Resurrection City Church - St. Paul Minnesota

In this recording of the main session of our 2023 Res City Summer retreat, Joel walks through a short but very pregnant topic in 1 Corinthians 3: Do we take seriously that we, the church of God, are God's temple? And what does that even mean? How does it shape our corporate identity, and how would it change our seemingly "normal" interactions with one another? What does it mean that God "dwells" i...

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul calls the church to live as they already are: holy and set apart people in Jesus Christ. However, he knows that in order to do that, they (and we) need accountability from one another. In this message, Julie draws out why we need encouragement and challenge from one another in our process of living out the new life we have in Jesus and putting our old sinful habits and way...

The Corinthian church wanted something out of their leaders that didn’t fit the gospel they’d received from Paul. Paul’s response to them is really incredible and instructive for us, whether we’re a ministry leader or not, because all Christians are called to do ministry. Paul uses two analogies to describe the work of Christian ministers: working in a field and building a house. When we deeply me...

The church in Corinth has a problem with valuing status gained over being like Christ. In short, you could say they have an issue with confusing celebrity with holiness. Instead, Paul reminds them, the gospel is predicated on a form of anti-celebrity: the cross. When the modern American church reads this passage, it has to grapple with its own celebrity problems, and in this sermon Pastor Joel ask...

As we continue in 1 Corinthians, we see that the Corinthians want Paul's message to come with more "wisdom and power." Paul knows that the Corinthians want a message that fits in better with the world's idea of wisdom and power: success, wealth, and the good life. Instead, Paul explains how the gospel of Jesus comes with true wisdom and power by subverting everything we think of as success, and he...

In this series, we want to draw together themes from our last three series on the Spirit of God, Sin, and Grace. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church is the product of a deep frustration at a church that has become far too much like the city they resided in, rather than becoming like God. How does Paul respond? Not by getting angry at them, not by canceling them, and not by shaming them. I...

During some tragic events in Israel’s story, in the midst of disaster, God allows a group of leftovers, or a remnant, to survive. These are people who, by God’s grace, ensure God’s people press on. In the present, we see in many ways a fading of the church and Christianity, but if God acts according to grace then there is a remnant that survives. If you’re still here, you’re part of the remnant. I...

Moses is one of the most important figures in all of Scripture, and he is seen as a great liberator and titanic personality in history. Yet, when we really look at his story, we don’t see someone who succeeded in an incredible effort by his own will, but through God’s grace. We find someone who initially tried to do it his own way, but who had to learn to turn his discontent with the world into a...

We love to learn about the patterns of successful people, seeing what they do that leads to their success. In this new series, we want to answer this question: What is the pattern that makes God who he is, and that he operates in to accomplish his goals?  There could be many ways we answer this question, and the way we answer it is a projection of who we think God is. But when we really look at Sc...

Why does it matter if we believe in the resurrection or not? This Easter, Pastor Julie talks about why it matters that we worship a living, resurrected God, specifically how it gives us purpose, power, and a personal relationship with Jesus. As the angels say in Luke 24:5-6: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!"Why does it matter if we believe in the resurr...

Taking a deep look at sin in the world and in ourselves, as we’ve been doing in this series, is tough. It’s uncomfortable. It makes us grapple with parts of ourselves we don’t like, something we don’t often do.  In this sermon, Pastor Joel talks about some biblical wisdom around how we deal with uncomfortable looks at ourselves, including not just our sin but our other weaknesses as well. Incredib...

Sin is described many ways in Scripture. It’s not just described as actions that fall short or miss the mark in some way, but also as something bigger than us, something that we can’t manage or corral or educate or work ourselves past. It’s described as a kind of tyrant or invading force, “increasing,” “exercising dominion,” “seizing opportunities,”“working death in us,” and more. It’s bigger than...

“You are what you eat!”   “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” These truisms that people say to make the point that what we take into us previews who we become. The biblical way of making this point is saying, “You become what you worship.”  What we worship—what we call worth greatest value, what gives us hope and assurance—we take on the characteristics of and become like. And wh...

Sin is a corrosive agent that when left unchecked, eats away at the fabric of our world, our communities, and our relationships with God. Pastor Julie talks about the effects that sin can have on us and how Jesus interrupts sin's consequences through his life, death, and resurrection. 

God created the world, good, in harmony and peace with itself, expressed in the Hebrew word shalom. Sin is vandalizing God’s shalom, and we can understand sin a lot more more deeply when we understand it in this way. In this sermon, Pastor Joel breaks it all down.

Sin is a word that makes many uncomfortable. Often it’s associated with shame and judgment, a means to destroy self esteem and create anxiety within people.  In this sermon, Pastor Joel asks us to consider if our understanding of sin goes to the biblical depth, and if as we go to the heart of it we actually can find hope, liberation, and grace for ourselves and each other that the world desperatel...

In this follow up podcast to our series Walking By the Spirit, Pastor Joel is joined by Res City members Krista Schroeder and Luke Sandstrom to go deeper into the Holy Spirit. They discuss their experiences of the Spirit and very charismatic settings, what they are processing through because of those experiences, what Scripture passages frame their thinking on the Spirit most, and much more!

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul tells us that the Scriptures are “breathed out by God…so we may be equipped for good work.” The biblical idea for God’s Spirit is that it is his breath, so Scripture and God’s Spirit are intimately tied to one another. A large part of our spirituality, walking by the Spirit, is reading, studying and having the Scripture taught to us. The Spirit works through all of this...

The Spirit of God pours out on Christ’s followers, not just for themselves, but to connect them to one another, a body of the Christ. This includes being given gifts to be used to love the body. Christians needs to keep this vision in mind to truly walk by the Spirit! In this sermon, Pastor Joel walks through the gifts listed by the Apostle Paul and help us understand them, so that we might know h...

We all want to hear from God, but what does it look like to listen to his Spirit on a daily basis? Pastor Julie talks about three shifts in our thinking to help us be more open to the spirit in our everyday lives: 1. The Spirit is not a tool but a relationship. 2. The Spirit works for God’s glory not for ours. 3. The Spirit works on God’s timeline, not ours.

The right words spoken to us have the power to bring life. The God of Christianity is a speaking God, who fills us with life through his word. He speaks to us in many ways, but sometimes he will speak to us by giving another person a word to share with us, a word to strengthen, encourage, and edify us. Scripture calls this kind of word prophecy.  What we learn in Scripture is that prophecy is a fo...

For four years, Res City has been sustained by God’s grace and his Spirit. We celebrate our birthday every year to worship God. We truly believe God’s Spirit has graced us with uncommon blessings! In this sermon Pastor Joel takes a look at one of the most pivotal churches in the New Testament, the church at Antioch, a church where the Spirit of God moved to make it uncommon—unlike any other gather...

One of the most essential ways we walk by the Spirit is through prayer. Praying is so basic to our faith that sometimes we need to pause and remind ourselves of how we should pray. In this sermon, Leadership Team member Krista Schroeder talks about simple but powerful prayer that focuses our hearts on humility and thankfulness as we approach the throne of God through the Spirit.