Cities Church Exhortations

In this exhortation, Pastor David Mathis exhorts families to make our weekly life together as a church a top priority when it comes to our time-management because if Jesus is our Lord, then his church is our single most important human association.

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Schumann reads Proverbs 22:6 which is an encouragement to parents to train their children in the ways they should go, so that even when they are old, they might continue in those ways. Therefore, we should examine how we are training our children with the words we say, the things we do, the demeanor and tone we present, and the way we choose to spend our time, mone...

In this exhortation, Pastor David Easterwood exhorts us from Psalm 121 that the only way to get the right perspective on our disappointment is to “lift our eyes” to the Lord, from where our help comes. We would do well to remember the old hymn: “Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.”

In this exhortation, Jon Hoglund retells a story from Ambrose, the bishop of Milan and mentor to Augustine, about a 12-year-old girl named Agnes that defied the Roman empire around 304 AD by her bold confession of Jesus Christ as Lord. This Christian martyr, Saint Agnes, was faithful unto death because she understood that our confession of Jesus as our Savior has more significance in reality than...

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Polley exhorts us to trust God’s love for us. The Father was well pleased with the Son and because Jesus brought us into that same love by clothing us in righteousness, we can confidently say “if God loves Jesus, then God loves me.”

In this exhortation, Clint Manley provides us with two questions to ponder on this final Sunday of Christmastide: “Have you marveled at Jesus?” and “Have you made Jesus known?” The exhortation then is this: Let us marvel at Jesus and make his glory known.

In this exhortation, Pastor Kevin Kleiman looks to the letter of James to provide an answer to the question: ‘How can we think about the possibility of trials and their effect as we look ahead to 2024?’ James shows us that no matter what the Lord has in store for us this year, we can look ahead with fortified hope knowing that he promises to use even the worst things for our good and for our growt...

In this exhortation, on the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, Marshall Segal draws us back out into the field on the night Christ was born. The night God sent down the frightening forces of his heavenly armies to sing of peace. The exhortation is this: Listen to the blazing, dangerous choir in the sky and savor our harmony with heaven, a gift which Jesus bled and died for.

In this exhortation, on the third Sunday of Advent, Jon Hoglund points to God’s promise to Zechariah that he would have a son in Luke 1 and Zechariah’s doubting response to that promise. Which of God’s promises are you tempted to doubt, or to give up on? How are you doing in waiting for God’s promises without losing hope in their fulfillment?

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Schumann shows some perspective of the wise men introduced in Matthew 2 in an effort to highlight the peculiarity of the Christmas story. Their faith and willingness to leave everything to go and be with baby Jesus contrasts our own unbelief, and our own unwillingness to lay down any of our comforts for him.

In this exhortation, on the first Sunday of this Advent season, Pastor Max Kozak looks back to Simeon’s Advent waiting in the gospel of Luke and then looks forward as we too wait for Jesus to come – but we wait with a New Covenant perspective. We know “Christ has come ...” and now we wait for the day when “... Christ will come again.”

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Polley reflects on the reality that in this holiday season of thanksgiving: Our daily struggles often don’t take a break. Your heart may just feel stuck, or dull, or weary. But one way the Lord can restore the joy of our salvation, and awaken love and gratitude in our hearts, is for us to remember our salvation.

In this exhortation, Pastor David Easterwood reminds us of the sinful ways we might approach Jesus. But rather, let’s approach Jesus like the woman in Luke 8:43-48 – in faith – because faith in Jesus is not in vain for he knows we are here and he is the sovereign God over everything.

In this exhortation, Marshall Segal illustrates how in moments of pain or frustration, discouragement or exhaustion, we can sometimes reach for a besetting sin – thinking it will make us feel better – only to realize it makes us feel worse. Let’s not turn to temptation in our pain. Let’s not believe the lie that sin will somehow comfort you.

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Schumann paints a simple picture for what discipleship looks like and then exhorts us to ask ourselves who, in our church, could we be discipling toward more of Jesus in their life?

In this exhortation, Pastor Kevin Kleiman looks at the words of the apostle Paul in Colossians 3:23, as well as Tim Keller in Every Good Endeavor, which remind us of a proper biblical approach to our work – that rather than working for ourselves, we serve the Lord Christ (Col. 2:23).

In this exhortation, Jon Hoglund explains the difference between being thankful and giving thanks. We should be aware of how we can hide behind thankfulness and avoid thanksgiving. So being watchful in prayer (Col. 4:2), let’s give thanks by telling God and other people about the good we have received from Him.

In this exhortation, Pastor David Mathis poses the question: “What are you doing, or what habits do you want to cultivate, to condition your soul to delight in God?” Singing expresses our hearts, conditions us, jumpstarts us, and forms and shapes our souls. So let’s sing!

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Schumann walks through the 5 C's of our liturgy: call, confession, consecration, communion, and commission and reminds us to not take it for granted as it is reality in motion in the present.

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Polley exhorts us, from Proverbs 23:26, to give God our hearts and observe His ways. Our heavenly Father is inviting us to give our hearts to him, which is the only way to understand God’s ways, and the best way to start is to give our sins to God.

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Schumann reminds us of the neediness of our children and explains how that divinely designed neediness actually results in more of Jesus for us. At Cities, one way to get in on welcoming children is to join a childcare serve team. And the reason we encourage all members to get in on this is because our church exists to have more of Jesus.

In this exhortation, Pastor David Easterwood reminds us of the hope we have in Jesus by pointing to the beautiful scene of a sunrise which reminds us of this hope every morning. And Lamentation 3:22-24 says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I wil...

In this exhortation, Dan Helstrom exhorts us from Proverbs 2:1-5 to dig deeper by seeking God’s words to us. Let’s call out to God; seeking wisdom and understanding. It is when we understand the fear of the Lord, that we find the knowledge of God.

In this exhortation, Pastor Kevin Kleiman reflects on a memory of the humanity all around at the MN State Fair. There are all kinds of people in a crowd, and we are a helpless people, so how should we act with a crowd? How did Jesus respond to crowds?

In this exhortation, Pastor Mike Polley presents the importance of local church membership. To be a member of a local church is to be a participative member of God’s family, it’s a spiritual membership connected to an eternal reality.