“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah‬ ‭3:17‬ ‭ESV‬‬ Wow, this verse is loaded with hope, comfort and encouragement. God is in your midst, with you and beside you. He is PRESENT and aware of what you and I are going through and he cares. He is POWERFUL and he wields his strength on your behalf to rescue you from yourself and all your enemies. He is PLEASED with you. The Lord doesn’t just tolerate you, He takes great delight in you. He is 100% f ..read more

After hearing about the school shooting in Nashville recently, where a 28-year-old woman who identified as a man walked into a Private Christian school and killed three 9-year-old children and three adults, my heart has been heavy. It’s not something that I can hear about and just move on without feeling affected by it. If that’s so then I might either be too busy or too numb and indifferent to feel sad for the family and friends who have been devastated. I can only imagine the pain this father must feel right now. Being a pastor of a church and having two girls around 9 years old. I can imag ..read more

Merry Christmas City Church Family!! by Pastor Keith Dollar I would like to share with you all a story that I reread to my family written by J.B. Phillips and it helps our children engage with their imagination reflecting on the incarnation of Christ. Perhaps you will want to read it your family this Christmas or share it with another. “it helps sometimes to break in imagination the fetters of earth and try to see things from the angels' point of view. We might even go so far as to say that this is part of Paul's thought when he talks of it being possible to "sit together with Christ" (Ephesi ..read more

Can you remember the last you got really mad? What was it that upset you? Anger is common emotion that humans feel living in a fallen and broken world. We are oftnened angered by some injustice or wrong done to us or done to another. Or we are angered simply by us not getting our way or by circumstances not turning out like we expected. Anger can be fatally destructive if it’s not handled appropriatley or it can a helpful indicator in discovering what’s not right within us or around us. The first place we see destructive anger in the Bible is in Genesis chapter four after Cain and Abel had bot ..read more

In Psalm 13 the psalmist demonstrates raw honesty with God in prayer that many Christians feel uncomfortable with. He doesn’t act as if everything is ok when it’s not ok. He teaches us how to be realists concerning the brokenness of this world and the brokenness that touches our lives. Many seek to cope with the brokenness, sickness, suffering, and evil in the world by escapism, ignoring the reality of the world in which they live. Many do this by entertaining themselves numb with movies, games & social media. Some even do this in the name of faith, thinking it is pious to ignore the feel ..read more

Recently we have heard reports of revival at Asbury College where students have been praying, worshiping, repenting, and lingering in God’s presence for about two weeks. People were hearing about it on social media and traveling from all over the country to experience God, in an atmosphere of hunger, faith, worship, and repentance. Much has been written about the subject of revival, though we don’t find the word mentioned in Scripture. We do however see the theme of the activity of God working in to revive, renew and restore His people. The Scripture does use the word revive and it is somethi ..read more

The wisdom of Scripture gives us helpful perspective as we face the turning of seasons:”For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV. We would do well in living wisely by recognizing the different seasons that God brings us through, accept the season and adjust to it appropriately. Perhaps this prayer would be helpful for us as we approach 2023: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” -Serenity Prayer Many of us have tendency to resist change. S ..read more

“Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.”” Genesis‬ ‭41‬:‭52‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This beautiful verse is loaded with truth about the providence and goodness of God in the life of Joseph. God was with Jospeh through all the pain and grief he experienced in betrayal by family, injustice being sold to slavery, false accusation by Potiphar’s wife, injustice again due to false accusations, yet the Lord was with Joseph. God’s presence was with Joseph in his pain and God produced something good and beautiful in and through Joseph’s life. In the story ..read more

How do you reconcile the many passages of Scripture that call God’s people to not be afraid and those which call them to fear the Lord? The Old Testament has much to say about the fear of the Lord and contrary to what some people say the New Testament also has a good deal to say about the fear of the Lord. Here are some passages in the OT that may puzzle some of us: Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” Exodus 20:20 ESV “And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil ..read more

“They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,” Psalm 106:21 ESV How could a person forget the Lord who has done so much to bring rescue to their life? Spiritual amnesia was an issue with the Israelites hundreds of years ago and it is still an issue with God’s people today. To remember the Lord one must be intentional about recounting His works, reviewing His word and relooking at His character. We all need daily reminders of who God is, what God has done and what God has said. If we are not careful it won’t take long for a you and I to coast into spiritual forgetfulness ..read more