City Central Church Podcast

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through the book of Malachi. Malachi 2 touches on the difficult topic of divorce, and Pastor Chris shared how God’s purpose is always to redeem what has been broken. God loves marriage because it is designed to reflect His perfect love for His bride. He also hates divorce, but His love and story of redemption always reigns supreme over each of us. Chris shared the important truth that we will have a healthy marriage when we keep Jesus on the throne of our hearts and at the center of our marriage relationship.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our new series through the book of Malachi with a word on being a good listener. Listening is a skillset that communicates love and honor to another person. In Malachi 2, we learn from the example of the Levites who did not listen to the voice of God or take his instruction to heart. These priests listened to their own voice rather than God’s, and it reflected the lack of honor they had in their hearts for Him. Chris encouraged us as Gods royal priesthood to listen to His voice in our lives, take His instruction to heart, and honor Him in full obedience.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our new series through Malachi with a powerful word about giving God our best. Malachi is a continuing dialogue between God and His people who have fallen into spiritual indifference. This final book of the Old Testament is strategic for us to read now as we prepare for Christ’s second coming. In Malachi, we find that God corrects those He loves, and that right understanding of His love will change whether we give Him our best or our leftovers. His banner over us is love, and our Father deserves the very best that we can offer him.

This week, Pastor Chris began a new sermon series through the book of Malachi. This final book of the Old Testament was a word for the church as it awaited the Messiah’s first coming. The church had returned from exile, but remained distant from God and spiritually apathetic. The writer of Malachi wrote to those prone to lukewarm living and called them back into a dynamic knowledge and love of God. We can also be prone to forget that God is loving and tender toward us, and that he calls us out of idolatry and worldliness and back into love and passion for him. The good news of Malachi is that God’s love and affection over us does not change, but we must choose to turn our hearts fully back to him.

This Sunday, Chris interviewed his wife Jena about the gift of motherhood. Jena shared how every woman is a daughter of Eve, created to be a bringer and giver of life. She expressed how there are different seasons and phases of motherhood, likening some stages to areas of the armed forces. Jena shared how each woman is called and set apart to speak life. She attested to the intimacy with God that she found only by being a mom, and how she gained significant revelation about God’s complete adequacy in her inadequacy. Motherhood is a gift from God, and we are called to partner with the Lord in bringing and giving life.

This week, Pastor Chris brought our series on the spiritual gifts to a close. Our gifts matter greatly to God because each of us will one day stand before Christ and give an account for how we stewarded the gifts He gave us. We will never live more empowered, at peace, and certain of the love of God than when we live in our gifting. When we abide through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will naturally bear the Spirit’s fruit. Chris shared the important truth that God’s heart behind every spiritual gift is love. It can be easy to operate in our gifting with the wrong heart. Holy Spirit, agape love bears underneath another in faith, even in difficulty. This love is self-giving, sacrificial, and more concerned with the benefit of the other. When we serve in love through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are serving others with the very heart of Jesus Christ.

This week, one of City Central’s elders Darrin Miller preached a powerful message on how to know the heart of God and share His heart with others. Darrin expressed how it is possible to know the Word without intimately knowing and serving the God of the Word. He encouraged us to not miss God’s heart in our desire to know about Him. He continued to share how the Lord transformed him as he chose to serve the least of these in Tacoma, specifically disadvantaged youth, and those experiencing homelessness. Darrin’s message was that we are meant to live transformed each day, experiencing the heart of God and sharing it with others.

On this beautiful Easter Sunday, Pastor Chris preached a powerful word on Christ’s miraculous rescue of us. Chris shared how the biggest questions we have about life are answered through God’s truth in His word. The world is searching for answers and hope in Earthly things. Before each of us knew Christ, we sought answers outside of Christ. Chris shared how Jesus is the only answer to every question we have, and how His death and resurrection are God’s ultimate rescue plan for each one of us.

This week, Pastor Chris gave us a short word on Holy Week and the meaning of Palm Sunday. He shared the story of Jesus entering into Jerusalem and how those who welcomed and celebrated His triumphal entry were nowhere to be found a week later when he was crucified. Chris shared the sobering truth that some people desired for Jesus to save them from their circumstances rather than from their sin. Chris then continued in our sermon series with a word on the speaking gifts. He shared how we each are gifted to serve the Bride of Christ, and the question is whether or not we are using our gifts current day. Just like our lego set illustration, we are created to be connected into something bigger than ourselves.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our new series on the spiritual gifts. If you are a believer in this house, you have been grafted into a team. You have gifts that are necessary to build the Kingdom of God in this specific house. The good news is that we need not fulfill them in our flesh because the gifts are meant to be empowered by the Holy Spirit in us. We want to be a people who understand what God has given to us individually, wisely steward our gifts, and actively use them for the body. You will never be more fulfilled than when you step out and live in your spiritual gifts.

This week, long time friend and family of City Central, Adam Narciso, kicks off our new series Gifted: Finding Your Position by talking about three of the spiritual gifts that God has given to the body for our encouragement and building up.

This week during our 11:00 service, guest preacher Charlie Sweet brought a powerful word on the power of unforgiveness. Charlie shared how the body of Christ has become clouded and disengaged through the pandemic, and that it is time for us to reengage. One way that we can do this is to embrace, practice, and walk in forgiveness. When we forgive, we align ourselves with God’s word and his will regardless of how we feel. Without forgiveness, there will be no breakthrough for us to move forward in victory and peace.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Empowered series with a powerful word on the Holy Spirit. Chris sought to answer who the Holy Spirit is, how he works, and how he relates to us in our daily lives. He explained what the work, fruit and gifts of the Spirit are present-day. The Holy Spirit show us Jesus when we are in times of need. The very spirit that rose Jesus from the dead lives inside of each of us, and the faster we yield to him, the more fruit we will see in our lives.

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our series through the book of Acts called Empowered. After Stephen was raised up to take the Gospel forward, Saul began persecuting Christians in a significant way, leading to the dispersing of believers throughout the region. God then raised up Philip who began attracting crowds in Samaria until the Holy Spirit told him to find one lost individual. The core of evangelism is found in one Christian sharing the Gospel with a nonbeliever. The divine shift in the narrative from mass to individual salvation reflects the heartbeat of Jesus to go after the one.

This week Pastor Chris preached on Following Jesus. In the book of Acts, we see Stephen full of faith, declaring truth to the Pharisee’s. As a result of Stephen’s obedience to follow Jesus till the end, he paid the cost of death to declare the truth. Stephen had every opportunity to hold offense against the Pharisee’s. However, he asked God to forgive them in full faith with his eyes fixed on eternity.

This week Pastor Chris wrapped up our mini-series on financial fitness. He shared the surprising reality that Jesus spoke more about finances in the Bible than he did about heaven and hell combined. It matters greatly to the Lord what we do with His resources, and how we spend our money will reveal the motives of our hearts. The Lord and the enemy both have distinct paths for us depending on how we will view and manage the resources God has given us.

This week, Eric Jones preached a powerful word on Biblical financial fitness. Eric shared the surprising truth that Jesus spoke more about money than he did about love. He sought to reveal lies that we commonly believe about money and used God’s word to speak the truth on the matter. We live in a culture that craves prosperity and financial stability, but God calls us to store up our treasures in Heaven. Our heart posture towards the dollar matters greatly to the Lord since all that we have been given ultimately belongs to Him.

This Sunday, our Community Life director Casey Mock shared about the importance of being in community and pursuing fellowship together. She shared the Biblical reality that we will have trouble and trial in this life, and how we need others to lift our arms up when we’re too weak. We want to follow the examples of the Godhead who dwells in unity and the early church who did not neglect to meet together. Christian perseverance is a community endeavor, and Life Groups are a space where we can find our crew before our crisis.

This week, Pastor Chris brought our Pray Like Jesus series to a close with a powerful word on Jesus’s final prayer. In our scripture this morning, Jesus is hours away from being betrayed and arrested. He prayed with an understanding that the disciples were listening, and that his time on Earth was coming to an end. The High Priestly Prayer has everything to do with us and the way that we live today.