City Light Bible Church Sermons

Pastor Vlad introduced the objectives for this retreat by giving an overview of Hebrews 11-12, urging believers to endure in unstable times by running the Christian race with faith and perseverance. He reminded the church that instability is inevitable, faith is essential, and the lives of Abel, Enoch, and Noah serve as examples of trusting, walking with, and obeying God despite challenges. Listen...

In preparation for a new ministry year, we discussed the biblical foundation for small group ministry. Ephesians 4:11-16 explains how church leaders exist to equip believers for ministry, outlining three goals: community through unity in faith, Christlikeness through spiritual maturity, and conviction through biblical grounding. Effective small groups require every member to “work properly” by spe...

We explored our church’s fourth and final core value of Compassionate Evangelism this week, presenting three key motivations for evangelism: glorifying God by proclaiming His excellencies, obeying God’s command as servants and ambassadors of Christ, and loving the lost who facing eternal judgment. Listen as Pastor Chris explains why evangelism is central to our Christian identity and provides prac...

This week we focused on our third core value of Purposeful Community, exploring biblical friendship through four key qualities found in the book of Proverbs. True, biblical friendship requires moving beyond surface-level relationships to deep, meaningful connections that mirror Christ’s sacrificial love for us. Listen as Pastor Chris challenges us to examine our friendships and strive to be the ki...

We continued our series on our church’s core values with a discussion of expository preaching. Pastor Chris examined Psalm 19, which presents six parallel descriptions of God’s Word with different names, adjectives, and effects, to show seven incentives for expository preaching: revival, wisdom, joy, guidance, worship, fulfillment, and holiness. Listen as Pastor Chris explains why systematically s...

We started our new series focused on City Light Bible Church’s core values, starting with Extravagant Devotion: passionate, wholehearted love for Jesus Christ that results in obedience to Him. Using Psalm 27, Pastor Chris explored David’s example of devotion during trials and outlined practical ways to cultivate extravagant devotion. Listen as Pastor Chris challenges us to prioritize our relations...

This week, we studied Jesus’ final I AM statement in John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” Jesus is not merely a pathway to life but is life itself, serving as both our eternal destination and the only means to reach the Father. Listen as Elder Elliot Kang encourages both believers and non-believers to understand that true fulfillment comes from an all-encompassing relationship w...

This week we examined the story of Jesus healing a blind man in John 9. This powerful story explores how the physically blind man gains both physical and spiritual sight while the religiously educated Pharisees remain spiritually blind due to their pride and preconceptions. Listen as Pastor Chris walks through this transformative encounter that reveals how Jesus, the Light of the World, opens both...

In John 6, Jesus declares “I am the Bread of life.” While physical bread temporarily satisfies hunger, Jesus offers eternal satisfaction and life to those who believe in Him. Listen as Pastor Chris unpacks this powerful statement and challenges us to recognize Jesus as God, the Giver of eternal life, and the One who must be followed.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

This week we explored Jesus’ statement “I am the Vine” from John 15:1-11, focusing on how true disciples bear spiritual fruit that glorifies God the Father. This passage emphasizes that bearing fruit for God’s glory requires being a genuine fruit-bearing branch by abiding in Christ through regular time in God’s Word and consistent prayer. Listen as elder John Hannigan explores how believers can ab...

This week we explored the profound story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11, where Jesus declares, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” This miraculous event demonstrates Jesus’ power over death and serves both to glorify God and strengthen the faith of those who hear it. Listen as elder Rick Maples walks through this powerful narrative, emphasizing how this story points to the ete...

This week we explored Jesus’ declaration “I am the Good Shepherd” from John 10:1-30, emphasizing three key aspects of His shepherding: He knows us intimately, He saves us through His voluntary sacrificial death on the cross, and He secures us eternally. Listen as Pastor Chris reminds us that our salvation does not depend on our grip on Christ, but on His unbreakable grip on us.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

This week we began our new I AM series, exploring John 10:7-10 in which we see the first declaration of who Jesus says He is: the Door. This passage makes clear that Christ is the exclusive, yet accessible, Door to eternal salvation and a flourishing spiritual relationship with God. Listen as Pastor Chris challenges us to examine whether we have truly entered through the Door or are merely admirin...

We concluded our series on Heaven and Hell by exploring four key questions about Heaven: what it's like, what we'll do there, what we should do while waiting, and how to get there. Heaven is described as God's dwelling place and a holy paradise where believers will work, rule, serve, sing, and enjoy perfect relationships free from sin's curse. Revelation 22 clearly demonstrates the essential truth...

Revelation chapters 21 and 22 beautifully describe Heaven as a Garden City with radiant jewels, golden streets, and both the River and Tree of Life. In many ways, Heaven is a return to the Garden of Eden and God’s original design, where citizens will serve God, see His face, and reign alongside Him as royalty. Listen as Pastor Chris explains how Heaven is the ultimate picture of God's redemptive w...

This week we had the privilege of hearing Pastor Justin Peters preach through James 1:2-4, exploring what trials are, their purpose in our lives, our response to them, and the fruit that comes from persevering in trials. Listen as Pastor Justin encourages us to consider our trials joy as we know that they are growing us into the image of Christ and ultimately bringing glory to God.

This week we studied the parable of the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16:19-31, exploring four warnings about Hell: it is unbiased, tortuous, permanent, and avoidable. In this parable, the rich man's earthly comfort is contrasted with his eternal torment while Lazarus's earthly suffering is contrasted with his eternal comfort, emphasizing that what matters is not wealth or poverty but whether we...

We jumped back into our Heaven and Hell series with a study of Revelation 21:5-8, contrasting these eternal destinations. Heaven is described as a new earth that is guaranteed and free for those who persevere in their faith in Christ, while Hell awaits those who live lives characterized and dominated by sin. Listen as Pastor Chris explains how Christians who have been justified and saved through C...

This Easter Sunday we celebrated Jesus’ resurrection by exploring the powerful concept of biblical hope through 1 Peter 1:3-5. In this passage we see that Jesus' resurrection guarantees believers an imperishable inheritance in heaven and that living hope dramatically changes our present reality. Listen as Pastor Chris emphasizes how Christ's victory over death provides Christians with an unshakeab...

We took a break from our Heaven & Hell series to study Genesis 2:4-25, exploring how God initiates a personal relationship with humans through five gifts: life, home, work, command, and a Helper. This passage emphasizes God's personal nature and encourages us to respond with thankfulness and trust in Him, even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Listen as elder Elliot Kang unpacks how God's g...

This week we continued our discussion of Hell, outlining the final three horrors of Hell seen in the Bible: complete darkness, solitary confinement, and proportional punishment based on one's exposure to Gospel truth. Listen as Pastor Chris emphasizes how understanding Hell's reality enhances our appreciation of Christ's sacrifice and motivates evangelism to those heading toward eternal punishment...

This week we began our discussion of Hell as a place of eternal and conscious punishment for sin. Using various scriptures, we refuted alternative views such as universalism and annihilationism, and examined four biblical characteristics of Hell: eternal fire, God's absence, God's presence in judgment, and conscious torment. Listen as Pastor Chris warns about the severity of Hell while emphasizing...

As we continued our discussion of Heaven this week, we explored the profound hope of Heaven as an eternal, perfect home where God dwells with His people, free from death, pain, and suffering. Heaven is not only a beautiful, jewel-adorned city, but a place of complete restoration where believers will experience unbroken fellowship with God, completely free from sin and spiritual struggle. Listen as...

This week, we started our new series on Heaven and Hell, focusing on shifting our perspectives from mainstream depictions to biblical understanding. We see an important distinction between the temporary Heaven and the eternal Heaven, in that our eternal home will be a physical "new Earth" where we'll have resurrected bodies free from pain, death, and the curse of sin. Listen as Pastor Chris explor...

We wrapped up our Thessalonians series and our discussion of work by exploring the biblical mandate for diligent work and the importance of genuine rest. In 2 Thessalonians 3:7-13 we see that hard work is an act of obedience that can help us avoid additional sins. This passage was paired with an exploration of biblical rest, showing how rest is a divine gift meant to restore our souls and deepen o...