Citizens Weekly

Parables featuring banquets and feasts remind audiences that the Kingdom of God is a party we do not want to miss. Are our expectations of this Kingdom party appropriately high? If not, let's accept God's invitation to raise our expectations.

In Matthew 18, Jesus reveals what the Kingdom of Heaven is like: a King overflowing with mercy who forgives an impossible debt, and a people transformed by that mercy. Those who truly understand the magnitude of God's forgiveness walk in humility, repentance, and forgiveness toward others. Unforgiveness, pride, and bitterness keep us bound, but those who receive grace and extend it to others...

The Parable of the Ten Virgins is read best alongside Jesus' concerns for His disciples in Matthew 24. We also do well to consider this parable through biblical definitions of "wise" and "foolish" as displayed in Proverbs. In such readings, we find this parable to be less about what we do for God and more about how well we receive God's Goodness towards us, made avail...

Parables, like all good metaphors, work best when their comparative elements are unexpected and novel. While the parables of Jesus may have grown familiar to the point of white noise for many believers, listening to them afresh through the ears of Jesus's audience, with all their narrative and theological expectations, may help us experience Jesus's teaching as He intended.

As we begin our summer series on the parables of Jesus, Kathryn sets the stage for how we’ll handle these well-known passages of scripture over the coming weeks.  Together, we look at three things this week: What is a parable? How should we approach and read them? The Parable of the Sower

On Palm Sunday, we explore the surprising way Jesus revealed His kingship—not through power, but through humility. As the Church enters Holy Week, we ask a deeper question—not just who the Holy Spirit is, but what He is saying to us right now. This episode is a call to reject pride, embrace humility, and live from the Father’s approval rather than striving for our own.

Some people may falsely believe that the Holy Spirit is a rogue agent doing His own wild, dramatic, attention-seeking thing apart from Jesus the Son and God the Father. Nothing could be further from the truth. By looking at three scenes of Paul "filled with the Holy Spirit" in Acts 13 and 14, we see reflections of both Jesus the Son and God the Father. In this examination, we find the Ho...

The Holy Spirit Himself is the greatest gift to us. He always comes with the Father's love. How do we receive this great gift of the Holy Spirit? Find out as Steph takes us through scriptures that point to the simplicity of being receivers in light of such an extravagant God.

In Holy Spirit Part 2, we go deeper into who the Holy Spirit is and why He was given. From Genesis to Pentecost, we see that God has always been inviting humanity into His life of love. Before power or gifts, the Spirit’s primary purpose is to draw us into the love of the Father through the Son—and to remind us that we are deeply loved children of God.

As we begin our new series on the Holy Spirit, this message is both a warning and an invitation. Jesus looks for fruit, not just religious activity. Through the fig tree, the parable of the ten virgins, and stories of genuine revival, we are confronted with the danger of spiritual autopilot and the necessity of living with oil in our lamps.

After a prolonged season of prayer and fasting, as Citizens shared for 21 days in January, we may turn easily back to life as usual, meaning to old appetites as usual. However, prolonged fasting produces in us new wine not fit for old wine skins. For this reason, we would do well to invite the Holy Spirit to examine our appetites, even frequently, for anything less than nourishing and less than ri...

Good stories are worth revisiting. The Acts 9 story of Saul's conversion—familiar to most Bible readers—welcomes a fresh reading from a different angle, looking less at Saul and more at the supporting cast of characters who each play significant roles in one of God's wilder moments of dramatic irony. Who could have expected God to redeem the enemy? And to do so through the brave actions...

In our second week of First Fruits, Kathryn teaches on undivided worship. Together, we identify potential altars we may have built up in our hearts in addition to Jesus. Looking at the lives and worship of King David and King Solomon brings us to this question: Will we be like David and tear down altars, or will we be like Solomon and accommodate them?

In this first Vision sermon of the First Fruits series, we are reminded why we exist, where God is leading us, and why we are fasting. As culture shifts into a post-Christian, deeply lonely age, Jesus is inviting us into a renewed focus on creating disciples—not primarily through programs or preaching alone, but through relational proximity.

In this Advent teaching, we explore the third prophetic throne name given to Jesus: Everlasting Father—a King whose rule is marked by protection, provision, identity, and comfort. Rather than relating to Jesus as distant or conditional, we’re invited to experience His fatherly love towards us as present, personal, and unending- right now! This message calls us to stop striving, receive our true id...

Isaiah 9 speaks of a child who will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Listen as we explore the might of our God and the two places of guaranteed access to his power and strength.