Citizens Weekly

From the series “The Way of Jesus”. We live in the chaos of an over-busy, hurried, digitally distracted, and noisy world. The practices of silence and solitude enable us to thrive in spite of chaos through intentional time in the quiet, alone with ourselves and God.

From the series, “The Way of Jesus”. Spiritual practices are important and good.  They are tools that can grow us, change us, and deepen intimacy with our Father.  However, unless our foundational beliefs are solid, spiritual practices can only take us so far. Consider your foundation by examining two potential obstacles to real transformation:  not thinking rightly about God and not thinking rightly about self.

From the series, “The Way of Jesus”. Real transformation means we have to abandon the false rabbis of tradition, legalism, movement, and self. When we leave those empty trappings behind, escape the cycle of shame that leads to slavery and death and, as we do, draw nearer and nearer to our true rabbi, Jesus.

From the series, “The Way of Jesus”. How do we live like Jesus in the moment-to-moment events of our lives? Beyond our assumptions, biases, and the white noise of cultural Christianity that’s slowly lulling us to sleep. How do we bring His Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven - not in a claim or a slogan, but in actuality?

From the series, “The Way of Jesus”. To become like Jesus, our lives must be increasingly saturated by the presence and power of Jesus. As disciples of Jesus, we are learning to have the mindset and attitude of Jesus, thinking about ourselves the way Jesus thought about himself. Is this kind of change even possible, and if it is, how do we become like Jesus? 

From the series, “The Way of Jesus”. Jesus invites us to follow him into a way that can seem burdensome, if not impossible - a life of enemy-love, irrational grace and justice, and divine power. But He never intended for us to rely on our own will and determination to live this way; He knew we would have to first embrace and practice a life constantly awake to and shaped by His presence.

From the series, “The Way of Jesus”. What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? To be an apprentice, a student, and a learner of Jesus? A disciple of Jesus builds their life on these three goals: be with Jesus, be like Jesus, and live as Jesus lived.

From the series, "Acts". How does the church engage in this cultural moment? Through the activity of the early church in Acts 4:1-24, we see that fire makes an impression, the presence of the Holy Spirit makes ordinary things extraordinary, and influence is always better than power.

From the series, "Acts".Why doesn’t God always heal people? Why are some healed and others live in agony? Why as a culture do we think that our own analysis is infallible and God’s word is fallible? And what are we called to do as disciples of Jesus in relation to all of this and the immense physical and spiritual need in our world today?

The Spiritual Disciplines -- those things to which the early church in Acts devoted themselves -- mark our active turning away from the forces that deplete us and towards an already present God who crowns us with steadfast love.