We are launching the series entitled 40 Days that will explore six post resurrection encounters people had with Jesus...it's gonna be good! Tonight will be Mary Magdalene. I was telling a visitor recently part of our church personality is having a teaching pulpit and teaching that brings a fresh look at passages that maybe you have read many times before...the Holy Spirit always has something new for us...Scripture is most certainly ancient but is never old! If you are in a season of change, wrestling with grief as you face the passing of one season heading into something new, like being an empty nester...then Mary Magdalene's story has something to say to you! We are also going to talk tonight about the legacy you want to leave...how will you be remembered...Magdalene isn't her last name! They didn't use sir names in their culture. What will be your "Magdalene?”

I love that Jesus’ last statement was not, “It is finished.” Seems like it should have been doesn’t it? That would have been the most theatrical approach, the most dramatic. But Jesus wasn’t writing a script for our entertainment. He was still teaching us, even at the end…or should we say, the in between? Tonight we are going to talk about a word that is used to translate part of Jesus’ final statement as read in the King James Bible. That word is: commend. We don’t really use this word in modern English language, forms of it yes, but not really this word in particular. We have been using the King James version throughout this series for several reasons, but tonight, it is a reminder that choosing the correct translation helps us find the best meaning. And the KJV gets this one, in my opinion, better than the rest. This message is about “culminating moments” and understanding “commend” points us in the right direction. I trust this last installment in this series will be just as impactful for you as the others have been…as we discover what it means to be “in between” and how to navigate those moments in life that represent life altering change.

In the Church we sure do love conversations about the end times. Well in Matthew 25 Jesus gives us his longest teaching about the end times, and within it he tells a parable to the 12 disciples about ten virgins, oil, and their lamps. If you grew up in the Church you’re likely familiar with oil speaking to the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But what do these lamps represent in the lives of these virgins awaiting the bridegroom? And what can it teach us about the importance of the internal life we have with God in the Spirit? Tonight Pastor Matt Hoole from Mechanicsville Christian Church helps us break down all of the above!

Jesus promises us in the Gospels that we will face troubles and uphill battles. That sounds pretty discouraging, and even unappealing. But let me put this idea to rest for you: whether or believe in Jesus or not, there will be uphill battles. But when we face these battles, if we are devoted to Jesus, we will be equipped to handle them. And one passage of scripture that does just that are the Songs of Ascent in Psalms. These are uphill songs for uphill battles, and tonight we dig into what they teach us to apply to our faith walk as we endure our own ascents.

It is finished. Even if we haven’t said those words exactly the same, we have surely felt the sentiment. Walking across a stage at graduation. Taking on a sizable home renovation project. Passing your driving test. Retirement. Changing that first dirty diaper…lol! I wonder if those at the cross when Jesus died heard Him say “It is finished” understood what He actually felt. I think they must have thought it was a sad and desperate expression of resignation. That He had failed. That after three years of miracles, three years of proving that He was truly the long awaited Messiah…here He was dying at the hands of unscrupulous people. He tried His best, but own, it’s finished. No! Certainly not! Well, yes, that is how I think they heard it but that is not what Jesus was saying! In this message we will talk about why I am convinced what Jesus was actually communicating a sentiment more along the lines of, “I did it!” He wasn’t giving up…He was getting ready for His next grand, miraculous, glorious act…conquering death! Thanks for listening!

If we were to point to a Simon from the Gospels we would no doubt immediately go to Simon Peter, the premier disciple. But in the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection there’s a second Simon that makes an appearance. Each of Matthew, Mark and Luke give us exactly one verse about this man who is compelled to help Jesus carry his cross on the way to crucifixion. We get very few details, but each writer points to the fact he was from Cyrene. He was a foreigner. And in a lot of ways this Good Cyrenian becomes Jesus’ Good Samaritan – an active bystander crossing cultural lines to help while others passed or stood by passively. And ultimately, in carrying the cross of Christ, Simon of Cyrene teaches us not just about being an active bystander (something necessary to loving our neighbor), but just what it looks like to pick up our cross and follow Christ.

King David isn’t a stranger to many of us, nor is the fact that he wrote a lot of songs that make up the book of Psalms. But the context of those Psalms and the circumstances David was in when he wrote them often does. Tonight Pastor Rob Shepherd of Next Level Church takes us through Psalm 34 with a depth and wisdom that will help it come alive for you and unlock what it truly means to “taste and see” that the Lord is good in every season.

This Father's Day weekend we receive wisdom in the form a conversation between some of the men of City Life. Often we - especially as men in our culture - try to achieve greatness by doing great exploits. But the pursuit of greatness has to start on a more personal level. Our first responsibility is to character, integrity, and being great. And you'll never have the character you need without brotherhood. So what does that look like practically, and how can we walk in greatness together?

When was the last time you were really thirsty, desperately thirsty, couldn’t drink enough Gatorade in the moment to stop being thirsty?  Here is Jesus on the cross…six hours…His time on this earth as both fully man and fully God is almost coming to an end and he cries out, “I thirst!”  Was He physically thirsty?  I think it’s safe to say yes.  Was He talking about a thirst that was deeper than His physical body?  I think it’s safe to say yes to that question as well.  In this sermon we talk about three “thirsts” that God experiences that we can satisfy by:  putting God first, letting God choose, and holding God close.  It’s quite remarkable to think that as perfect as God surely is and as imperfect as we certainly are, we can create a feeling of enjoyment, satisfaction in the heart of God!  Two books in the Bible that have remarkable, inspiring descriptions of the vastness and magnitude of God’s greatness are Job and Isaiah, we read some excerpts in this sermon.  And yet, even though God is incomprehensibly beyond us in every way...He invites us to fill His cup.  I know too that as I have lived a life filling His cup, I am left less “thirsty" in this life.  Will you fill His cup…He thirsts for you!

In church you might hear people talk about their “personal prayer life” – a churchy way of talking about their personal practice of prayer. But what about your personal worship life? Do you have a personal practice of worship, or do you find your worship relegated to a couple hours on the weekend? After all, we don’t have a worship band sitting around the house to call us into worship Monday through Friday. But what if worship is much, much bigger than that? This weekend for our 5th Saturday conversation Pastor Fred sits down with City Life’s own worship director, Madeline Harris, and Freedom Life’s worship pastor Brian Greene. They dive deep into all of the above and more!