Citizens Church Sermons: Recent Episodes
Citizens Church
We are a broken, imperfect people who have been saved through faith by grace, and that grace compels us to live out our mission to enjoy God, love people and make disciples, from Collin County to the ends of the earth.
Our prayer life is both a litmus test of our walk with God, and a way to deepen our affections and align our hearts with Jesus. If we long to become more like Jesus, then we should pray like Jesus. Meaning, it shouldn’t be done to gain more acclaim, but rather to grow us more into Christlikeness. And as we pray, it shapes our desires to look more like God’s desires.
Scripture: Matthew 6:5–13
The world would say that you need approval of others more than you need God, but Jesus paints a better way. God desires to have relationship with all of you, the seen and unseen parts. When we take off our masks, and the fear of man is replaced with a holy fear of God, the voice of God becomes the voice that matters most, and we become more like Jesus
Scripture: Matthew 6:1–6; 16–18
The Preacher of Hebrews wants to assure this suffering church does not abandon the great salvation and hope they have in Jesus, because no one else brings us closer to God than Him.
Scripture: Hebrews 3:1–6
Guest Preacher: Tymarcus Ragland
When we think about becoming more like Jesus, it’s easy to feel inadequate and lost in our shame, but our confidence lies in the hope we have in Jesus Christ. John 17 reminds us in a prayer that Jesus says about us, his followers. When we listen to the very voice of Jesus Christ, he reminds us of your identity, purpose and destiny.
Scripture: John 17
In Feeling Like Jesus, we explore the full range of Jesus’ emotions—joy, sorrow, compassion, anger, and awe—and what they reveal about God’s heart. Our emotions are not to be ignored or worshipped but engaged that we might draw closer to the Father. This message invites us to feel deeply, live truthfully, and become like Jesus
As Christians, we live in between the resurrection and return of Jesus. The kingdom is here already but not yet in full. The sermon on the mount teaches us to live with hope, confidence and resilient faith as already/not yet people. Scripture: Matthew 6:9-10
Followers of Jesus are meant to be a light in the darkness of the world, to be mirrors of Jesus to those around them and spread the gospel. We can do that through our prayer, our presence, and partnering with other believers.
Key Text: Matthew 5:13-16
The outpouring of knowing and loving of God is a turn to share the way of Jesus. The friends of the paralyzed man in Luke 5 show an example of the zeal we need to turn away from our sins and turn to Jesus. God’s design is to use Christ-seeking people, growing in their Christlikeness, to carry his message for the sake of the world. Scripture: Luke 5:17–32
Our culture is full of examples of communities—groups of like minded individuals trying to foster camaraderie and shared experience—and yet we are still lonely as a society. God is communal in nature, and since we are created in His image, we mirror His communal nature. However it’s not just shared-interest that we need but deep change through repentance, which happens best in the context of Christ-centered community. Scripture: 1 John 1:5–10
Better understanding of our source idols should lead us to surrendering the things we lean on more than God to God. Because the only thing that replaces our idolatry of our love of the world is a stronger love: the love for God. Jesus has the power to expel our idols from our hearts, through our confession and repentance.
Scripture: 1 John 2:15; 5:21
The story of the rich young ruler is a story that points to the idolatry we all struggle with. In our human brokenness, idolatry means putting anything other than God at the forefront of our hearts and minds. Becoming more like Jesus means re-directing our loves from the idols of our life—the things where we seek power, approval, comfort and control—to Jesus, who loves us and never fails us.
Scripture Mark 10:17–22
We are born into a fallen world of competing voices. In the desert, Jesus is tempted in every way yet without sin, fully living in God’s world God’s way. There we learn from Jesus’ example that the voice of the Father never leads us astray. Thinking like Jesus means listening to the voice of the Father.
Scripture Matthew 3:16–4:11
Thinking like Jesus requires our whole person. Our doctrine must fuel our devotion, and our devotion, our doctrine. On other words, our love ignites our hunger for more knowledge of the Savior; likewise, knowing Jesus drives our desires and love for Jesus.
Scripture: Mark 12:24-27 & 30
Jesus loves you way more than we think he does and he demands more than we think he does, because he wants more for us. He doesn’t want compartmentalized disciples. He wants disciples who have no secular/sacred divide. Becoming more like Jesus means integrating all parts of us—how we think, love, feel and act.
Scripture Mark 12:29-31
From the very beginning, our mission has been one thing: to become more like Jesus, and to go and make more disciples who are more like Jesus. It would be easy to fall into complacency and fall into religious consumerism, but with the Spirit’s help, we must guard against this. The church exists to form Christlike Christians.
Scripture: Romans 8:28-29
Our souls wrestle often with the belief that we need to earn God’s love, and it’s an exhausting wrestle. But God wants so much more for all of us. When we consider the life of Jesus, knowing it’s not up to our works but solely dependent on the cross, the hope is we start to become more like him. Scripture: Luke 18:9–14
Psalm 88 reminds us that when Jesus entered into our humanity, he took our sin and God’s wrath and our weakness, and also our pain and abandonment and suffering. Jesus became the blessed man and the cursed man. If Jesus didn’t abandon you in his darkest hour, we can be assured in our darkest hour, he will remain.
As we have learned this month, when we read the Psalms in light of Christ’s finished work on the cross, we see the presence of Jesus throughout these old songs. Psalm 118 especially reminds us of the timeless truth that God is steadfast and our firm foundation when life inevitably gets hard. Even in trials, we rejoice in the one who sustains us.
As we learned last week, reading the psalms through the lens of Christ gives us fresh eyes on an old text. Psalm 32 points to our sins and iniquities, but in light of the forgiveness of God. It reminds the reader that in our humble confession of sin, God’s steadfast love meets us with forgiveness, instruction and gladness.
Key Text: Psalm 32
The Psalms, much like the law, are only understood in light of Christ. In Psalm 1, we see not counsel on how we should live, but confirmation in whom we should trust. Scripture: Psalm 1
In our finale message in this series, we look at the closing remarks of Peter’s letter. Peter speaks of simple wisdom for the Christian to endure faithfully for a whole life: stand firm in grace.
Scripture 1 Peter 5:8–14
How are we to endure in the face of religious, social and political turmoil? By humbly surrendering our lives to Christ despite the cost. When the natural instinct is to close our hands—God invites us to open them to his care and command.
Scripture: Hebrews 13:7–16
Where do you go when your anxiety hits the limits of your humanity? 1 Peter 5:6-7 asks us to lay down our pride. In doing so, we admit that we are not in control as much as we would like, and God cares about our anxieties more than we ever could. Scripture: 1 Peter 5:6–7
Our love of God directly correlates to our love for others. As the family of God, there is a constant call to deepen our relationship ship with God and with our spiritual brothers and sisters. And we are called to steward and disciple the next generation to remember God’s word.
Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4-9
To be a follower of Jesus means Jesus shepherds us. He leads me, guides me, corrects me. And Peter takes this same metaphor and applies it to the elders of a church. Elders should be shepherd leaders.
1 Peter 5:1-5
Suffering has a way of quenching the generosity out of us. When we suffer, we often resort back to selfish ambitions. God invites us to live charitably while suffering, and trust him to care for our bodies and soul. Even in suffering, we hope in the power of Christ, we live obedient lives, and trust God through the process. Scripture: 1 Peter 4
There is often a dissonance between what we believe and what we see. There’s a cost to obey Jesus and obeying Jesus does not protect us from suffering. Is it worth it? This passage reminds us that because Christ was vindicated in resurrection, our faith will be vindicated in His return. Scripture: 1 Peter 3:17–22
Scripture: 1 Peter 3:13–17
Peter encourages us to grow in our hope for the future we have in Jesus. These verses remind us that life in exile brings a variety of experiences, but we can face our fears with confident hope, knowing that Christ is Lord.
Christian community by nature is a community that blesses. Peter’s instruction in this passage is that while in exile, we cultivate blessing and peace for everyone, even those who mean us harm. Because the extent we go to bless others is not based on what they’ve done for us, but based solely and fully on what we have received in Christ.
Scripture 1 Peter 3:8-12
We live in between the resurrection of Jesus in the past and the return of Jesus in the future. The great hope of the Christian story is that God will redeem his creation. This means we do not live with empty optimism, but with full confidence and hope in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.
Scripture John 11:43-44; John 5:25
The passage for today calls husbands to honor their wives, and lead them to hope in Jesus, while also reminding all believers that we have been saved by Jesus as beloved heirs of the grace of life. Scripture 1 Peter 3:7
In this passage, Peter is addressing faithful women with unbelieving husbands. There is a kind of beauty that fades, and a kind of beauty that lasts — the beauty that comes from placing all our trust in a trustworthy God and hoping in the One who saves and delivers. It is the kind of beauty that can draw even an unbelieving husband to seek the Lord. With faith like this, our thoughts shift from focusing on our outward appearance to longing to reflect the likeness of Christ. Scripture: 1 Peter 3:1-6
In this passage Peter is addressing how to endure sinful injustice. God doesn’t say don’t suffer, he says there is favor to those who endure injustice without sin, entrusting themselves to God. We are called to stand against injustice, but when we cannot, we must remember we serve a greater master, and have a greater freedom in Christ. Scripture: 1 Peter 2:18–25
Our politics should be oriented around our allegiance to Jesus, not the other way around. This passage offers a picture of who we are in Christ and a picture of how to engage the political world around us. And the way that Peter phrases this interaction is that Christian’s are to live as free servants. Free servants honor everyone, love the church, fear God, and honor the emperor.
Scripture: 1 Peter 2:13-17
Living as citizens of heaven means we live as foreigners on earth, and therefore as representatives of the kingdom of God to a non-believing world. We witness to an outside world through what we worship, in a way that either ascribes our ultimate worth in the things of the world or in Jesus Christ. Peter encourages us in this passage to the latter. Scripture: 1 Peter 2:11-12
Part of being in Christ is that we are as close to God as we can ever be, as we are members of the priesthood of believers with Jesus Christ as our great high priest. Living in our priestly identity means we offer our obedience and worship to God Almighty.
Scripture: 1 Peter 2:4-10
Finding our belonging and identity in Christ—our cornerstone—means that we have a godly purpose. And as we live as God’s people, in holy exile, we are called to lean into the church, God’s chosen people, as our family. Scripture: 1 Peter 2:4–10
Loving others is a foundational part of following Christ. Jesus himself gave the command in his teachings. The source of our love comes from the abundant love that God has for us, a never-ending, unshakeable kind of love. Scripture: 1 Peter 1:22–2:3
This passage shows us where our hope lies—in Christ’s death and resurrection. While we often want to skip suffering and hardship for the reward of life in Christ, we ultimately find the cross comes before the crown. Scripture 1 Peter 1:10–12
This week’s passage begs the question, “How do we live ‘holy’ in exile?” According to this passage, as Christ’s ambassadors living on mission in exile, we are called to a holy standard because we are in Christ. There’s no where we can go in exile where God is not already there. And through Christ we are able to exemplify God’s holiness as we walk through this time in exile. Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-21
Because Peter knows suffering intimately, and has embraced the risen Christ, he speaks to a suffering people in a shepherding way throughout this letter. To the Christian, Peter’s inspired words encourage rejoicing, grieving and refining, to know that in our trials, Jesus is near.
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:6-9
The book of 1 Peter reminds us that Christ’s resurrection gives us assurance in the presence of our future, imperishable inheritance and hope. The invitation from the word of God is to rest in this truth and to fix our eyes on Christ. Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3–5
This week, we begin a new series in the book of 1 Peter. A book that explores many themes, particularly the good news that the defining reality of our life is not our sin, but our Savior. In Christ, we are unconditionally loved as we live as a people in exile. Scripture: 1 Peter 1:1-2
As Christians, we should live in the ongoing pursuit of wisdom as we consider how we spend our time, and align it with the ways of God. Wisdom is living in God’s world, in God’s way. Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-21
As we finish out the year, we look at Psalm 23 as a reminder of God’s steadfast love and faithful shepherding of his sheep. When we rest in this knowledge, we find we are content, kept and covered. Scripture: Psalm 23
Jesus speaks of a peace that is “like a sword.” Peace only comes when darkness is pushed back and our allegiances are in Christ. Following the way of Jesus means we become participants in pushing back darkness to make room for the light of peace. Scripture: Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 10:34-39
Jesus reveals God the father as good for us, and good to us. Scripture: Isaiah 9:6 and John 14:6-7
The Son of God emptied Himself in incarnation and death because He loves us. This act of self-giving love humbles us and invites us imitate the mind of Christ. Scripture: Philippians 2:3–11
Advent is about hope, but during this season many struggle with a sense of hopelessness. This message shows how Jesus uniquely helps us navigate misplaced and deferred hopes—as the Wonderful Counselor.
Scripture: Isaiah 8:21-9:6
In this passage, Jesus encounters two of his discouraged disciples on the road to Emmaus. He ministers to their discouragement with the promises of God, especially those affirming His sacrifice on their behalf. Through this encounter, we are reminded of the immeasurable hope we have in Christ in the midst of grief and sorrow. Scripture: Luke 24:13–27
Today's message focuses on the story of Jesus and the rich young ruler from Mark 10, urging believers to prioritize eternal life over earthly wealth. It challenges us to evaluate our attachments, emphasizing that following Jesus may require earthly sacrifices but leads to true fulfillment and discipleship in Jesus. Through this passage, the importance of faith, surrender, and commitment to Christ is highlighted.
Jesus loves the fearful by revealing Himself as Lord over the storm, Friend within the storm, and Savior beneath the storm. He drowns our fears in His perfect love. Scripture: Mark 4:35-41
Jesus heals Peter of the shame of his denials by covering his worst moment with love. The healing Jesus offers to Peter, He also offers to us. Scripture: John 21:15-19
Jesus’s love for the sinner who repents is unending. His offer of grace is not contingent on obedience. As we see from Jesus' interaction with Peter, there is more mercy in Christ than there is sin in the repentant. Scripture: Luke 5:1–11
Jesus encourages the skeptic, as we see in John 1 when Jesus welcomes and affirms Nathaneal's doubts and his longing for truth. It's encouragement for us to welcome doubt, in a way that turns our cynicism towards faith and hope in God. Jesus doesn’t want perfect theology, but he wants our worship and our trust. Scripture: John 1:43-51
In response to a polarizing political question, Jesus teaches his followers to honor and submit to government while reminding us that we owe God way more than we owe our country. Scripture: Mark 12:13-17
As we look out at our political moment, the story Jesus tells in Luke 10 reminds us that our greatest calling is to love God and love neighbor. In a climate of fear and hate, Christians are to be a people of love.
Jesus’s answer for his political moment is the same answer he would give for our political moment: the Kingdom of God will prevail. Kings and Kingdoms will all pass away, but our eternal hope is that Jesus is Lord. Scripture: John 18:33-36
Only through the indwelling of the Spirit, are we able to bear new fruit. Salvation is given by God and God alone, and identity is given to us by the One who created everything. Scripture: Ephesians 2:8–10
Jesus wants to be Messiah over every part of our lives—even for “the outcast”. He meets all of us in our pain and shame and offers us living water that we may be made whole. Scripture: John 4:1-30
Jesus is a friend of sinners. In Luke 7:33-50, Jesus speaks to the unrighteous and the self righteous. His words to them are the words we need to hear today.
Every human soul longs for God and finds ultimate satisfaction only in God. Sin distorts our longings so that we desire as God things that are not God. Psalm 84 gives us a picture of a life that rightly desires the Lord.
To close out our mini-series on Rhythms, we look at how God's promised future of Glory shapes the way we live now. Because God’s presence will change everything into what it was always meant to be. Scripture: Isaiah 65:17–25
Work is a part of God’s good design for humanity. When we view it properly, we are free from the weight of earning dignity through it and are able to walk in the good works God has for us from dignity, in Christ Jesus.
The rhythm of play is often neglected in theology. What is play? Is it even biblical? How can we practice it in a healthy way? This sermon explores the meaning of play from various angles, including a unique perspective from “the sacred mountain.”
It can be hard to slow down in a busy society. What keeps us from experiencing true rest? How is Sabbath different from the slow movement? This message shows us how to cultivate a life of sabbath-shaped rest. Scripture: Exodus 20:8–11
James ends the letter with wisdom on how to relate to those who wander from the truth. We faithfully respond to this passage by examining our own hearts and pursuing those who wander with grace.
The book of James has a lot to say about how we speak. In this sermon, we look at how James calls followers of Jesus to speak with integrity as people who keep their word. Scripture: James 5:12
As Christians, we can face tomorrow with the humility of our human limitations and the confidence that God cares for us.
In this passage, James directs us to choose humility over pride, contrasting the judgmental attitude with Jesus's teachings of love and empathy. James warns us against the harm caused by judgmental thoughts and speech. He emphasizes the importance of loving one's neighbor, warning against judgmental behavior in all aspects of life, echoing Jesus's call to love our neighbors as ourselves akin to Jesus' teachings on humility and contempt.
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Repentance is not a one-time event; it’s a lifestyle for all who follow Jesus. James 4:1-10 helps us repent by turning from blaming to owning and from running to drawing near.
Everyone is devoted to something. Engineers to a solution. Parents to well-rounded kids. Students to their classes. Even the lazy person is devoted…to comfort. But what should we be devoted to most? James insists our chief devotion should be to God. Reflecting on James’ words, philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said we should cultivate the purity of heart to will one thing. What’s your one thing? Your summum bonum, chief good? Let’s consider a disordered life, a holy life, a devotional God. Scripture: James 4:5-10
Wisdom is not mostly about what you know but about having a life-giving character to those around you. James describes the life of the proud and the life of the meek and we are invited through the grace of Jesus to become wise like Him.
What comes out of our mouths is often indicative of what’s already in our hearts. James teaches that no human being can tame the tongue. But when our hearts and words are in the hands of someone good, they can be used for good. Scriptures: James 3:7-10
The moment Jesus Christ walks out of the tomb, hell weeps and heaven rejoices. In that moment, our risen Savior tramples death, and gives us a picture of what is to come. Christ has died, Christ is Risen, and Christ will come again. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:51–57
James warns us that a faith marked by words without actions, knowledge without love, and belief without cost is no faith at all. This passage is a loving warning that leads us to consider the quality of our faith, and seek grace. Scripture: James 2:14-26
We are saved by faith alone but not by a faith that remains alone. True faith in Jesus really works. Scripture: James 2:14–26
Partiality is anti-law and anti-love which means it is anti-God’s character. Chapter 2 of James is a warning and an invitation: Mercy abounds for those who show mercy. Scripture: James 2:1-13
Pure religion isn't more than caring for the vulnerable, but it’s also not less. James reminds us that people who love God, love the people who God loves. Scripture: James 1:26–27
James reminds us that following Jesus is about listening to God’s word and obeying what He says. Scripture: James 1:19–25
James writes to a persecuted people to help them be refined in their suffering. We can name the wisdom he shared like this: Suffering is not meaningless. God is not evil; He is good. Suffering won’t last forever. Scripture: James 1:12–18
James 1:5-11 challenges the rich and the poor to see their relationship with money as one of the greatest tests of faith.
James 1:5-8 tells us we need wisdom, that God gives wisdom and when we ask in faith, He generously gives the wisdom we need.
James shows us how to navigate the trials of life, as tests of faith, which produce wholeness.
This week we begin a new series in the book of James. The aim of this letter, written by James the brother of Jesus, is to help Christ followers learn wholeness through the wisdom of Jesus.
Colossians 1:21-23 tells of the depth of grace we have in Jesus for our past, present and future. As we start a new year, we are reminded that the year will be filled with grace from and with Jesus.
The antidote to “busyness” is Jesus. In Christ we learn to prioritize consistent time alone with the Father. Scripture: Mark 1:35–39
In a fallen world, we can't make it all right; we can't make our own peace but thankfully we can look to Christ for peace. Through the incarnation, we see how God became man, as a wonderful counselor and the Prince of Peace. Scripture: Isaiah 9:6
Simeon & Anna’s encounter with Jesus models for us the kind of eager anticipation that should mark the life of all believers awaiting His second advent. Scripture: Luke 2: 25–38
Advent is a season where we remember the first coming of Christ and look forward to His second coming. Zachariah's story reminds us of how God sees us and understands our suffering. Ultimately God redeems our longings, as we see through the broken and longing people whom God writes into the first advent of Jesus Christ. Scripture: Luke 1:5–23; 76–79.
Advent, meaning the coming of Christ, is a season where we remember the first advent of Jesus and look forward to His second advent. Mary’s faith is an example of how to faithfully wait in between the two advents.
In 1 Corinthians 11, we learn that Jesus gave us communion that we would look back in faith, examine our hearts, and look forward in hope. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:23–26
In this passage, Jesus invites us to abide in His love. As we end the In Christ series, we consider how our union with Christ satisfies our longing for home with God. Scripture: John 15:9–10
Because we are in Christ, we have been crucified with Christ and through that we can rest on this truth: To be in Christ is to have Jesus sovereignly rewrite our stories. Scriptures: John 11: 21–26
In Ephesians 4, Paul calls believers to a way of living the glorious truth of the gospel they believe. While most Christians are not pastors and ministers, every Christian has a role to play in ministry. God casts a vision for His church by giving people to prepare people, to build people. Scripture: Ephesians 4:11–16
To be in Christ is to be humble like Christ. Philippians 2:1-11 tells us the mind of Christ was filled with humble, other-centered love. As a people who are In Christ, we are called to live humbly as He did by taking our eyes off our ourselves and fixing them on Jesus.
Who is Jesus and what does it mean to be united to him? The book of John helps us answer this question, showing us how Union in Christ is not a concept to embrace, it’s a person to experience. Scripture: John 14:15–21
Those in Christ are under the protection of God’s peace in our hearts and minds. That doesn't mean we will experience more ease and less worries in life, but that we have access to the peace of God even in times of anxiety. Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7
In Christ, we are not defined by our sexual desires or our sexual sin. The Bible teaches that our bodies have been united to Jesus and part of being faithful to that union is fleeing from sexual sin. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
All who are in Christ are invited into the mission of God. As new creations, we are ministers of reconciliation that can move towards the needs of the world with the hope of the Gospel. Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
Our lives are hidden in Christ and we’ve been called to live in light of this reality by faith, which saves and changes us into the person we were always meant to be. Scripture: Colossians 3:1–11
Being in Christ means our identity is found and formed in Jesus. What is true about Him is true about us. In a world that tells us “we are who we say we are” God’s word tells us “we are who God says we are” in Christ.
Being In Christ means we are reunited with God and enjoy His presence. The lie of the garden is that life is better without God. In Christ, we are made right with God and live in His presence both now and forever.
This week we begin a new series on union and communion with Jesus. "In Christ" is one of the most repeated phrases in the New Testament. In this series we will learn from God's word what it means to be in Christ and how that shapes who we are as followers of Jesus.
This week, guest preacher Josh Patterson teaches on the Holy Spirit as our helper in John 16:5–15, showing how The Helper convicts in Hope, guides in Truth, and glories in Jesus.
This week we explore the meaning behind our name and what it means to be "citizens." Philippians 1:27 helps us understand the church is made up of redeemed saints who have been granted citizenship in the heavenly kingdom and enjoy relationship with King Jesus.
Continuing in the Psalms, Psalm 23 invites us to see God as a good shepherd and generous host who leads us in the pastures and valleys of life.
This week in our Psalms series, guest Pastor Shea Sumlin teaches through Psalm 33, looking at seven of God's promises that we can hold onto in times of uncertainty.
This week in our Psalms series, guest Pastor Isaac Adams focuses on Psalm 1. The righteous delight in God’s word and obey God because in their heart they know that God’s favor is a gracious gift, freely given, not in response to actions of obedience. In the Christian life, good fruit is evident of God's work in you.
Continuing in Psalms, this week, guest teacher Adam Griffin teaches from Psalm 18. This song speaks of a mighty God, a powerful God and a God who loves us enough to sacrifice Himself. Believer, rest in the fact that the God of the Universe delights for his children, and we can trust He is with us through every season.
Over the next few weeks we will be in the book of Psalm. This week, guest teacher Afshin Ziafat teaches from Psalm 19:1–6. The God of the Bible has made Himself known in the world around us and by revealing Himself in Scripture. He is a God who speaks, a God who wants to be known, and a God who pursues us.
As the family of God we’ve been invited to live on mission with God by the power of God. As we walk in obedience to the call, God works in and through us despite our short comings, fears and weakness.
Those who are born again bear fruit in their lives. In Titus 3, Paul outlines how this is all a work of Christ in and through the believer, from start to finish.
In Titus 3, Paul explains how our own need for God's mercy and grace should give us hearts and hands that are eager to give mercy and grace to those around us.
What does Grace look like? What does Kindness or Love look like? The book of Titus gives us an answer: Grace has a face and it's Jesus. “The Blessed Hope” is that we will come face to face with Jesus.
All Christians are called to be elder-like in character, whether or not they are elderly in age. The manner in which we live out our daily lives either mar or adorn the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are not saved by good works, but we are saved to be people who are zealous for good works.
Titus serves as a reminder to Christians of how we must Declare the truth of the Gospel and we must Demonstrate the truth that we Declare. And most of all, Declaration without Demonstration is empty without the power of the Gospel.
Paul instructs Titus to appoint Christ-like leaders who are faithful at home, faithful when only God is watching, and faithful to the truth. Scripture: Titus 1:5–16
What holds our attention, affections and adoration is inevitably what the fruit of our lives begin to look like. In many ways, we become what we value most. So how do we look more like Christ? In our first week in our Titus series, we will examine the words of Paul as we seek to be a church that looks more like Christ every day.
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In our final sermon of the Wisdom & Wonder series, we conclude by looking back on what we have learned from the wisdom of God’s word.
For the believer, God’s wisdom is life to those who find them. Disciplines help point us to the fact that wisdom is not just a way of being, but it is a person, Jesus Christ. Our hope is not in what we do but in who He is.
Wisdom teaches us that when making decisions, we need Jesus, limits, patience, counsel and trust.
We live in a resurrection world and as Christians, find meaning, comfort and hope in our risen Lord.
Wisdom teaches us that work is good, but work is not God. Wisdom also teaches us money can be good, but money can’t be God.
Wisdom invites us into rest by reminding us that we were not made to fix everything, know everything or be everywhere at once.
What does a wise response look like when faced with correction? The wise see correction as a loving invitation to grow and become like Jesus.
The way to enjoy life in a brief and uncertain world is to receive the gospel of Christ and give our lives to advancing his kingdom. Ecclesiastes shows us that life will not be void of uncertainty or suffering, but it also won’t be void of meaning and glory.
Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is a lifelong posture of dependence. The Holy Spirit sends, strengthens, saves and sustains us as we live on mission in God's world.
Proverbs warns that envy deteriorates and jealousy destroys. This week we learn what wisdom has to say about how to turn away from envy and jealousy.
Wisdom’s aim is that God might be glorified to the ends of the earth. More fully, Wisdom’s aim is that all nations would know, love, trust, and obey Jesus Christ, who alone is the wisdom of God, the glory of God, and the power of God.
Of all the topics the wisdom books address, one of the most convicting pertains to the spirit. The wise in spirit are slow to anger, hard to offend and quick to bring peace.
As we pause and look back at the slow pace of wisdom and in the person of Jesus Christ, we see a pattern of lowering ourselves in humility. The more we trust in Christ, and God’s wisdom, the more we know how little we know. Proverbs help us see how deeply we need God and it shows us our need to grow in dependence on Christ, not on our own strength.
Wisdom is living in God's world, God's way. Throughout His word, God talks about the weak and the vulnerable. Justice is at part of God's way. We should care about the weak and vulnerable because God cares about the weak and vulnerable.
Proverbs tells us both life and death are in the power of the tongue. In this sermon, we consider what life-giving words sound like, and the wisdom God offers.
Over and again, Ecclesiastes reminds us that life is short and death is the end that all humanity shares. Ecclesiastes 7 teaches us how the wise can live well in this brief life.
This week, we close out Advent Season looking at 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, which teaches us how to have hearts that are ready for the return of Jesus.
In this series, we are looking at what it looks like to live between the two Advents—first coming of Christ and awaiting his return—and what a Christian posture looks like in the waiting. What does grace, worship and love look like in the waiting? This week we look at the topic of Peace, both the promise Christ makes his followers and what it looks like to live with Christ's peace.
The Advent season is marked by longing and waiting in the hope of Jesus' return. In this season, the love of Christ is a gift to believers between the advents. To be a waiting people is to be a loved people, and to be a loved people is to be a loving people.
Advent reminds us that we as Christians are marked by certain distinct characteristics. Last we looked at what it looks like to be marked by Grace. This week we reflect on the characteristic of Worship—what it looks like to sing to the Lord even in the face of suffering.
The season of Advent reminds us that even on this side of the cross, we, like the Israelites, await Jesus' return with hope and longing. This week we reflect on the concept of “Grace.” Just as we can receive Jesus dying for our sins as grace upon grace, we can draw near to God, live with joy, and offer comfort and grace to others.
If wisdom is a journey, no one travels alone. In Proverbs, we see how wise friendships are essential to living in God's world, God's way.
This week, guest preacher Josh Patterson is in Luke 15. The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a story of two sons, one near and one far away, with the same compassionate father. As believers, regardless of life's circumstances, God is our compassionate father. This story is an invitation to those near and far from God to come home.
This week we finish looking at what wisdom Proverbs has for parenting. Wise parents fill the life of their children with discipline and delight.
Good parenting is built on a godly character. Good parents are first godly people. Godly parents handle faith honestly and handle words carefully.
Wisdom is living in God's world, God's way. This week we look at how we apply God's wisdom to the way we disciple our children, and how we cannot parent apart from God's grace.
The book of Proverbs teaches us that marriage is a God-given, covenant-keeping, intimate friendship. This week we learn how intimate friendship in a marriage means that I am with you and for you.
The book of Proverbs teaches us that marriage is a God-given, covenant-keeping, intimate friendship. We learn what it means to extend covenant-keeping love by first receiving and being transformed by God’s covenant-keeping love for us.
Proverbs teaches us that marriage is a God-given, covenant-keeping, intimate friendship. This week, we consider what it means that marriage is God-given.
This week, we continue looking with wisdom at our family of origin. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The place we should begin to learn wisdom is the home, which is also often where we learned what to fear. This week we ask; what did your family fear?
Throughout Proverbs, we hear the voice of parents teaching wisdom to their children. God's design is that children would learn to live in God's ways in the home where they were raised. In this sermon, we are invited to reflect on our family of origin and consider whether our home was wise, confused, or foolish.
The book of Ecclesiastes accuses life of being blindingly brief and tragically out of our control. The only way to live wisely is to receive this brief, complicated life as a gift. Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 contributes to that message.
Wisdom is living in God’s world, God’s way. This week we revisit what we covered in the spring by looking at the posture of the wise, the posture of the foolish, and some of the major themes of the Book of Proverbs. This will help establish the foundation for where we will be going for the remainder of the series.
Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman demonstrates God’s love and grace for his church and expands our vision of the family of God. Scripture: John 4:7-14
The Psalms teach us how to talk to God about the things that are hard to talk to God about. This week, Psalm 27 teaches us how to talk to God when we don't desire God.
Being citizens of heaven means we are part of a better story and possess a beautiful identity. That is the heart and hope of Citizens Church.
God, by His Word and Spirit, creates the Church, calling sinful humanity into the fellowship of Christ’s body. As the church, we live as God's people, in God's presence and we live out God's purpose.
One day Jesus will return and make all things right. On that day, Christians are loved, perfected, and comforted by Jesus. This is the Christian hope.
We believe the Scriptures teach that regeneration, or the new birth, is that act of God by which the Holy Spirit imparts a new nature and a new spiritual life, not before possessed, and the person becomes a new creation in Christ Jesus (Gal. 2:20). The mind is given a holy disposition and a new desire to serve God, the dominion of sin is broken, and the heart is transformed from a love of sin and self to a love of holiness and God.
The doctrine of sin offers the true diagnosis for why things aren’t the way they’re supposed to be. It’s a hard reality yet the only path towards true healing.
The Christian understanding of humanity comes from the image of God in Genesis and the image of God seen in Jesus. All people are made in the image of God and have God-given values and vocations as humans. As we are loved by and reflect Jesus, we become more fully human.
Creation and Providence are not just doctrines that teach our head, but also shape our hearts. As David declares in Psalm 8, they shape our worship and cultivate a heart of gratitude for all God has done.
We believe in the accuracy, truth, authority and power of the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God.
Text: 2 Timothy 3: 14 – 17
Because of the Light, the punishment of sin is broken, the power of sin is breaking, and the presence of sin will one day be banished. Scripture: John 8:12
This summer we are walking through our essential beliefs. In this sermon, we consider the doctrine of God. God is a Triune God of love.
Galatians 3:5–9 helps us to understand that the Gospel is not advice to follow but simply good news to receive and believe. While the law establishes a standard to attempt to measure up to, the Gospel is an invitation to accept and believe that the standard has been met in Christ.
Ecclesiastes teaches us that life is vapor and offers wisdom for how to live well in life while recognizing it is brief and mostly out of our control. The wisdom it offers is that life is a gift, therefore the wise approach to life is to learn to receive life as a gift. We grow in receiving life as a gift by being present, seeing beauty, doing good, and receiving joy.
Ecclesiastes teaches us that life is vapor and offers wisdom on how to live life well while recognizing life is brief and mostly out of our control. The wisdom this book offers is that life is a gift, from God, and our best approach is to receive life as a gift.
As we continue in our Wisdom and Wonder series, we consider the wisdom that comes from the book of Ecclesiastes. This book is wisdom's disruptive voice and it invites us to consider in honest terms where we find meaning in life. Scripture: Ecclisiastes 1:12-18
Christ commissions The Church to be a waiting people until his return and has given us his spirit, which grants us divine power and divine purpose.
Scripture: Acts 1:1-8
Last week we talked about the wounded and crushed in spirit. This week we look at how unattended wounds release into our lives in unfortunate and sometimes very harmful ways. However, the gospel offers hope for the wounded through good friends, good words, and good news.
There is a condition of the human that is marked by a crushed spirit. Proverbs refers to this type of person as The Wounded. This is not another type of fool, but rather one who has suffered under the hand of a fool or circumstances. Scripture: Proverbs 15:13, Proverbs 18:14 & Proverbs 17:22.
This Sunday, guest preacher Dr. Jonathan Pennington joins us in our series on wisdom, by looking at Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14. Life is difficult and it doesn’t always make sense on this side of eternity, but as Dr. Pennington shows us in this passage, what is clear is our call to fear God and obey His commands.
What would Jesus say to the stubborn, the sluggard, the simple, the scoffer? In the gospel, we get to see real examples of what Jesus would say to all of those people. Scripture: Proverbs 1:22; Proverbs 6:9; John 1:14
The way of the Lord looks like foolishness to the world, but God uses the foolish things of the world to humble the proud and draw us nearer to Him. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
We all want to grow in wisdom, but wisdom isn’t derived from us. Proverbs 31 teaches us that wisdom comes from an abiding relationship with a person. The personification of Lady Wisdom points to the true wisdom of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
There are four forms of foolishness in the book of Proverbs: The Stubborn, The Simple, The Scoffer and The Sluggard. Each caricature rejects the way of wisdom and instead chooses folly. Last week we discussed The Stubborn. This week, we look at the remaining types of foolishness — The Simple, The Sluggard and The Scoffer. Scripture: Proverbs 1:20-22 and Proverbs 6:9-11
There are four forms of foolishness in the book of Proverbs: The Stubborn, The Simple, The Scoffer and The Sluggard. Each caricature rejects the way of wisdom and chooses folly. In this sermon, we look at the first of those, The Stubborn, in the hope of seeing ourselves rightly and recognizing where we need to fall on the grace of Jesus in the pursuit of wisdom. Scripture: Proverbs 1:20-22 and Proverbs 6:6-11
This sermon continues from last week. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. The Bible teaches us there is a fear that makes you foolish and a fear that makes you wise. This week we talked about how to tell the difference and what is the fear of the Lord. Scripture: Proverbs 1:7 & 9:10.
The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. The Bible teaches us there is a fear that makes you foolish and a fear that makes you wise. This week we talked about how to tell the difference and what is the fear of the Lord. Scripture: Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10
Wisdom’s posture isn’t just a position, it’s a path. The Christian life is long enduring and requires an ongoing dependence on God. Scripture: Proverbs 9:6-10
As we start a new series on wisdom, we took the first Sunday to answer three questions: Why wisdom? What is wisdom? How do we become wise?
This Sunday we consider the Kingdom of God, the Imago Dei, racial unity, and God’s heart for the vulnerable. In that, Christians are invited to offer the present world a picture of the future.
The gospel of Jesus meets us where we are to make us who we were meant to be. That change happens in our lives by committing to righteous actions. In this sermon, we are encouraged to spend time in God’s word, with God’s people and on God’s mission.
How do we shape our community to better glorify God, with the gifts and talents He has given us? Look up and look around, to stir one another towards the good promises of a good God. Scripture: Hebrews 10: 19-25
In a world that lives season to season, how do we, as followers of Jesus, live steady, faithful lives? In Luke 2, we consider the lives of Anna and Simeon as examples of lives well lived.
Advent is a season of waiting for the coming of Christ. Living in this day and age, we have the joy of being able to look back on Christ's first coming. Therefore, as we wait for the second coming of Christ, we need to hope in and hold onto the promises of God. Leaning into God's promises gives us access to the hope we long for. This week we look at the promise of joy and jubilee. Scripture: Luke 4:16-22
Advent is a season of waiting for the coming of Christ. Living in this day and age, we have the joy of being able to look back on Christ's first coming. Therefore, as we wait for the second coming of Christ, we need to hope in and hold onto the promises of God. Leaning into God's promises gives us access to the hope we long for. This week we look at the promise of God's peace, that you are going to be ok. Scripture: Isaiah 9:6 & Luke 2:11-14
Advent is a season of waiting for the coming of Christ. Living in this day and age, we have the joy of being able to look back on Christ's first coming. Therefore, as we wait for the second coming of Christ, we need to hope in and hold onto the promises of God. Leaning into God's promises gives us access to the hope we long for. This week we look at the promise that God sees our hurt, our struggles, and is with us. Scripture: Luke 1:46-55
Advent is a season of waiting for the coming of Christ. Living in this day and age, we have the joy of being able to look back on Christ's first coming. Therefore, as we wait for the second coming of Christ, we need to hope in and hold onto the promises of God. Leaning into God's promises gives us access to the hope we long for. This week we look at God's promise to be present with his children. Scripture: Galatians 4:1-7
Psalm 67 is a prayer that God’s glory may be seen among His people and that God’s grace may be seen among those far from Him. Our prayer is that the people of Citizens Church would embody this prayer in their communities and beyond.
Psalm 33 is a reminder that God is not only deserving of our gratitude, but that expressing thanks and gratitude to God is good for the human heart and soul.
When faced with difficult circumstances, how do we honor God through our response? Psalm 33 gives us an outline for our posture towards God and towards our circumstances.
The Psalms teach us how to talk to God about the things that are hard to talk to God about. This week, Psalm 27 teaches us how to talk to God about our fears.
In Psalm 16, David is calling out to God from a place of lack — of emptiness. When we are in a season of longing, God meets us. He comforts us with His presence. Psalm 16 is a prayer to abid in God who will sustain us in the hard seasons.
We conclude our Belonging series with the last value — Living on Mission: Joining God in restoring all creation. At Citizens Church, we want to proclaim the gospel as we share our faith, love our neighbors help the vulnerable, and contend for justice in the world around us. Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20
In Week 4 in the Belonging series, we examine our value Whole Person Discipleship: All of life fully formed by love for Jesus. Scripture: Colossians 1:28 and Romans 8:28-29.
In the Belonging series, we are walking through our church values. This week, we look at our third value, People of Presence: The active pursuit of God and others. Scripture: Matthew 5:6 and Jeremiah 17:7-8
We continue this week in our series called Belonging, in which we are asking our members to renew their membership and walking through our church values. This week, we talk about our second value, Word of God: the true story of who God is and who we are.
On our two-year anniversary of becoming a church, we launched a new series called Belonging. In this series, we are asking our members to renew their membership and walking through our church values. In this first week in the series, you will hear our heart behind the renewal and our first value, Life in Christ.
Paul’s charge to the early church was to live lives marked by generosity, tangibly supporting the needs of the body. That same charge applies to the church today; the response and motivation being gratitude and thanksgiving. Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15.
God wants to talk to us about the deeper things going on in our life. Through the book of Psalms, He has given us a guide for how to talk to him about the things that are hard to talk about. This week in Psalm 42 & 43, we learn how to talk to God when He seems far from us.
God wants to talk to us about the deeper things going on in our life. Through the book of Psalms, He has given us a guide for how to talk to Him about the things that are difficult to pray about. This week in Psalm 51, we learn how to talk to God about our sin.
God wants to talk to us about the deeper things going on in our life. Through the book of Psalms, He has given us a guide for how to talk to Him about the things that are hard to talk about. This week in Psalm 73, we learn how to talk to God about our doubt.
God is reconciling all things in Christ including the ethnic and cultural tensions that attempt to divide us today, and God has a redemptive plan which He call us, as followers of Christ, to participate in.
When we spend more time with Jesus, we come to know and love Him more, ultimately finding our meaning, mission and message as we go out into the world and live as people of God under His grace and for His glory. Featuring guest Preacher Dave Bruskas; scripture Colossians 1:15-20.
In His sermon, Jesus invites His followers to become whole people who hold onto him. He concludes the sermon with weighty words, spoken from a heart heavy with love, so that we don’t miss the life he invites us to live.
The gate you choose to pass through determines the path you are on. Scripture: Matthew 7:12-20
God wants to hear from his followers. As a good father gives gifts to his children, so does a good God want to care for those who proclaim his glory. Scripture: Matthew 7:7-12
In this passage, Jesus teaches his followers about how to be open to receiving loving correction from our Christian brothers and sisters. There is a distinction between moral discernment and not being judgmental. Scripture: Matthew 7:1-6
To know God is to love Him. To love Him is to trust Him. And to know, love and trust God leads to an overflow of obedience.
"Seek first the kingdom of God." Jesus teaches us that seeking the kingdom and believing God is working in the present, combats our anxiety.
Jesus wants our worries. In His sermon, He teaches us what anxiety is and what truths about God help combat and uproot the worry in our lives.
In Matthew 6:19–24, Jesus outlines there is a way to live rightly and a way to live wrongly. One way is to align yourself with the values of the kingdom of heaven and the other is to live in opposition to it. Jesus concludes this section in Matthew 6:24 by highlighting that you cannot love and serve two masters. You cannot love both God and money.
In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus ’s teachings beg a question that every disciple should consider: “Do you put your treasure where your heart should be?”
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus reveals we have a Father in Heaven who is good for us and good to us. Scripture: Matthew 5-7
What does it sound like to pray to a God who we know, and who knows us?
Scripture: Matthew 6: 7-14
In Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus teaches us how to fast rightly; it is giving up something we need, to relish the one we need most — before an audience of one.
Jesus describes two kinds of lives, the hypocritical life and the hidden life. The former leads to ruin and the latter leads to wholeness. Scripture: Matthew 6:1-6; 16-18
We will not become like Jesus without spending time with God. We will not spend time with God unless we have made time for God. Scripture: Matthew 6:1-18
Love for others is the mark of disciples who are becoming deeply righteous. In these verses Jesus commands us to love even those who are not like us and those who have wronged us.
In Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus continues teaching us how to become whole people, by reminding us that marriage is God-centered and Covenant-driven.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus's call to his followers to "keep your word" is ultimately a call to more align your heart to his, by pursuing a righteous integrity.
Righteousness is a whole person behavior that accords with God's nature, will and coming Kingdom. What does that mean for how we view sex and how we respond to sexual sin?
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
Righteousness is a whole person behavior that accords with God's nature, will and coming Kingdom. What does that mean for the issues of our heart, such as anger and other emotions?
Matthew 5:17-20 is one of the most important passages in all the Bible for understanding what Jesus came to do and what is expected of his followers. In these verses, Jesus defines His relationship with the Old Testament and what righteousness looks like in the life of His followers.
How does what we believe about God inform what we do for work? What does it mean to be salt and light in the various jobs and careers in which God has placed us?
In a world divided along ethnic and cultural differences, what does it look like to be the light of the world, pointing to our future hope of a world free of ethnic and racial hostility? Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16
Being salt of the earth and light of the world means treating every human with dignity and defending God's image in the face of injustices like slavery and abortion. In this sermon we consider how the church responds in love and truth where image bearers are discarded. Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus tells His disciples their impact on the world will be like salt on food and like light shining in the darkness. What do these metaphors mean for how we as Christians live in and love the world around us? We'll explore these questions in Matthew 5:13-16.
In Luke 7:36-50 a Pharisee and a woman find themselves in the same room as Jesus. However, their approach is distinct and it makes all the difference.
The people of God can patiently persevere as we establish our hearts on Jesus.
Scripture: James 5:7-12
We wrapped up the beatitudes this Sunday as part of our series "As It Is," walking through Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. These blessings that Jesus gives are a gentle reminder of God's love for his people, and the life that awaits each believer.
Summary: Jesus sends his followers into places of conflict and chaos to offer mercy and create peace.
Key Text: Matthew 5:7 & 9
These verses in the Sermon on the Mount address the ideas of righteousness and motivations of the heart. In this passage, Jesus is explaining that those with a pure heart desire God, and not the things of God, by relying only on Him.
Key Text: Matthew 5:6 & 8
Key Text: Matthew 5:1-3
Summary: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
The sermon on the mount is the perfect picture of the nature of the kingdom of God and the flourishing life all who follow Jesus are invited into. Jesus' words show us how to live on earth as it is in heaven.
Even though Psalm 23 is often read at funerals, its message applies to your life today. Jesus Christ will provide, lead, renew and pursue you all the days of your life. If you wander, He goes out to find and restore you, just as He did with David who wrote this psalm.
What does the Bible have to say about the position of Elder? This Sunday, we'll spend some time examining our convictions as a Church and then present our two newest Elders to the congregation. Key Text: 1 Peter 5:1-5
In this sermon, we wrap our series in the book of Colossians. Paul concludes this letter with a list of names. John MacArthur calls this section of Colossians “a verbal group photograph.” Who would be in your group photograph? If your church or small group wrote a letter, what would you want it to say about you in the personal closing (similar to Col. 4:7–17)? In 10 or 20 years, what do you want your involvement, relationships and ministry in the local church to be?
Summary: Christians are to be a beautiful disruption to the chaos of the world. According to Colossians 4:5 – 6, that beautiful disruption is marked by followers of Jesus walking in wisdom in the way they act and speak.
Summary: In our passage this week, Paul continues to give instructions regarding various relationships, this time focusing on masters. Masters are to treat their servants justly and fairly. To be clear, slavery in any form perverts God’s created, desired intention for human beings. According to the first page of the Bible, human beings are created in the image of God. Therefore, every person is equal in the sight of God (Galatians 3:28), and no person is to use his/her authority or position to mistreat others. God is our ultimate Master, and anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8)
Husbands are to love their wives and not be harsh with them. Children are to obey their parents. Fathers are not to provoke their children. Both of the “do not” commands in this week’s passage are given to men, and in doing so, Paul stresses the importance of a man’s influence on his family. He is to love his family in a way that reflects the heart of God. God expects husbands and fathers to lead with gentleness.
Our passage this week, Matthew 9:35 – 38, begins Jesus’ second discourse in which He instructs the disciples to pray for His harvest because the workers are few. Jesus’ expectation of His disciples in this passage is prayer. He commands them to pray before He sends them out to proclaim, “the kingdom of heaven has come near”
Summary: Paul has turned our attention from the spiritual family (3:1–17) to the physical, household family (3:18–4:1). Paul described how we change—we are to put off the old self and put on the new self—and now he addresses specific relationships and roles within a home. First, he addresses husbands and wives, and next, parents and children. Children are to obey their parents in everything. Why? For it pleases the Lord.
Summary: In our passage this week, Paul turns our attention from the spiritual family (3:1–17) to the physical, household family (3:18–4:1). Paul has described how we change — put off the old self and put on the new self — and now addresses specific relationships and roles within a home. Wives are to submit to their husbands. Husbands are to love their wives. Children are to obey their parents. Ephesians 5:22–6:9 is the longer exposition of these same household roles and their countercultural commands. But as we examine the whole of Scripture, we discover the Lordship of Christ is what governs both the universe and our homes.
Summary: The backstory to help our understanding of Genesis 22 is that God promised descendants to Abraham 25 years earlier (Genesis 12:7). For 25 years, Abraham waited. And in the waiting, Abraham turned his back on the land, lied to a king and devised his own plan; he slept with Hagar, his wife’s servant and had a son. Abraham made bad decisions, but he reversed his steps, repented and returned to God by building several altars. Perhaps the most important one is in our passage this week.
Summary: The peace of Christ rules. The word of Christ dwells. Both are to make their home in us and be at the center of our relationships and corporate worship. Why? So that we do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Scripture: Colossians 3:16-17
Summary: After exhorting us to put on love, Paul addresses peaceful relationships in the one body of Christ, which is an objective peace that Jesus secured at the cross. The context of verse 15 is both individual and corporate: peace with God is the basis for peaceful relationships with others.
This passage marks a pivotal point in redemptive history as God begins to establish a covenant people for Himself. The advancing of God's kingdom is evident in His setting Abraham apart and promising descendants as numerous as the stars. Thousands of years after this covenant is made, Jesus Christ, the true Seed of Abraham, will bring salvation to the world. Scripture: Genesis 12:1-4
In our passage this week (James 1:2-4), James reminds us that we can respond to conflict and trials differently. The World — and indeed our own flesh — has convinced us that trials are something to avoid or escape as quickly as possible, but James says that trials are to be embraced because God is doing His most profound work in our lives during our darkest days. He is transforming us into the image of Christ through our suffering. We can respond to trials with a kingdom mindset and experience joy.
This week, we will see that forgiveness is a response to sin, requires repentance and reveals the heart of God — to the one who sinned and to the one who was sinned against.
Summary: In Colossians 3:12-14 we are instructed to “put off” sin and “put on” the character of Jesus. We are to live out the practices of the new self, putting on love, above all. Christians are to have a distinct love for one another, which is a call for relational endurance as we bear with one another.
In 1 Corinthians 15:12–20, Paul argues that without the Resurrection there would be no hope. The gospel would be a futile and empty message, and Christians should be pitied. But because Christ has been raised, all that we proclaim of the gospel is true!
Because you have been raised with Christ, put sin to death. Because you are God’s chosen, holy, dearly loved ones, put on His character. Christ has set you free from sin and your old self! Therefore, set your mind on Him, and put off sin and get rid of vices. We are now to “put on” virtues that match our new self which God is conforming to the image of His Son.
As followers of Jesus we are loved by Him and become like Him through relationship with Him. Colossians 3:5-11 tells us that becoming like Jesus means putting to death the things in our hearts that keep us from loving God and loving others.
Key Text: Colossians 3:1-2
Summary: The love of God in Christ meets us where we are without condition and saves us in our sin and rebellion. That love changes us by forming us into the likeness of Jesus. Colossians 3:1-2 tells us how that change happens by directing our hearts and minds towards relationship with Jesus.
Key Text: Colossians 3:1-4
Summary: The good news of the gospel is not just that we are saved by Jesus, but also we are empowered to become like him. Colossians chapter 3 highlights how all believers change, living under the reign of the risen Jesus. Verses 1-4 answer the question of why this change matters.
Summary: Colossians 3:1-4 tells us that Jesus' resurrection is not simply a historical event, but personally changes the life of every believer. As Christians our lives are now oriented around the risen Jesus which forever changes our past, present and future.
Colossians 2:16-23 tells us that because of Jesus we are loved by God. Every Christian is confronted with lies that lead us to doubt what God says, but because we are in Christ we do not have to earn or prove God’s love for us.
Philippians 4:4-9 names two promises of peace that mark the life of the Christian especially in times of crisis. This week we see that it’s through wisdom that we experience the presence of the God of peace. When we think God’s thoughts we learn to see Him at work in every circumstance.
Following Jesus will pull us out of the exhausting life of image management and into the freedom of meaningful identity found only in Him.
Scripture: Colossians 2:1-7
God does not show love based on color or class. Through Jesus He loves and saves people of every tribe and tongue. He shows no partiality.
Scripture: Luke 10:25-37