, she is enjoying time with her wife and 4-year-old son.

Guest preacher Mark Charles brings an eye-opening perspective on why the ministry of radical inclusivity is so hard, and yet still possible through the Holy Spirit. [Acts 10]

Mark Charles is a dynamic and thought-provoking public speaker, writer, and consultant. The son of an American woman (of Dutch heritage) and a Navajo man, he teaches with insight into the complexities of American history regarding race, culture, and faith in order to help forge a path of healing and conciliation for the nation. He is one of the leading authorities on the 15th-century’s Doctrine of Discovery and its influence on US history and its intersection with modern-day society. Mark co-authored, along with Soong-Chan Rah, the new book entitled “Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery ” (IVP, 2019). Mark ran as an independent candidate for the US Presidency in the 2020 election. 

In order to be a kingdom community, especially a multiracial, multicultural one, we must recognize our existing instincts and learn new ones. Pastor Justin Fung preaches on the image of shalom found in Isaiah 11. [Isaiah 11:6-9]

Life together is one thing when we talk about it; another thing as we live it out. Pastor Matthew Watson shares why as a church, we continue to learn, and listen, and act in solidarity with those in our community most affected by racist polices and practices that frustrate flourishing and attempt to stifle God’s shalom in our city. We don’t want to simply be hearers of the word – as important a listening is – we want to be doers as well. [Act 6:1-7]

It is our task to be in beloved community as children of God, and Pastor Andrea Ackermann explains how we are to live this out in our context, in our community, and with these particular people.  Not in spite of our differences, but in a way that fully embodies them. [Ephesians 2:13-22, Galatians 3:27-28, 2 Corinthians 5:16-20]

Pastor Justin Fung opens up our six-week series on Race, Faith, and the Kingdom of God, where we’ll move beyond just what we should know or what we should feel – and toward what we should do. [Genesis 1:27, Revelation 7:9-12]

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Love & Unity Project report: https://go.christcitydc.org/lupreports2021.

Listen and Learn:

Serve and Show Up:

Find Your People:

Pastor Matthew Watson closes our series on “Who We Are” by answering the questions: What is a disciple? and How are disciples made? [Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Matthew 28:18-20]

In a world that is so full — of events, of emotions, of voices — it is easy to forget our identity, our calling, our convictions. In this series, we are introduced and re-introduced to the vision and mission of Christ City Church — the calling of God on each of us individually and all of us together. Pastor Justin Fung kicks off the three-week series with the most important reminder: that we are to love God, because we are loved by God. [Deuteronomy 6:4-9]