Citygate Church

About this series:

We take an in-depth look at Isaiah 61. We hope that this will be powerful series that looks at the prophecy in its immediate context, then sees it fulfilled in Jesus and finally moves to equipping us as we see Jesus’ mission being continued through His people - yet always being rooted in Him.

About this talk:

Scripture: Isaiah 61:4

These verses are a remarkable picture of hope to Israel who had for so long been oppressed, then exiled and now struggling to rebuild. However ruined and devastated things may appear to be, God can rebuild, restore & renew. That goes for churches, individuals and for communities impacted by God’s people as a result of Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension.

About this talk:

Scripture: Ezekiel and his vision of a valley of dry bones, Ezekiel 37v1-14Right now we’re in the middle of a third Lockdown. We’ll hopefully see things start to unlock as the vaccination programme takes effect, but right now we’re still a long way from normal. The pandemic has taken a huge toll on people spiritually and emotionally. We’ve been cut off from one another and from many of the things that sustain our faith. In time we’ll return to in person meetings again, but even as they restart it will be a while before we can ALL be together again; we’ll still be living with restrictions. So what encouragement would God bring us in this time of waiting? We hope this message will encourage people, lift hearts, and impart faith for the future.

About this series:

We take an in-depth look at Isaiah 61. We hope that this will be powerful series that looks at the prophecy in its immediate context, then sees it fulfilled in Jesus and finally moves to equipping us as we see Jesus’ mission being continued through His people - yet always being rooted in Him.

About this talk:

Scripture - Isaiah 61:3

God redefines us when he calls us to himself. He transforms our identity, granting dignity and worth on those who are God’s children. This favour from God will mean stability, permanence and fruitfulness for his people, in contrast to the “oak with fading leaves” of 1:29-31. What does it mean to be an “oak of righteousness”? As the poor rely solely on the Messiah for his blessing, they find themselves declared righteous by him. And by our lives we demonstrate his righteousness - his power to save and to enable a righteous life. This is all for the display of God’s splendour because it is all of his doing and should result in praise to him.

About this series:

We take an in-depth look at Isaiah 61. We hope that this will be powerful series that looks at the prophecy in its immediate context, then sees it fulfilled in Jesus and finally moves to equipping us as we see Jesus’ mission being continued through His people - yet always being rooted in Him.

About this talk:

Scripture - Isaiah 61:3

The transformation that the good news brings is expressed in three ‘insteads’: beauty, joy and praise instead of ashes, mourning and despair. The picture of the mourner, with ashes on the head, wrapped in sackcloth, with a spirit crushed by despair, is replaced by the picture of a party goer with a beautiful headdress, smelling of costly oil and wearing a garment of praise.’ We explore what this looks like in spiritual terms - and also in physical terms.

About this series:

We take an in-depth look at Isaiah 61. We hope that this will be powerful series that looks at the prophecy in its immediate context, then sees it fulfilled in Jesus and finally moves to equipping us as we see Jesus’ mission being continued through His people - yet always being rooted in Him.

About this talk:

Scripture - Isaiah 61:1-3

Jesus is able to deliver what he was sent to proclaim because he himself is the good news. Entering into all the blessings described in this passage is the result of receiving him. We look at:

- What is the good news?

- Who are the poor?

- How is Jesus good news to them and how does his church bring that news to them?

- How do we share and represent this remarkable good news, expressed in these verses by the eight things the anointed one is sent to do/proclaim?

About this series:

We take an in-depth look at Isaiah 61. We hope that this will be powerful series that looks at the prophecy in its immediate context, then sees it fulfilled in Jesus and finally moves to equipping us as we see Jesus’ mission being continued through His people - yet always being rooted in Him.

About this talk:

Isaiah 61 is and foremost about Jesus (Luke 4) and the liberation he brings, which is primarily spiritual and then also material, relational, physical, because He has made us as integrated beings and because the future in the new heaven on the new earth is spiritual, material, relational, physical. We look at the way Jesus was anointed, and how that idea connects to the rest of Isaiah and the Old Testament. Then we look at how this text applies to us. How do we, as His body, live full of the Spirit so we can fulfil His mission?

Our vision is to see lives transformed, every day, across the bay.

Russ kicks off the year with thoughts about the challenging and changing times we find ourselves in as a result of COVID 19, and how the church is the hope to restore all that is broken through the Good News of Jesus.

We will be looking back in 2020 as we were called to be a blessing and also looking forward to 2021 as we take another step forward in making disciples that make disciples. We'll be sharing our theme for the year - Restoring the Broken- and Russ uses the ancient art of Kintsugi to illustrate that through our weakness God uses us to help restore others. Our new Community Hub will help us to work this out amongst our local community this year.

What a year 2020 has been! A year of real highs and lows, but despite all the change and confusion around the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen God’s faithfulness throughout.

Our leadership team spend some time looking back on 2020, and discuss what God might want to say to our church. What if he wrote us a letter? What encouragement He might give, and what guidance He might want to give us as we head into 2021...

About this series:

We've spent so much time at home this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic! Home has been a safe haven, refuge and stability but perhaps also a restrictor, a frustration, even a prison! This Christmas we'll be looking at what the Bible says about our final home.

The message of Christmas is the gospel - the good news about what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. One of the places where the extraordinary implications of the gospel are spelled out is in Romans 8, so we're also taking a look there to see how, in the gospel, God is for us, with us and in us.

About this talk:

Scripture: Romans 8:14-17

The goal of salvation is not only forgiveness; it’s adoption, whereby God accepts us as his children and puts his own life in us. It's the Spirit who leads us, confirms our adoption and is the guarantee of our inheritance - pointing to the new heaven and earth, our ultimate home.

About this series:

We've spent so much time at home this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic! Home has been a safe haven, refuge and stability but perhaps also a restrictor, a frustration, even a prison! This Christmas we'll be looking at what the Bible says about our final home.

The message of Christmas is the gospel - the good news about what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. One of the places where the extraordinary implications of the gospel are spelled out is in Romans 8, so we're also taking a look there to see how, in the gospel, God is for us, with us and in us.

About this talk:

We will be exploring what we think of as 'home', particularly in this covid year!

We’ll be looking at our first home and how our sin banished us from the Garden of Eden, and exploring what longing for home entails - love that lasts and a life that counts - and how we attempt to create this with our 'Grand Designs'.

The Christmas story is about one who left his heavenly home to come and dwell with us. Jesus was a homeless wanderer, himself exiled and banished to a cross so we could be brought home to the Father. He went there to prepare a place for us, our final destination and 'home at last' forever in heaven.

“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” - John 14:2,3