Cities Church Exhortations

In this exhortation, Jon Hoglund remembers a story of some Christian men overseas being arrested for gathering together in prayer. If something similar happened among our communities, would we be more or less likely to make life group and community group meetings a priority next week?

In this exhortation, Ryan Griffith looks to Paul’s teachings on the church body and its individual members which reminds us of our need for one another. Each follower of Jesus has an indispensable gift. Let’s fully grow together as a holy community, as a field hospital for the hurting, as an outpost of kingdom-expanding mission.

In this exhortation, Pastor David Mathis addresses our 21st-century frustration with God’s sense of timing and points us toward the instruction of 1 Peter 5:6.

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Schumann encourages us to consider how we might respond if Jesus were to interrupt our pursuits by coming back right now.

In this exhortation, Pastor Jonathan Parnell asks how our theology compels us when it comes to multiplication.

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Polley shares Proverbs 27:21 which speaks of the testing that is brought on by praise. It tests our hearts, but so can the absence of praise. Do you steadily take the absence of praise, with the same trust and gratitude toward God as the times when praise is present?

In this exhortation, Jon Hoglund reminds us of one of the short prayers we found in Psalm 86 last Sunday that calls us to pray beyond ourselves to God’s wider purposes. Do you pray beyond the fenced in yard of your own needs toward God’s glory?

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Schumann encourages us to ask ourselves this rare question when it comes to how we live and the choices we navigate. We cannot be united to Jesus and not united to His people, so we must consider how we can be more like Jesus in this way.

In this exhortation, Deacon Josiah Bennett implores us to live our lives for Christ despite the sacrifices that it may require. All of our lives will one day end. What will your life have been about?

In this exhortation, Pastor Daniel Helstrom reflects on the limitless help God has for us when we come to a point of true surrender in our daily lives.

In this exhortation, Ryan Griffith reminds us that the most important thing about us has to do with Jesus. Our late sister in Christ, Jean Swenson, grasped this with great clarity. She knew she was precious in God’s sight because he loved her. Our value is in God’s love for us, not our own merit.

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Schumann exhorts us to talk lovingly about the church. Is the Christian church perfect? Certainly not. But Jesus has committed himself to the church – his bride. Let’s love, speak well, give grace, demonstrate commitment, and labor in hope for the betterment of the church.

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Polley imagines a team’s conversation after winning the championship game. We may often feel more free to share our failures when a positive outcome is already secured. How much more should we feel this when it comes to confessing our sins?

In this exhortation, on Easter Sunday, Pastor David Mathis reminds us of the magnificence of Easter. Let’s have the greatness of Jesus’s triumph shine against the backdrop of our needs, desperation, and sin. This reminds us of our need to confess our sins.

In this exhortation, Pastor Kevin Kleiman reflects of the haunting question asked in Psalm 42. As humans, we experience seasons of the soul, a variety of emotions and responses to circumstances internally and externally. It’s good to be curious about these emotions, like the psalmist. But Psalm 42 doesn’t stop here. There’s a turn.

In this exhortation, Pastor David Easterwood reflects on the sneaky and costly sin of envy. We have robbed ourselves of delighting together with others in their blessings when we have harbored an ugly discontentment in our hearts.

In this exhortation, Jon Hoglund reflects on the practically impossible word of exhortation from the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:6. How often do we hide our anxieties, nurse our worries, and perhaps even say that we need God’s help, but then neglect God’s chosen means for renewing our hearts in the midst of worries?

In this exhortation, Pastor Jonathan Parnell reflects on the most salient reminder to him from his late grandmother’s life which reminds us to keep eternity in view, in whatever we do with our lives. This life is a vapor, but it matters. So live for eternity, for the glory of God.

In this exhortation, Pastor Daniel Helstrom reflects on the depths of loneliness that people face. We are all susceptible to experiencing the pain of loneliness and so we look for a relief. To whom or to what, other than God, do you turn for comfort?

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Polley leads us into a time of confession by pondering the question: What is the cost of sin?

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Schumann reminds us that there has never been a time when God has owed us any good. Have you ever felt like God failed you? Should have done something, or prevented something, or provided something for you, but he didn’t, and that upset you? Have you ever gotten angry with God?

In this exhortation, Tyler Morris reflects on the life-defining realities of God’s Word and exhorts us to move beyond only understanding the Word to prayerfully meditating on it until we experience its realness.

In this exhortation, Pastor David Easterwood describes what it means to talk to God. When we talk to God as Christians, he hears us from heaven.

In this exhortation, Pastor Kevin Kleiman asks: Have you ever thought God’s love towards you has limits? David tells us in Psalm 103, “He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.” God’s love towards his children will never end.

In this exhortation, Pastor David Mathis shares the final word of Paul’s farewell speech to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:35. Jesus tells us that we will be happier if we give to others because our Father in heaven will see it and he will reward us with something far greater than what we deserve.