Many of us at Citylight are eager to see progress on our future worship center, and are patiently and prayerfully awaiting the day we can have our first services in the place the Lord has provided for us. Below are a few updates on the current progress of construction, as well as specific ways we can pray during this time. Construction on 4050 Main Street is coming along well, with our contractors continuing to strengthen the structure of the building. A lot of the work over the next several weeks is focused on removing unnecessary stone walls, removing concrete in areas where new stairwells w ..read more

When the first Citylight Church was planted over twelve years ago, our prayer was that the Lord would grow us into a worshiping community of believers on mission. Those three words – worship, community, mission – frame everything we do. Does _______ stir our worship for God? Will _______ build us into a deeper, more intimate community? How does ______ equip us to tell our neighbors about the love of Christ? Those are the kind of questions we ask ourselves constantly as we seek to be a more joy-filled, God-honoring people. As a worshiping people, the heart of our worship is the finished work of ..read more

Welcome to our facility update page, where we can keep our members and attendees up to date with the progress on our facility at 4050 Main St.  In early March, we were thrilled to see the Norwood Company, our trusted contractor, mobilize at our site and kick off construction. We’re still in the early phases of the project, with much of March dedicated to crucial planning, assessments, and some necessary demolition work. The best way to describe the process going on right now is that they are working on the “bones” of the building. There is work being done to reinforce the core structure o ..read more

While there are many illnesses we’d hate to contract, glaucoma is one disease that strikes a particular alarm. This incurable eye condition creeps in slowly over time until a person can no longer see. A slow development of glaucoma leads to vision problems initially and eventually to a total inability to see at all. Doubt and the Christian faith can be a bit like this. Doubt is something of a “vision problem” in the life of the Christian that can happen slowly, over time, until one looks back and can’t quite describe how things got that far. However, when dealt with wisely, doubt can lead us t ..read more

A hallmark of the autumn season in the mid-Atlantic region is geese migration. If you look up into the sky on a crisp fall day, you’re likely to see a flock of geese flying in an arrow-like pattern toward the south. In this formation, most geese fall in behind a single goose at the head of the flock. The geese at the very back of the flock follow the geese right in front of them, who are following the singular leader at the front. In a similar way, as disciples, we look to the leader of the flock, Jesus, as we follow Him and point others to follow Him as well. A disciple, or a follower of Jesu ..read more

Friend,  Joy might not be the word that describes your emotional life right now. I can’t imagine what you have been going through, but after 21 of a global pandemic, rampant racial injustice, job loss and financial hardship, mental health struggles, and everyday sufferings that come with living in a broken world…well, let’s just say joy might not be the emotion any of us are feeling right now.  But hear me out—we can be joyful, even in the midst of hardship.  Ed Welch describes this intermingling of emotions well when he writes, “Joy is not…a denial of pain. Because God’s splend ..read more

Having two kids that are starting to understand Christmas is a new and fun experience. It turns out that kids really do have a unique perspective on the world. For our kids, their joy is easily observed during car rides at dusk, and it revolves around a newer phenomenon: giant lawn inflatables. Snowmen, Santa, Mickey Mouse, it honestly doesn’t matter. If they catch a glimpse of a staked-down, wind-prone lawn decoration, they are ecstatic. But we drive past, and the inflatable goes out of sight and the next plea is always “more snowman, more Mickey”. The joy of that experience is temporary and ..read more

​​During the American civil war, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the following words that would later become the Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”: I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, and wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men!   And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth,” I said; “For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!” Earlier that year, Longfellow’s son had been seriously wounded in the Battle of Mine Run, and just two years earlier he had los ..read more

Friends, These past couple years have been filled with sorrow, unrest, and hardship. If each of us were to reflect for a moment, we could all testify about the hardships we have had. To share on a more personal note, for almost two years I have been sick. It has manifested itself in many different ways, but the most humbling and challenging aspect is not knowing day to day whether I will be feeling good or bad. I have struggled with this physical weakness and have cried out to the Lord for mercy and healing on a daily basis. For the first time in my life, I have asked the Lord, “how much more ..read more

This week’s Christmas word is hope. Sadly, hope is something that often gets crushed in our world. You have hope that you are finally going to make the team, you are finally going to get that job or promotion, your crush is finally going to respond to your charming winks and amazing pick up lines, or the Sixers are finally going to make it out of the second round of the playoffs. But then…it doesn’t happen. We have probably each had a hope crushed at some point in our lives. It seems that one of the most frequent ways you will hear the word hope used in our culture is in the phrase “don’t get ..read more