This Sunday, guest teacher, Annie F. Downs continued our sermon series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with a teaching from Acts 6:1–7, a passage centered around a pivotal moment in the Early Church when administrative changes were needed to keep up with the rapidly growing needs of the community. She noted that the men chosen to serve in this moment were known first and foremost by the presence of the Spirit in their lives and their wisdom. Their lives bore the fruit of the Spirit—a sign of maturity that every believer is called to pursue no matter how or where they are serving in the Body.

This Sunday, Pastor Suzy Silk continued our sermon series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with a teaching on the early believers living primarily as witnesses of the Gospel. Acts 5 reveals that the disciples had an internal operating system that enabled them to be witnesses of Christ no matter the circumstances they faced. In considering the decision-making framework of our own lives, Pastor Suzy urged us to evaluate what is driving our instinctive decisions: the pursuit of comfort and a good life, or being witnesses for Jesus.

This Sunday, Pastor Keithen Schwahn continued our series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, by sharing a teaching on the story of Ananias and Sapphira from Acts 4:32--5:11 to illustrate how God is willing to dismantle anything in His Church that claims His name but misrepresents His character. The invitation to the Church today is to believe again that Jesus' vision for community--marked by worship, learning, love, generosity, and multiplication--is possible, and that confession and full surrender to the Holy Spirit will bring about this necessary revival.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon Tyson continued our series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with a powerful message from Acts 4:18–31 on how the Early Church responded to resistance with unified prayer. In this passage, we see Peter and John boldly proclaiming the name of Jesus in the face of commands, threats, and pressure to conform. Today, we are also called to respond to resistance by choosing faithfulness over fear, and pressing in with prayer instead of retreating.

This Sunday, Pastor Suzy Silk continued our sermon series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with a teaching on how Peter, empowered by the Holy Spirit, healed a lame man and faced the persecution from religious leaders by continuing to boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus as Lord. Like Peter and John, we are called us to prioritize being with Jesus, and from this place, boldly proclaim the Gospel wherever we go—not because of our qualifications, but because of God's power.

This week, Pastor Jon Tyson continued our sermon series through the book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with a teaching through Peter's bold sermon after Pentecost that launched the Early Church. Through this passage, Peter explains not only how belief in Jesus is possible, but what has been driving the Church forward for the past 2,000 years.

This week, Pastor Jon Tyson kicked off our new sermon series through the book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with a teaching on the Holy Spirit's ability to empower believers to be witnesses for Jesus to the ends of the earth. Before Jesus ascended into Heaven after His resurrection, He instructed the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came to them. Like the first disciples, we cannot be effective witnesses of Jesus on our own; we need the power of the Holy Spirit.

This Easter Sunday, Pastor Jon addressed our need to become "God conscious" and receive the hope and life found in Jesus' resurrection. John's gospel account includes Mary Magdalene's discovery of Jesus' empty tomb and resurrected body, and this story displays how a personal encounter with the living God sparked a movement of hope that is still going forth today. Pastor Jon encouraged those grieving the brokenness of the world and seeking hope to investigate the state of their hearts and consider pursuing a life that is "God-conscious."

This Sunday, Pastor Jon Tyson closed out our Missional Formation series with a call to follow Jesus' lead in making discipleship the heart of our mission. Throughout this series, we have established a radical minimum standard through what Church of the City believes are the nine core competencies of being disciples in the Kingdom of Heaven. While God has done remarkable things in this season, Pastor Jon led us back to the question that began this series: Is our plan for discipleship working?

This week, Pastor Jon continued our Missional Formation series with a teaching on vocational mission and workplace prayer, addressing the tensions many Christians face in bringing these areas together. Since God created humankind for the purpose of work, and we will spend at least one third of our lives at work, it's crucial that we examine how work fits into our discipleship. Pastor Jon exhorted us to imagine the history shaping impact of a community of people living on vocational mission by committing to lives of contending prayer and redemptive work, and invited us to be a part of it.