This week, Pastor Chris started our Christmas Peace series. During the Christmas season, most people are looking for peace but instead experience stress and hurry. God offers us a heart-level, lasting peace the world cannot give. Through a relationship with Jesus, we have peace with God, ourselves, and those around us.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our mini-series about how God’s generosity towards us compels us to live generously. It is easy to think we are aligned with God’s heart, but a good look at our willingness to live generously may show we are misaligned. Pastor Chris shared some ways we can see if your generosity is reflecting God’s generosity toward us.

This week Pastor Chris and an elder, Eric Jones, tag-teamed our morning service teaching about living generously. While the world tells us to hold on our earthly possessions, our time and our money, God tells us to live generously and in turn, be blessed. The believer’s motivation for living generously is out of the overflow of God’s generosity toward to us.

Our annual Summit where we hear about where we have been, where we are now, and where God is taking us in the future!

This week, Pastor Chris finished up our Freedom in Christ series teaching on the power of the tongue. Our words are often an indicator of our heart condition and have the power to bring about positive or negative shifts in our life and the lives of others. We want to be a people whose hearts are healthy and whose words bring life, propelling others toward their calling and identity in Christ.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series Freedom in Christ. He taught that if we want to be great in the kingdom of God, we must walk in humility. As believers, we have a choice to live a life of pride and arrogance, or a life submitted to the Lord and poured out for the service of others. Choosing humility is the key to greatness.

This week’s sermon was a continuation in our Freedom in Christ series. Pastor Chris taught from the story of Joseph, who experienced many injustices yet kept his heart right before the Lord. We all experience injustice in our life and must take care to watch over our heart, forgiving those who hurt us and uprooting all bitterness. 

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series Freedom in Christ. In church culture today, we like to explain away or ignore our pain. However, pain is an inevitable part of life and Jesus wants to shoulder it with us. The invitation of God is to walk with Him through our pain or invite Him into it so He can heal us.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series Freedom in Christ. We learned about the battle of the mind and how our thoughts directly affect our lives and our ability to walk in the freedom God has for us. We must pay close attention to our thoughts, holding fast to God’s truth and quickly rejecting the enemy’s lies.

This week Pastor Chris continued in our series, Freedom in Christ, in which he brought a two-fold message: we as Believers have been given authority in Christ to extend the kingdom of God and it is imperative to live fully in that authority. We must be aware that fear, anxiety and the illusion of control are not holding us back living in our full authority.

Darrin Miller continued in our sermon series, Freedom in Christ, equipping us to withstand the spiritual battle going on around us. To walk in Jesus’ victory, we must know our enemy and his schemes, as well as the weapons we must use to overcome him.

This week, Chris began a new series called Freedom is Christ. Jesus offers freedom for every believer and yet blind spots can so easily form in our lives that hold us back from all that God has for us. These blind spots come in many forms- negative thinking, heaviness of heart, anxiety and more. Today’s sermon was about being aware of the spiritual realm and learning to battle for our freedom from a place of Christ’s victory.

This week our Community Life Director, Casey Mock, shared how life groups are critical to our growth as we walk with the Lord. We believe our inheritance is a sense of belonging and growth, no matter your past experiences surrounding community, and life group is where that happens. It is in community that we go deep in the Word of God running after the fullness of God what He has for us. Several friends joined Casey in sharing about various City Central life groups and their experiences.

This week Pastor Chris continued in our mini-series about financial stewardship, exhorting us to handle God’s resources His way. The Bible provides clear instructions for tithing so that we can know how to live as obedient and faithful stewards. Chris shared how the human heart is prone to wander, and that the tithe is a test of our spiritual health. Like the Israelites, we can lose our direction and live outside of God’s will for our lives. The question of whether we tithe ultimately comes down to a question of whether we will trust God.

This week, Pastor Chris began a new mini-series on financial stewardship. In His earthly ministry, Jesus spoke more about money than He did heaven and hell combined. How we manage our money reflects our hearts and our spiritual health, and our management will determine the rewards we receive in Heaven. Who do you believe your money belong to? Do you consider yourself an owner or a steward of your finances? As Christ’s followers, we have a responsibility to manage what we’ve been entrusted with God’s way and for His glory.

In this week’s youth takeover service, youth pastor Stephanie Kram preached a powerful message about how to overcome fear of man. God’s word says that fear can become a snare for us, but that we will be kept safe when we trust in God. Jesus came to set us free of all sin that keeps us captive, including all areas related to fear and insecurity. Stephanie shared the reality that a healthy fear of God will cause us to lose an unhealthy fear of anything else. 

This week, Darrin Miller highlighted a portion of City Central’s heart and mission to reach the lost. Darrin reminded us that we were each lost before Christ found us, and that our mission as Christ’s ambassadors is to actively seek the lost with the heart of Christ. We are not called to have mere knowledge of the Word, but to practice the Word as agents of reconciliation. Darrin urged us to search our hearts and challenge our perspective on the poor and needy, since they are our fellow image bearers of Christ.

This week, Pastor Chris brought our Healthy Church series to a close with a powerful word on the impact of Christ’s resurrection on our daily lives. In the Corinthian church, a sect of people called the Epicureans did not believe in the afterlife, leading to lifestyles of gluttony and self-gratification. Are you living like them, as if God is not in control and as if this world is your home? The resurrection of Christ means that we will be raised with him, and this truth gives us everlasting vision, peace, and hope.

This week Pastor Chris continued in our Healthy Church series, seeking to Biblically define what it means to be a Christian. There are many ways an individual can respond to the Gospel: they can reject it, simply know about it, or they can open their heart to receive and commit to it. Chris exhorted us to stand in the Gospel, even when the forces of the enemy rage against us. He shared about the wide road that leads to destruction and the narrow road that leads to eternal life. Taking the narrow road means that we leave everything aside, including our terms of what we think the Christian life is, and choose to follow, surrender to, and live for Jesus.

This week we continued in our series through 1 Corinthians, learning about Christ’s heart for His church. Like a groom towards a bride, Jesus pursues us with fondness, love, and affection. As Christ’s church, we have been called out of darkness and into His light and His family. Chris shared how the love of Jesus toward the church is a giving, restoring, cleansing, healing, sanctifying, and transforming love. As His children, we respond to this love by building His church and His kingdom on Earth.

Pastor Chris continued in our Healthy Church series, walking through 1 Corinthians 14. In our text, Paul provides clear understanding for the purpose of the gifts of prophecy and tongues. Paul urges us to have zeal for the spiritual gifts because they encourage the people of God in personal and corporate ways. Prophecy and tongues are essential because they bring life where there is death, and they build up our inner man in order for the holy spirit to have greater domain within us. 

Continuing our Healthy Church series, Pastor Chris answered the question, “What is love?” Pastor Chris contrasts man’s definition of love with God’s definition. At the same time, there are many worldly meanings of the word “love,” the “Agape” love is only found through the love of God. If you are caught by agape love, then you can share agape love; you cannot give what you have not received. As believers, we can be bold in loving people in a way that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things because of the Agape love of God.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Healthy Church series, sharing about more of the spiritual gifts that God has given us to steward. Part of the resurrection and ascension of Christ was the impartation of gifts to the people of God through the Holy Spirit. Every good and perfect thing comes from the giver of good gifts, and we have a responsibility to steward what He’s given us. Chris encouraged us to grow in our earnest desire to serve others in love, and to advance the Kingdom of God within the body of Christ.

This week Pastor Chris preached through 1 Corinthians 12, sharing the apostle Paul’s message about the importance of each individual piece that makes up the united body of Christ. Like in a puzzle where all pieces join together to create a full picture, the church is not complete until we are each connected and unified. Are you committed and connected into what God is doing in the church? Chris encouraged us to understand what unique gifts we have been given to steward, and to intentionally connect into the body of Christ.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Healthy Church series with a word on spiritual gifts. In our text, Paul brings correction and clarity to believers competing with one another in their gifting, sowing division in the church instead of unifying power. If you are a follower of Jesus, you have been given supernatural power to operate in your spiritual gifts. We are not designed to operate in our own authority and strength for our own benefit. Our unique giftings unify us together to push forward the common goal of building the church and extending the Kingdom of God.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through 1 Corinthians with a word on the personal and powerful nature of communion. Our text in the Word depicts a chaotic gathering of the young Corinthian church, full of open division and compromise due to their lack of maturity in Christ. Paul uses this gathering to contrast and express the sacred purpose of the Lord’s table. Communion is a space designed to remind us of Christ’s personal sacrifice for us and to consistently wash our hearts clean by His blood. 

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Healthy Church sermon series with an enriching word on marriage. Our text in 1 Corinthians can be a weighty passage to interpret, and Pastor Chris sought to explain both the cultural and theological implications for us today. The world’s definition of marriage often leads to heartache, pain, and difficulty. Chris expressed the reality that our marriage relationships can have a 100% chance of success if we will pursue God’s plan and design for them.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Healthy Church series with a powerful and convicting word on idolatry. Chris exhorted us to ask ourselves who or what we currently worship, since everybody is always worshipping something. Whatever we place our ultimate trust in will have the highest priority in our hearts. If there is anything other than Christ on the throne of our hearts, that thing will not only control us, but it will ultimately disappoint us. 

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Healthy Church sermon series, diving into the mission and purpose of each Christian believer on this side of heaven. Chris likened the Christian life to a long-distance run that requires training, focus, discipline, and self-control. We are each ambassadors of Christ, designed to live with intention as we share the Gospel with a lost and dying world. Our purpose is to seek opportunities to share Christ and partner with God in redeeming our spheres of influence for the Kingdom. 

For Mother’s Day, Pastor Chris continued in our healthy church series with a powerful word out of 1 Corinthians 13. Chris shared about the agape love that mothers extend each day. This kind of love cannot be produced in and of ourselves— It is given and extended to us by God. Agape love is an overflowing stream from the throne of grace. Chris encouraged each of us to open our hearts to the agape love of God so that we can extend it to those in our lives.

This week, Pastor Lonnie Arnold joined us and preached a powerful word on becoming an undivided church. The problem of division runs through the entire book for 1 Corinthians, similar to the division we see in the Christian church in American today. Pastor Lonnie shared how we need to identify what divides us and know how to apply the Gospel to each situation. Only then will we demonstrate the love through which the world will know that we are disciples of Christ.

This week, our young adult pastor Adina Olson continued in our sermon series through the book of 1 Corinthians. In our text, Paul is speaking to the believers in Corinth about their Christian liberties. As Christians, we have been provided great freedom in Christ, but we must keep the commandments to love God and love others as we exercise those freedoms. We must demonstrate the knowledge we have in love to those who don’t know Christ, and not become a stumbling block to those within the body of Christ.

This week, Pastor Chris continued with part two of his sermon on healthy sexuality. In the Corinthian church, we find Paul speaking to pockets of young Christians who elevated the world’s opinion above God’s. Each of us live out a particular lifestyle that reflects what we believe in our hearts. Does the fruit of your life display the reality that you are a new creation in Christ? Pastor Chris exhorted each of us to examine our hearts, and to submit our lives and bodies to Christ as living sacrifices for His purposes and His glory.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through the book of 1 Corinthians with a word on healthy sexuality. The city of Corinth was a hub of immorality, similar to our city and much of our nation today. However, Paul was speaking directly to the church in Corinth, calling them to repentance. Chris shared about the danger of indifference in relation to sexual immorality and the important role of discipline for every believer. Unhealthy sexuality will always lead to bondage, but following God’s blueprint for sex can usher in healing, freedom, and victory in Christ.

This Easter Sunday, Pastor Chris shared the good news of the resurrection of Jesus. He explained how Christianity is the only major religion that celebrates a resurrected Savior who defeated death on behalf of all mankind. How do you respond to the resurrection of Christ? Does it fill you with hope? By dying in our place, the risen Christ paid the price for our sin and made a way for us to live with Him in eternity. This Easter, let this incredible truth fill you with joy, freedom, and hope.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Healthy Church series with a word on faithful stewardship. He shared how we have been entrusted with the things of God, and how we deal with those things matters. Good stewards are humble servants of Christ and others, and they endure in difficulty. Chris expressed how it is easy to steward well when our circumstances are favorable, but faithful stewards will learn how to faithfully steward in the midst of pain, adversity, and hardship.

What is the best reward you have ever received? This week, Pastor Chris shared the reality that we each have a desire to be rewarded for our work. In this life, we all have work to do in order to build and advance the Kingdom of Heaven. Healthy believers know that this life is not our forever home, and how we live matters for all of eternity. God will reward us as His children for the way we live and work this side of Heaven.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Healthy Church sermon series through the book of 1 Corinthians. In this week’s text, the Apostle Paul is calling believers in the church into greater levels of maturity in Christ. Immaturity in the Lord will manifest as selfishness, often because the self is still on the throne of our lives. We must make Christ our Savior and our Lord, surrendering to His will in all areas of our lives.

This morning, Pastor Chris continued in our healthy church sermon series, systematically walking through chapter two of 1 Corinthians. Chris shared the reality that each of us are either getting healthier in Christ or not. Often, we seek to work through our problems in the natural realm, but we need the continual power of the Holy Spirit to supernaturally produce health within us. How close of a friend are you to the Spirit of God? The measure that you are regularly surrendered to Him will determine the state of your spiritual health. 

This week, we were blessed to hear from prophetic teacher Charlie Sweet. Charlie preached a powerful message for our church body, stirring us to pursue the presence of God in our lives and to invest in the next generation. Charlie exhorted us to learn how to drill wells in our hearts for the Lord’s presence to dwell and linger, and to teach the next generation to do the same. He encouraged us to press in for more of Christ’s presence, because to move forward we will need it like we never have before.

In our first service, guest prophetic preacher Charlie Sweet preached a powerful message about revival. Charlie shared how the church appears to be in a desperate state, yet God has restored and revived His people in the past and He will do it again in the present. Charlie exhorted us to cry out for revival, to fight off lukewarm living, and to prepare for battle this side of heaven.

This week, Darrin Miller continued in our series through 1 Corinthians, sharing the reality that a healthy church will operate in the power of God. Darrin defined this power as God manifesting his attributes (knowledge, wisdom, truthfulness, mercy grace, love, holiness, justice) and presence to and through his people into the world. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul shared the simple gospel of Christ crucified, which does not require eloquent or persuasive speech. Darrin encouraged us to ask ourselves if the power of God is at work in our lives today.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our new sermon series through 1 Corinthians. In our text, Paul is writing to the Corinthian church after having visited them two years prior. He sought to call the church higher, into greater unity and maturity in Christ. Chris shared how supernatural unity is a place of agreement. Christ’s church will be unified when we choose to be of the same mind, restored to God’s original plan and vision for us.

This week, Pastor Chris began a new sermon series through the book of 1 Corinthians. In this series, Chris will share a picture of a healthy church according to the apostle Paul. Throughout his missionary journeys, Paul encountered the city of Corinth—a diverse melting pot with a reputation for fierce independence, sexual immorality, and idolatry. Paul sought to spiritually diagnose the Corinthian church and encourage them to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.

This week, our Community Life Director Casey Mock shared about the importance of meeting with the saints outside of Sunday mornings. She shared a statistic from a study that sought to answer what brings health and fulfillment to individuals. That study determined “belonging” as the number one answer. We were blessed to hear some of our life group leaders express how their group has become a safe space to be transparent and find healing in Jesus.

This week at City Central, we cebrated the completion of the fast along with numerous testimonies from what we saw God do during the fast. As well, Brent and Heather Madsen, founders and leaders of the YWAM Mazatlán base joined us to share amazing things that God is doing in their midst! 

This week, guest preacher Steve Williams preached a powerful word on cultivating a prophetic culture. Steve Williams is part of the apostolic team with Minister’s Fellowship International, and he has a deeply prophetic spirit and anointing. Steve shared the vital importance of the prophetic in our world today. He implored us to throw off spiritual apathy and ask God for more of the Holy Spirit’s activity in our lives. 

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our abundance sermon series with a powerful word on prayer. Chris shared the reality that prayer is the essential communication link between the visible and the invisible world. Prayer can release what God intends to do, and it has the power to change people. Chris explained what it means to pray in the spirit and shared the 4 different types of biblical tongues. He encouraged us to pray the Word of God, and to pray as often as we possibly can.

This week, Pastor Chris launched us into the new year with a new sermon series about abundant life in Christ. God’s Word says that Christ came to give us abundance, yet we often feel as though we’re lacking. The enemy will always seek to steal, kill, and destroy our hope. Pastor Chris called us into a new day to shake off the old, to ground ourselves in prayer, and to receive our inheritance of abundance in Jesus. 

This week, our youth pastor Stephanie Kram jumpstarted the new year with a powerful word on discipleship. Stephanie defined discipleship and gave the Biblical premise for disciple relationships current day. She shared her personal story of being discipled and shared how the most important part of walking alongside somebody is our heart posture. As we invite others into our lives, we fulfill the great commission and go low in order to raise others up.

This week, Pastor Chris preached a powerful Christmas message about the magi in the Christmas story. The wise men were astrologers who traveled over thousands of miles to worship the Christ child. The star they followed is believed by some to be the shekinah glory of God leading worshippers to Immanuel. We can each learn from the example of the magi who pursued Christ and immediately fell down and worshiped Him at first sight.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our sermon series on the promises of Christmas. God’s Word exhorts us to be like little children, full of faith and wonder. The holiday season can distract us from fixing our gaze on Christ and the miracle of His birth. If you have lost your wonder, let the truth of Christ’s character as redeemer, bondage breaker, and refuge restore your awe this Christmas season.

This week Pastor Chris continued in our Christmas series, focusing on the promise of joy. The world encourages us to find joy in superficial things, but we as God’s children have an inheritance of resolute and eternal joy. Mary was a young, diminished, and misunderstood teenager when God called her to carry the Christ child. As she magnified the Lord through her difficult circumstances, Mary experienced a joy that only comes through surrender to God.

This week Pastor Chris began our Christmas series, focusing each week on a different promise fulfilled in Christ, who is the ultimate promise of Christmas. Jesus promises peace and wholeness to all who call him Lord and Savior. Without Christ, we will seek to find peace through favorable circumstances or the absence of conflict. The question to ask ourselves this Christmas season is whether we are living in the peace that only Christ provides.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our mini-series on generosity. Pastor Chris encouraged us to consider the source and purpose of our finances. God’s priorities are very different than the world’s priorities, and the holiday season can tempt us to be consumers rather than stewards of what has been entrusted to us. By choosing to generously give away, we become more aligned with God’s generous heart.

This week, Pastor Chris began a two-week mini-series on generosity. He shared how we are created to live generously because our Father has been abundantly generous to us. Culture tells us to store up our treasure on Earth, and the enemy tempts us to harden our hearts against joyfully giving our lives away. As we enter into the Thanksgiving season, we have an opportunity to stop and remind ourselves of how good God has been to us, allowing thanksgiving and generosity to change our hearts.

This week, one of City Central's elders, Darrin Miller, finshes out the series on The Life of David.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through the life of David with a powerful word on the trouble of temptation. In the story of David’s temptation with Bathsheba, we see David progressively hardening his heart against the ways of God. David abandoned his ultimate purpose as God’s chosen king to pursue his earthly desires, and his sin snowballed into adultery, treachery, and murder. Victory over temptation will come when we actively guard our minds and learn to flee away from sin and to Christ.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through the life of David. As his circumstances shifted from adverse to favorable, David was confronted with a choice. He could either choose to press further into Jesus or shift into neutral and coast in his faith. We can learn a lot about our character by how we respond to blessing and success in our lives. Rather than settling, we can choose to respond like David, and double down on our affection for Jesus.

This week (October 23, 2022) Pastor Chris continued through the life of David, looking at how David responded when his adverse circumstances changed. As we move into 2 Samuel, David’s season of difficulty had shifted as he was elevated and promoted. David made a bold decision to build his life around the presence of God, and He wanted God to be at the center of the nation. Through David, we learn what it looks like to build our lives around God rather than adding the Lord to a foundation we’ve already laid.

Pastor Chris continued in our series on the life of David, sharing how David cultivated a soft heart by trusting God through mistreatment and injustice. David knew that he was not the one who called the shots in his own life, and he trusted in God’s intervention. When we are mistreated, we can either dull our hearts against God or trust him to fight on our behalf. Our hearts will never be more on display than the moments when we respond to man’s mistreatment or rejection.

This week Pastor Chris continued our Life of David series with a message entitled, Facing Fear, Finding the Lord. Chris shared with us the story of David on the run from Saul. David’s response like most people was to act in fear. Jesus has a better word and, we know that David knew this by writing Psalm 34 in response to this trying time.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through the life of David with a word about friendship. David had people around him who stood by him through difficulty, pain, ease, and celebration. Those he called friends were often the key to helping him to endure in Christ. Jonathan was a fierce, and faithful warrior of God who desired to walk closely with David. These two were committed to each other in Christ, while King Saul became jealous and fearful of David’s anointing. Pastor Chris encouraged each of us to cultivate friendship, and to pursue forgiveness and healing where friendships have caused pain.

This week, Adina Olson shared a powerful message on the story of David and Goliath. Adina sought to examine the heart of David in this popular Biblical story out of 1 Samuel 17. As the armies of Israel prepared to battle the Philistines, King Saul sought a warrior who could defeat the giant. As God raised David up to defeat Goliath, we learn how the work David did in his heart privately prepared him for the public battle. 

This week, Pastor Chris began a new series looking at the life and the heart of David. Chris provided the historical context leading up to David’s appointment as king. In 1^st Samuel, the collective whole of Israel had rejected the Lord in their desire for an earthly king. God raised up Saul, but he soon proved himself unworthy as his leadership was marked by partial obedience, arrogance, and unrepentance. The Lord removed Saul and worked through the prophet Samuel to appoint and raise up David as the King of Israel after God’s own heart. 

This week, Pastor Chris brought our Galatians series to a close. Chris shared about the Father’s heart that always longs and desires to restore and mend unto wholeness. God will put His finger on areas of our life in order to heal us – the question is whether we want Him to heal and restore His way. In Galatians we have learned that we partner with the Lord in our restoration, and that when we yield to the Holy Spirit’s work on our lives, we will be set free to live free.

This week, Pastor Chris continued through the book of Galatians with a powerful word about living by the Spirit. In our text, the apostle Paul provides a solution for the internal battle every believer has of walking by the flesh or by the Spirit. Paul says that the solution is simple, but we each need revelation to hear it. The Father set us free so that we would walk in step with His Spirit in wholehearted humility and dependence.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through the book of Galatians. Chris shared how we were created to live intimately with God as our loving Father. In His desire to be close to us, God sent His son to restore relationship with us as his heirs and children. Chris encouraged us to ask ourselves how we approach the Father: as an heir or as a slave? If we view God as a father rather than a Pharoah, we will live in light of the inheritance He has generously promised us.

Shirlee Lamouriux

This week, Eric Jones continued in our series through Galatians. In this letter, Paul is talking with believers in Galatia who have been fascinated by a false gospel that salvation comes through circumcision. Paul contrasts this works-based faith with the truth gospel of grace. Eric shared that we can know where we are putting our faith when we diagnose what we are fascinated by.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through Galatians with a powerful word about fear of man. In our text, Peter was fearful of the Judaizer’s opinion of him and his fear spread to others. Chris shared how destructive fear of man can be for our relationship with Jesus. God’s word says that the fear of human opinion disables us but trust in God protects us.

This week Pastor Chris continued our sermon series in Galatians with a message entitled, Authentic or Counterfeit Christianity. The Judaizers of the day were invading the church with a false gospel and Paul’s exhortation the Galatian is to serve the one true authentic Jesus. The church today deals with this very same issue of picking a counterfeit Jesus over the authentic Jesus. Which Jesus do you serve?

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through the book of Galatians. In Galatians, the apostle Paul was preaching to a group of Christians believing in a man-made, works-based gospel. Paul continued to preach the simple, transformative truth that salvation only comes through the free gift of grace. There is a difference between a Biblical relationship with Jesus and the man-made religions of the world. We don’t need to strive to prove or save ourselves, we simply need to open our hearts to receive the free gift of grace and salvation in Christ Jesus.

This week, Pastor Chris began a new sermon series through the book of Galatians entitled, “Set Free to Live Free”. The apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church in Galatia in order to counter the false gospel that the Judaizers were preaching to the Christian church. These Jewish Christians regarded the Old Testament laws as still binding to Christians, and in their legalism, they disregarded the invasive grace that Jesus offers. Legalism will leave us defeated as we seek to prove ourselves outwardly to God. The simple gospel is that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, and this revelation should change us from the inside out.

This Sunday, our Community Life director Casey Mock shared about the importance of being in community and actively pursuing fellowship together. She shared the Biblical truth that we will have trouble and trial in this life and how we need others to lift our arms up when we’re too weak. We want to follow the examples of the Godhead who dwells in unity and the early church who did not neglect to meet together. Christian perseverance is a community endeavor, and Life Groups are a space where we can find our tribe before our trial.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in Malachi with a word on leaving a Godly legacy. Each of us are currently living a legacy and will leave it behind us when we pass away. The question is whether we will leave one of destruction or Godly blessing. A believer with a blessed legacy will live in such a way that counts for eternity. We are each part of a storyline that God the Father has been writing through His people that will last forever.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in Malachi 2 with a powerful message on the justice of God. The Israelites were continuing in their lukewarm living, and they began to accuse the Lord and question His character. Rather than desiring Him, they questioned what He had done for them lately. In their distorted perspective and pride, they cynically twisted God’s truth and created a God in their own image. We want to be a people who see God rightly and align our will with His.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through the book of Malachi. Malachi 2 touches on the difficult topic of divorce, and Pastor Chris shared how God’s purpose is always to redeem what has been broken. God loves marriage because it is designed to reflect His perfect love for His bride. He also hates divorce, but His love and story of redemption always reigns supreme over each of us. Chris shared the important truth that we will have a healthy marriage when we keep Jesus on the throne of our hearts and at the center of our marriage relationship.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our new series through the book of Malachi with a word on being a good listener. Listening is a skillset that communicates love and honor to another person. In Malachi 2, we learn from the example of the Levites who did not listen to the voice of God or take his instruction to heart. These priests listened to their own voice rather than God’s, and it reflected the lack of honor they had in their hearts for Him. Chris encouraged us as Gods royal priesthood to listen to His voice in our lives, take His instruction to heart, and honor Him in full obedience.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our new series through Malachi with a powerful word about giving God our best. Malachi is a continuing dialogue between God and His people who have fallen into spiritual indifference. This final book of the Old Testament is strategic for us to read now as we prepare for Christ’s second coming. In Malachi, we find that God corrects those He loves, and that right understanding of His love will change whether we give Him our best or our leftovers. His banner over us is love, and our Father deserves the very best that we can offer him.

This week, Pastor Chris began a new sermon series through the book of Malachi. This final book of the Old Testament was a word for the church as it awaited the Messiah’s first coming. The church had returned from exile, but remained distant from God and spiritually apathetic. The writer of Malachi wrote to those prone to lukewarm living and called them back into a dynamic knowledge and love of God. We can also be prone to forget that God is loving and tender toward us, and that he calls us out of idolatry and worldliness and back into love and passion for him. The good news of Malachi is that God’s love and affection over us does not change, but we must choose to turn our hearts fully back to him.

This Sunday, Chris interviewed his wife Jena about the gift of motherhood. Jena shared how every woman is a daughter of Eve, created to be a bringer and giver of life. She expressed how there are different seasons and phases of motherhood, likening some stages to areas of the armed forces. Jena shared how each woman is called and set apart to speak life. She attested to the intimacy with God that she found only by being a mom, and how she gained significant revelation about God’s complete adequacy in her inadequacy. Motherhood is a gift from God, and we are called to partner with the Lord in bringing and giving life.

This week, Pastor Chris brought our series on the spiritual gifts to a close. Our gifts matter greatly to God because each of us will one day stand before Christ and give an account for how we stewarded the gifts He gave us. We will never live more empowered, at peace, and certain of the love of God than when we live in our gifting. When we abide through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will naturally bear the Spirit’s fruit. Chris shared the important truth that God’s heart behind every spiritual gift is love. It can be easy to operate in our gifting with the wrong heart. Holy Spirit, agape love bears underneath another in faith, even in difficulty. This love is self-giving, sacrificial, and more concerned with the benefit of the other. When we serve in love through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are serving others with the very heart of Jesus Christ.

This week, one of City Central’s elders Darrin Miller preached a powerful message on how to know the heart of God and share His heart with others. Darrin expressed how it is possible to know the Word without intimately knowing and serving the God of the Word. He encouraged us to not miss God’s heart in our desire to know about Him. He continued to share how the Lord transformed him as he chose to serve the least of these in Tacoma, specifically disadvantaged youth, and those experiencing homelessness. Darrin’s message was that we are meant to live transformed each day, experiencing the heart of God and sharing it with others.

On this beautiful Easter Sunday, Pastor Chris preached a powerful word on Christ’s miraculous rescue of us. Chris shared how the biggest questions we have about life are answered through God’s truth in His word. The world is searching for answers and hope in Earthly things. Before each of us knew Christ, we sought answers outside of Christ. Chris shared how Jesus is the only answer to every question we have, and how His death and resurrection are God’s ultimate rescue plan for each one of us.

This week, Pastor Chris gave us a short word on Holy Week and the meaning of Palm Sunday. He shared the story of Jesus entering into Jerusalem and how those who welcomed and celebrated His triumphal entry were nowhere to be found a week later when he was crucified. Chris shared the sobering truth that some people desired for Jesus to save them from their circumstances rather than from their sin. Chris then continued in our sermon series with a word on the speaking gifts. He shared how we each are gifted to serve the Bride of Christ, and the question is whether or not we are using our gifts current day. Just like our lego set illustration, we are created to be connected into something bigger than ourselves.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our new series on the spiritual gifts. If you are a believer in this house, you have been grafted into a team. You have gifts that are necessary to build the Kingdom of God in this specific house. The good news is that we need not fulfill them in our flesh because the gifts are meant to be empowered by the Holy Spirit in us. We want to be a people who understand what God has given to us individually, wisely steward our gifts, and actively use them for the body. You will never be more fulfilled than when you step out and live in your spiritual gifts.

This week, long time friend and family of City Central, Adam Narciso, kicks off our new series Gifted: Finding Your Position by talking about three of the spiritual gifts that God has given to the body for our encouragement and building up.

This week during our 11:00 service, guest preacher Charlie Sweet brought a powerful word on the power of unforgiveness. Charlie shared how the body of Christ has become clouded and disengaged through the pandemic, and that it is time for us to reengage. One way that we can do this is to embrace, practice, and walk in forgiveness. When we forgive, we align ourselves with God’s word and his will regardless of how we feel. Without forgiveness, there will be no breakthrough for us to move forward in victory and peace.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Empowered series with a powerful word on the Holy Spirit. Chris sought to answer who the Holy Spirit is, how he works, and how he relates to us in our daily lives. He explained what the work, fruit and gifts of the Spirit are present-day. The Holy Spirit show us Jesus when we are in times of need. The very spirit that rose Jesus from the dead lives inside of each of us, and the faster we yield to him, the more fruit we will see in our lives.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through the book of Acts called Empowered. After Stephen was raised up to take the Gospel forward, Saul began persecuting Christians in a significant way, leading to the dispersing of believers throughout the region. God then raised up Philip who began attracting crowds in Samaria until the Holy Spirit told him to find one lost individual. The core of evangelism is found in one Christian sharing the Gospel with a nonbeliever. The divine shift in the narrative from mass to individual salvation reflects the heartbeat of Jesus to go after the one.

This week Pastor Chris preached on Following Jesus. In the book of Acts, we see Stephen full of faith, declaring truth to the Pharisee’s. As a result of Stephen’s obedience to follow Jesus till the end, he paid the cost of death to declare the truth. Stephen had every opportunity to hold offense against the Pharisee’s. However, he asked God to forgive them in full faith with his eyes fixed on eternity.

This week Pastor Chris wrapped up our mini-series on financial fitness. He shared the surprising reality that Jesus spoke more about finances in the Bible than he did about heaven and hell combined. It matters greatly to the Lord what we do with His resources, and how we spend our money will reveal the motives of our hearts. The Lord and the enemy both have distinct paths for us depending on how we will view and manage the resources God has given us.

This week, Eric Jones preached a powerful word on Biblical financial fitness. Eric shared the surprising truth that Jesus spoke more about money than he did about love. He sought to reveal lies that we commonly believe about money and used God’s word to speak the truth on the matter. We live in a culture that craves prosperity and financial stability, but God calls us to store up our treasures in Heaven. Our heart posture towards the dollar matters greatly to the Lord since all that we have been given ultimately belongs to Him.

This Sunday, our Community Life director Casey Mock shared about the importance of being in community and pursuing fellowship together. She shared the Biblical reality that we will have trouble and trial in this life, and how we need others to lift our arms up when we’re too weak. We want to follow the examples of the Godhead who dwells in unity and the early church who did not neglect to meet together. Christian perseverance is a community endeavor, and Life Groups are a space where we can find our crew before our crisis.

This week, Pastor Chris brought our Pray Like Jesus series to a close with a powerful word on Jesus’s final prayer. In our scripture this morning, Jesus is hours away from being betrayed and arrested. He prayed with an understanding that the disciples were listening, and that his time on Earth was coming to an end. The High Priestly Prayer has everything to do with us and the way that we live today.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Pray Like Jesus series, sharing the reality that our prayer lives reveal how healthy we truly are. Prayer is the temperature gauge for where we are at spiritually. It is the essential communication link between the visible and invisible realm and the primary way we articulate our emotions to God. Without prayer, there’s no communication or abiding relationship with the Lord. As we talk to Him, He talks back to us. If we want to pray like Jesus, the best place to start is the model of the Lord’s Prayer.