City Awakening Church: Recent Episodes
City Awakening Church
City Awakening is a place for both skeptics and believers to seek truth and find joy in community. Our mission is to reach people with the gospel, and then send them out to reach our city and the world with the gospel. The three primary components of our community consist of: Gospel saturated worship, community, and multiplication.
Samson had incredible strength to tear apart a lion, yet couldn't tame his own desires. How often do we find ourselves in similar situations—strong in some areas but weak in others?
Sin damaged Samson's life, but it couldn't destroy God's grace and power to restore him. Even after his greatest failures, God used him mightily. The same is true for us today. In this message, Pastor Louis reminds us no matter how damaged our lives may seem, God's grace is greater than our failures. His resurrecting power offers new beginnings.
How often do we chase after broken saviors—relationships, success, wealth—only to find they can't fill the joy void in our hearts? The story of Samson reminds us that even when the Israelites stopped pursuing God, He never stopped pursuing them. When we look at Judges 13, we see God's relentless love for people who had stopped seeking Him.
In Judges 10, the Israelites fell into this pattern—worshiping false gods until trouble came, then crying out to the Lord as a last resort. God's response? 'Go and cry out to the gods you've chosen.' (Judges 10:14)
The truth resonates through the ages: God wants to be the Lord of our lives, not the last resort in our lives.
We're all chasing treasures in this life. The real question isn't whether we're pursuing treasures—it's WHAT treasures we're pursuing. Are they temporary earthly possessions or eternal heavenly investments? The heart motivates our generosity, our hands put it into action, but our heads must make the decision: Will we serve God or money? Will we invest in growing His eternal kingdom or our temporary one?
When we choose to treasure Jesus above all else, generosity flows naturally!
Generosity starts with the heart, not the wallet. It's fueled by grace, not guilt.
When we receive the indescribable gift of Jesus, our hearts naturally respond with generosity. Our generosity isn't measured by percentages or amounts, but by the cheerfulness with which we give. In this message we learn that we can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving.
When we seek our own glory, we invite disaster.
The story of Gideon in Judges 8-9 serves as a powerful reminder of what happens when we forget who truly deserves the throne in our lives. Gideon began his journey in humility, allowing God to reduce his army to just 300 men. Yet after victory, his actions revealed a heart seeking personal glory rather than God's.
Our words may profess faith, but our actions reveal who truly sits on the throne of our hearts.
The world celebrates self-sufficiency and strength, but God often works through our weaknesses.
Just as Gideon defeated an army of 135,000 with only 300 men, trumpets, and torches, God delights in using the unexpected to accomplish His purposes. In this message we learned that God often strips away our self-reliance so we can experience His divine power. Where in our lives might we need to let go of our own "armies" and trust in God's power alone?
"The God who is with you is greater than the battles in front of you." - Judges 6:16
Like Gideon, many of us find ourselves threshing wheat in winepresses—hiding from our battles rather than facing them with faith. But God's promise remains unchanged: "I will be with you."
What battles are we facing today that seem too overwhelming? Remember that God doesn't promise we'll never face difficulties; He promises to be with us through them.
When we rely on God's presence for strength rather than focusing on our limitations, transformation begins. From scared Gideon to valiant warrior—that's the power of believing God is truly with us.
In Judges 4-5, we meet Deborah, Barak, and Jael - three individuals who didn't wish for different circumstances but faithfully served God in their current roles. The result? God worked through their faithfulness to bring victory and 40 years of peace to Israel.
Pastor Louis encouraged us to commit to faithfulness in the places God has planted us, not because our roles define us, but because we serve a faithful God who redeemed us through Christ.
From the pages of Judges comes a timeless truth: The saviors we seek are merely shadows of the real Savior we need.
Like Israel in Judges 3, we cycle through sin, struggle, and searching for salvation in all the wrong places. Money provides temporary security. Relationships offer fleeting comfort. Fame leaves us still insecure. But these broken saviors—these shadows—point us to our need for something greater, someone greater. Pastor Louis reminds us in this message that unlike the Judges who eventually died, Jesus conquered death itself, offering not just temporary relief, but eternal peace with God.
God wants us to be both fruitful AND faithful, but He'll sometimes pause the fruit to grow our faith. The Israelites in the book of Judges wanted fruitfulness without faithfulness. However, God remains faithful, even when we're unfaithful. This powerful truth shared by Pastor Louis reminds us that God's faithfulness doesn't depend on our performance.
JAMES 3 teaches that the truly wise person controls their tongue and sows peace, not discord. This sobering reminder from Pastor Robbie's sermon challenges us to consider: Are we bringing Kingdom wisdom to our online interactions?
The Tower of Babel reminds us that our advanced technology—whether ancient bricks or modern AI—can become our downfall when we use it to replace God rather than glorify Him. Pastor Louis uses this text in Genesis to teach us that technology can be helpful or harmful, depending on the hearts that use it.
King David who wrote Psalm 19 is sharing some wisdom specifically about two primary ways God speaks to us; it’s through creation and scripture. As we study this psalm, we’ll learn that creation, scripture, and scientific discoveries, are all declaring we have a glorious creator. Pastor Louis reminds us through this message that truth is never in conflict with itself. The same God who inspired Scripture designed the universe with its scientific principles. When we embrace both faith AND facts, we discover a richer understanding of our world and its Creator.
In Romans ch. 2 Paul teaches that both skeptics and believers, are guilty of breaking God’s moral laws. Paul says God’s moral laws are written in our hearts, before they’re written by us. Our moral conscience, comes from God. Pastor Louis leads us through 3 questions to consider as we study this topic:
1st Are there some situations where moral laws aren’t universal?
2nd How do we handle situations where there’s a moral dilemma?
3rd Is believing that morality is a personal decision good for society?
Our culture is filled with books, people, podcasts, and products all promising to give us our best life now. But in Psalm 37 David teaches us our best life isn’t now, it’s later. Our life can certainly be better now, if we start delighting more in the Lord than the world. But he also teaches us that our best life is coming later, when we finally get to enjoy eternity with our delightful Creator. We hope you enjoy this encouraging message from Pastor Louis!
In this Psalm David points out four ways that God meets our needs:
1. Protection.
2. Provision.
3. Satisfaction.
4. Light.
Pastor Zack uses this text to remind us that no matter what kind of enemy you are facing today or no matter how far from God you think you are, it’s never too much and it’s never too far. God is boundless and undeterred. He sees you, he knows you, and he loves you!
We all have things we want to be delivered from, and sometimes our deliverance from those things feels delayed. In this message from Psalm 35, Pastor Louis reminds us to keep fighting our battles by doing more kneeling in prayer while remembering the resurrection of Jesus guarantees that your eternal deliverance is coming.
In this message Pastor Alex gives us 4 ways to insure that we get the most out of a relationship and experience with God.
- Practice true humility by boasting in the Lord.
- Call out to God with your needs and recognize his hand in providing for them.
- Don’t sample the Goodness of God, fully savor it.
- Recognize that for all people, God is either a Gracious Savior or a Punishing Judge.
One of the reasons we often lose our joy, is because we often put our joy in unstable things. Your joy is only as stable as the things you’re putting your joy in. Today’s Psalm will teach us to put our joy in the only thing that’s always stable, which is God. In this message Pastor Louis points us to Jesus as the only one who lived, died, and rose again proving his joy is the only joy that’s eternal and stable. When you put your joy in him, your joy will be restored by him.
In this message from guest speaker Chris Gaynor, we explore 3 key takeaways from this Psalm.
1. Confess and Repent Quickly
2. Listen to the Voice of God
3. Worship God
In Psalm 31 we learn David’s afflictions were able to shake him, but they weren’t able to break him. It’s because he anchored his life to God. The reality is afflictions will eventually come, and you need something to anchor your life to when they do come. Pastor Louis reminds us that the only firm foundation you can anchor your life to that isn’t shakable and breakable is God.
Zack Casey
In this message Pastor Zack points us to the blueprint David gives us for worship that we can follow for our own lives. We have to decide who we are going to worship and make a commitment to be all in, whether we’re on the mountaintop or down in the valley.
David reminds us of the importance of turning our eyes from the
challenges and difficulties of life and focusing on the greatness and awesomeness of God. In this message, our Elder Emmanuel Bellon reminds us that God is not in trouble; he’s not trying to figure out what to do; he’s not scared of the issues of life like you and me; he’s not confused; he’s not aloof, but he’s alive and actively involved in his creation. He never changes; he’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. Our God is an awesome God. Whatever your situation, whether you are a believer or skeptic, he wants to know and experience the awesomeness of God in your life.
We all sometimes face situations that are beyond our control. Pastor Louis uses Psalm 28 to teach us that we have a God who hears our prayers, and that we’re never hopeless with God. If you’re a skeptic, then you’ll sometimes feel both helpless and hopeless, because you don’t have anywhere else to turn when all your other hopes fail. If you’re a believer, then you’ll sometimes feel helpless like the skeptic, but you can still be hopeful because you always have hope with God. The only way for any of us to have infinite hope, is to trust in the infinite God who’s infinitely greater than our problems.
The final message of Ecclesiastes is not that nothing matters… no, it is that everything matters! Everything is enhanced through our lives lived in light of God’s intention for us. Are you searching for truth? Pastor Robbie encouraged us to find truth in God’s word and then respond in obedience. Not so you will be accepted but because you are accepted.
In this message Pastor Louis asks the question, are you wasting your life pursuing things with a brief shelf life more than God? Throughout Ecclesiastes Solomon admits he ran after all kinds of things in life. He admits he used his wealth to pursue whatever pleasures he wanted, but none of it ever satisfied him. Solomon reminds us to remember our Creator and don’t waste our lives.
Most of us aren’t enjoying the moments and blessings of life, because we’re too busy rushing through life. Solomon teaches us that life is short, and you can’t control tomorrow. Pastor Louis reminds us enjoy the moments and blessings you have today. More importantly, trust God’s sovereign hands with every moment you face in life, so you can enjoy an abundantly joyful life.
Many people, both Christians and skeptics alike, look at the world and find themselves asking “Why is there so much evil and unfairness?” In this message from Pastor Alex, we explore what scholars call the problem of evil. We wonder how a good God can let all of this injustice happen and apparently go unpunished. The Bible is full of people wrestling with this desire and confusion including Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3. The solution to the world’s injustice isn’t found in people or politics, but only through God.
Life is full of seasons, and every one of us is in a season. Solomon’s reminding us that God can bring good and beauty out of every season in its time, and nothing proves this more than the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Enjoy this message from Pastor Louis!
The resurrection of Jesus is that one claim, that one thing, that can change everything. We hope you enjoy this Easter message given by Pastor Louis.
Everybody’s trying to achieve something, and we can each have different reasons for trying to achieve those things. Pastor Louis encourages us to ask ourselves the following questions; what are you trying to achieve in life, and can those achievements provide the satisfaction you’re seeking?
Many of us are searching for pleasure in a person, profession, profits, and possessions, but we keep coming up short. We have a deep search for pleasure, a deep search for happiness, but it’s a search that never ends. But what if the reason nothing sever satisfies us, is because we’re searching in all the wrong places? Pastor Louis reminds us through this message that our eternal search for pleasure isn’t meant to be a curse, it’s meant to be a compass pointing us to something greater.
Pastor Louis begins our new series in Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes begins with asking, “What’s the point of it all?" All of life is vanity, if there is no eternity. If this life is all there is, then it means even our best moments in life are nothing more than a vapor or mist that’ll eventually vanish in the wind. Jesus doesn’t want that for your life or my life, and he brought us here today to point us away from that vain life. He brought us here so we’d turn to him for The Good Life,and find hope in him for the even greater eternal resurrected life that’s coming.
The Spirit of God is a river that flows from within the heart of every believer and has the power to produce life wherever it goes. The question is, will it flow through you? We can be a conduit of living water wherever we go. We can be a source of life to our city if we allow the Spirit to work in and through us. We hope you enjoy this message from Pastor Zack!
As we follow God we are called to Display it to those around us and trust God with the results. Begin now to evaluate how every part of your life should reflect God’s goodness and glory from the most public and grand gestures to the menial tasks that only God sees. Do all for the glory of God. Pastor Alex shares this message in our 3D Living series.
Pastor Louis continues this message by reminding us that we're never too sinful, broken, messed up, or so far gone that the Lord can’t save us, transform us, and still use us for greater eternal purposes. Just like Isaiah had his life transformed by the grace of God, you can have your life transformed by the grace of God. But it all starts and continues with the grace of Jesus.
Isaiah discovered the Lord in such an incredible way, that it transformed his identity and purpose in life. Pastor Louis shares in this message that Jesus wants us to live 3D Lives where we discover, deepen, and display his love in ways that leads others to discover, deepen, and display. But it all starts with discovering the Lord like Isaiah did.
The secret to being content and joyful in every situation, is found in realizing Jesus is enough in every situation. Be satisfied, content, and joyful with what you have, knowing Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. The same Jesus who supplied all your needs for eternal salvation when he died on the cross for your sins, is the same Jesus who will supply all your needs for your daily situations. If he cared enough to supply for all your eternal needs, then he’ll care enough to supply for all your daily needs. We hope this message from Pastor Louis encourages you.
Jesus is enough in every situation. He can be our stability, when we’re facing instability. We face situations every day that cause us to lose joy, but the joy we’re losing is a situational joy not the stable joy we have in Jesus. Pastor Louis encourages us to remember to use our stabilizers to pray, think correctly, and rely on Jesus.
Joy is found in a relationship with a very real and present Savior who loves you and wants to be your friend. In this message by Pastor Zack we will explore five lessons from Paul’s life that we can apply to our own to help us have joy when the goal of knowing Christ seems overwhelming.
What are you trying to pursue and achieve in life, that you think will bring you deeper joy in life? Pastor Louis uses today’s text in Philippians about knowing and pursuing Jesus as a far more stable joy, than anything else we’re building our lives on. Paul says if you want to get into heaven and build your life on something that’s stable, then you need to know Christ and build your life on Christ. You need to make it your greatest goal to know Jesus deeper than you currently know him. The deeper you know Christ, the deeper your joy will be in life.
In this message from our Elder Emmanuel we look at an authentic version of Christianity here in Philippians in two men who have been radically transformed by God’s saving grace in Christ.
Being a humble servant isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less, and thinking of humbly serving others more like Jesus. Paul says you have to look not at your own interests, but at the interests of others. You have to look at someone other than yourself, and there’s no better person to look at than Jesus. Pastor Louis reminds us that Jesus is the greatest example of the humble servant way of life, and if we follow his way it’ll always help bring much joy into our relationships.
In this message, Pastor Louis explores the question, What in your life are you living and dying for? Jesus is our eternal God who came to die for our sins on the cross, and he rose again on the 3rd day to prove he’s eternal and so is the joy he offers us. We’ll always have access to joy in daily life, when we put our faith in him and live for him above anything else in life. Paul says to live is Christ, and to die is gain, and that view of life allowed him to face any situation in life.
Everybody wants to find joy in life, but the problem is we’re often trying to find it in the wrong places. Our greatest hindrance to finding joy isn’t our circumstances, it’s that we’re trying to find joy in all the wrong places. There’s nothing this world can offer us that can replace the greater eternal joy Christ offers us. We hope you enjoy this message from Pastor Louis!
Pastor Louis shares that both skeptics and believers need hope at some point in life, and the good news is the Christmas message is all about hope!
God is lavish, pragmatic, and sufficient. He is the greatest giver, who gave the greatest gift, to meet our greatest need. He knew exactly what we needed and gave Himself to meet that need. Jesus' sacrifice wasn't just practical - it was perfect and powerful. We hope this message from Pastor Zack encourages you!
In this message, Pastor Louis shares that when we focus on giving ourselves glory, it’ll rob our hearts of peace in so many different ways. The more you walk with Jesus and trust in him, the more you’ll enjoy a transformed, peaceful, good news life. Don't settle for lesser glories that can’t change your heart, bring peace, or truly satisfy, when you have the opportunity to walk with the greater glorious savior who can.
Both skeptics and believers were created to love, but sometimes we love the wrong things. God grieves the sinful corruption and destruction that our misplaced love, our self-centered love causes in our lives, marriages, families, and relationships. In this message, Pastor Louis points us to the good news that we can go to the Savior to receive his forgiveness, guidance, and love. Our human narrative doesn’t end with the flood of God’s grief and wrath over our sins, instead it continues with the Christmas narrative and the flood of God’s love being fully displayed through the incarnate birth and crucifixion of Jesus.
Generosity can be displayed through your time, talent, and treasures, but you’re going to fail at that. Both skeptics and believers are going to fail at being generous, fail at loving God and our neighbors to the degree God requires. Pastor Louis reminds us that the more we see Jesus as the generous savior who saw us and was willing to stop to save us, the more generous we will be.
The book of Revelation ends with Jesus giving the world an invitation to enjoy eternal restoration. Pastor Louis repeatedly taught through series that we can find hope and peace in Jesus, as we’re living in a world of chaos. It’s repeatedly taught us that no matter what happens in our lives and world, Jesus is still in control. It’s repeatedly taught us that sin, sickness, suffering, sadness, death, and evil won’t last forever, because there’s a greater paradise that’s coming for those who love Jesus.
Revelation 21:9-22:5
Louis Tamburro
Heaven is a place full of joyful perfection, beyond our greatest imagination, and the good news is anyone can enjoy this heaven through faith in Jesus. In John 3:16 Jesus says whoever believes in him, will not perish but shall have eternal life. If you put your faith in Jesus, if you believe he died for your sins on the cross, then you’ll get to enjoy the beautiful pearl that comes from the wounds of Christ on the cross.
Revelation 21: 1-8
Louis Tamburro
We need to remember this world isn’t our heaven, it’s a lesser view of heaven that’s been distorted by sin and death. We aren’t seeing the world as our Creator originally intended us to see it, instead we’re seeing a distorted view of the world that’s full of sin and death, tears and pain. But Jesus came to bring clarity back into our lives again. He came to give us the assurance of eternal salvation and restoration through his death and resurrection.
Revelation 20:11-15
Zack Casey
You can either plead guilty now or be found guilty later when you stand before the throne of God. The day will come when you stand in the courtroom before the great white throne of God, and then it will be too late to change your destiny. But today, you can still choose to put your faith in Jesus and accept the gift of his salvation.
Revelation 20: 1-10
Louis Tamburro
Sometimes it feels like darkness is winning in our lives, and we can easily get discouraged when that happens. This text can help shine some light into that darkness, because it teaches that Jesus is coming back to end all the darkness in our lives. The darkness we experience in our lives and world is real, the battles we fight in our lives and world are real, but Revelation 20 assures us that darkness won’t last forever for those who put their faith in Christ. So when life gets tough and you’re getting discouraged because it feels like darkness is winning, cling to Christ and remember better days are coming.
Revelation 19:1-21
Robbie Alderman
God will defeat his enemies in an instant when he returns and we will worship him forever.
Revelation 18:1-24
Louis Tamburro
Revelation 18 is about seeking fading treasures in a fading kingdom. It’s about how we can either seek fading treasures in a fading kingdom, or seek eternal treasures in a forever kingdom. This text confronts us with the sobering reality of how quickly things can crumble. Jesus died for our sins on the cross, but then he rose again on the 3rd day to prove he has the power to give us eternal life with eternal treasures in his forever kingdom. His resurrection proves death isn’t the end of the story, it’s the beginning of our eternal story.
Revelation 17:1-18
Louis Tamburro
Both skeptics and believers are sometimes seduced by things in this world, and so what are those things for you? This text is about being seduced by things in this world that we think will give us lasting pleasure in life, but it never does. It might give us pleasure in the moment, but it’s a pleasure that never lasts. Revelation 17 teaches us Jesus is the only true Lord of lords and King of kings, who has an eternal kingdom with eternal pleasures. Don’t be seduced, by a world that promises lasting pleasures it can’t produce.
Revelation 15-16
Louis Tamburro
As we study this text we’ll learn there’s several good reasons for God’s wrath and judgement. The good news of the eternal gospel, is that Jesus suffered God’s wrath for our sins on the cross so we don’t have to suffer God’s wrath in hell. So even though God’s wrath and judgment is necessary, the good news is anybody can be saved from God’s wrath through faith in Jesus.
Revelation 14
Zack Casey
God is not a God of chaos, and he does not want us to be overcome with worry and fear. That’s why we’re looking to the book of Revelation to learn how to have peace in a world of chaos. We believe that God wants us to have peace. He wants us to know that even in the absolute worst of times, He is still in control, He is still good, and we can still trust him.
Revelation 13:11-18.
Louis Tamburro
We all have people or things we’ll sometimes treat as a savior when life gets hard. This message is about trying to find peace in a false savior, worshiping a false savior, when life gets hard. If you seek a temporary savior you’ll get a temporary salvation, but if you seek an eternal savior you’ll get an eternal salvation. Jesus is the only incarnate, fully human and fully divine God who became a man, to die for our sins on the cross, and then rose again so we can enjoy eternal life in heaven with him.
Revelation 12:18-13:10
Louis Tamburro
Both skeptics and believers have current and future things we’re concerned about, and there will always be metaphorical antichrists, false saviors promising to give us peace and joy in life. But there’s only one, true, eternal savior named Jesus Christ. We need a real Savior for our current worries, and a real Savior for our future worries. Revelation 13 teaches us that the final antichrist isn’t a metaphorical person, instead he’s a real imposter who will deceive many. But it is also teaching us to find our peace in the real Savior Jesus Christ that’s coming.
Matthew 6:19-34
Louis Tamburro
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is teaching on how we’re to live our lives and in today's text he’s focusing on how to live a content life, a simple life, when it comes to our wealth and possessions. If you want to eliminate some of the hurry and worry in your life, then start living a simple life which can break the cycle of overworking to feed our excessive desires. Jesus didn’t live a consumeristic life, he lived a simple. He lived a simple life, and even gave up his wealth, his possessions, his very own life on the cross for us so we could enjoy an eternal relationship in heaven with him.
Genesis 2
Robbie Alderman
What we’re learning specifically from the life of Jesus today, is the importance of practicing Sabbath. Jesus gives both skeptics and believers an invitation to find rest. Sabbath isn’t just a command, it’s a prescription.
Mark 1:29-38
Louis Tamburro
At this point in the book of Mark, Jesus is doing ministry with some of his disciples. He’s working hard in ministry, and the text describes a very busy day in the life of Jesus. He’s slammed with all kinds of people wanting his time, and as we study this text we’ll learn about the following three things: 1st The importance of work, 2nd The importance of silence and solitude, 3rd The importance of prioritizing. We’ll learn Jesus deals with a busy day by working hard, by practicing silence and solitude, and by prioritizing.
Matthew 11:28-30
Louis Tamburro
We’re starting a new 5 week teaching series we’re calling The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, and it’s about how to have peace in a world of hurry.
We need to learn from the life of Jesus, to live an unhurried life like Jesus. The burdens of life are way too heavy for us to carry on our own. The good news is we don’t have to carry them on our own, because Jesus offers to carry them with us if we yoke our lives to him, and slow down enough to learn from him.
Psalm 27
Emmanuel Bellon
When we are in a battle it is hard to believe that it will ever come to an end. When we are in a period of blessing, we sometimes expect it will go on forever. But the Christian life is not like that there are battles and blessings. We know that King David went through a lot of battles in life. In this psalm he teaches
us how to face the battles of life.
Psalm 26
Robbie Alderman
Life gets hard and evil surrounds us in this life. We must remind ourselves of God’s goodness to us and the faithful love he has shown us by sending us Jesus. In this psalm, David is putting himself on trial and using the fact that he walks and stands with Jesus as his witness as the source of evidence in this trial to show that he is safe.
Psalm 25
Zack Casey
In Psalm 25, David is in a season of waiting. When we pray for something, or face a crisis, or ask for guidance, we want an immediate response. But in Psalm 25, David is going to teach us something about this season of waiting that we will inevitably find ourselves in.
Psalm 24
Ryan Armstrong
Guest Speaker Pastor Ryan Armstrong of OneFamily Church in Apopka, FL shares a special message from Psalm 24.
Psalm 23
Zack Casey
Being a sheep doesn’t mean the path is going to be easy and prosperous or free from pain and mistakes, but no matter how far we stray from His path, God’s loving kindness chases us down to bring us back under the umbrella of his blessing. Our shepherd is there with us and he’s leading us to a much better pasture. You can delight in having complete satisfaction in knowing your needs are met, unwavering confidence in knowing God is with you, and a gracious belonging, knowing you have a place in His eternal kingdom.
Revelation 12:9-18
Louis Tamburro
Satan’s seeking our destruction, but Jesus guarantees our salvation through faith in his life, death, and resurrection...Revelation 12 says this is why you struggle so much in life, it’s why your life often feels like a battle. It’s because there is a battle, there isa war happening in your life. It’s a war for your heart, a war against everything Jesus says is good for your heart. Satan wants to attack you with accusations and deceptions so you don’t believe the gospel, so you don’t believe in the love and truth of Jesus. You need to remember the accusations and deceptions of Satan, can only be conquered by the love and truth of Jesus.
Revelation 12:1-9
Louis Tamburro
Today's text can at least help us get a little glimpse into the spiritual world, in which a spiritual war, a spiritual battle between Satan and God. It’s a supernatural battle for our hearts against everything Jesus says is good for our hearts. We can follow Jesus or follow Satan in his rebellion against Jesus. The good news is behind every situation, behind every battle, behind the curtain of this physical world, is the victorious King Jesus who’s willing to walk with you through the battles of life.
Revelation 11:1-19
Louis Tamburro
It’s easy to get discouraged in life, especially with all the discouraging things happening in our world. We can easily get discouraged every day, or we can turn to Jesus for encouragement every day. We can turn to Jesus asking him to breathe new life into us every day. There isn’t any suffering we’ll ever face, that a resurrection can’t fix.
Revelation 10:1-11
Robbie Alderman
God once again shows that he is in charge and in control and is giving the world another opportunity to return to him. We must stay devoted to and love God’s word and then we must take that and share it with others.
Revelation 9:1-21
Louis Tamburro
Deep down inside both skeptics and believers know evil is a reality. We know evil is more than a concept, it’s a reality, and today’s text teaches there’s spiritual forces behind that reality. Evil, Satan, the demonic are real. Revelation 9 teaches what happens when Satan and the demonic become unleashed at the end of history.
Revelation 8:1-13
Louis Tamburro
Jesus shows John there’s a seventh seal, a seventh tribulation that’s coming, and it’ll unleash multiple catastrophic events that’ll cause greater destruction than the others. Both skeptics and believers know our world is headed for final destruction. We can find peace in knowing Jesus will bring restoration after the destruction. Jesus wants you to be a part of the restoration, and to help lead others to be a part of the restoration.
Revelation 7:1-17
Louis Tamburro
Revelation chapter 7 teaches us is that we can still have hope during these tribulations. We can still have hope even when the worst tribulation comes at the end of history. When that day comes, we need to remember to find hope and peace in the promised salvation and shelter of our Savior.
Revelation 6:9-17
Louis Tamburro
Jesus opens two more seals, releasing two more tribulations, and as we study this text we’ll learn about the grace of the lamb, and the wrath of the lion. Revelation 6 is God’s wrath being poured out on those who’ve broken his laws and rejected him as their God. But those who put their faith in Jesus will receive God’s grace instead of God’s wrath. We’ll receive eternal life and joy in heaven with Jesus, instead of eternal punishment in hell without Jesus. What Revelation 6 is teaching us is those who are skeptics need to put their faith in Jesus, and those who are believers need to stand firm in their faith in Jesus.
Revelation 6:1-8
Louis Tamburro
Sin and evil have an expiration date, which is good news for our lives, relationships, and world. We’d much rather live in a world where sin and evil have an expiration date, and the good news is that world is coming for those who put their faith in Jesus. Find hope in knowing the world you want without sin and evil destroying our lives, relationships, and world is coming.
Revelation 5: 1-14
Zack Casey
Revelation 5 is a secret document telling of God’s coming Kingdom, His plans for salvation, and His plans for judgment. It’s literally God’s plan for taking back the universe, written down, and sealed.
Revelation 4:1-11
Louis Tamburro
In this 2nd vision John receives of Jesus and the Cosmos, we’re learning God is infinitely greater than we can imagine or describe, and so is the heaven he’s taking us to. Today’s text can give us peace, because it teaches our world isn’t always going to be as chaotic as it is today. It teaches God has a plan for those who put their faith in Jesus. It’s a plan that includes getting to explore infinite, indescribable, joyful pleasures in heaven with him.
Revelation 3:14-22
Robbie Alderman
Revival can start with anyone, but it must start with someone church. Revival was needed in the Church at Laodicea. They needed to wake up from their apathetic lives and break out of their comfortable lifestyles and come awake to the Gospel of Jesus. We want the same thing for our city and our church. Our mission is to awaken both skeptics and believers to the Gospel and equip them to reach the world.
Scripture: Revelation 3:7-13
Speaker: Louis Tamburro
Big Idea: Jesus opens and closes doors, but there's one door that can't ever be closed.
Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6
Pastor: Louis Tamburro
Big Idea: Jesus cares more about our transformation than our reputation.
Scripture: Revelation 2:18-29
Pastor: Louis Tamburro
Big Idea: It isn't loving to tolerate sins that are destructive to our lives and relationships.
Scripture: Revelation 2:12-17
Pastor: Alex Robinson
Big idea: Faithfulness to Christ calls us to stand out from the world, not to blend in with it.
Revelation 2:8-11
Louis Tamburro
The worst is yet to come, but so is the best. Jesus never promised the Christians in Smyrna and he never promised us that life would be easy. He never promised them or us that we wouldn’t face anymore afflictions in life. In fact he says the opposite of that, which is that more afflictions are coming. He says that the world is going to get worse before it gets better, but we need to be fearless and faithful.
Revelation 2:1-7
Louis Tamburro
Our lives and our church will eventually fall apart like it did for the Ephesians, if we abandon Jesus as our greatest love in life. But the good news is Jesus cared enough to give the Ephesian Christians a corrective plan to follow back then, and he cared enough to have John write that corrective plan down for us to follow today. If you’re a believer, your eternal salvation is already secure through faith in Jesus, but your effectiveness in life, ministry, and our church’s existence isn’t secure if we abandon Jesus as our greatest love.
Revelation 1:9-20
Louis Tamburro
Jesus is greater than your greatest afflictions. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus used his great power to die for our sins on the cross, and to rise again on the 3rd day so we can enjoy eternal life in heaven with him. He used his great power to prove even our greatest affliction of sin and death, can’t overcome the power of his death and resurrection. If he was willing to use his great power to eternally save you on the cross, then surely he won’t abandon you in the afflictions of your life.
Revelation 1:1-8
Louis Tamburro
Revelation points us to find peace in Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega of our lives...If you’re trying to find peace in something else you’ll never find it, because that something else is just a Beta. Whatever your concerns are, whatever your current and future concerns are, you need an Alpha over those concerns not a Beta. You need an Alpha over those concerns, and you need an Omega who will one day put an end to all those concerns
Matthew 6:25-34
Louis Tamburro
You know Jesus cares about you because of Christmas and the cross. The Christmas message is all about the incarnate birth of Jesus, and how he’s the Prince of Peace who came to give us the gift of eternal peace in heaven with him, through faith in him dying for our sins on the cross. His incarnate birth proves he cares about us so much, that he was willing to enter human history to die for our sins on the cross. If he cared enough to die for your sins on the cross, then he’ll care enough to help you with the worries and anxieties in your heart.
Philippians 4:1-13
Louis Tamburro
The entire Christmas message is about the incarnate birth of Jesus coming to die for your sins on the cross, so you can enjoy an eternal relationship in heaven with him. If Jesus didn’t care about you, he wouldn’t have died for you. But he died for you, because he cares about you. He’s the Prince of Peace and he can give you a much stronger peace and stability than anything else you’re trying to find peace and stability in. Life is unstable, but there’s stability in our Savior.
Ephesians 2:11-22
Louis Tamburro
Everybody wants peace, but the reality is we face things every day threatening to rob our peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, who can give us the gift of peace, and he can give others in our city the gift of peace. The more aligned you are with Christ, the more at peace you’ll be in life.
Isaiah 9:1-7
Zack Casey
Peace with God is the greatest peace of all. It’s not just peace in the season. It’s not just peace to get through our tough days. It’s peace between our sinful, unworthy flesh and a holy and just God. You can let the promises we see in Isaiah of a powerful Prince, the Messiah, give you peace that is much bigger than the Christmas season.
Matthew 14:22-33
Louis Tamburro
Both skeptics and believers will face storms in life. You’re either in a storm, or you’ll be in a storm, but either way Jesus is willing to come close to you like he did with the disciples. Nothing proves this more than the incarnate life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He was willing to come so close to us, that he was willing to die for our sins on the cross to save us from the eternal storm of hell. If Jesus was willing to come close enough to die for our sins on the cross, then he’s certainly willing to come close enough to help us with whatever storms we’ll face in our lives. He’ll sometimes allow us to go through the storms instead of around the storms, but if we cry out to him, focus and refocus our lives on him, we’ll make it through the storms.
Matthew 25:14-30
Louis Tamburro
So sometimes you have to take risks in life, to enjoy certain rewards in life. This parable teaches if you really love Jesus, then you’ll use your talents and risk doing something to help with his kingdom expansion, rather than burying your talents and waste your life doing nothing. It’s better to risk doing something, than to waste your life doing nothing.
Mark 4:1-9, 14-20
Zack Casey
Sometimes our faith can just kind of sit on the surface, or maybe right below the surface of our lives. We might even say that our faith is important to us, but it still just doesn’t seem like much is happening, there’s not much fruit. Cultivating is hard work, and it’s never done. We have to continually work the garden of our hearts so that we are ready to welcome the gospel again and again. The soil of our hearts is never going to be perfect, but it can be fruitful. Cultivate the soil of your heart and the seed of the Gospel will flourish.
Luke 19:1-10
Louis Tamburro
There’s things in life we start with great enthusiasm, but over time our enthusiasm fades. We have to be careful not to let our distracted attention spans pull us away from focusing on Jesus. We can learn a lot from Zacchaeus, because he remained focused on Jesus, instead of being distracted by the crowd. The more we focus on Jesus, the more we keep our eyes fixed on him and our daily friendship with him, the more our lives will be daily transformed by him.
Psalm 22:1-31
Louis Tamburro
I know it sometimes feels like we’ve been abandoned by God, but the cross proves we’re never abandoned by God. The cross proves we’ll never be abandoned by God in life, if we trust Jesus with our life. If there was ever a time when Jesus would’ve abandoned you, it would’ve been during his brutal torture and execution on the cross. If he wasn’t willing to abandon you during the painful execution of his death, then why would he abandon you in the resurrection of your struggling life? He didn’t abandon you then, and he won’t abandon you now.
Psalm 19:1-14
Louis Tamburro
As you’re walking through daily life, what are you listening for? God’s willing to speak to us every day through creation and scripture, if we’re willing to pause to listen. Jesus wants us to know him, which is why he reveals himself to us through creation and scripture. The more we pause to listen to him speaking through creation, the more we’ll be in awe over his glory, power, the magnificent work of his hands. The more we pause to listen to him speaking through scripture, the more we’ll be in awe over his wisdom, guidance, sacrificial love for us.
Psalm 13:1-6
Louis Tamburro
We know we’ll face trials, but we don’t always know how to overcome our trials, especially our persistent trials. Persistent trials, requires persistent prayer. Our trials can sometimes feel like they’re lasting an eternity, but Jesus promises us they won’t last an eternity. With Jesus you can cry out how long, but you can also cry out his answer that it’s only for a little while.
Psalm 16:1-11
Emmanuel Bellon
In this message from Psalm 16 we learn from David that God is our Provider, our Protector and our Preserver.
Psalm 15
Zack Casey
We’re all still learning and even searching for more clarity on the answers to those questions. And, most of us live with this tension of believing in God and wanting to follow him, but also feeling pulled away from Him and following our own path. If we believe God exist, how does that change how we live? How do we know if we are living a Godly life? We don’t have to be perfect to come to God and we won’t be perfect until we are resurrected with him at the second coming. What God wants is for us to come to him completely and utterly dependent, believing that He has done everything necessary for us to come to him, it’s nothing we achieve on our own. The Godly life is defined by our posture not perfection.
Psalm 14: 1-7
Louis Tamburro
Today’s Psalm is about not living a foolish life. It’s about avoiding the most foolish decision we could ever make in our daily lives. Psalm 14 teaches we’re foolish if we think we don’t need God. We’re foolish if we think we can keep living daily life like God doesn’t exist. There is a God, his name is Jesus, and if you don’t believe in him, a dreadful life is coming. But if you put your faith in him, he’ll deliver you and restore you from the foolish life that leads to a dreadful end.
Psalm 8:1-9
Louis Tamburro
Psalm 8 is considered a Psalm of praise, because it's written by King David during a time when he’s reflecting on God’s creation. As he’s reflecting and staring at the sky, he’s filled with awe over God’s creation. He’s filled with awe over God creating us, but he’s also praising God for personally caring about us. Like David we should pause to observe creation, but then praise God for being powerful, personal, and purposeful in remembering us and looking after us.
Psalm 6: 1-10
Louis Tamburro
King David’s the author of this Psalm, and he’s writing this during a time when he’s wrestling with God’s silence. It’s hard to understand why God is sometimes silent, especially when we’re desperately praying for his help. Sometimes God feels silent, but God is never absent. If you think nobody cares and nobody’s listening, Psalm 6 shows the Lord cares and is always listening.
Psalm 4: 1-8
Louis Tamburro
Psalm 4 is an evening prayer, that can prep our hearts to sleep peacefully at night, despite whatever problems are remaining at the end of the day. It’s about learning how to sleep peacefully at night, despite knowing there’s lingering problems we have to face tomorrow. You’ll sleep peacefully when you believe God is bigger than your problems, but you’ll lose sleep when you believe your problems are bigger than God.
Psalm 3:1-8
Louis Tamburro
The Psalm we’re studying today can help to encourage us when it comes to facing our fears, and everybody has fears. It teaches how to wake up ready to face whatever problems come our way. You can always turn to God in prayer. So when your problems, tears, and fears are great, you can always turn to Jesus who’s greater than your problems, tears, and fears!
Psalm 1:1-6
Louis Tamburro
This psalm teaches us the more you seek happiness in the world, the more your happiness will be taken by the world. But the more you seek happiness in Jesus, the more your happiness will be restored by Jesus when it’s rattled by the world. He doesn’t promise an easy life, he promises a better life, a happier life if you walk this life with him. He promises you’ll reach a final destination, of eternal happiness with him. You can either walk in happiness with God, or walk in unhappiness without God.
Matthew 6:5-13
Alex Robinson
Prayer is a common thing in Christianity, but almost nobody feels great at it. Prayer is something that all Christians know they should to but often leads to confusion, frustration, or distraction. But what learn in this message is that prayer understood correctly is simply an outflow of the thoughts and feelings that we naturally have as we go through life. We just direct them to God. We communicate to Him the highs and lows of our lives. We are just showing that we know that He is ultimately in control and the source of our life.
Psalm 56
Derrick DeLain
Did you know that throughout the Bible, “Fear not.” is found in the Bible 366 times. However, all throughout the Bible you see people afraid. Fear and faith can occupy the same space. Being afraid is ok, but eventually, our faith has to win out!
Romans 16:17-27
Louis Tamburro
How did evil begin, and what’s our hope for dealing with evil? Both skeptics and believers experience evil and suffering. We don’t just see evil and suffering in the world, we also experience it in own lives. Evil had a beginning, but it also has an ending...Paul ends Romans like he started it, which is pointing us to the gospel, pointing us to Jesus for salvation and strengthening.
Romans 16: 17-20
Zack Casey
God’s judgement can be a scary and unpopular topic, but it’s definitely a reality taught in the Bible and therefore we can’t ignore it. If we do, then we’ll really be caught of guard in the future. God is Just, he cannot let sin go unpunished. That’s why Jesus had to die on the cross. He bore the full wrath of God, but for those that reject that gift, they will bear the punishment for their sins. Jesus, the Son of God, who gave his life as a ransom was resurrected from the dead, which means he defeated death and Satan and showed he is our deliver! The big idea of the message is be careful not to be deceived today, but instead be delivered, which starts today and will be completedin the future.
Romans 16:17-20
Louis Tamburro
It doesn’t take long for a skeptic or a believer to realize there’s good and evil in the world. God created us and the world for good, but Satan wants to take what’s good and turn it into evil. His greatest goal is to lure you away from walking in the enjoyment of relational friendship with God. In Romans 16 Paul’s warning us that Satan will create divisions and deceptions to lure us away from our relational friendship with God and each other. But he also reminds us to put our hope in Jesus, because Satan’s deceptive plans were crushed, by the eternal grace of the cross.
Romans 16:1-16
Louis Tamburro
Jesus gives us Christian community as a gift, and salvation through faith in Jesus is at the center of that gift. The feelings Paul has for the 26 names mentioned are driven by his salvation in Jesus. Jesus rescued us, he gathered us together in this Christian community to celebrate our new life in Christ, and to love each other as a family. We’ve been rescued, forgiven of our sins, eternally greeted and beloved by our savior Jesus. The big idea is Jesus creates community, and strengthens us through community. So let’s celebrate our new life in Christ, and love each other as a family like Christ.
Romans 15: 8-33
Zack Casey
God knows who you are, he knows your personality, your life situation, your capacity, your skill set, and he, according to Ephesians, created good works just for you. If you have placed your trust in Jesus, then you are called to be a part of his mission. Jesus doesn’t just want to transform your life. He wants to transform others through your life. What is your mission?
Romans 14:1-15:7
Alex Robinson
The reality is we’ll have disagreements in both our church families and our personal families, so the question isn’t will we have disagreements? It’s how can we handle those disagreements in loving ways, so we don’t walk away? The question is how can we disagree, and still love each other despite our disagreements? The big idea is to seek unity on essentials, and liberty on nonessentials.
Romans 13: 8-14
Alex Robinson
As Paul begins talking about our transformed lives in Christ, we start to focus on how our deeper knowledge of God is supposed to impact our everyday lives. In this message we look at two resources that we as Christians should rely on to follow God. The big idea for this message is that the Christian life should be be defined by love and intentionality.
Louis Tamburro
Romans 13:1-7
In the last 5 chapters of Romans Paul is focusing on our response to the gospel and how God wants us to live in our horizontal relationship with others. In ch 13:1-7 he’s focusing specifically on how God wants us to live in our relationship with governing authorities. He’s teaching us how to respond to corrupt governing authorities and policies.
Louis Tamburro
Romans 12:9-21
Both skeptics and believers would agree that love is a verb, which means it requires action. Love is sometimes felt with our emotions, but it’s always expressed with our actions. The text in this message focuses on things to love, things to hate, and how to respond if you’re in a war or conflict with somebody. It focuses on how to display an ethic of love in daily life, and when it comes to love we need to remember love is a verb, which means it requires action.
Romans 12:1-8
Louis Tamburro
Both skeptics and believers take good things God created, and we turn them into god things giving them a glory seat in our lives only God deserves. So everybody worships something, but we’ll also make sacrifices for whatever we worship. We’ll make sacrifices using our head, heart, and hands every day to satisfy whatever we worship. Worship entails using your head, heart, and hands to honor God.
Romans 11:30-12:1
Louis Tamburro
The reality is everybody worships something.We either worship God, or we worship something else as god, but either way everybody worships something. We put all kinds of things and even people we admire in a glory seat only God deserves. When we do this, when we ignore God’s glory or live as glory thieves, our lives become out of alignment with God’s intended purposes. The only way to get realigned with God’s intended purposes, is to give him glory like the rest of creation.
Romans 11:1-29
Louis Tamburro
There are a lot of things we quit in life. Will God quit on you, after he saves you and starts a relationship with you? If you want an eternal irrevocable salvation that can’t ever be taken away, then sincerely put your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Deliverer. If you’ve already sincerely put your faith in Jesus, then don’t quit living as a faithful remnant. Don’t quit trying to reach the people Jesus wants you to reach.
Romans 10:14-21
Alex Robinson
As we wrestle with the concepts of God’s sovereignty and control and humanity’s free will and personal responsibly, we are going to look at why many end up rejecting the Gospel but that that doesn’t negate our responsibility to share the Gospel.
Romans: 9:30-10:13
Zack Casey
If you don’t remember anything else from today, remember that, “You will never regret saying, ‘Lord, I need you!’”
Romans 9:1-29
Louis Tamburro
God’s responsible for our salvation, but we’re responsible for our rejection. The good news is that God’s love for us is an unconditional love that isn’t based on any human conditions. People in the world will love you conditionally, but when God loves you, he loves you unconditionally. God doesn’t give you mercy because you are good, he gives you mercy because he isgood! He doesn’t love you because you are loveable, he loves you because he is loving.
Romans 6:1-11
Louis Tamburro
The resurrection gives us hope for a better eternal life in the future, but also an entirely new life in the present! The resurrection of Jesus changed the life of his family, the Apostles, Paul, so many others, and it can change your life too! It can change your life for the better not the worse! It can give you a new life, new power, new freedom from FOMO, with a new eternal destination and purpose. It can give you freedom from guilt over sin knowing your sins don’t get the last word in your life, because Jesus died for your sins and his resurrection will get the last word in your life.
Romans 8:18-39
Louis Tamburro
God promises a good life, not an easy life. Jesus had a good life, not an easy life. Are you suffering and groaning? Are you struggling and hurting? If you want a hope that’s greater than your suffering, then put your hope in Jesus today. Put your hope in the one who overcame the grave, who overcame the valley of the shadow of death, and who can overcome your valleys that feel like death. Jesus is the only one who can take all the bad things in your life, and turn them into something good for your life!
Romans 8:1-17
Louis Tamburro
You need to walk with the Holy Spirit to enjoy the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Do you want to enjoy the fruit of the Holy Spirit for your life? Do you want a new mind, new power, new life, new desires, new relationship, new destiny for your life? It starts with repenting of your sins and believing Jesus died for your sins. It starts with receiving the good news that there’s now...right here, right now...no condemnation for you personally if you put your faith in Jesus. If you’re a Christian don’t yawn at that as if it’s old news, because the reality is we need to hear it again! The reality is we still sometimes listen to the condemning voices coming from ourselves, others, and Satan. So we need to be reminded that there’s now no condemnation in Christ, and get back into the fight again. Get back into walking with the Holy Spirit and enjoying the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s guidance again.
Romans 7:14-25
Louis Tamburro
The Christian life isn’t a perfect life, it’s a stumbling but still growing life. So you can expect good days and bad days, wins and losses, victories and defeats. The battle of the flesh is a part of the Christian experience, but it isn’t the end of the Christian experience. Jesus will make sure it ends with you being fully healed, fully restored, fully sanctified, fully perfected, no longer having to deal with the battle of the flesh anymore. If you’re a skeptic, you’re fighting a hopeless battle you can’t win without him. Jesus loves you and is willing to fight the battle of the flesh, the battle of sin with you. If you put your faith in him, if you believe he died for your sins on the cross, then he’ll give you a new life with him today, and the victory of eternal life with him in the end.
Romans 7:1-13
Alex Robinson
Sanctification comes from a loving union with Jesus not a frustrating cycle of obedience and disobedience.
Romans 6:1-23
Louis Tamburro
If you put your faith in Jesus, then you’re no longer a slave to sin. Jesus is now your greater master who did what you and I can’t do. He never sinned, he was never controlled by sin, and died on the cross for our sins. He’s the greater master who conquered sin and death, which means he’s the only one who has the power to break the chains of sin in your life. He’s the only one who can set you free from sin, give you a new life today, a sanctifying life tomorrow, and eternal life in heaven. It isn’t a perfect life, but it is a progressing life. It isn’t a perfect life, but it is greater life with a greater loving master than our sin.
Romans 5:12-21
Louis Tamburro
Original sin was the worst tragedy in history, but Jesus came to offer a better future for humanity. We can’t evolve into having a better life with a better future, but we can rely on Jesus to give us a better life with a better future.
Romans 5:1-11
Louis Tamburro
You can have peace, hope, and love in life, through faith in Christ.
Romans 4:1-25
Louis Tamburro
The Christian faith isn’t about living a flawless life. It’s about trusting your flawed life, in the hands of a forgiving God. It’s about trusting your flawed life in the forgiving hands of Jesus. What Paul’s saying in these first 4 chapters of Romans is there’s one problem, it’s our sinful depravity. There’s one savior; it’s Jesus Christ. There’s one solution, it’s salvation and justification through faith in Jesus. If you trust him with your life, he’ll give you eternal life. He’ll give you an eternal relationship with him where you can pray to him, share your burdens with him, receive daily guidance from him, walk in daily friendship with him. If you’re a skeptic, are you willing to put your faith in him and take his hand of friendship? If you give him your faith and trust today, he’ll immediately give you his salvation, justification, righteousness, a hand of eternal friendship. If you’re a believer, are you trusting him with whatever you’re going through in life? Are you putting your faith in him, taking his hand daily, walking in friendship with him?
Romans 3:23-31
Zack Casey
The cross allowed God to be both just and the justifier, punishing your sin and counting you as righteous.
Romans 3:1-22
Louis Tamburro
You need a greater power to help you, fix the sin problem within you, and Jesus is that greater savior with the greater power than your willpower. In these first 3 chapters Paul is challenging the many excuses we have for sinning against God’s moral laws. “Well I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong?” Yeah you did, because you aren’t ignorant to breaking the moral laws in your conscience. “Well I’m religious, I go to church, I read my bible.” That’s a great, but it doesn’t make you better than the person who hasn’t since you break moral laws too. Paul’s point is we all sin, we all deserve God’s judgement, we all need Jesus to save and change us.
The sinful depravity of humanity makes God’s judgment necessary. Paul’s point is you can’t turn your sinful depravity around, without turning to Jesus. You can keep trying to be your own god, keep trying to save and transform your heart, but you can’t turn your sin natured heart around, without turning to Jesus for the salvation and transformation of your heart. Jesus is our God who came to save us from the darkness of the sinful depravity we’re in. He loves us so much he couldn’t just sit back and watch our sins take us into eternal hell, but he also couldn’t just ignore our sins. So he came to bring his love and righteous judgement together on the cross, by dying the death we deserved to die for our sins. 1st John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Romans 1:18-25
Louis Tamburro
The fingerprints of God are all around us, and the good news of the gospel is we don’t just have a chance to seek the truth of God’s existence. We have a chance to have a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus. Jesus came into the world to show us he’s our God who created us, who breathed life into us, who put eternity in our hearts. He died on the cross for our sins because he loves us and still desires to have a loving relationship with us. You can know the power, creativity, intelligence of Jesus, by looking at his creation. You can know his purpose for your life, his plans for your life, even hear him speaking personally to help guide your life, by reading the bible. But the only way you can know he truly loves you, is by looking at the love he poured out for you on the cross.
Romans 1:1-17
Louis Tamburro
The Gospel has and is the power to save and transform your life. If you’re a skeptic who doesn’t believe in all this, you need to remember Paul was a skeptic and didn’t believe in all this either. But after seeing the resurrected Jesus and experiencing his life transforming power, this highly respected, highly educated man couldn’t deny Jesus anymore. He became a follower of Jesus, a servant and apostle of Jesus, faced persecution and death to eagerly and unashamedly spread this very gospel message of Jesus. It’s that Jesus is our loving God who died for our sins on the cross to save and transform our lives. Do you want to reset your life in 2023? Both skeptics and believers, do you want to reset your life in 2023? Do you want to reset your life, have a new life, have salvation and transformation in 2023? If that’s what you truly want, then rely on the power of Jesus to save your life, and rely on the transforming power of Jesus in your everyday life.
Revelation 21:1-7
Louis Tamburro
The hands that wiped away our sins, will wipe away our tears. The Christmas season is a time where we celebrate Jesus as our Emmanuel, our God who came into this world to die for our sins on the cross, and turn our tears into dancing again.
Revelation 21:1-8
Louis Tamburro
History ends with separation and salvation. The bad news is Jesus warns us that history ends with separation, but the good news is he offers his hand for salvation so hell won’t be our final destination. If you’re a skeptic will you receive his hand for salvation? Will you put your faith in him today, believe he died for your sins on the cross, and make him the center of your salvation for eternal life? If you’re a believer will you make him not just the center of your salvation, but also the center of your everyday life? Will you still make him the center of your life, even as you’re dealing with afflictions in life?
Revelation 1:8-18
Louis Tamburro
A day will come when Jesus will prove he’s greater than your greatest afflictions, but it’s a promise only for those who put their faith in Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7
Emmanuel Bellon
The Joy of the Lord is our strength in all circumstances.
1.Joyful faith rejoices in the Lord
2.Joyful faith forbears with others
3.Joyful faith in Jesus overcomes anxiety
4.Joyful faith rests in the peace of God
Luke 16:1-13
Louis Tamburro
Generosity entails using your wealth beyond yourself. The primary message of the bible is that Jesus is a generous giver of grace, a generous giver of salvation. He’s the eternal friend who not only gave up his wealth, he gave up his entire life to die for our sins on the cross. He did this so we could have eternal friendship in heaven with him. His death on the cross proves he valued friends over finances, people over personal profit, and his resurrection proves his empire won’t ever fail like every other empire in history. But the question is will you invest in building his eternal kingdom, or invest in building your temporary sandcastle kingdom?
Luke 19:1-10
Louis Tamburro
Generosity includes using your power and influence to help others. Our generosity should flow from knowing our sinful souls were in a position of eternal poverty, but Jesus generously offers us salvation from his position of eternal power. Our hearts have way more reason to be filled with joy than Zacchaeus knowing Jesus didn’t just sacrifice his reputation for us, he sacrificed his entire life for us!
Luke 9:57-10:2
Louis Tamburro
Generosity entails serving, instead of being the one served. The greatest example we have of this is Jesus and the generosity he displayed on the cross. In Matthew 20:28 Jesus said “I came not to be served, but to serve and give my life up as a ransom for many.” He came to serve us even to the point of dying for our sins on the cross. He gave his entire life up for you, are you willing to give your entire life up for him?
Luke 14:7-24
Louis Tamburro
Generosity isn’t just about wealth, it’s also about your hospitality and forgiveness in your relationships.
Ephesians 4
Zack Casey
Every Christian is called to maturity in Christ through unity in the body and purity in the flesh. We don’t come to Jesus and continue to live the same way we did beforehand. Pastor John Stott says that, “Because God’s people are called to be one people, they must manifest their unity, and because they are called to be a holy people, they must manifest their purity.”
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
Louis Tamburro
It's a historical and biblical fact that churches have issues, but it’s also a historical and biblical fact that there’s still a lot of beauty in churches. Do those of us gathered here have issues? Yes we do, but the beauty of the church is we can help walk through those issues together. Do those of us gathered here have hardship issues? Yes we do, but the beauty of the church is we can help walk through those hardship issues together. Do those of us who are gathered here today have sin issues? Yes we do, but the beauty of the church is we can help each other walk through those sin issues together.
Acts 2:1-2
Louis Tamburro
The Spirit descended, so the ministry of Jesus can keep spreading in and through us. If you’re a believer you’re already filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. But too often we neglect to utilize that power, we neglect to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives.
Acts 1:1-11
Louis Tamburro
The ascension of Jesus means there’s hope, in the daily intercession of Jesus. Do you need hope? Do you need hope in your life? What burden are you carrying, what problems are keeping you up at night? As one scholar put it “You may think you’re at the end of your rope, but you’ll never be at the end of hope.” Whatever your problems are, you can always find hope in the ascension of Jesus. You can always find hope knowing it’ll turn out well for your life, because of the ascension and daily intercession of Christ.
Luke 23:13-43
Louis Tamburro
Jesus stood in our place for our sins, so we can enjoy eternal paradise with him. Are you carrying a cross of fear and uncertainty, wondering if you’ll end up in eternal hell, or eternal paradise in heaven? The cross shows Jesus loves you and is willing to save you. Are you carrying a cross filled with sin, shame, regret, wondering if Jesus will still love and forgive you? The cross shows he loves you and is willing to forgive you. Are you carrying a cross filled with the pains of unanswered prayers, the pains of Jesus not fixing the cross you’re carrying in life, and you’re wondering if he loves and cares about you? The cross shows he loves and cares about you. The way to know if Jesus loves you, saves you, forgives you, cares about you, is to look at the cross and the excruciating pain he went through for you.
John 17
Zack Casey
Jesus wants to the world to know him, and he wants the Church to make him known.
We can live with confidence because we have a God-ordained purpose, and we have a Great High Priest to help us fulfill that purpose.
Luke 15
Alex Robinson
1. God doesn’t disparage the lost but graciously seeks them out.
2. Those close to God celebrate the lost being found.
Matthew 16:13-24
Louis Tamburro
The Christian life is meant to be impactful not comfortable. So are you living a comfortable life or an impactful life? Are you living a life and message that’s comfortably aligned with the culture, or living a life and message aligned with Jesus to impact the culture? Are you living a comfortable life that doesn’t push back darkness, or living an impactful sacrificial life that’s pushing back darkness? What can you do to help push back darkness in your family, workplace, school, city, and neighborhood? What can you do to help build the local church, to help build this local church, so the gates of hell can’t overpower it? City Awakening, let’s believe in our messiah like Peter, and take up our crosses like Jesus. Let’s live not a comfortable life, but an impactful sacrificial life like Jesus.
Matthew 5:21-42
Louis Tamburro
This text reveals that sometimes Jesus’ timing isn’t our timing. But it also reveals that his compassion still remains even in the delays. The good news is Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” which means the same Jesus we in the text, is the same Jesus available to us today. It means you can approach him today just like Jairus and the bleeding woman approached him.So take his hand for your salvation, and take his hand in your times of desperation. Take his hand trusting he knows what he’s doing even in the delays. Take his hand trusting that his compassion on the cross promises he’ll always love you, and his power in the resurrection promises he’ll always be ready to wake you. He’ll always love you, and he’ll always be ready to wake you from the nap of death whispering...Talathi Cumi....
Mark 4:35-41
Louis Tamburro
Jesus will always do 1 of 2 things in a storm. He’ll either calm the storm, or help you make it through the storm, but either way you’ll make it through the storm. If you put your faith in him, if you turn to him in your storms, he’ll either calm the storm saying be still, or he’ll calm you saying be still so I can help you through the storm. Do you have faith in the reality of this story? Do you have faith in the magnitude of Christ’s power and in his loving care for you?
Matthew 5:1-12
Louis Tamburro
Happiness is found in the stability of Christ, not the instability of life. If you want to have a happy life, you need to root your happiness in something more stable and secure than your situations. You need to root your happiness in the stability and security of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t promise us an easy life, he promises us a blessed and happy life...Blessed and happy are those who are poor in spirit, and rely on him.
Matthew 4:1-11
Louis Tamburro
Temptations will come, but Jesus can help you overcome, since he’s already overcome Satan, temptation, even the sting of death with the power of his resurrection. We don’t have that kind of power, but Jesus does. Jesus has the power to help us overcome whatever temptation’s wrecking our lives, our marriages, our families, our relationships. But we have to rely on him in the moment of temptation. We have to rely on the scriptures and our relationship with him, instead of our own will power which has proven to continually fail us.
Matthew 3
Emmanuel Bellon
Nothing is as frustrating as being in a situation where you cannot make any change. Fortunately, God has created a way for all humanity to come to him regardless of our condition. He has given us the gift of repentance so we can turn him and follow his plans and purposes for our lives. You can trust God to forgive every sin and give you a fresh beginning. If you follow through with this change, you will receive the freedom and joy that comes from the Lord, and he will bring healing to our broken and wounded hearts. Repentance brings joy and healing to our lives.
Matthew 1:1-17
Alex Robinson
Jesus was and is everything that the Bible says he would be.
Jonah
Louis Tamburro
It’s hypocritical to receive grace, but then refuse to extend grace. We need to grow in being quicker at extending the very grace we’ve received from Jesus to others. The message of Jonah is for us to lay our paddles down, it’s to submit our lives to Jesus, because he’s a sovereign God who loves, saves, and can change our sinful hearts. So let’s receive his grace today, and let’s extend his grace to others in this great city of ours.
Hosea
Louis Tamburro
God’s love remains faithful and willing to save, even on the days when you’re unfaithful and failing to follow. Have people been unfaithful to you, failing to love you like they should? Have you been unfaithful to people, failing to love your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends and neighbors like you should? Have you been unfaithful to Jesus, failing to love Jesus like you should? Healing, forgiveness, salvation, restoration can be found, when you align your heart with the heart of Jesus. A deeper, more committed, more faithful love can always be found, in the heart of Jesus.
Daniel 6
Louis Tamburro
Find your strength from above, not from within. Daniel shows that having strength in your prayer life, can give you strength in the lion’s den. Having strength in your prayer life, can give you strength in your hard days, and some of you’ve been having hard days.
The good news of the gospel is Jesus went into the lion’s den on our behalf, when he died for our sins on the cross. His death on the cross proves he cares and that he’s willing to walk with us daily in prayer. If you walk with Jesus daily in prayer, you’ll find strength to make it through whatever lion’s den you’re facing today.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Louis Tamburro
God wants to be known personally, not just conceptually. One of the core teachings of the Bible is that God invites us to have a personal relationship with him through faith in Jesus. This new covenant wasn’t just an invitation for Jews back then, it’s an invitation for anyone who puts their faith in Jesus today. If you don’t know Jesus, then put your faith in Jesus and start following Jesus today. If you already know Jesus, then be consistent in spending time with Jesus through reading your bible and prayer so you can keep growing in your relationship with Jesus.
Ecclesiastes 2, 4
Louis Tamburro
Our life achievements are temporary unless they’re aligned with Jesus and his eternal kingdom. Yet most people are burnt out, stressed out, emotionally and physically worn out working so hard to build their own temporal kingdoms. They’re on the pursuit of achievements, pursuing lasting impact, satisfaction, and recognition in temporal things that’ll eventually perish. What are those things for you?. What’s the pursuit of achievements look like for you? Are you working hard to achieve salvation, to achieve God’s love? Are you working hard to achieve something great, to make an impact in this world? Are you working hard to achieve a lot of money so you can have satisfaction and live a comfortable life? Are you working hard to achieve recognition and approval from others? What are you working so hard to achieve in life? In the words of C.T. Studd, “Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
Ecclesiastes 1-3
Louis Tamburro
The endless pursuit of pleasure points to something greater, which is Jesus. When Jesus rose from the dead on the 3rd day he proved he’s the very God who placed eternity in our hearts, and he’s the very God who can satisfy the eternal thirst for pleasure that’s in our hearts. When he rose from the dead on the 3rd day he proved he really can give us eternal life, eternal joy, eternal pleasures beyond the grave. If you’re a skeptic, Jesus prompted your heart to come here today, because he wants you to have those eternal pleasures of eternal life with him. If you repent of your sins and believe he died for your sins on the cross, then you’ll get to enjoy those eternal pleasures of eternal life with him. If you’re already a believer, then hit the reset button on your life today and remind yourself that the mist-like things you’ve been pursuing, can’t ever bring you lasting pleasure like Jesus can. Hit the reset button, and start pursuing pleasure in Jesus again.
2 Kings 5:1-19
Louis Tamburro
Your pain can have a purpose, like it did for the young girl in this story and for Naaman. Is the Lord using your pain to expose sin in your life? Is the Lord using your pain to expose your need for him? Is the Lord using your pain to help spread the faith, to help relieve other people’s pain, to help lead others to him? Maybe the Lord isn’t using your pain in the 3 ways he used Naaman’s pain, but he’s still using your pain for a purpose.
1 Kings 8
Louis Tamburro
Don’t let your prayers become idols, like Solomon and the Israelites did. If you need Jesus to forgive you for turning something you’ve been praying for into an idol, or to forgive you of a sin you’ve committed, then pray asking Jesus to forgive you, and he’ll hear and act on that prayer giving you forgiveness of sin. If you need Jesus to save you from eternal hell we’re deserving of because of our sins, then pray asking Jesus to save you, and he’ll hear and act on that prayer giving you eternal life through his substitutionary death on the cross.
Psalm 73
Louis Tamburro
Doubt is the realities of life, exposing the weaker areas of your faith, and we want our church to be a place where you can examine your doubts like Asaph. We want City Awakening to be a place for both skeptics and believers to seek truth and find joy in community.Do you have questions about life or what your purpose is in life? Do you have questions about Jesus, or why Jesus allowed certain things to happen in your life? Do you have questions about why the goodness of the Lord seems to be pouring into other people’s lives, but not yours? Do you have questions about singleness, marriage, parenting, fatherhood, motherhood? Everybody has questions, everybody has doubts, and Jesus is big enough to handle your questions and doubts. Jesus is big enough, wise enough, kind enough to handle all your questions and doubts.
2 Samuel 11 -1 2
Zack Casey
7 Lessons on Sin from King David
- Sin always has an on-ramp
- Sin always glorifies the sinner
- Sin always tried to hide
- Sin always gets discovered
- Sin always has consequences
- Sin always demands a response
- Sin doesn't have to define you
Big Idea: No fall is too far from the forgiveness of God.
1 Samuel 16-17
Louis Tamburro
If you believe God is great, then believe he’s prepping you for greater things in life. When you’re doing your daily chores, struggling at work, facing tough days, don’t be pessimistic wondering if this is really God’s best for your life. Instead believe God is great, and that he’s using those things to prep you for greater things in life.
Will you rely on Jesus in the pastures, in facing the giants, in facing the valley of death? Will you rely on Jesus as your savior for representative warfare, for everyday life? The degree to which to you see what Jesus did for you on the cross...the degree to which you see him stepping in the valley of death for you out of deep love for you...is the degree to which you’ll be able to say, “I don’t fear the pastures, I don’t fear the giants, I don’t fear the valley of death, because I know my savior Jesus is with me.” You’ll be able to say what King David said in Psalm 23:
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Ruth 1-4
Louis Tamburro
Life is sometimes bitter like Naomi’s, but the resurrection of Jesus assures us it’ll end sweet. Just like the Lord brought hope into Naomi’s life, the Lord wants to bring hope into your life. Do you want hope for your bitter days? Do you want hope for the bitter parts of your life to end, and the sweet parts of your life to continue? Then put your faith in Jesus. There’s always hope for your bitter days with Jesus. There’s always hope that your bitter days, will become better days, with the power of his resurrection. If you’re a skeptic repent of your sins, believe Jesus died for your sins, and you’ll have that hope. If you’re a believer don’t neglect the protection, provision, and hope Jesus has given you in his resurrection. His resurrection assures us that even the bitter sting of death, will be turned into a sweet eternal life.
Joshua 1:1-8
Louis Tamburro
Trust God with the battles of life like Joshua. In the rest of the book of Joshua, the Lord leads the Israelites through many battles, and the book ends with Joshua giving this message. Ch 24:15, “‘Therefore, choose for yourselves today: Who will you worship—the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living? As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord.’” The same question he asked back then is the same question I’m asking today. It’s who will you choose to worship, who will you chose to serve? Who will you choose to be your Savior, Lord, Commander, when the battles of life come?...and they will come. Everybody will face battles in life, and some of those battles will crush you physically, emotionally, spiritually...if you aren’t fighting those battles with the Lord.
The good news of the gospel is we don’t have to fight those battles alone. The same Jesus who fought for Joshua is willing to fight for us, and he proved it when he died for our sins on the cross. The battle Jesus fought on the cross was a battle over sin and death for our eternal souls, and his resurrection on the 3rd day proved he won that battle. It proved he’s victorious even over sin and death. If Jesus can conquer that battle, he can conquer any battle you’ll ever face in life. If he can conquer the battle over death, he can conquer the battle in your life. He can conquer the battle in your marriage, your family, your career, your struggles with sin, including the battle for your soul giving you eternal life in him. But you have to trust Jesus as your Savior, your Lord, your Commander. You have to surrender control to him, and faithfully endure as you wait on him. If you do, he’ll always be with you, helping you through the battles of life.
Deuteronomy 18:15-19
Zack Casey
Jesus didn't come to undo or outdo the work of the law and prophets, but to complete it.
Numbers 13-14
Louis Tamburro
We magnify our fears, when we minimize our God. The Israelites magnified their fears and problems, when they minimized their faith in God. The way to minimize your fears and problems, is to remember to magnify the Lord. It’s to remember the gospel, remember that Jesus died for our sins on the cross so we could enter his heavenly Promised Land, instead of the much harsher land of eternal hell. Just like the Israelites needed faith in the Lord to enter the Promised Land, we need faith in Jesus to enter his heavenly Promised Land. We need faith in Jesus as our deliver, our Savior, our greater life raft who will never sink! Jesus is our greater life raft who will never sink, and if you cling to him, you’ll never sink!
Leviticus 16
Alex Robinson
We desperately need atonement from God, and He is gracious to provide it!
Exodus 20:1-7
Louis Tamburro
The big idea of the message is that God’s laws prove we’re great failures, in need of a greater Savior. They prove just how powerless we really are at living out the life God wants us to live. They even prove how powerless a skeptic is, because most skeptics I know agree with many of the 10 Commandments, especially the last 5-6. They agree the last 5-6 commandments are good for human civilization, but they’re failing to live them out. So the 10 commandments prove we’re all hypocritical failures, we’re all powerless at living out these things. It proves we need a greater Savior than ourselves, and Jesus is that greater Savior. As Tim Keller once put it, “The gospel is that we’re more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe. Yet at the same time, we’re more loved and accepted in Jesus than we ever dared hope.”
Exodus 3-12
Remember who God is when you’re struggling with who you are.
We all came in here today like Moses, carrying struggles and insecurities. We’re carrying struggles and insecurities as parents, as spouses, as children. We’re carrying struggles and insecurities as students, as athletes, as employees, as leaders. We’re carrying struggles and insecurities as Christians, or as skeptics. We all came in today like Moses carrying struggles and insecurities, but we can all walk out of here today with the strength and security of Jesus by looking upward not downward. By looking upward at Jesus not downward at yourself, and saying “I can’t, but he can!...I’m not, but he is!...I’m not a good parent or a good person,but he is!...I’m not powerful, but he is!...I’m not sinless, but he is!...I’m not a great savior, but he is!...So who am I?...I’m just a nobody who knows somebody named Jesus, and he’s the great I AM!...He’s the great Lord, the great Savior, the great I AM, even when me and you ARE NOT.
Genesis 39-50
Louis Tamburro
Life doesn’t always go as you planned, but God still has a plan for your life. This doesn’t mean God will do things according to your plans, your timeline, or even within your lifetime. Sometimes we get to see the good of God’s plans unfolding within our lifetime, but sometimes we won’t see it until after this lifetime when we enter into eternity. Either way the story of Joseph is meant to give us a mountain view of life, so our hope will be restored knowing life doesn’t end in the valley for those who put their faith in God. There’s hope for the valleys of your life, and nothing proves that more than the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Genesis 27-30
Zack Casey
Man-made schemes are never greater than God-ordained plans.God is big enough to redeem any situation and any person, just like we see with Jacob and his family. This is a beautiful story of God’s sovereignty, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. He still loves you, and he can still use you. He can use even our worst mistakes to bring about his perfect plans. So give thanks for that, repent of your sin, and surrender your life to him, whether for the first time or the one-thousandth time.
Genesis 16:1-6
Louis Tamburro
Our unfaithfulness doesn’t change God’s faithfulness. Just as God was faithful to keep his promises to Abram, Sarai, and Hagar, he’ll keep his promises to us.
Genesis 11:1-9
Louis Tamburro
The Tower of Babel was a Tower of Disappointment, but today we are still trying to build our own towers. That will only lead to more towers of disappointment. We have to build our towers, our lives, and our plans on Jesus. So whose plans are you living for? Whose guidance and strength are you relying on daily to achieve those plans? Whose kingdom and glory are you concerned about growing more? You can build a tower of disappointment for yourself, or can build a tower of eternal significance with Jesus. You can build a tower of glory for your name, or build a tower of glory for Jesus’ name. Only one of those towers will be left standing in the end, and it won’t be yours or mine. Only Jesus’ kingdom and tower will be left standing in the end.
Genesis 6-9
Louis Tamburro
The flood of God’s wrath demonstrates the flood of God’s love, because it means God isn’t willing to let our lives be destroyed by evil forever. He loves us enough to punish evil, and He loves us enough to give us a way out of evil. That way is through faith and trust in Jesus.
Genesis 3
Louis Tamburro
Sin leads to the fall of humanity, but Jesus leads to the restoration of humanity. It’s easy to blame God and others for the world being so messed up, but the reality is we’ve contributed to the world being messed up too. Every time we sin, lose our temper, ignore somebody’s cry for help, indulge in our desire to be in control, we contribute to the problem. I love what G.K. Chesterton said when he was asked by a news reporter, “What’s wrong with the world?”He said, “What’s wrong with the world?...I am...Yours truly, G.K. Chesterton.”
The reality is we’ve all sinned, we’ve all contributed and still contribute to the damaging effects of sin in our lives, our relationships, and our world. We have no right blaming God or others when we’re a part of the problem. There’s a path to sin, a response to sin, and damages that come with our sin. But there’s also a cure to sin, and Jesus is that cure. So don’t hide, don’t blame, instead admit your sins, and turn to Jesus for restoration from your sins.
Scripture: Genesis 1
Pastor: Louis Tamburro
The beginning starts with God, and He brings light into the darkness. The beginning of The Story, the beginning ofcreation and life starts with God, and He brings light into the darkness. Genesis 1 teaches your life wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t formed by luck, it was formed by the very hands of God. Your life will never be complete, until you align your life with the God who created you. Your life will never be complete, until you do what you were meant to do, which is to align your life with Jesus and His Word. Only then will your life truly be formed, filled, full of light. It’ll be full of the light and life of Christ.
Psalm 119:1-4
Louis Tamburro
The big idea of the message is the bible gives information, that can lead to our transformation. The bible’s been transforming the lives of both skeptics and believers for years, and if you commit to reading and applying it this year, it’ll transform your life too. It’ll lead you into a deeper relationship with the God who came to save and transform your life, which is Jesus.
Matthew 2:1-18
Alex Robinson
When it comes to Jesus, the choice is either joyful, submissive worship or outright, selfish rejection.
Matthew 11:1-6
Louis Tamburro
Jesus is an approachable Savior. You can go to Jesus with your sins and sufferings, because Jesus is an approachable Savior. He’s an approachable Savior who put flesh on his love through his incarnate birth. He chose to enter our world to love us intimately, restore us fully, and save us eternally. Do you want to be forgiven of your sins? Do you want a fresh start, your life to be restored and put back together again from the damaging effects of sin? Do you want the joy void in your heart to be filled? Then stop looking for other saviors, and look for Jesus to be your Savior. Ask Jesus to be your Savior tonight not with a set of demands, but with an open hand and an open heart. As you sit in your own proverbial prison of sins and sufferings like John, the question to ask this Christmas Eve is do you believe Jesus is the one? Do you believe Jesus is your Savior...or will you keep looking for another?
Matthew 20:29-34
Emmanuel Bellon
Doing life is complicated and continues to be stressful and unpredictable. We experience difficult situations of hurts, pains, failures, brokenness, isolation, rebellion, and abandonment. The gift of Jesus' compassion produces mercy that no one else can give us in our times of trouble. Our comfort comes from the gift of Christ's compassion expressed in mercy to us.
There’s comfort for your life in the compassion of Christ.
Hebrews 7:23-27
Louis Tamburro
There’s peace for your life in the daily intercession of Christ. There’s so much peace for your life, your relationships, your career, your identity, your insecurities, your guilt, your life and eternal life, in the daily intercession of Christ. Life’s too hard to go at it alone, and heaven’s too pure for you to enter on your merits alone. You can try being your own attorney, advocate, intercessor, but eventually something will come your way that’ll break you in life, and your sins will prevent you from enjoying heaven in eternal life. You need a better attorney, a better advocate, a better intercessor for your life. Jesus is that better intercessor. So unwarp the gift of his intercession today by putting your faith in him and trusting he’s interceding for you. Trust he’s interceding for you, he’s praying for you at this very moment.
As theologianLouis Berkhof states, “It’s a consoling thought that Christ is praying for us, even when we’re negligent in our prayer life...That he’s presenting to the Father the spiritual needs which aren’t present in our minds, and often neglect to include in our prayers...That he prays for our protection against dangers we aren’t even conscious of, and against enemies that threaten us...He’s praying that our faith won’t cease, and that we’ll come out victorious in the end.” Let’s join Jesus in prayer this morning, seeking his daily intercession for our lives.
Matthew 11:28-30
Louis Tamburro
There’s rest for your burdens in life in the gentle heart of Christ. His heart is just as gentle and humble today as it was in the past. Whatever your burdens, worries, doubts, insecurities, failures, and sins are, they’re never bigger than the heart of Christ. So come to him daily. Come to him, pray to him, study him, reflect on him and his teachings saying “Lord I need you, I can’t live life without you. I’ve tried, but life’s far heavier without you, and far greater with you. I give you my yoke today, and yoke my life to you.”
City Awakening, whatever is yoking you, choking you, burdening your soul today, it’s because you’re yoked to something else instead of Jesus. Lay that yoke down, yoke yourself to Christ, and rest your soul in him. He’s the only one who can lighten the yoke you’re carrying, and won’t ever drive you into the ground. Why? Because he’s gentle and lowly in heart.
Isaiah 9:1-7
Zack Casey
This is an invitation to unwrap the gift that fulfills God’s promise, meets your needs, and exceeds your expectations. There is so much more to Jesus than his work on the cross. That’s not to downplay the significance of his death and resurrection. It means everything to us. But if that is all you know of Jesus then you are missing out on so much. You may know about the work of Jesus, but do you know the person of Jesus? God, in his infinite wisdom, knew that we didn’t just need a savior that could solve our sin problem. He knew that we needed a savior that could walk with us every step of the way in the aftermath our sin, that could be our friend, our counselor, our advocate, our empathizer, our comforter, and peace-giver. So this Christmas season, it’s time to pull Jesus out of the corner of your life and discover who this Messiah truly is. Unwrap this incredible gift from a loving God that has made himself available to you today.
Luke 10:25-37
Louis Tamburro
Generosity can be displayed through your time, talent, and treasures, but you’re going to fail at living that out. Both skeptics and believers are going to fail at being generous, fail at loving God and our neighbors, at the level we desire and Jesus requires. See the primary point of this parable is that we’re the lawyer. We’re all the lawyer, we’re all failing to love God and our neighbors with 100% dedication and perfection. We pass by people everyday, just like the lawyer, priest, and Levite. So none of us deserves eternal life in heaven, since none of us loves God and our neighbors at a level that’s worthy of heaven.
But the good news of the gospel is Jesus lived the perfect life we haven’t lived and died the death we deserved to die for our sins. The good news of the gospel is we’re really the person in the story who’s laying helpless in the ditch, half dead, needing somebody to save us. Our sins have robbed us, wounded us, left us for dead, but Jesus has compassion for us, stops to heal us, and raises us back to life. Jesus is the greater Samaritan who traveled The Bloody Road of the cross and gave up his entire life for us. City Awakening he saw you!...Jesus saw you...He saw youand couldn’t pass by you...He’s the greater Samaritan who saw you laying half dead in your sins, and came to save you. The more we see ourselves as the person on the side of the road in desperate need of a savior, and the more we see Jesus as the generous savior who’s willing to stop and save us, the more generous we’ll become. It’s because you can’t experience the kind of generosity the guy on the road experienced, and not be changed by it. A heart touched by grace, will extend grace...A heart touched by Jesus’ grace, will extend his grace...So let’s be generous with our time, talents, and treasures, because it’s Jesus who saw you, andwas generous to you.
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Louis Tamburro
The heart of the giver, the attitude of the giver, is more important than the amount of the giving. Like I said a few weeks ago, if a pastor talking about money is an issue for you, then give somewhere else. I say that not to give Christians an out on giving to the church. I say it because I want you to know we care more about the treasure in your heart than the treasure in your pockets. We care more about you treasuring Jesus in your heart and becoming more generous like Jesus, instead of becoming more greedy like our culture. So if this is that much of an issue for you, give somewhere else.
But if Jesus is your greatest treasure, then let him work on your heart. Let him work on your heart, on your attitude towards giving, especially your giving to the church. Look, if you treasure your family, you’ll make sacrifices for your family. If you treasure your family, you’ll give up your time, talents, and treasures for your family. It’s because you’ll make sacrifices for the things you treasure most in life, and since Jesus sacrificed his life for you, what’s that say about how he views you? Since Jesus lived, died, and rose again for you, what’s that say about how he views you? It means he treasures you. Jesus was willing to sacrifice his life for you, because he treasures you. The question is do you treasure him?. Do you treasure him, and will you give up your treasures for him?. Will you give him your heart, and become a cheerful giver?
2 Corinthians 2:10-9:2
Louis Tamburro
Giving benefits you, those around you, and the restoration of creation. The good news of the gospel is that all the treasures you’re pursuing in life require you to make sacrifices to obtain them, but Jesus is the one who sacrificed to obtain you. All the treasures you’re pursuing require you to purchase them, but Jesus is the one who died for your sins to purchase you. Your money, your career, your treasures won’t die for you, but Jesus died for you and invites you to participate in the restoration of his creation. The degree to which you view Jesus laying his life down as your greatest treasure, is the degree to which you’ll lay your wealth down as a lesser treasure. When Jesus becomes your greatest treasure, it frees you up to give generously for the restoration of his creation. Even if you can only give a little right now, that little can still make a lot of difference, when it’s combined with the rest of the church. Your little can still play a significant part in the restoration of God’s creation. So in the words of John Wesley, “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” In the words of Jesus, “It’s more blessed to give, than to receive.”
2 Corinthians 8:1-9
Louis Tamburro
Both skeptics and believers would agree it isn’t good for us to live in a world of greed. Imagine living in a society full of greed, a society where nobody’s ever generous with their time, talents, or treasures. Imagine living in a society where nobody’s ever willing to help when your car breaks down, help bring you meals when you’re sick, help when you’re struggling financially, emotionally, spiritually. Imagine living in a society full of greed, where nobody’s a good Samaritan. You wouldn’t want to live in a society like that, which tells you our lives, relationships, churches, society would be far better off if we grew in generosity instead of greed. But how? How do we grow in generosity instead of greed? It starts with our motivation. We give because Jesus gave.
Louis Tamburro, Kristen Wood, Emmanuel Bellon, Zack Casey
This discussion closes out our series on living as a graceful resistance. We address 9 questions that dig a little deeper into the topics we've addressed over the past few weeks, and hopefully give some more practical insight on how to live with conviction in a culture of compromise.
Genesis 2:15-17
Zack Casey
Our spiritual freedom should compel us to be good stewards of our religious freedoms. We are free to live as strangers and aliens in this world because we are no longer slaves to the world. Jesus said in John 8:36, “if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.” If we have placed our trust in Jesus, then we should never fear being enslaved by laws or men. The world is our temporary home, and it is a just a spec on the timeline of eternity. Because we aren’t bound to the systems of the world, we can and should stand unashamedly on the truth of God’s Word. And when that stance brings cancelling, mistreatment, or even persecution when we can remember the words of Peter, “14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them or be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 16 Yet do this with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame” (1 Peter 3:14-16).
Let’s pray that we can live as a graceful resistance in the world that has a vastly different agenda than we do. Let us count the cost of following Jesus and stand out with both boldness and compassion as we live with eternity in mind.
Genesis 1:27-28
Louis Tamburro
God’s design for humanity includes the beauty of gender. When God created human identity and gender He said it’s very good, but we distorted the image of God we were created in with our sin. Jesus came to die for our sins, to restore our distorted identity, and to give us eternal security in an eternal relationship with him. Our weary souls will never find rest, until we place our identity and life in Him. In the words of St. Augustine, “You have made us for yourself O Lord, and our heart is restless, until it rests in you.”
Romans 1:25-31
Louis Tamburro
You can still be loving, without affirming or alienating.
The cultural narrative is that Christians and same sex orientation people should either affirm or alienate each other. But Jesus gives a 3rd option, which is to love without affirming or alienating. Jesus held the highest view of scripture and holiness, while still loving those who didn’t. He shared meals with tax collectors, prostitutes, people alienated in society, and had a thief cry out to him for salvation on the cross. John 1:14 says he lived a life that was full of grace and truth! He lived a life that was loving, but not affirming or alienating. People always felt safe exposing their hearts to Jesus, and we should love people in such a way that they feel safe exposing their hearts to us. We should be loving like Jesus, without affirming or alienating like our culture.
Ephesians 2:11-16
Louis Tamburro
It's the gospel of grace that can heal our issues with race. Racism is a sinful offense against Jesus and his atoning work on the cross. Jesus died on the cross to open the door of salvation not just for whites, blacks, or latinos. It’s for all people so that whoeverbelieves in him will not perish, but shall have eternal life! So if you’re a skeptic believe Jesus died for your sins, and join the eternal family of God. If you’re a believer help us keep the unity we’ve been given, let the gospel heal your racial wounds, let the gospel tear down any dividing walls in your heart, and let’s show our city the gospel’s the better way. Our city and country’s looking for solutions in movements that’ll never provide long term transformation. But we have the hope of the gospel...We have the hope that God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but shall have eternal life. We’re capable of so much more than any other movement in the world, because we have a living Savior Jesus who can transform hearts and lives, allowing us to view each other not as enemies, but as family. Only the gospel of grace can heal our issues with race.
Genesis 2:15-17
Louis Tamburro
This isn’t a conclusion to this series, it’s a commissioning. We aren’t commissioning you to go to church, we’re commissioning you to be the church. We’re commissioning you to be the church in our city. We’re commissioning you to show people that Jesus is the better Savior. We’re commissioning you to live as instruments of grace using the everyday rhythms of your life. Jesus didn’t die for our sins to sit on his grace, he died for our sins to spread his grace. The cross didn’t just open the door for our salvation, it started the process for creational restoration. Salvation happens through faith in Jesus dying for our sins on the cross, creational restoration happens through living as instruments of grace like Jesus taught. So where is Jesus sending you? Is he sending you to reach middle school, high school, college students? Is he sending you to reach other clients, employees, business people? Is he sending you to reach a neighbor, a friend, a person in your family? Who is Jesus sending you to reach, and how does he want you to reach them?
There’s many more chapters of salvation and restoration to be written, and Jesus wants to write them through you! The question is will those of you who are skeptics follow Jesus as the author of your story, or keep trying to write your own story? Will those of you who are believers follow Jesus as the author of your story, by being more intentional in reaching those he wants you to reach, using the everyday rhythms of life? Jesus said in John 7:38, “Whoever believes in me as the Scripture says, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” City Awakening let’s believe Jesus is the better Savior, and flood the streets of our city with rivers of living water! Let’s believe Jesus is the better Savior not just for our lives, but also for the lives of those in our city. Let’s believe Jesus is the better Savior remembering this isn’t a conclusion, it’s a commissioning!
Geneses 1
Louis Tamburro
You can transform lives using your everyday rhythms of life. This world isn’t an accident, your life isn’t an accident, you being here at this church isn’t an accident. You’ve been wonderfully designed by God, and He wants all of us to enjoy Him and His creation like it was in Genesis 1. Jesus proved he wants to have a relationship with us when he died for our sins on the cross. He died for our sins so we could be restored to a right relationship with him, so we could enjoy him and the beauty of creation with him for all eternity. He wants us to invite others to do the same by eating, celebrating, and reCreating, so they can join us in saying “It’s good, it’s good, it’s very good...because Jesus is very good!”
Galatians 4:1-7
Ephesians 1:5-6
Zack Casey
When God’s family functions, it is a powerful force for transformation.People want to be a part of a community that cares for one another and shares their lives because of a commonly held belief. This is why Jesus established his church as the primary means for advancing the Kingdom of God on earth. God’s people living out their family identity naturally draws orphan children into the family.
Matthew 28:16-20
Louis Tamburro
We grow as disciples, as we go to make new disciples. Jesus is our great teacher and disciple maker who left the comfort of heaven, to suffer discomfort for us. He came to pour himself out on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, and to pour his Holy Spirit into us for the transformation of our lives. He invites all of us to walk with him for our own daily transformation, and for the transformation of the world. If you’re a skeptic accept this invitation by asking him to forgive you of your sins, and believe he died for your sins on the cross. It’ll make you a disciple of Christ and transform your entire life...If you’re a believer accept his invitation to grow as a disciple. Walk with him for daily transformation, and to help make new disciples for our city’s transformation. Accept his invitation to grow, as you go.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Louis Tamburro
Rely on Jesus instead of trying to be Jesus. There’s no better savior than Jesus. Your spouse, your kids, your career, education, athletics...none of it will save and change your life like Jesus. We’ve tried it all, chased it all, been duped by it all thinking other things can save and satisfy us better than Jesus but it never does. Jesus is a better savior. You need Jesus for what you’ve done, for what you’re doing, and for what you will do. You need Jesus to save and sustain you. You and I both need a better savior than ourselves, and Jesus is that better savior!
We need to remember this as we seek to live as instruments of grace in our city. We need to remember our job isn’t to be Jesus in the city, it’s to rely on Jesus as we live in the city. It’s to rely on Jesus in our everyday lives so his life changing power will work in us and help transform other people’s lives through us. Jesus has the power to raise the dead to life, which means he has the power to change your life and the life of your friends. He doesn’t just want to make your life better, he also wants to make their lives better, transforming us and our world into being more wonderful like him. So, let’s live as instruments of grace in our city. Let’s rely on Jesus in our everyday lives as everyday ministers. Let’s rely on Jesus because he did it better, does it better, and will make it all better. Let’s rely on Jesus because Jesus is better!
1 Peter 2:9-10
Louis Tamburro
We don’t go to church, we are the church! The church isn’t a building, and ministry isn’t only for the professionally trained. The church is a people and every believer is a minister. If you aren’t a follower of Jesus then repent of your sins, believe Jesus died for your sins, and he’ll turn your heart into laughing again. If you’re a believer, then live this week as an everyday minister who’s empowered by Jesus, to turn hearts in our city to laughing again. Remember you’re chosen, you’re sent, you are the church! The mission of Jesus is yours to participate in. The question is, will you participate in it?
Proverbs 3:5-12
Louis Tamburro
Growing in wisdom isn’t a sprint, it’s a process that takes time. It’s a process that can happen through the 4 daily practices of Trusting God, Reading God's Word, Letting Others Examine Your Life, and Learning from the Lord's Discipline. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus is the God that Solomon was pointing to. Jesus is the God who proved his unfailing love for us by dying for our sins on the cross. Jesus is the God we can lean on for wisdom, for growth in the valleys, for forgiveness of sins, for eternal life. Jesus is the God we can lean on to make our paths straight. It doesn’t say he’ll make your path easy, it says he’ll make your path straight. So instead of leaning on your own understanding lean on Jesus. He’ll not only make your path straight, he’ll make your path great, through the power of his resurrection.
Proverbs 4:23-27
Louis Tamburro
The desires in your heart, will influence the decisions in your life, so guard your heart. You and I both need to guard our hearts, because what fills your heart really can affect your life. Have you considered your steps? Have you considered your steps and where your life is headed? Is there trash in your life you need to step away from? Is there disordered loves in your life, that have caused you to replace Jesus in your heart? Have you considered if your steps are taking you closer to Jesus, or further away from Jesus? Have you considered if your steps are taking you closer to eternal heaven, or closer to eternal hell?
The good news of the gospel is it’s never too late to turn your life around. It’s never too late to turn your life around by repenting for your sins and disordered loves, and turning to Jesus for forgiveness of your sins. It takes 1 step to lead you down a path of sin, misery, and joyless discontentment. But it also takes 1 step towards Jesus to lead you down a path of forgiveness, restoration, and joyful contentment. So consider your steps, and then surrender your heart.
Proverbs, James 3, Matthew 15
Louis Tamburro
Use your words for helping not hurting to produce life not death. If you stumble this week don’t beat yourself up, instead ask for forgiveness and ask Jesus to keep transforming your heart. The good news of the gospel is Jesus who never stumbled, died for the sins of those who stumble. While dying on the cross his enemies yelled at him with hurtful words, and instead of unleashing hell with his words he unleashed heaven saying, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” He unleashed heaven to the very people who stumble, which includes us. In response to his sacrificial love, let’s do what no other created thing can do. As humans we’ve been uniquely created to do what no other created thing can do, which is to praise our Creator with words. So, let’s use our tongues for what they were created to do, which is to praise Jesus, and then let’s strive to use our words in helpful encouraging ways that reflects the great love of Jesus. Let’s stand and worship Jesus.
Proverbs 7
Zack Casey
The goal for us is not just to put an end to our lust, but it is to turn our hearts from lust for someone or something into worship of Jesus. All sin stems from the worship of false gods. Paul Tripp says that “Sin causes us to assign to ourselves the wisdom, strength, and righteousness we do not have. Sin causes us to dethrone God and enthrone ourselves.” We take Jesus off the throne and put ourselves, someone else, or something else in his place. That’s why Solomon said at the end of Ch. 7 in verse 25, “Don’t let your heart turn aside to her ways. don’t stray onto her paths.”
Today I want to invite you to turn your heart back to Jesus. You don’t need to just stop looking at pornography or lusting after someone you can’t have. You need to start looking more at Jesus. Only he can fill that longing in your soul, only he can give you everlasting satisfaction, only Jesus is worthy of our worship, and he has made himself available. Lust says you have to have what’s in front of you, but the grace that comes through Jesus says you are free to have something much better…and that is Jesus himself.
Proverbs 29:18, 30:1-6 and 11-14
Pastor Alex Robinson
Not all wisdom is created equal; true wisdom comes from God’s Word.These verses we looked at today are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Bible’s affirmation of itself as the source of God’s wisdom for man. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, and every single verse is about the power, beauty, and benefit of God’s Word for us. 2 Timothy 3:10-17 tells us that not only is Scripture breathed out by God but that it is useful for things like correction, growth, rebuke, wisdom for salvation, and leading us to be complete followers of Jesus. Hebrews 4:12 compares it to a two-edged sword that penetrates through all of our pretense to the true thoughts and intentions of our heart. We live in a world that is desperately trying to define its own identity and set its own boundaries if not remove boundaries all together. But we have ready access to God’s time tested and proven wisdom that teaches us about those things. And the result of learning from God is an understand of who God is, who we are, and how we are called to live in order to bring about God’s will and our ultimate joy and happiness.
Proverbs 18:18-19; 15:18; 25:18-19; 6:6-19
Alex Robinson
The Big Idea for today is that we need wisdom for relationships, because how we relate to each other is practice for how we relate to God.
Our personal relationship aren’t just places for us to have fun or pass our time here on Earth. They are the places where we put to the test what we believe and know about God. They are the areas that we are called to live out the mission of God. While there are a lot of things that are important in the world that we can work on, Jesus’ final command to His personal disciples (his friends and family) wasn’t to learn everything possible or find the cure for diseases or end all wars or invent great technology or any other great causes in the world. His final command was to go and make disciples. It was all about going and living out the true purpose of Christian relationships.
Proverbs 13:21-22, 24
Zack Casey
Men have a high and weighty calling as Fathers that includes the roles of Disciple, Accountant, and Disciplinarian. These are roles we cannot fulfill on our own. We have to rely on Jesus to guide us and the Holy Spirit to strengthen us. We should start every day on our knees asking for wisdom and for courage for this role. I tell my kids that courage is doing the right thing even when it’s hard. Dad, we have to have courage to fulfill these three roles. It is not easy, but it’s definitely worth it.
Proverbs 5:15-19
Louis Tamburro
Sex is most pleasurable, when we don’t undervalue or overvalue it. When we undervalue or overvalue sex it eventually robs us of pleasure, but when we treat it as the good gift God intended it to be it’ll bring us more pleasure. If you’ve sinned sexually, I want you to know Jesus is willing to forgive you. If you’ve been hurt sexually, Jesus is willing to heal you. If you’ve been struggling with sinful sexual desires, Jesus is willing to continue walking with you, so you’ll eventually see the beauties of his love are more satisfying than your sin.
The good news of the gospel is Jesus allowed his body to be scared on the outside, so you can see the true beauty of his love, receive his love, and be changed by his love on the inside. He did this not because you’re beautiful, but to make you beautiful. There’s sins and wounds in all our lives that Jesus wants to heal us from, and his resurrection proves he has the power to heal whatever sin has broken, including whatever sexual sin has broken. Jesus diedfor our sins which means forgiveness is available, and he rose from the dead which means healing is available. Will you receive his forgiveness, receive his healing, receive his love...and let him satisfy your soul?
Proverbs 30:7-9
Louis Tamburro
The big idea is there’s more freedom in scattering your wealth than gathering your wealth. Generosity will bring you freedom but being greedy will bring you misery. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ever gather, because you need to gather to have something to scatter. But if all you do is gather and never scatter, then your wealth will be an enslaving prison to your soul. If you don’t scatter, you’ll be enslaved by the things you gather. The key to unlock that prison is generosity. It’s to receive the generosity of Jesus, loosen your grip on your wealth, and scatter some of what you’ve gathered. Every week you have a chance to scatter whatever wealth Jesus tells you to scatter, by giving to the church and the mission of Jesus in our city. Jesus loved and gave for you; will you love and give for him? Jesus scattered the riches of his love for you, will you scatter the riches of your wealth and love for him? Will you enjoy the freedom of scattering, or the enslavement of gathering?
Proverbs 10:4-5
Louis Tamburro
Working diligently is productive, but is it productive for the right reasons? It is if you’re working diligently for Jesus. If you want your work to be eternally productive, if you want it to be fulfilling, then work diligently for Jesus. You’ll still have thorns, but those thorns won’t break you with Jesus beside you. Just as Jesus endured the thorns of the cross, he’ll make sure you endure the thorns of life. If he’s already endured the thorns of the cross for you, why are you trying to endure the thorns of life, work, and sin without him?
Proverbs 14:17a, 29-30; 15:18; 16:32; 19:11
Louis Tamburro
Anger isn't always a bad thing. It's using anger unwisely that makes it a bad thing.
Proverbs 1:8-9
Louis Tamburro
We need wisdom for every role in the family. We need wisdom and the help of Jesus for every role in the family because I can promise you this: you’ll mess things up regardless of your role in the family. You’ll mess up marriage, not loving your spouse as you should, even throwing daggers with your words. You’ll mess up parenting, not loving your children as you should, losing your patience, snapping at them instead of patiently talking with them. You’ll mess up childhood, not loving your parents as you should, causing them a lot of unnecessary worry, grief, and hardship. We’ll mess all these different roles up, but the good news is there’s always grace at the cross that can redeem and resurrect both you and your family. The issue in all our families is sin, the solution is always the grace of Jesus who died for our sins. Your spouse isn’t your savior, your parents aren't your savior, your children aren’t your savior, getting married and having kids isn’t your savior. There’s only one Savior, his name is Jesus, and he’s the giver of life, the perfector of life, the beginning of wisdom for you and your family life. He’s willing to walk this lifelong journey with you, and he proved it by being willing to die for you. He sacrificially committed his life to you, will you commit your life and family life to him?
Proverbs 2
Alex Robinson
The Benefits of Wisdom are not supposed to lead us to despair when we fail, but to give us the hope and joy needed to face the various challenges that life in a fallen, sinful world will throw at us. I implore you today to ask for God’s wisdom and forgiveness found in Jesus either to help you grow even closer to him or for the very first time today.
Louis Tamburro
Proverbs 1:20-33
Eventually God’s wisdom will make the world’s wisdom look foolish. Some of you are skeptics and you’ve been living out of touch with reality, you’ve been living with a distorted view of reality. Some of you are believers and you’ve slipped out of touch with reality, facing everyday life without seeking the help of Jesus. But both skeptics and believers have a choice. You can build your life on the foolishness of the world’s wisdom, which leads to sandcastle kingdoms that’ll eventually be washed away by the storms of life or you can build your life on the solid rock of Christ and his wisdom, which leads to an eternal kingdom that’ll never be washed away by the storms of life. Which will you choose for your everyday life?
Louis Tamburro
Proverbs 1:1-7
We’re faced with choices every day, and some of those choices are small such as what should I wear or what should I eat? But some of those choices are big, such as where should I go to college or what career should I choose? Should I quit my job, or keep my job? Should I date this person, break up with this person, marry this person? Everyday we’re faced with choices.
Now it’s important to make wise choices because foolish choices can be destructive for your life. Every choice is like a fork in the road, it leads down a path that’ll end with either good or bad consequences. If you’re a believer in Christ you know things will eventually turn out for your good in the next life, but you can still make foolish choices that don’t bring glory to Christ and leads to bad consequences in this life. If you’re a skeptic of Christianity you know you need to make wise choices too, and if you stick around long enough you’ll find wisdom in this series that’ll be applicable for your life too. Let that wisdom point you to trust in the very God that wisdom is coming from. Proverbs is a book that can give us practical wisdom for everyday life
Wisdom begins with knowing the God of infinite wisdom. So what’s it gonna be for your life? Will you find greater wisdom and joy in following your heart and facing the realities of everyday life on your own, or by following Jesus and facing those realities with Jesus? Will you walk without Jesus in foolishness and death, or walk with Jesus in wisdom and joy? Which will you choose for your everyday life?
Luke 24:36-53 - Louis Tamburro
The resurrection guarantees we’ll have infinite pleasures beyond this life. It’s the great news of Easter! The great gift Jesus came to give us! The very thing we’re all longing for, which is to experience pleasure and to have those pleasures last! All your sights, feelings, tastes, human senses and pleasures will never last with atheism, naturalism, or Eastern Religious Spirituality. All your human senses and pleasures will never last without a physical bodily resurrection. They’ll only last through faith in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection! So, if you’re a believer let Easter remind you that you don’t have to keep chasing a bucket list, and you don’t have to feel you’re missing out, because there’s infinite pleasures to enjoy with Christ. If you’re a skeptic put your faith in Jesus today, and your human senses and pleasures will not only continue, they’ll be heightened as you get to explore a marvelous eternity with Jesus!
Speaker: Zack Casey
Scripture: John 4:1-42
Big Idea: God’s heart is one of compassion not condemnation, therefore we (his people) should display that heart to our city.
4 Lessons From Jesus' Interaction with the Woman at the Well:
- Jesus was physically tired but spiritually ready.
- Jesus was drawn to the need instead of being repelled by it.
- Jesus offered hope as he exposed the true need.
- Jesus loved one which opened the door to love many.
Todd Unzicker - Associate Pastor, The Summit Church - Raleigh, NC
Genesis 6:5–8
Here is the question I want you to consider, from multiple angles: Are you all-in in the mission of God with your life? Not just are you committed to the church on the weekend, but with the biggest parts of your life.
I ask myself, "Am I for the mission of God or the mission of Todd?"
Or think of it like this: If you have a breakfast of bacon and eggs, both the pig and the chicken contributed to your breakfast, but in different ways. The chicken made a commitment, but the pig was “All-In”.
Which are you?
Genesis 6:5–8
[5] The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. [6] And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. [7] So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them. [8] But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
People encounter stories of judgment in the Bible like this and they ask, “Was this really necessary?” Verse 5 says that God saw that every intention of the human heart was only evil continually (6:5; again in 8:21).
There is an interesting wordplay in Hebrew: The word used to describe human wickedness in vvs. 12–13 is the same word used to describe what God does to the wicked, “mash-heet,” and it means “destruction.” Sinful humans are destroying God’s good creation; so God is going to destroy the destroyers. He does so out of holiness and love, the same way that if you love someone who is being eaten up with cancer you hate the cancer destroying the body and go to radical measures (like chemotherapy) to eradicate them from the cancer.
Verse 6 says that human wickedness grieved God “to his heart.” The word for “grieved” there is the same word used elsewhere in the Old Testament to describe what an abandoned wife feels (Isaiah 54:6)....a soul-wrenching, despairing grief.
So a holy God of perfect love cleansed the earth of sin. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord—undeserved kindness—and he preserved Noah and his family as a representative of the human race through whom he would repopulate the earth.
Now you say, “Well, was this solution effective?” The short answer is, “no.”
Noah screws up his own family within one chapter of being off of the ark. By the end of chapter 9, his family looks like an episode of the Jerry Springer show. In 8:21, the author repeats that the intentions of the human heart were still only evil continually, which tells you that a greater kind of salvation would be necessary, one that would go to the core of the human heart, which is the real meaning of this story that we’ll get to in a minute.
But let me first draw out 4 points about Noah I want you to see:
1. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
What was special about Noah? Nothing. He simply heard the voice of God and he responded. Vs. 9 tells you he was a righteous man. Why was he righteous? Because he responded to God’s offer of salvation. Period. That was it.
- Noah demonstrated God’s salvation to others.
Noah was chosen not only for salvation; but to build an ark which would be a vehicle of salvation to whoever would listen. That would end up being only his family, but the point is that God’s grace toward him was not intended for him only. He was to be a channel of grace toward others.
- Noah radically changed his life because of God’s grace.
After this announcement, he could not go on with “life as normal.” Imagine the difference from this point on in how Noah saw the world: Every person he saw was headed for destruction. The house he had built wouldn’
Our failures are never beyond the restoring grace of Jesus. Your sins and failures, my sins and failures are never beyond the restoring grace of Jesus. It doesn’t matter how big your sin is, how big your failure is, how big of a mess you’ve made out of your life, you can always start over! You can always have a fresh start, because there’s always a Ch. 21 with Jesus! There’s always a chapter of restoration with Jesus!
Do you want to be restored? Do you want to be restored from sin, restored from failure, restored in your relationship with Jesus? The same question Jesus asked Peter is the same question I’ll ask you: Do you love Jesus? Do you love Jesus? Your restoration will begin if you answer “Yes Jesus, I do love you,” and your restoration will continue growing into an abundantly joyful life the more you follow Jesus’ voice. Peter states in1 Peter 5:10, “The God of all grace...will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you...” Say yes to Jesus, let the restoration begin, and never forget there’s always a Ch. 21 with Jesus.
John 20:1-31
The big idea is that Christianity started with skeptics who were changed by the resurrection. The reason John, the author, tells us all this is so we’ll believe and have our lives changed by the resurrection too. He wants those of you who are skeptics to think, reason, theorize about the empty tomb, but then place your faith in Jesus so your life will be changed too. He wants those of you who are believers to think, reason, theorize about the empty tomb, so your faith will be strengthened and changed by the resurrection too. He’s saying if you believe Jesus rose from the dead, if you place your faith in him as your Lord and Savior like the disciples did, then you’ll have access to a living Savior! He’s a living Savior who cares about your tears, fears, and doubts. He’s a living Savior who can give you healing when you’re hurting, peace and stability when you’re scared, and depth for your doubts. He’s a living Savior you can pray to about anything, anytime, anywhere. He’s a living Savior who can give you an eternally joyful life in him.
Remain faithful to Jesus like Joseph and Nicodemus, even in the silence of Jesus. Does it feel like Friday? Are you living in the despair of Friday, perhaps even feeling the grief and despair of a sin you committed? There’s deliverance at the cross because Jesus died for your sins on the cross. He’ll forgive you if you ask him too. Does it feel like Saturday? Are you experiencing grief, unanswered prayers, silence from Jesus even though you’ve been crying out to Jesus? Let his love on the cross remind you that he hasn’t abandoned you, and let his resurrection remind you that deliverance is coming for you. Does it feel like Sunday? Are you in a season not of despair and silence, but of hope and joy? Praise Jesus for giving you a season of hope and joy, and help encourage others who are experiencing a difficult season.
Whether you’re a skeptic, a believer, feeling the silence of Jesus or not, listen to Jesus speaking to you today. Listen to Jesus speaking through our study of the silent tomb. Listen to him speaking to you personallysaying “I love you so much that I died for your sins on the cross, and I rose again to prove there really is joyful deliverance coming beyond the silence of the tomb.” There’s joyful deliverance coming for all who trust in his name. So trust in Jesus today. Trust he has a plan, he’s fulfilling that plan, and there’s great rejoicing included in that plan. Let’s remain faithful to Jesus like Joseph and Nicodemus, even in the silence.
1 Peter 4:1-16
Being an exile is not about surviving a sentence, but stewarding your salvation.
1 Peter 3:13-16We’re everyday ministers, with an everyday ministry. We’re to view every day as an opportunity to declare and display our hope.
1 Peter 2:4-12Ministering Exiles view their identity in Jesus as their fuel for everyday ministry.
Holy living isn’t a suggestion, it’s a command! We’re to walk in holiness, as Holy Exiles. But, it has to start and continue with a relationship with Jesus, because he’s the only one that’s holy. He’s the only God who came to live a...
1 Peter 1:1-9 When you discover your identity in Jesus, you become a Joyful Exile, a citizen of heaven who’s living in the world for greater eternal purposes than the citizens of the world. You become a Joyful Exile who’s received the...
Philippians 4:4-13 Jesus is the Prince of Peace, who can give you the gift of peace. The message of Christmas is about the incarnational gift of Jesus entering our world to save us and give us a much greater, more stable peace and joy, than the...
John 18:15-27 Peter denied Jesus three times. He thought that we was willing to die for Jesus, but he wasn't prepared for the spiritual battle he would face. But in the end Peter was broken and repentant. He remembered the words of Jesus and...
John 18:1-14 Jesus restrained his power, to release his grace. During the betrayal Jesus stepped forward voluntarily, with power, with grace to save those whom he loves, including you! The gospel’s an invitation for those who aren’t...
John 17:1-26 There’s always hope for your life, knowing Jesus prayed for your life. What an amazing, loving Savior we have that he would be willing to stop and pray for us just before he’s about to go to the cross. Just before he’s about to...
The struggles that you have, the pain that you feel, the weakness that you suffer with, they don’t negate or impede how God can use you or work in your life. They’re actually kind of the point. They’re basically God’s way of showing off how...
In this conclusion of our Instruments of Grace Series, we hear a concluding thought from Romans 12, as well as some practical insight and discussion from our staff.
Romans 12:1-8 Some of the greatest Christians in biblical history felt this incapable! They weren’t perfect people with perfect gifts, they were imperfect people with unique gifts like us. God doesn't need perfect people with perfect gifts, he...
2 Corinthians 5:11-21 You have a great treasure of hope in Jesus, but you also have a great ministry. It’s to live as an instrument of grace, by being an ambassador for Christ. So what’s your ministry in marriage? It’s to be an ambassador....
We have such a great treasure of hope for our hurting world, and we want City Awakening to be a church that pleases Jesus by spreading that treasure of hope. We want to be a church that helps to bring much hope and joy to the people in our city by...
John 15:18-16:4 The persecution of Christians flows from the rejection of Christ, but the Holy Spirit gives the power for perseverance. We can expect some kind of rejection or even hatred from those that don’t know Jesus, but we don’t have to...
John 15:1-17 The people we spend time with influence our thoughts and actions. Jesus taught his disciples to remain in him. He saw them as friends, not slaves. In order to continue to bear fruit, they would need to live with him, not just for him....
John 14:27-31 We want peace, we want freedom from hardships, and we spend most our lives trying to avoid hardships. But it’s inevitable! Eventually we’ll faces hardships. Eventually every Christian, non-Christian, everybody that breathes faces...
Galatians 1:1-10 What makes Jesus such joyful gospel news is that he came to be a greater King and give us a greater Kingdom. He came to be a greater warrior and to defeat our greatest enemy which is death. He came to our hurting world to be more...
Mark 5:21-43 Let your prayers reflect the compassion of the cross, and the power of the resurrection. What you and I need, what we all need more than anything is to pray to Jesus, to ask him to lead us by the hand, and to trust he knows what he’s...
The gospel can help motivate us to display God’s grace toward others, and it’ll affect every relationship we have! Think about the effects it’d have if more grace was displayed in your marriage. Think about the effects it’d have if more grace...
Deuteronomy 6:4-25 Big Idea: God Is Enough. Acceptance is about our position before God, while approval is about our posture towards God. When we know we can’t earn God’s love and acceptance because we only have that in Jesus, that motivates...
Colossians 3:1-3Big Idea: You're accepted not by your works, but by the works of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:1-10Big Idea: The gospel changes us not through religious activity, but through love.
John 8:31-591. Recognize sin for what it is.2. Realize we are all somebody's child.3. Read the Word to get to know the Good Father.
John 7:1-24; Don’t judge by appearances, get to know the person behind the appearances.
John 6:22-71; Satisfaction in life isn’t found in something, it’s found in someone. It’s found in Jesus.
John 15:12-15; 1 John 3:14-18; 1 Tim 6:17-19; The generosity of God should be manifested in the generosity of His people.
John 15:11-16; If you abide in Jesus, you’ll align with his mission, and live with a missional purpose.
John 15:1-8, Galatians 5:16-25; The more you abide in Jesus, the more you’ll desire to be fruitful, instead of sinful.
John 15:1-11; Both Christians and non-Christians have certain things they want to change about their lives, but their own will power has proved powerless to change. Today Jesus is gonna teach us where the power to change and transform our lives...
John 10:1-10; Jesus came to give us an abundant life, but we trade that in for an abundant lie. We think we can find lasting joy in other things, rather than Jesus.
John 6:1-15; Jesus is not simply another profit. He is the Messiah, Savior of All, Redeemer, the “King of Kings”, God With Us, The Bread of Life.
John 5:31-47; The claims of Jesus, are backed by many witnesses. You can trust him and his word.
John 5:18-30; Jesus claimed equality with God, which means it matters what you believe about him.
With a miracle of healing, Jesus shows that he cares not only about our physical needs but especially our spiritual need for salvation.
Acts 9:1-20; 2 Timothy 1:1-5; 2 Timothy 2:1-2; We want to transform not just individuals, but generations.
Mark 10:35-45; 1 John 1:1-4. We want to transform from being selfish, to being more selfless like Jesus.
We apologize for the audio quality this week Mark 14:26-31; 66-72, John 21:9-17, Acts 4:5-13. Like the example of Peter, we want to transform into having a bolder, stronger faith.
John 4:43-54 Some people want to be fans of Jesus, but not friends of Jesus. They want to be consumers, not followers.
John 4:27-42; Today’s text can help the non-Christian see that Jesus doesn’t tell his followers to be pushy, and it can also help the Christian to not turtle up. The title of today’s message is Come and See, and here’s the big idea....
John 3:22-36 You have a special role in Gods story, but it isn't the lead role. Jesus must increase, so we must decrease.
John 2:12-25 Jesus gets angry over religious corruption, but he is zealous for genuine worship.
John 1:35-51. For those of us that would confess to be Christians this passage gives us clear insight into how we can follow Jesus in an authentic way. If you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian or you’ve still got some questions about what all...
There’s certain things in life that are impossible, and no matter how hard you try or how smart you are, you simply can’t accomplish it. You and I weren’t designed to be the savior of our lives and world. Eventually all of us will face the...
Due to technical difficulties this message did not record. We apologize for the inconvenience! You can find the full manuscript here:(https://cityawakening.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Jesus-Is-Our-Light-.pdf)John 1:4-13
Esther 7:1-10 Esther's actions saved herself and her people, but Jesus sacrificed himself for anyone who believes in him.
God has placed you where you are to help relieve other people from their despair. But Jesus is the greater mediator.
You can plan your way through life, but there is only one plan that is certain. Jesus has the greater plan.
Esther 2:1-18 The worlds view of love leads to darkness, but the greater love that Jesus offers works through the hard times of life.
Esther 1:10-22 It is never a great kingdom when sinners sit on the throne, but Jesus is a greater king with a greater kingdom.
Romans 12:9-15 Authentic community is not fake and isolated. It is genuine and communal.
Proverbs 15 Be careful to use your technology to lead people toward Jesus and not away from him.
Ephesians 1:3-10 Jesus is willing to love us despite the identity insecurities we have.
Galatians 6 In Christ we are free to live differently. Our old ways don't matter as a new creation.
Galatians 5:16-26 Jesus gives us the freedom to resist the destructive desires of our flesh.
Galatians 5:1-15 Jesus gives us great freedom. As christians, we have to remember to walk in that freedom.
Galatians 4:21-31 With human initiative comes brokenness and slavery, but with God's divine initiative comes miracles and freedom.
Galatians 3:26-4:7 Jesus can free us to unite us with each other. He will break down all barriers to do so.
Galatians 3:15-26; Jesus can free us from the imprisonment of God’s laws to a place of trusting and delighting in the good of God’s laws.
Galatians 3:1-14, Jesus can give us the power to change what our self-reliance has proved powerless to change.
Galatians 2:11-21; Jesus can free us from performance approval, especially when it comes to working to gain the approval of God.
Galatians 1:11-2:10; Paul claims that the Gospel he preached was the only true way to salvation and freedom, so any deviation from the message of Jesus giving himself on our behalf, whether addition or subtraction, leads to a fraudulent gospel.
Galatians 1:1-10; There are plenty of messages that are appealing to your soul. But, only the message of Jesus can eternally free your soul.
Luke 10:38-42. Busyness will rob you of some of the greater joys of life, if you don’t prioritize your time.
Genesis 2:15; 3:17-19; Colossians 3:23-24 We have more technology than ever before in history, yet we’re still living in one of the most overworked periods in history. Some of it’s because employers are squeezing more productivity out of...
Luke 6:1-11; You don’t need a manual on how to rest. You need to address the obstacles, that are hindering you from resting.
Everybody needs rest. You need a weekly rhythm of rest to relieve you from the suffocating effects of busyness.
John 3:16 The birth of Jesus was an act of love. Jesus came to save you, not to point a finger at you.
John 3:16 Death is scary for many. As Christians there is no need to fear death, because we know that God sent his son for us.
John 3:16 God provides for our needs, regardless of the situations we are facing in life.
John 3:16; Hosea 2:2-23. God continues to offer us and our undeserving world, the gift of Jesus. Just like He offered His love to the undeserving Israelites, in the story of Hosea.
Psalms 32 It is important to reflect on what we are thankful for. Are you thankful for things that could perish tomorrow, or are you thankful for things that are eternal?
Psalms 23 Jesus took all of our sin on himself so he could become our shepherd. It is our responsibility to live out that truth.
Psalms 136:1-26 God's love is like an overflowing well that never runs dry. It is steadfast and eternal.
Acts 5:1-11. Greed reveals what’s treasured in our hearts... When we’re being greedy, it’s revealing what’s really treasured in our hearts.
Jonah 3:1-10From prophet to pardon, every measure of salvation is a function of God's immeasurable grace.
This is a backup recording due to technical difficulties with our soundboard. We apologize for the quality. Jonah 1:17-2:10. God gives his grace in every situation. Even in the belly of a fish.
This is a backup recording due to technical difficulties with our soundboard. We apologize for the quality. Jonah 1:4-17. There’s grace in the storm. Sometimes God will send you a storm in life, but there’s grace in the storm.
Trying to run from God is like running on a treadmill. You can run hard, but it will get you no where.
Parenting is difficult. Nobody has it figured out. Demonstrating a gospel centered life is the best way we can raise our children. Although, it is not only the parent's responsibility to raise children- it is also the church's.
Everyone has their faults and flaws. Marriage will bring those flaws out. The question is, How can we cultivate a lasting marital friendship that will stand beside those flaws?
Sex is not a god to be worshiped, or gross and to be avoided. Sex is a Gift from God to be enjoyed as he intended it.
"When we’re single, and for those who are currently single, we tend to have unrealistic expectations of marriage. We tend to over desire or under desire marriage. We tend to crave marriage like an idol. This will rob married and single people of...
You can't lose God's love by your immorality, or gain it by your morality. God's love is freely given...
The bad news is, our situation is far worse than we could have expected. The good news is that the solution is far better than we could have expected.
God doesn't hate us, God loves us. He is very much approachable when we sin. God Draws near to those who are far from him.
If you believed Jesus would return today, how would that change how you live? We know Jesus will return; we don't know when. We have to be prepared.
The question that all of us must face today is similar. In light of all that our culture tells us that whatever you want to do to make you happy is the most important. Whether it deals with sexual identity and fulfillment, our rights to view and do...
No one wants to spend time doing something that doesn't make a difference. Sometimes prayer can seem like one of those things...but is it? What if prayer actually changes things? How would it change the way you pray?
Everybody faces suffering and hardships in life, and everybody has their breaking points. There’s only so much suffering, hardships, burdens we can carry before eventually we reach our breaking point and collapse.
We can make all the plans in life we want, but we’re not guaranteed tomorrow, we’re not guaranteed that we’ll get to see those plans through. The only plans that are guaranteed in life are God’s plans, so we need to align our plans with...
"What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not...
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:17-18
Your tongue is small, but it’s influence is great. It can either cause great destruction, or great encouragement.
Jesus is our King, he’s given us a Royal Law, and his Royal Law is for us to love people not judge people...We’re to love people not judge people.
Our desire for equality is an ethic that comes not from society, but from God. The bible teaches nobody deserves to sit on a throne except Jesus. So don’t show partiality, instead show love to everybody.
James 1:19-27. Humility precedes hearing. Hearing precedes doing. Doing is the fruit of the Gospel.
Everybody goes through trials, everybody has different sources of wisdom they use when facing their trials, and Jesus’ little brother James teaches us that the God of Christianity’s willing to give us wisdom for our trials.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces...
We can believe the resurrection is true, therefore it has incredible implications for our lives today!
Matthew 6:16, “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
The first thing Jesus teaches us in The Lord's Prayer is that our God is an approachable and loving Father.Matthew 6:5-9
Jesus is our primary example of love, he’s our primary example of what it means to “walk in love.” We need to love as Christ loved us. We can never fully love like Christ loved us, because we can never love as perfect as Jesus did, and our...
Ephesians 5:8-9, "for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true)"
Ephesians 4:30-32, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another,...
We all have certain things like that, certain thoughts, behaviors, and sins we want to change about our lives, what are those things for you?..Whatever those things are, society’s taught you the power to change those things comes from within you,...
The Bible speaks to need to belong, and it also speaks to our need to contribute to something bigger than ourselves. In Ephesians 2-4, Paul explains how each one of us can be a small part of big plan.
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in...
A Christian has faith that God exists, an atheist has faith God doesn’t exist, both have certain degrees of faith to believe. We have to have a willingness to examine our faith and our doubts. Nobody wants to invest their lives in a faith that...
Both Christians and non-Christians alike celebrate the Christmas season by having Christmas parties. We have staff parties, school parties, small group parties, friends and family parties, ugly sweater parties, we have all kinds of parties full of...
Both Christians and non-Christians use Christmas lights to celebrate the Christmas season, but those lights can have even greater significance in Jesus.
What is hell, and why would God create people if He knew they’d sin, suffer, and go to hell?
Luke 18:18-27; 19:1-10 - A generous giver has a heart changed by the gospel. What does your heart say about you?
We tend to think having more money will bring us contentment, because if we had more money we’d be able to buy and do the things we feel are missing in our lives. But in today’s text Jesus is gonna teach us why that isn’t true, and he’s gonna...
Our lives don’t have a long shelf life, so we need to know what we’re working for and towards so we don’t reach the end of our life full of regret still asking, “Why was I running? Why was I running so hard, and what was I running so hard for...
Most of us are living these fast paced lives that leave us feeling stressed out, burnt out, and flat out worn out by the end of the day, to the point where we don’t get to even enjoy the day. God gifts us with moments of joy every day, but we’re...
The book of Ecclesiastes teaches us that our very life is a gift, and that we have to receive it with humility.
We want you to learn to enjoy today, as we look forward to tomorrow, regardless of the season of life you’re in, and every single one of us is in a season. Some of you are in a good season, some a bad season, but every one of us is in a season, and...
We’re starting a new series today on the book of Ecclesiastes called “Life Under The Sun.” This series is about helping us to enjoy today, as we look forward to tomorrow. We’re gonna study the entire book of Ecclesiastes in large chapters,...
We need to have a marathon mindset when it comes to reaching those who are far from God.
Everybody needs relationships. The bible teaches us in Genesis 2:18 that “it’s not good for us to be alone,” and countless studies have been done to prove this to be true, to prove that everybody needs relationships.
Mark 4:1-20 This sermon looks at the parable of the sower. Only one of the four soils was suitable for growth. The other three were not cultivated. Tough soil needs cultivation. We need to cultivate the hearts of people far from God if we want...
Acts 28:17-31 No one likes a "to be continued". We immediately want to know what happens next. Yet, the book of Acts ends in this way. This sermon seeks to point out that we, the church, are the "to be continued". The message continues through...
Acts 21:17-26;22:30-23:11What pushes you to the breaking point? This sermon looks at how Paul got pushed to his breaking point and the hope that he found after failure. Because Jesus is with you, you can take courage and run the race.
Acts 21-26What is it that makes your life distinguishable and different than everyone else? Our stories make us who we are. Everyone’s story is a witness to something. Let yours be Jesus.
Acts 20:1-21:14Life is hard and we need determination. Pastor Zack gives an overview of the last years of the Apostle Paul’s life and ministry with an exhortation to give it our all to the very end.
Acts 18:1-22The more time we spend with people, the more we tend to take them for granted. Our relationships can become more functional than personal. Your relationship with Jesus isn’t just functional, it’s personal.
John 4We are all the woman at the well. Jesus’ living water heals our hurt hearts and moves us to the hardest places.
Acts 17:16-34 Whether you’re a Christian or not, we all have our moments where we find ourselves pursuing certain things we think will bring us happiness and contentment. Our hearts are like idol factories. They keep producing idols that will...
Psalm 78 There’s been a major shift over the years that has been tearing down fatherhood and manhood. It’s a shift that’s affecting us all. Psalm 78 reminds us that we are to remind the next generation of who God is and what He has done. A...
Acts 16:11-40 This chapter focuses on Paul's trip to Macedonia. We see that he is having gospel conversations with 3 different kinds of people: The Spiritually Interested, Spiritually Trapped, and Spiritually Disinterested. In this sermon, Pastor...
Ephesians 1:17, 3:17-19, 6:18-20 Paul’s most oft repeated prayer for his friends was that they would be led by the Spirit into a deep and intimate knowing of God. What you find deeply embedded in the book of Ephesians is Paul’s heart for the...
Acts 15:1-16:5 Within every relationship there’s this tension between law and grace, it even exists within the church. Some people and churches drift towards law, some drift towards grace, but there needs to be a healthy balance of both. It’s...
Acts 13-14 The church at Antioch sent off Barnabas and Saul to spread the gospel and plant more churches. Along the way, they were met with many tribulations. If you’re a Christian you’ve been sent, despite the risks. The Christian life...
Luke 2:41-51Christianity is not about perfection, it is about progression. You can find rest in the sinless perfection of Jesus, as you seek to progress in your walk with Jesus.
Acts 12:1-25 In this text, we will see how Herod competed with the glory of God and God struck him down. Pastor Zack gives us three examples of how we compete with the glory of God: worrying, wishing, and worship. God demands his own glory in...
Acts 10:24-11:18In a world full of racial, gender, and age divides, the gospel shows us a better way. Jesus didn’t just die for one, he died for many. His love is for people from every nation.
Acts 9:32-42 Here’s the thing about life, it includes suffering. In fact life outside the womb begins with a cry. So the question isn’t will you suffer, rather it’s will your suffering serve a purpose? Your suffering can be a hopeful...
John 20:24-31 Jesus lived, died, and rose again. Thomas was one of the first skeptics of his resurrection. Everyone has to make a faith decision, either that he rose to life or he didn't. Everything about Jesus is true, and that changes...
Acts 9:1-31 Every single one of us has things, behaviors, sins we wish we could change about our lives. Why haven’t you changed them already? What Christianity offers is a real Savior who can not only save our lives, but can also change,...
Acts 8:26-40Everyone is working towards something. There is something your life is always driving towards. This sermon studies the life of Philip, a deliberate life for the glory of God. God gives everyone a calling. What's yours?
Acts 8:1-25 If you could have the power to do anything, what would it be? The interesting thing is that our desire for power can reveal a lot about our hope. Simon wanted the power of God, but not the person of God. Our journey through this...
The degree to which you understand the love Jesus poured out for you on the cross, is the degree to which you'll be willing to do whatever it takes to serve Jesus.
Acts 6:1-7Behind every generational, ethnic, and societal label there’s a person, so let’s love the person behind the label.
Acts 5:12-42The early church was censored for talking about Jesus, but their love for Jesus couldn't be censored. You have a voice, so use your voice.
Acts 4:32-5:11Owners keep, but stewards give. The steward knows that God doesn’t just give to you, He also gives through you. Which one are you?
The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. Trust in Jesus results in practical life change and a boldness to share the Gospel.
Acts 3:1-4:4 As humans, we tend to think in general terms, rather than in specific terms. This causes us to miss the very people in front of us. We’ll think generally ‘How can I love people,’ rather than specifically ‘How can I love my...
Acts 2:42-47If we saturate our lives with the gospel, it will not only transform your life, it will transform the lives and city around you. The gospel is more than a way to eternal life, the gospel is our life.
Acts 2:42-45The gospel is more than a way to eternal life, the gospel is our life. We want to saturate our lives with the gospel so we can transform lives and our culture.
Acts 2:37-41If you’re a Christian, you’ve been permanently tattooed by the grace of Jesus, and your life should be an outward expression of that grace.
Acts 2:1-37 One of our core values at City Awakening is biblical authority. It means we trust that the Bible is true and is the highest authority for our lives. When Peter spoke at Pentecost, those who heard it were "cut to the heart". We will...
Movements move, but prayer moves movements. At City Awakening prayer is our first response, not our second.
The incarnation changes everything. Because Jesus came we worship, we go, we make disciples, and we live in His presence.
Matthew 2:1-12Because of His divinity and transcendence He had every reason to say "forget you", but instead he says "I get you". Jesus didn't just die for us, He died to be with us.
Matthew 1:18-25 Instead of ignoring us and exterminating us, he looks at us, comes for us, and dies for us. Because of his transcendence, his divinity, and his holiness, he had every reason to say “forget you,” but instead he says “I love...
Matthew 1:1-17 Due to technical difficulties, the audio for this sermon is raw audio from our camera. We apologize for the inconvenience. "No good advice will ever help change our corrupt and sinful hearts. Which is why what humanity needs...
Philippians 4:1-23Instead of letting your circumstances dictate your joy, let the presence of God produce your joy. The presence of God produces joy in the all-sufficient provision of God through Christ.
2 Corinthians 9:6-15Flip the Script. Don't be consumed with consumerism. Be consumed with generosity so we can reach people, reach the world.
2 Corinthians 8:1-9We worship a Savior who gave us the riches of His righteousness and took the payment for our sin. Fully embrace Christ and generosity will follow.
Matthew 6:19-34Loosen your grip on your earthly treasures and store up your treasures in heaven. Be a treasurer by living contently, giving generously, so we can reach more missionally.
Luke 10:25-37Generosity is not just about money. You can be generous with your time, talent, and treasure. Be a generous person so we can reach people, reach the world.
Philippians 2:19-3:11Knowing Jesus leads to a joyful heaven, rather than a joyless hell.
Philippians 1:12-30 Due to technical difficulties, the audio for this message is not available. We apologize for any inconvenience. The Apostle Paul knew what it meant to suffer - he was beaten, shipwrecked, imprisoned, starved. But, he...
Philippians 1:1-11 - As Christians we need to rebel against hedonism and pursue a greater joy.