What are spiritual gifts for? The first mention of spiritual gifts is connected to building the Tabernacle. This teaches us that God gives spiritual gifts so that we might make space for God to dwell with people--with us and with others. Just like with the Tabernacle, God has given us a vision for life together as a church while also inviting us to bring anointed skills and ingenuity. At Citizens, how will we build God's church so that God might come and dwell?
Read MoreIsaiah teaches us that the promise of Christmas isn't just for one people. This might be old news to us, but it was mind-blowing to his first hearers. And while we might be used to the idea, the reality still feels unreachable. Is our gospel too small? In a divided world, Advent invites us to long for Christ to come again and unite all people under his gracious and good rule.
Read MoreThe Book of Isaiah teaches us what faith looks like in difficult seasons. Whether we are just entering darkness or enduring it, the prophet teaches us how the posture of faith always looks east expecting the dawn. Jesus, the Rising Sun, is coming and he brings healing in his wings.
Read MoreKey of David comes from Isaiah 22, when the people of God were given a good leader, but then they tore him down--not because they disliked him, but because they liked him too much. Judah hung more hopes on him than he could carry. Isaiah 22 is a warning, but also expresses our deep desire for one person to answer our every need. That need is met in Jesus, the true Key of David.
Read MoreThis week, we continue our Advent series through the O Antiphons with O Adonai, meaning Lord. Lord is a title Christians give to Jesus all the time, in song and prayer. Yet, do we really want Jesus to be lord? Listen as Georgia asks us to wrestle with our conflicted relationship to authority. Advent reminds us that we do need and want a Lord, but only one as good and righteous as Jesus.
Read MoreThis week, we're beginning a new series through the O Antiphons, a collection of seven poems inspired by the Messianic texts of Isaiah. The first week is O Wisdom. Our world's problems are too complicated for us to fix. No matter how hard we try, we can't think ourselves out of this mess. The Old Testament longs for a Savior who's not just wise, but who is Wisdom itself.
Read MoreAs a church, we are focusing on doing what Jesus did through the spiritual practice of hospitality this quarter. Jesus invites us to open our tables and our lives to those who aren’t like us and can’t pay us back. As we do, may it be at our tables as it is in heaven.
Read MoreWe have been granted great freedom in the gospel, including with our money, but it's hard to know what to do with our freedom. Paul reminds us that our freedom is for love, and instructs us how to navigate the complexity of love.
Read MoreBy the time of Jesus, a group of Jewish teachers had developed rules to ensure Israel's faithfulness to God around money. However, these rules were not only oppressively difficult, they only covered our corruption. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offers a righteousness which is both greater and easier.
Read MoreSuccess in our modern economy requires smarts, but is there a difference between money smarts and money wisdom? Proverbs teaches us that money wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and inevitably results in blessing. But then the story of Job challenges that framework. How do we make sense of it all?
Read MoreDuring our series on the story of money throughout the Bible, we are pausing every fourth Sunday to discuss what we've heard. This week, Dash Laryea asks us to consider practices which resist the false story of Mammon and maintain our dependence to God.
Read MoreAfter God redeemed the people of Israel from slavery to Egypt, he intended for them to become a holy nation. Holy nations practice holy economics. But what does that mean? Listen as Dave describes the "neighborly economics" of the Old Testament law, looking at the radical politics of the Sabbath and what it might teach us about wealth today.
Read MoreHow do we stay true to God's story that all of life is gift when we live in a world that expects us to be takers? The Bible identifies two competing narratives around wealth. This week, we watch Father Abraham courageously decide to hold to God's story and learn how we too can remain faithful to God with our wealth.
Read MoreAfter learning all wealth is a gift from God in Genesis 1 and 2, we are introduced to a alternative story for money in Genesis 3. In the Fall, the Serpent tells Eve that God is not a Giver, but a Taker. These are still the two stories on offer today. Which story will we believe?
Read MoreIt's often hard to translate the Bible's ethics into modern action. Nowhere is this more evident than the Bible's instructions around money. Is money a blessing or a curse? Do I have too much or too little? In order to navigate these questions, we need each other. Every Fourth Sunday during this sermon series, we will pause the story and discuss together what we've heard. Listen in as our church wrestles with the challenge of viewing money as, first and foremost, a gift.
Read MoreEvery dollar has a story -- a past, present, and future. But who gets to tell that story? Today, we began an 11-week series on money that will trace our relationship with wealth through the Bible. For Week 1, Dave asked us to consider how "creation from nothing" means that everything--including money--is gift. All our possessions begin and are sustained by the love and power of God. This impacts everything.
Read MoreIn Rob's last sermon before moving to Kentucky, he encourages Citizens to know God through loving others. It is not enough in San Francisco to know about God. We must know him, and we know him when we obey his commandment to love one another.
Read MoreFoster children are some of the more underserved people in the city. Listen in as Yvonne Chew describes the biblical vision of radical hospitality from John 12, and how Christ-like living in San Francisco might include local foster kids. There are many ways to support and love foster kids in the city and Citizens wants to be part of this important ministry.
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