Cities Church Sermons

This is the fourth teaching in our 2020 Psalms series, designed for Household Worship for Easter Sunday morning. In this teaching Pastor Jonathan Parnell unpacks the valuable truth we find in Psalm 16, making clear that this Psalm points us to Jesus. It is the joy of God for us to know Jesus because he is the resurrected king that will reign forever.

This is the third teaching in our spring 2020 Psalms series, designed for Household Worship. In this teaching Pastor Joe Rigney unpacks the valuable truth we find in Psalm 15: Only the one who is blameless can enter into God's presence. Pastor Joe reminds us that Jesus is the one who is blameless—he is our forerunner—and because we are in Christ, our failures do not keep us away from God's presenc...

This is the second video teaching in our 2020 Psalms series, designed for Household Worship. In this video teaching Pastor David Mathis unpacks the truth and wisdom we find in Psalm 14.

This is the first video teaching in our 2020 Psalms series, designed for Household Worship. In this video teaching Pastor Jonathan unpacks the wisdom and encouragement we find in Psalm 13.

The tenth and final commandment says, "You shall not covet"—which is actually in a different category than all the other commandments. And what makes this commandment different is not that it’s talking about different things—it’s talking about the same things we’ve already seen—but the tenth commandment talks about them in a different way. And this difference completely reconfigures the way we thi...

When we examine the ninth commandment, we often summarize it as “do not lie." But upon further examination we find that the commandment is slightly more wordy than that, and perhaps has more subtle nuances than a simple summary. Ultimately, the ninth commandment goes much further, exhorting believers to embrace the aspiration of telling to truth in “full color.” That’s our dream, to speak truth in...

The eighth commandment is a straightforward commandment that condemns theft, but it does more than that. It exhorts us to understand property ownership, be good stewards, and—most importantly—give cheerfully because God has cheerfully given so much to us.

Marriage is a comprehensive, exclusive, lifelong union of a man and a woman, created by God for our good and for the expansion of the kingdom of God on Earth. We guard marriage, not because it is inherently fragile, but because it is precious. Marriage is harnessing powerful desires that are capable of tearing human society apart. These desires are so potent that we bind them with covenants and oa...

The sixth commandment might even be the most popular of all the commandments. When it comes to the Hebrew word translated “murder” in verse 13 there’s actually not an exact correlation in English. In fact, in the old King James Version, the Hebrew word is translated “kill” — “Thou shalt not kill” — that’s how I first learned this commandment, but for us in English, we usually think differently abo...

Honoring father and mother, as we’ll see, is much bigger than childhood obedience. That’s just the beginning. It’s not less than that. But it is more. This is our fifth message on the Ten Commandments, and today we move from the so-called “first table” (the first four, which are expressly Godward) to the “second table” (the last six, which are more horizontal, toward fellow humans). Of the last si...

So this morning in Exodus 20 we’re looking at the fourth commandment to “Remember the Sabbath” and I want to say right from the start that this commandment is not confusing — it’s as easy to read as the other nine commandments, however, when it comes to actual practice, this commandment is the most controversial. There is debate here not so much on the commandment itself, but on how we apply it, a...

The Lord is jealous for our affections. He is uniquely worthy of our love. Our attitudes and deeds ought to reflect the truth that Yahweh is supreme. For this reason we are commanded: Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.

Only worship Yahweh. That's the first commandment. The second commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them.” In summary, the first commandment is to only worship Yahweh, and the second commandment is to only wor...

Today we continue our series through the book of Exodus, but with a little twist. The story thus far has led us to Mount Sinai, where the presence of God descends in fire and smoke, thunder and lightning and a trumpet blast in order to make a covenant with his newly delivered people. The rest of Exodus is devoted to the terms of that covenant—the laws and statutes that were to govern Israel’s life...

One author writes: "I have often said that the sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room." The writer writes this sentence as a lament to the busyness that surrounds him. Everyone is hurried, preoccupied, and distracted. We fill their lives with stuff, and then give the rest of their time in pursuit of the ability to acquire more stuff. Most of our en...

"Yahweh is the Author. He is the Creator. He is the author of the story, and we are his characters. He is everywhere and everywhen. He hears and knows everything. He sees, he hears, he remembers his covenant, and he acts in faithfulness."

What God intended first for a person (Adam), and then a people (Israel), has now been realized in a Person (Jesus) and a people (the church). The church is the people of Jesus. We are men and women brought into fellowship with God by God through faith. We are created new in Jesus. We are forgiven by the cross of Jesus and filled with the Spirit of Jesus, to walk in the way of Jesus.

The story of the Exodus is a paradigm by which Christians can understand our own salvation. Through the first seventeen chapters of Exodus, Yahweh consistently and convincingly delivers his people with miraculous, supernatural power. But as we come to Exodus 18, we something much more ordinary. In chapter 18, we see how normal, everyday relationships are transformed by the good news of what God ha...

The Old Testament teaches us that people sin and we deserve God’s judgment, but God still gives grace. Humans are rebellious. God has every right to be done with, but he chooses to show grace. Some have shook their fists at God. Others have just ignored him. Either way, our rebellion demonstrates our spiritual thirst. And God proactively sought us and provided the means to quench our spiritual thi...

The manna in the book of Exodus is all about the self-giving grace of God. In Exodus 16 God's provision of manna demonstrates God's mercy and desire to provide for his own people. The greatest provision he has given is Jesus. In fact, Exodus 16 is actually all about Jesus. Jesus is God's way when there is no way. And Jesus is always enough.

When we examine the Exodus, Yahweh rescuing his covenant people from slavery, we see a single event where the God of heaven revealed much about himself. In that single event God revealed more about himself, and more clearly and memorably, than he had revealed about himself at any other event up to that point in human history. In fact, the Exodus, and more specifically the Israelites crossing the R...

This sermon is more of a theological summary message. A key theme in the Exodus is God’s relationship to Pharaoh’s heart. And this raises questions for us about God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. The good news from Exodus is that God rules and reigns over and in this hardening. He is sovereign over our hearts. Our hearts are streams of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns them wherever...

In Exodus 13 we see God instituting rituals for his people. The reasons for these rituals are clear. God is reminding his people: 1) Worship is the primary he rescues us; 2) Freedom means saying no to sin; 3) Your future will cost you everything. Rituals have the potential to greatly remind us of these truths, and to usher us into greater intimacy with Yahweh.

When God made a distinction in the earlier plagues, he just did it. God's people didn’t have to do anything. But here, with the tenth plague, they must do something, or else God won't make a distinction. This difference is important.

In Exodus 7, we begin to see God orchestrating the plagues on Egypt. Pharaoh has refused to obey Yahweh's commands to release the Hebrews. But, as we examine the plagues, it’s important to keep in mind that the plagues will not convince Pharaoh to release the people of Israel. God is clear about that in Exodus 7. So the purpose of the plagues is not persuasion, it’s revelation. Pharaoh is not goin...