City Alive Church

We were made for the person of God. We exist for his presence, to know him, love him, and enjoy him forever.

We live in an age of deception and confusion. For believers, the Spirit is the one who guides us into all truth. He draws us into deep relationship with the Father and the Son and declares the truth, beauty, and glory of God to us.

This is the gospel: not that we loved God, but that he loved us first. This week Joey teaches two truths (and two lies) about God's love. God loves us more than we know, and his love wants to transform us more than we know.

We are called to a lifestyle of beloved discipleship, where we are brought into the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the American church salvation has often been reduced to heaven and hell. But we aren't saved for a place, we are saved for the person of Jesus, who is our Life.

Preaching from the Parable of the Talents, Daniel shows us the heart of Christ regarding the gifts he has given us. Jesus is the Master who will return to judge and reward his servants.

The great need of the church today is the need for the Spirit to be in our midst. Joey preaches about how the Spirit makes us God's temple, gives us power God's mission, and is God's down payment on a renewed world.

Jacob returns home with a family of his own after 20 years in exile. The night before seeing Esau again, Jacob is left anxious and alone when a mysterious man wrestles him until daybreak.

On the run from Esau, Jacob comes to his uncle Laban. It was here that Jacob the deceiver gets deceived himself. When everything seemed to fall apart for Jacob, it turned out that God was actively working to fulfill his promises.

Jacob goes on the run, fearing Esau's wrath for getting his birthright and blessing. On the journey to his uncle Laban's, Jacob has a dream of a stairway reaching to heaven, and Yahweh himself appears to him.

This week Jacob once again trips up his older brother, as he deceives his father Isaac into giving him the firstborn's blessing. This is a story about the power of our words and the grace of God in our weakness. And most of all, it's a profound portrait of the gospel.

We are diving back in to the Story of God series, exploring the grand narrative of the Bible from the beginning. This story is the true story of the world. We are picking up the story with Isaac and his wife Rebecca, and their two sons Hairy (Esau) and Heel (Jacob).

A suffering one is surrounded by violent enemies. He is pierced in the hands and feet. People mock him. They cast lots for his clothes. The suffering one says, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" That suffering man is David in Psalm 22. These hyper-specific parallels to Jesus' suffering on the cross reveal what was on Jesus' mind as he died. Far from crying out in despair...

Something happened to Jesus in the days before his death: a woman named Mary poured out an entire bottle of perfume on him. Many saw it was a waste, but Jesus was so moved by it he said that wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, this story would also be told in her memory.

Jesus' plan to redeem the world involves kids. In this story from John 6, Jesus uses a boy's lunch to feed a crowd. We need adults like Andrew who will identify young disciples and bring them to Jesus. Their little lunch may not be much in the eyes of the world, but in the hands of Jesus it's everything.

Every generation has to own the task to pass on the faith to a new generation of disciples. Spiritual warfare doesn't begin at 18 years old. When the enemy wants to destroy the church, he targets the youth. It's our task as adults to stand in the gap for the kids of this church and this city, to teach them God's ways, and to tell them the great miracles he has done in our lives.

This week explore Jesus' dialogue with the Rich Young Ruler, who walked away from following Jesus. Despite material and "religious" success, there were deeper idols in his heart. In an age of consumerism, this story still confronts and inspires us today.

As we step into this accelerated season God has for our church, Joey casts vision for the future of our building. Ultimately we give because Jesus gave everything for us.

This week Joey goes deeper into gospel proclamation, spiritual formation, community, and mission.

The beating heart of any church is the gospel. The Church exists to proclaim the gospel to a lost world. Jesus invites us to be made radically new by the good news of his kingdom.

Preaching from 2 Kings 4 about the Widow's Oil, Joey talks about how to step into the future God has for us: by emptying ourselves. The value of a container is its emptiness. And the less there is of us, the more room there is for God.

In this series Joey begins to lay out the vision for being the church God has called us to be. We exist to see our city come alive in Christ through: Gospel Proclamation, Spiritual Formation, Community, and Mission.

Everything in the Christian life is done to the glory of God. And the best way we can glorify God is to speak about his Son, Jesus Christ.

This Christmas Eve, Joey preaches from Luke 2 about the message the angels gave to the shepherds. Jesus' arrival is good news of great joy, because he is Savior, Christ, and Lord.

The story of the wise men is often reduced to a cozy carol of three kings. But the true story is one which confronts the Herods of this world with news that the true King is born. Like the wise men, God is inviting us to leave everything to have a face to face encounter with Immanuel.

Simeon and Anna waited on the promise from God for decades. To the outside observer, it looked like foolishness to keep hoping in God's coming salvation. Until one day, a young couple came into the Temple to perform what the Law required for their baby.