Citizens Weekly

From the series “I Will Build My Church”. A discussion about God’s Church warrants an invitation to assure that our testimony regarding the Church echoes God’s testimony regarding the Church. God loves the Church. He’s dreamed of her since before the foundation of the earth. But in every age anti-church sentiment suggests a more critically viable position be held against the Church, even by those...

From the series, “I Will Build My Church”. God has a plan for your life that includes a new identity and a brand-new approach to human interaction.

From the series, “I Will Build My Church”. Our culture doesn’t care about our creeds, theories, or customs. Fourty million people have stopped attending church in the last 25 years. If Jesus is still building his church in 2023, where is the data to back that up? How is Jesus building his church, and what does that mean for us? 

The Bible provides clear and unambiguous instructions to Christians regarding truth: love it, walk in it, think about it, and testify to it. But we're faced today with many competing truth claims -- and we're forced to decipher them with minds that are easily fooled. What then should we do about truth? In Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well, he demonstrates how his people ou...

When did being a Christian require us to be pleasant, positive, and perky ALL the time? Was Jesus any of those things ALL the time? No. Jesus was about His Father’s business, which was to extend God’s Covenant of perfect love to all people. And with a Covenant of perfect love comes a whole heap of hates–particularly against anything that threatens or hinders the beloved. The Scriptures say that Je...

“Love your neighbor” – it’s a simple command with incredible consequences.  Paul and his team share in I Thessalonians 2 how their mission to the city of Thessalonica transformed them as they learned to love (and be loved) by their neighbors.  As we approach a new school year and thousands of strangers descending upon our city, what would it look like if Jesus’ church stepped forward and saw every...

Jesus sees the world differently than we do. When he sees us, his first instinct is not towards judgement but towards compassion. Jesus' sight of us is passionate, piercing, and has the power to transform us from the inside out. We are exactly what he's looking for.

“God is intensely and fundamentally relational,” is a phrase we repeat from time to time at Citizens. Josh breaks down this phrase, explains its motivations and unpacks deeper meaning behind each of the words. He explores three of the qualities of being relational and how this critical aspect of God leads us to the understanding that love is the basis of all reality.

Anything we set against the perfect nature and character of our Lord – as He revealed in Scripture – will fall like the idol of Dagon before the Ark of the Covenant. As believers, it is tempting to exalt the peace and joy of the Kingdom of God while ignoring, or fighting against, God’s righteousness. But Romans 14 says we need all three. And Jesus said to seek first the Kingdom of God and its righ...

The Father’s heart for us is to live in freedom and to become more like him. Fear is not freedom and it is not the Father’s voice. It can easily keep us from moving forward through whatever chapter we find ourselves in. This week, we look at why and how we as believers must behold him and see him rightly. We also discover what we see about the cross when we look closely and what we can do with the...

Only Jesus can pronounce Salvation. Only Jesus can grant access, by His Blood, to the Kingdom of God. However, Jesus still waits for us to actively repent of our self-constructed securities, to break allegiances with false “gospels” that suggest we are perfectly fine exactly as we are or that our passion for His works is enough to win Him over. The true Gospel of Jesus is worth making room for in...

As Adam held fig leaves to cover the shame of his body, God asked him, “Who told you that you were naked?” Much later, after a wealthy fellow asked Jesus how to get religious rewards, Jesus ups the ante and tells him, “Go sell your possessions and give your money to the poor.” Jesus said this because he knew, just as Adam held his fig leaves, the rich young man held his possessions. What fig leave...

Nick talks about how to silence the inner critic and accusatory tone many believers can have towards themselves and how to be as kind to themselves as God is.

Jesus departed from crowds to "desolate places" to meet with His Father. If this was a regular practice for Jesus, perhaps it should be for us as well. Summer in a college town provides an ample opportunity for such, especially as the crowds around here have departed. But what should our time in those desolate places look like? We can see examples in Luke of people encountering Jesus, th...

From the Series “The Apostles’ Creed.” The Holy Spirit is not merely a theological concept but rather the third person of the Trinity, coequal with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit cannot be controlled or manipulated by humans but can be personally known and related to. As a divine person, the Holy Spirit is actively present and involved in the lives of those who follow Jesus. He guides us...

From the Series “The Apostles’ Creed.” Returning to the first line of the Creed, God, our Father, is the Creator of Heaven and earth. As sons and daughters, we cannot escape the imprint of our Genesis. So what does it mean as unique individuals to be created in God’s image? There are many of us because there is much of Him. How do we begin to rule and reign as He commanded in a world that needs so...

From the Series “The Apostles’ Creed.” Judgment Day is coming, and everyone will be judged by Jesus. Considering this, we should live with a conscious expectation of immanency by focusing on living like Jesus, looking like Jesus, and loving like Jesus.

From the Series “The Apostles’ Creed.”  In the ascension, Jesus ascends to the ultimate throne as the King over everything. He extends an invitation to us to enter a new reality where he intercedes for us, where we become citizens of a new community, and where the Holy Spirit takes up residence within u

From the Series “The Apostles’ Creed.” The resurrection is the remarkable counter-story that challenges the narratives we tell others and ourselves about what is possible and what is not.