Cities Church Exhortations

Philippians 2 (ESV) [1] So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, [2] complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. [3] Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not...

Philippians 1 (ESV) [1] Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: [2] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [3] I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, [4] always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, [5] because of your partnership in the gospel fr...

Ephesians 6 (ESV) [1] Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. [2] “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), [3] “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” [4] Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. [5] Bondservants, obey your earthly masters...

Ephesians 5 (ESV) [1] Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. [2] And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. [3] But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. [4] Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but i...

Ephesians 4 (ESV) [1] I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, [2] with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, [3] eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [4] There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—...

Ephesians 3 (ESV) For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in...

Ephesians 2 (ESV) [1] And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—[3] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the r...

Ephesians 1 (ESV) [1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: [2] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] even as he chose us in him before th...

Almost every week, one of the pastors extends a welcome to begin the service. It is a welcome on behalf of Jesus Christ to those who are weak and desire strength, to those who are weary and need rest, to those who are broken and desire to be healed, and to those who are sinners desperate for a savior - in other words - to everyone. Everyone should hear that welcome and feel welcomed to enter in an...

This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, which signifies the beginning of Lent. As many of you know, Lent is a 40-day season culminating in Good Friday and Easter. In the past we’ve marked Lent in a handful of ways. We’ve given exhortations specific to the season; last year I wrote a ‘Lent Guide’ for our congregation; and this year we’re having an Ash Wednesday Prayer Gathering here at the building...

“I just don’t feel like I’ve been tested.” That’s what I landed on. I was telling my wife about anxiety I felt about a possible opportunity at work and in my mind the anxiety was rooted somewhere in the phrase “I just don’t feel like I’ve been tested.” The conversation moved on but in the days and weeks following I kept thinking about what I had said. “I just don’t feel like I’ve been tested.” It...

Anything worth seeking takes time. We all used to understand this, but with todays access to information, there is a massive temptation to skim. We only have time for the cliff notes, not the content. Have you found yourself like me, scrolling Youtube looking for an update on the news, but only clicking on videos under 5 minutes long? Or you get drawn in by articles that say “3-minute read”, vs. t...

In 2 Kings Chapter 5, a man named Naaman is the commander of the Syrian army, and he has leprosy, so he comes to Israel, looking for the prophet Elisha, because he wants to be healed. And by this time God has established his work through Elisha, and people all around recognized that. Elisha has already performed a catalog of miracles, and so Naaman comes to him with a whole entourage of treasure —...

The exhortation this morning is a little unusual. Normally we seek to move toward confession by reminding ourselves of our obligations before God. Remembering his commands and our responsibility reminds us of our failures, and leads us to confess our sins. But this morning, I want to lead us to confession with a simple phrase that struck me in my Bible reading in the gospel of Matthew a week ago....

In the summer of 2015, in that first year of Cities Church, I realized that in the progress and transitions of young-adult life I had lost a handle on something basic. I had no regular pattern of exercise. Somewhere in getting married in 2007, and having twin boys in 2010, and having a daughter in November 2014, and planting in 2015, exercise had fallen by the wayside. I thought I didn’t have any...

It was a relatively mild morning on January 24, 2012. I remember the day well. It was a morning I got angry. Though this was a new kind of anger; I hadn’t been angry like this before. You see, one author simply describes anger’s logic, “That matters, and it’s wrong.”[1] You get angry at whatever the issue may be when you make the value judgment that something matters and the moral judgment that so...

We want our congregation to be a tight-knit community. We want our members to spend time together, to actually hangout on a regular basis, to do life together, to do ministry together. To come up with all sorts of creative initiatives together, for the good of the Twin Cities. We want our congregants to really get to know each other, and to constantly be encouraging and challenging one another, an...

Humans were made to be expectant creatures. God designed us to be hopeful. There's a growing body of scientific knowledge indicating the benefits of hope, and it’s called The Optimism bias. People who expect good things have slightly better outcomes in many areas of life, from lower stress to even a slightly better response to some cancer treatment.  Being hopeful seems to provide a survival benef...

Look to the poets to find that the onset of winter has long evoked in the soul of man the imagery of death and loss and longing. Consider these two stanzas: The Autumn leaves fall to the ground, Soon all the trees will barren be; And all that is so dear to me, Will soon have ended with no sound. The Darkened landscape wrapt in frost, And all the flowers wilt and lie; Dead in their spot under the s...

This Sunday is the first Sunday of the Advent Season. For the next 4 Sundays as a church, we will anticipate the coming of Christ. We will sing songs, that really are good all year round, but especially leading up to Christmas, we will put our faith and hope in Christ, like we should do always, but especially as we anticipate Christ’s incarnate birth. So for the next 4 Sundays, the exhortations wi...

Time and time again in God’s word there are examples and commands to give thanks to God for who he is and what he has done. With Thanksgiving coming soon this next week the exhortation this morning to us is let us be thankful to our God not just during Thanksgiving but also throughout the whole year. Here are some verses to help reorient us. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by...

So, most of us have heard of the Twelve Days of Christmas. But I bring it up because this morning my exhortation to you is to celebrate all Twelve Days of Christmas this year. Some of you hear that and perk up, while others of you are tempted right now to check out. Which, I get, because typically I’d be in that latter group. I hear “Twelve Days of Christmas” and “marking them” and think, yeah, th...