Thank you so much for praying!   I can confidently state that Lisa and I felt the hand of God with us the entire day yesterday. We know that was (in large part) due to your prayer and support. We felt very loved by the many encouraging messages. Feel free to send her more of those as she recovers - they minister to her heart!   As you might imagine, yesterday started with a healthy level of trepidation that God gradually eased with supernatural peace as the day progressed. There were lots of little "nods" from God reminding us of His presence. The first one was that Lisa's pre-op n ..read more

April has been our "medical month."   As of the moment I am writing this, I am barely over three weeks post-op on my hand. GOOD NEWS: It's doing great and the surgery appears to have been very effective. Thank you for your prayers.   As I have been recovering from my issues, Lisa has also been dealing with her own. She has continued to wife/mom/work through some significant abdominal pain. After seeking medical guidance to resolve it for the past couple of months, it has become clear that she also needs surgery. So... tomorrow (Wednesday May 1st), Lisa will have some ..read more

So many of our prayers are about being "blessed."   Rightfully so... because 1st Timothy 6:15 literally calls God "The Blessed and only almighty God." As we should be imitators of God, we should seek to be as He is - blessed in every way. However perhaps what we mean with this prayer is material blessing, freedom from hardship/sorrow, and a comfortable life. By that standard, Jesus wasn't blessed. Jesus had nothing... he was hated/despised... and his life was the opposite of whatever we would call "comfort."   So what does it mean to be "blessed"? As a starting ..read more

Today is so "extra."   As I write this, it's Thursday February 29th, 2024 - a quadrennial phenomenon we earthlings refer to as "Leap Day." It's interesting to ponder the thought that we get an extra day every four years. In reality, nothing is actually changing, we just have a messed up calendar system and this fix compensates for the problem. Even though that's true, on paper today is... "extra."   In a sense, every day is kind of "Leap Day" for the Christian. Ephesians 5:14-15 encourages believers to carefully consider the days of their lives, redeeming each and ev ..read more

Easter is right around the corner! We would be honored to have you, your family, and friends in attendance. We are praying that you have a genuine encounter with God that leads to lasting spiritual renewal.   This year's theme is "Good News." Whether it's from the news or from the chaos of our own lives, there is no shortage of bad... stress inducing news. Our goal on Easter Sunday is to infuse a fresh dose of hope in the form of good news into your life.   Here are some things you can expect on Easter at City Church.   An uplifting morning that brings new life into your  ..read more

Lord I am coming!   Psalm 27:8 says "My heart has heard you say, 'Come talk with me.' And my heart responds, 'Lord, I am coming.'"   What if God was literally asking us to come and talk? When we get used to God being around all the time, it's easy to think, "Just a minute Lord, let me wrap this up first and then I'll be free." This reminds me of a story of a couple of guys who tell Jesus they want to follow him... but they tell him they need to handle some other things first (Luke 9:57-62).   Many times when my kids ask to play with me, I'm doing ..read more

Time for a little irrelevant history.   For most of my pastoral life, the absolute latest time frame for Super Bowl Sunday was February 7th. That allowed for church leaders to separate the "Super Bowl Sunday" experience from the "Sunday before Valentine's Day" experience. I personally enjoyed keeping these separate because they're kind of conflicting themes. Well, in 2022 the NFL made a strange decision to bump the Super Bowl back a week. In my opinion, it ruined it for churches. lol. So now our churches are stuck with a strange Valentine's Bowl Super Day. Does this matte ..read more

Today I'm reminded of one of Jesus' final, poignant words to his disciples. He said "Apart from ME you can do NOTHING."   Jesus painted a stark picture in his final evening with his disciples to drive home the point: WE NEED TO REMAIN CONNECTED TO HIM. Read these words in context in John 15:1-17 when you get a minute. Shortly thereafter in John 16, Jesus speaks of leaving us with the Holy Spirit (called our Helper in John 16:7) so we could easily connect with God.   My challenge for us today is to establish/deepen practical rhythms of connectedness to God.  ..read more

I'll come out with it: New Year's resolutions/goals are not a huge deal to me. Despite that, I still make a list every year and I always try. I've just noticed over the years how many of them don't stick. Then I'm left with the pile of guilt every time I think about it.   Last year, I wrote out seven things (I'm staring at the list right now). I solidly achieved one and hit about 80% on another. Three I'd rate my success around 50%. One I score myself 25%. The last two left were near strikeouts.   If life measures using baseball success numbers, I crushed ..read more

The holidays snuck up on us pretty quickly didn’t they? Just like that, Christmas 2023 is nearly upon us. We are preparing a big table called “Christmas at City Church” and everyone is invited. Our hope is that you will come and bring family and friends with you. You can expect some tasty holiday treats, a family photo spot, great music, and a message from the Bible on the real meaning of Christmas. Here’s the service time info: Friday December 23rd @ 6:06pm Saturday December 24th @ 11:11am/2:02pm/4:04pm. *City Kids will only be available for ages 1-5* If years past are any indication, it’s g ..read more