Gospel City Church – Toronto

Friendship is invaluable in our lives. To have someone to share both our joys and sorrows with, to care and be cared for, to not feel alone in this world, it’s a wonderful thing to have true friends. But studies show the number of friendships we have declines as we get older and it’s for a number of reasons. There are shifting priorities in life, or having less time and energy to invest in new fri...

It is much easier to look only to your own interests. But that would be a major hindrance to having unity in the church. So in light of the cross of Christ and the grace of God, may we humble ourselves to serve others, to think about others, to talk to others and get to know others. Get to know their hopes, dreams, fears, struggles, and their needs, and then love them. Not in our own strength, or...

A familiar Thanksgiving question is: What are you thankful for? You might hear, I'm thankful for my family, for my health, for this church, for my work, for a new friend. These are good. But the Bible invites us to go deeper. It not only asks, "What are you thankful for?" But it also asks, "Who are you thankful to...and why?"

The Apostle Paul says in the first chapter of Philippians that he’s already joyful because of the Philippians’ partnership in the gospel. He is joyful because Christ is being proclaimed despite him being in prison. But in this passage, Paul makes a personal plea for his joy to be complete. And it’s by doing this one thing: Being truly unified.

When Ezra opened the Word of God in Nehemiah 8, as he read, something incredible happened. People started to weep. The Word of God cut through the noise, cut through the excuses, and pierced their hearts Spiritual renewal often begins that way: Not with laughter, but rather in tears. But it does not end with weeping. God moves HIs people from tears to joy.

If we are truly citizens of heaven, we are to conduct ourselves in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ. So how are we to live as citizens of heaven? First, by standing firm in one spirit, one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel (Part 1 of the sermon).And two, from this week’s passage, by not being frightened in anything by your opponents.

You cannot go long without food before it starts to affect your body. Eventually hunger catches up to you. It’s also true spiritually. Many of us try to live without feeding on God’s Word. We rush into our day, we fill our schedules, there's endless entertainment and constant scrolling on our phones. We think we’re okay but then life shakes us. We find ourselves empty, weak, restless, worn dow...

It’s easy to notice cultural differences between two groups of people from two different countries. But do you notice any cultural difference between the people of this world and the people of God? We know how people of this world behave, but how are we to live and act as citizens of heaven?

Everyone knows what it feels like when life doesn’t go the way we expect it. Perhaps it’s a job interview that didn’t go well. Or words from a doctor that you didn’t want to hear. In these situations, we often just go numb and don’t know what to do next. It’s how the two disciples in Luke 24 must have felt after following Christ and believing that He would make all things right. But when He was cr...

Imagine if a young millionaire who earned much success at work and in life passed away early at the age of 32. All the wealth he’s earned, the plans he’s made, the goals he’s set would all be left behind. His tombstone might read, “To live is success, to die is loss.”From this man’s perspective, what good could possibly come from dying? But from today’s passage, we see an entirely different perspe...

What makes a church grow, thrive and healthy? Is it excellent preaching? Is it an awesome children’s ministry, or an amazing praise team? Is it warm, friendly fellowship amongst the believers? All of these things are wonderful to see and experience in a local church. But what is essential for a growing, thriving, and healthy church is to keep something that was given as a gift to each true believe...

As believers who want to follow Jesus, we might ask God for the answers to some of the life questions we might have. In particular, we might ask what is God’s will for our life, in our work, in our singleness, in our marriage?  So how do we discern and obey God’s will?

In life, we get bumped all the time.  We’re interrupted, misunderstood, pressured, overlooked. And when those situations come, what spills out of us? Is it irritation, insecurity, harsh words? Or is it gentleness, patience, grace? We all have reactions that spill out when we are bumped. And those reactions aren’t neutral. They’re either shaped by the flesh or they’re being shaped by the gospel.

Imagine if you invited a co-worker to come visit our church next Sunday and your boss found about this. Then your boss calls you into the office and says this is against company policy, noting that you’re not allowed to impose your religious beliefs on your co-workers. Then your boss says you’ll have to meet with the HR director. Now what would be going on in your mind at that moment? What would b...

In Nehemiah 7, we get a window into the heart of Nehemiah. But more than that, we get a glimpse into God’s heart. What Nehemiah cares about in this chapter is what God cares about. So what matters to the heart of God?

Lying is Satan’s primary weapon against God’s people. And what he wants is for us to believe his lies and behave ungodly. In Nehemiah 6, we see the enemy using lies against Nehemiah with the goal of trying to stop the work of God. But by God’s grace, we see Nehemiah trusted God and he resisted the lies. Now you may not be facing what Nehemiah had to, but you will continuously hear lies from the ev...

Gospel City Church (GCC) welcomed Michele Dyer from Brentwood Baptist Church who hosted a Spiritual Gifts seminar called "Discover You" on July 12, 2025. At GCC, we believe every member is uniquely gifted by God. The seminar was designed to help discover participants their spiritual gifts, personality, and ministry passions — and how they connect to your walk with Christ and your role in...

Is your ambition in life self-centred or is it Christ-centred? Are you able to rejoice even in suffering as long as Christ is proclaimed and exalted? Is the greatest desire in your life to know Christ and for Christ to be made known? May God purify us of all envy and selfish-ambition in our hearts so that Christ will be magnified in our speech and in our actions, in our flourishing and even in our...

Meeting celebrities in person, you see how they're larger than life and just how immensely popular they are with swarms of fans surrounding them just to be as close to them as possible. Why? Because in our celebrity culture, they are put up on this pedestal and praised for who they are and what they’ve done. Their loyal fans always demonstrate this sense of awe and wonder whenever they’re in t...

Paul survived death four times and then later he was under house arrest. At this point in Paul’s ministry in Philippians 1, the Philippian church wanted to know how Paul was feeling at this moment. Was he discouraged? Was he feeling beat down? But Paul makes it clear in Philippians 1:12-14 that he is genuinely joyful and excited even while he’s in chains. Why? To understand Paul’s heart, you have...

In Nehemiah 5, we see the threat of God’s work comes from within and how internal conflict is often more dangerous than external opposition. Because when God’s people are divided, when selfishness creeps in and justice is pushed aside, the work of God doesn’t just slow down, it breaks down. For more sermons from GCC, visit https://gospelcitychurch.ca/sermon

When Nehemiah heard the news that the city of God in Jerusalem was still in ruins, something in him broke.  He lived in a palace of a Persian king surrounded by comfort and power, but he could not ignore what was happening to God’s people. He wept, he prayed and fasted for months.  Then God opened a door. The king gave him permission with the resources he needed to rebuild. So Nehemiah gathered Go...

If you’ve grown up in the church, you might have seen others leave the church. People who you may have prayed with and served with in the Lord, you discover they were never actually in the Lord. And just because we attend church or even consider ourselves members of the church, it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re actually part of Christ’s universal church. It doesn’t necessarily mean we are one of J...

In Nehemiah 3, we see the story of God’s people working together for God’s purpose. And today, this should be the most exciting thing we get to be part of, which is being able to join God in what He is doing. We get to join Christ in building his church for the eternity we have with Him.

Sanctification is a theological term that means progressively being made more and more like Jesus, or more and more holy and righteous. So what is God’s role in our sanctification? As Christians, we believe we are saved completely by the grace of God. But once we’re in Christ, is it all up to us to grow spiritually? Is it all about our effort or is sanctification also by grace? Today’s sermon look...