C.S. Lewis said, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” And Arthur Ashe said, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” I love both of those! Here on the 16th birthday of City Life Church I am going to share a dream that has been building in my heart for the 757, and I am asking you to pick up this dream with me. Dreams are powerful. They unite us. They inspire us. They give us purpose and passion in life. And I can’t think of a better dream to stir in us than one that is centered on Jesus! Statistics show that each of us have within our reach abut 10 people who are far from God. That’s not including strangers and divine appointments that can happen too. Those 10 people are in your neighborhood, your workplace, your family…people you know. What would happen if every day we started asking this one simple question, “Was Jesus easier to find in my city today because of me?” How does that relate to my dream? Well, you’ll just have to listen and find out! Happy birthday City Life…and thank you building with us from the beginning…now let’s dream a new dream as build together for Jesus in our future!

Depending on the Bible translation you are reading, certain verses might be rendered “gospel” and other translations render it “good news.” The Greek word that gives us the English word “gospel” is “euaggelion” pronounced (yoo-ang-ghel-ee-on). This is compound word in the that “eu” translates “good” and “aggelion” translates “announcement.” But what is this good news and why is this supposed announcement good? Well that’s what we are unpacking together in this sermon! I’m going to share with you four reasons why I believe The Gospel is good news. And I’m going show you that by understanding why this news is good, the meaning of The Gospel is revealed. And if you have never even heard of The Gospel or something in this message speaks to you in a personal way…let us know! We’d love to talk with you further! Reach us at [email protected] and my promise is that you will be family from the first hello!

When the Apostle Paul was making his final missions journey to Rome, Acts 27 tells us that his friends in Sidon (modern day Lebanon) came to greet him and to provide for his needs. Paul at this point in the story was under arrest and in the custody of a soldier. But in finding favor with this soldier, he allowed Paul the liberty to meet with his friends at the Port of Sidon. There are times in our lives when God brings needs ashore for us to meet, when He presents us with an opportunity to provide for others. Are you familiar with the story of the rich young ruler who was challenged by Jesus to sell all his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor? I describe this account as being an exceptional moment, meaning every person who follows Jesus isn’t going to be commanded by our Savior in a similar way. The story of the people of Sidon however are what I call the normative experience. EVERY devoted follower of Jesus must be willing to have a little less so someone else can have just enough. Acts 27:3 beings with this phrase, “The next day we docked at Sidon…” Every day for the rest of lives is a “next day.” As Christians we are called by God to “next day” lives! Only some will be compelled by Jesus to sell everything. But all of us are compelled by Jesus to have a little less so someone else can have just enough…Next Day Living! In this two part series, I’ll be talking about some Next Day needs that have come ashore for us here at City Life. I trust you will join my at the port of opportunity just like those faithful friends in Sidon!

When the Apostle Paul was making his final missions journey to Rome, Acts 27 tells us that his friends in Sidon (modern day Lebanon) came to greet him and to provide for his needs. Paul at this point in the story was under arrest and in the custody of a soldier. But in finding favor with this soldier, he allowed Paul the liberty to meet with his friends at the Port of Sidon. There are times in our lives when God brings needs ashore for us to meet, when He presents us with an opportunity to provide for others. Are you familiar with the story of the rich young ruler who was challenged by Jesus to sell all his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor? I describe this account as being an exceptional moment, meaning every person who follows Jesus isn’t going to be commanded by our Savior in a similar way. The story of the people of Sidon however are what I call the normative experience. EVERY devoted follower of Jesus must be willing to have a little less so someone else can have just enough. Acts 27:3 beings with this phrase, “The next day we docked at Sidon…” Every day for the rest of lives is a “next day.” As Christians we are called by God to “next day” lives! Only some will be compelled by Jesus to sell everything. But all of us are compelled by Jesus to have a little less so someone else can have just enough…Next Day Living! In this two part series, I’ll be talking about some Next Day needs that have come ashore for us here at City Life. I trust you will join my at the port of opportunity just like those faithful friends in Sidon!

Our Christmas Eve service was a joint service with Catalyst Church, a partner church here at the property on 311 Selden Road, and we received our Christmas sermon from their pastor, Jeff Mingee!

Orthopraxy. No I didn’t just misspell orthodoxy. The root word for both is “ortho” which means upright or straight. Orthodoxy means upright beliefs or beliefs that are accepted as being right by a religious group. Orthopraxy is an equally significant word because it expresses the importance of our life practices, our behaviors, and our values being upright and therefore compatible with our beliefs. This series is asking all of us this direct question: If we believe in the incarnation of Jesus, if that is our belief…is incarnational living our practice? The incarnation of Jesus, Immanuel, is more than God’s plan for our salvation…this is God’s example for us. He expects us to be tangibly present with one another! For some of you…I’m not questioning whether or not you believe in Jesus…but I am questioning whether or not you have stopped living like Him…has Covid secularized your Christianity? If Jesus fit into humanity…you and I can certainly try to fit into the lifestyle He wants us to have…a lifestyle defined by incarnational living, being tangibly present for one another in the family of God. This series explores how…

There’s a lot of talk of joy around Christmas. Joyful all ye nations rise. Echoes of joyous strains. Joy to the world and alike. But the songs probably wouldn’t be as stirring if they sang of incomplete joy or a glass of joy that’s only half full. When Mary visits Elizabeth in Luke 1 we see resounding joy in each character. The Messiah was coming; Immanuel, God with us. But there was also a power present in their coming together. Tonight we look at this passage as well as 2 John 1:12 to look at John’s recipe to experience “complete joy” this Christmas season.

Orthopraxy.  No I didn’t just misspell orthodoxy.  The root word for both is “ortho” which means upright or straight.  Orthodoxy means upright beliefs or beliefs that are accepted as being right by a religious group.  Orthopraxy is an equally significant word because it expresses the importance of our life practices, our behaviors, and our values being upright and therefore compatible with our beliefs.  This series is asking all of us this direct question:  If we believe in the incarnation of Jesus, if that is our belief…is incarnational living our practice?  The incarnation of Jesus, Immanuel, is more than God’s plan for our salvation…this is God’s example for us.  He expects us to be tangibly present with one another!  For some of you…I’m not questioning whether or not you believe in Jesus…but I am questioning whether or not you have stopped living like Him…has Covid secularized your Christianity?  If Jesus fit into humanity…you and I can certainly try to fit into the lifestyle He wants us to have…a lifestyle defined by incarnational living, being tangibly present for one another in the family of God.  This series explores how.

Does God ever tell us not to pray? I know my reflexive response to that question is both quick and carries with it a sense of complete certainly…No! If you sided with me in your response, you too would be wrong. In this message I will share with you 3 scenarios when Scripture clearly says that one should not pray, some of these verses go as far to say that God refuses to even hear such prayers! But what I have found in over 20 years of pastoral ministry, the list that people carry in their thoughts as to why people shouldn’t pray is much longer than what Scripture actually teaches. So before I get to the 3 scenarios where God tells us not to pray, I want to explore 4 myths that have deceived people into not praying when they should. I think it is fair to say that any honest and reasonable reading of Scripture brings us all to the conclusion that we should be a people of prayer. The intent of this message is certainly not to make you pray less. The purpose of this message is to help you understand some of the frustrations you might be feeling in your prayer life. If you have felt as though God isn’t listening or your prayers a falling flat…this message might help you understand why.

(Did you just say Uma Thurman? No. Are you saying the movie series Kill Bill has some hidden theological meaning regarding prayer? No. Then what did you say? I said, “Urim and Thummim!” Oh…what’s that? Exactly!) I think what we just read is likely to be the post service conversation I have someone in just a few minutes. Urim and Thummim are two of the most mysterious mentions in all of Scripture. And I am convinced that God puts mystery (like the Urim and Thummim) in Scripture to spark curiosity. In this message we will talk about what I believe we are supposed to understand these words to actually mean and how they prophetically instruct us in prayer today. You don’t need gems to discern God’s will like the Israelites did in the Old Testament. We have a great High Priest…we have His sacrifice…we have the mind of Christ…so let’s learn about how these great promises are connected to the Urim and Thummim and why we should still carry the hope and expectation of being enlightened by the perfect will of God for our lives!