Citylight Church Center City Philadelphia - Sermons

Luke 3:1-20 Mike Anderson Terminology, accents, sports teams—these things characterize true Philadelphians. What characterizes true Christians, though? Who are God’s people, really? We'll see from Luke 3:1-20 that God’s people are repentant people. God’s people are not characterized by terminology, accents, or sports teams. God’s people are characterized by repentance. And we’ll see that in this p...

Luke 2:41-52 Mike Anderson Where does your ultimate allegiance lie? We'll see from Luke 2:41-52 that Jesus' ultimate allegiance is to his Father. In fact, Jesus has a relationship with his Father like no other. It gives him a wisdom like no other, it gives him a mission like no other, and it doesn't exempt him from the humanity common to others.

Luke 2:22-40 Mike Anderson The Gospel of Luke does not end with the Christmas story! Even as the cold, dark, post-holiday period of winter sets in for us, the joy of the coming of Jesus remains. In fact, we'll see from Luke 2:22-40 that Jesus is the joy of every longing heart. He consoles the longing heart, he reveals the longings of the heart, and he redeems the longing heart.

Nehemiah 8:1-12 Matt Bell How does God turn mourning into joy? In Nehemiah, the surprising answer is that the understanding of God's Word turns mourning into joy. We'll look at the desire to understand God's Word, responding to God's Word by mourning, and responding to God's Word with joy.

Luke 2:1-21 Mike Anderson Why do Christians celebrate with such joy at Christmas time? Because God has sent us the savior we need.

Luke 1:57-80 Gareth Weakly The classic Christmas carol "What Child is This?" is about the birth of Jesus. But this week, we'll see that many Israelites in Luke ask "what then will this child be?" of another miraculous child, John, and see how his birth is related to the coming of Jesus. With John's birth, the time of mercy has come. We'll see that God's promise to John's parents has come, God's co...

Luke 1:26-56 Mike Anderson What does it look like to be "great"? How does someone get to be "great"? Is it even something that we should want? This week, Pastor Mike teaches us that God has made his people great through the greatness of Jesus. We'll see that Jesus is great, Jesus is the greatest, and Jesus has made the lowly great.

Luke 1:5-25 Mike Anderson Many times, we feel hopeless about the things we wait for the most: children, good health, a job, deep friendship. Luke 1:5-25 is good news to those who wait for God: God gives real hope to his people when things look hopeless. To see that we’ll talk about when things look hopeless, how to live anyway, the hope God promises, how not to respond to it, and then finally at t...

Luke 1:1-4 Gareth Weakly Have you ever decided on something, only to later question your life choices when someone asked, "Are you sure?". Luke's Gospel was written to remind you that you can be sure of the message about Jesus. We'll see in Luke 1:1-4 that it's a message that's already been fulfilled, it's a reliable message, and it's an orderly message.

1 Corinthians 11:17-34 Mike Anderson What is the Lord\'s Supper, and what is its relationship to church membership? Pastor Mike will examine that question in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 and encourage us to take the Lord’s Supper like it’s the Lord’s supper. How do you do that? Take it when you come together as a church, take it while remembering and proclaiming the Lord’s death, and take it with self-e...

Mike Anderson What makes a church a Protestant, as opposed to a Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, church? That's the topic of this Sunday Seminar, which builds off the last seminar on the Nicene Creed, where we looked at what it means to be a "mere Christian".

Galatians 3:26-29 Mike Anderson What in the world does baptism have to do with church membership? Should churches baptize believers who don't intend to be members of their church? Should churches admit members they don't believe have been baptized? Pastor Mike addresses these questions, and others, in Galatians 3:26-29. We'll see that faith, baptism, and church membership belong together because a...

Daniel 10-12 Mike Anderson A common observation of those who have lived a long time is that many things are cyclical: one generation dies and another takes their place, one leader steps down and another steps up. Will these same patterns, and the patterns that we’ve seen repeating in the book of Daniel, continue forever? In Daniel 10-12, we’ll see that they will not: though wars will come, our God...

Daniel 9 Mike Anderson Daniel grew up during a time when God's people were together in the land God had given to them, but we've seen that the book of Daniel begins when he is being forcibly removed from the promised land and God's people are scattered from their land, their friends, and in some sense, even from God. Christians today, too, live in this world as sojourners and exiles. We'll see fro...

Daniel 8 Mike Anderson Do you believe there is real evil? If evil is real, how can we have real hope for the future that isn't just wishful thinking? Daniel shows us that our God will end whatever evil he allows against his people. To see that we’ll look first at evil’s prosperity, and then at evil’s end.

Daniel 5 Mike Anderson When the authorities over us are wicked, what should we do? Should we give in to them to protect our safety? Or should we try to overthrow them and create a new order? For Christians, knowing that our God judges the proud changes everything. Pastor Mike Anderson shows us from Daniel 5 that the proud mock our God, our God convicts the proud, our God sentences the proud, and f...

Who do you think is the most powerful person in the world today? No matter who appears to be in control, above them, God the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men. We'll see that Earthly kings flourish and fall, His truth is reveals and counsels, the cost of rejection, and that acceptance leads to humble praise to the eternal King.

Mike Anderson This year marks 1700 years since the Council of Nicaea, at which the foundation for the Nicene Creed was laid. In this seminar Pastor Mike explains why creeds are a wise way for churches to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and why the elders of Citylight Center City believe this particular creed would be a wise creed for our church to adopt as one of our of...

Daniel 3 Mike Anderson Who, or what, do you expect will deliver you from life's hardest trials? This week, we'll see that our God is able to deliver us from whatever the world throws at us, and we’ll see that in Daniel 3 by looking first at what the world throws at us, then our faithful response, and then our God’s deliverance.

Daniel 2 Mike Anderson Spoiling the end of a book or TV series for someone is a major frustration. But when God tells Daniel what happens next in the story of his people, it gives him not frustration, but wisdom for how to live in the present. Pastor Mike encourages us that our God has revealed the mystery of his plan. First we’ll look more at why we need his revelation, then more at the God who m...

Daniel 1 Mike Anderson The world puts an overwhelming pressure on believers in Christ to adopt its language, literature, pleasures, and identity. The prophet Daniel has much to teach us today about how to live in a world of pressure, and Pastor Mike shows us in this sermon that our God will exalt those who refuse to be defiled in the world. We'll look at the pressure we face in the world, the puri...

Deuteronomy 29 Gareth Weakly What would it take for you to actually live up to your ideals? In Deuteronomy 29, God reveals his covenant to his people so that they can actually be obedient and live up to their calling. We'll see the reason for obedience, the covenant for obedience, and the warning against disobedience.

Philemon 8-25 Mike Anderson

Philemon 1-7 Mike Anderson

Acts 4:1-22 Brock Garrigan