Citylight South

This Sunday, we continued our sermon series on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus with Ephesians 4:1-16. Co-lead pastor Ricky walked through what it looks like to live out the family of Christ. When we are saved from sin, Jesus doesn't just save us into eternal life with him—but into eternal life with his God's communal people! In these verses, we learned the foundation of family in Christ, the fight for family and walking in humility and the fruit of family as we grow into spiritual maturity. 

Praise God! We are not designed to live alone as we pursue Jesus, but to pursue him in beautiful unity with the body of Christ. Thank you, Lord, for the incredible family of believers you put around us.

This week, we celebrated our fourth birthday as a church family! Praise God! We rejoiced by baptizing eight new believers into the family of God. Co-lead pastor Ricky spoke on Acts 21:40-22:46. In these verses, we learned that Jesus wrote Paul's story and washed away both his physical and spiritual blindness. Jesus saves both the lawless and the legalistic! 

Now, we see that Jesus is writing our story. He's writing our story as a church, and he's writing your story in your life. Praise God! Jesus is continuing to transform and change lives throughout all of history.

In this week's sermon, co-lead pastor Ricky Kennedy continues through our series "Follow Me: What it Means to Be a Disciple of Jesus" with his sermon on Matthew 28:16-20. In these verses, we learn what the most valuable component of following Jesus: making disciples of others. First, we see Jesus's authority and realize that the Great Commission rests firmly on the authority of Jesus Christ, not on our own authority. 

Then, we see the assignment Jesus gives his followers: the Great Commission is a command, not a suggestion. Finally, we feel the assurance Jesus provides. We don't go forward and make disciples on our own, but remember that Jesus is with us always, for all time. Praise God! We get to join him in his mission to share the joy of the Gospel with the entire world!

In this week's sermon on 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, we welcomed guest pastor Nate Morgan from Citylight North Lincoln. Nate continued our series "Follow Me" by teaching on our mission to get the Gospel OUT. We learned why we witness and how we witness. We witness to others because we live gospel-centered lives, and the purpose of these lives is to share God's message with every tribe, tongue and nation. 

How we witness is by putting aside our personal preferences in order to remove any obstacles people might have towards the Gospel. If people reject Jesus, we don't want it to be because of a secondary issue that we made primary. Praise God—he has brought us into his mission to share the Gospel, and we are his ideal representatives!

This week, we continued our series on what it looks like to follow Jesus with servanthood. Youth ministry resident Matt Reed walked us through John 13:1-17: The Joy to Serve. We learned that followers of Jesus lay aside their worldly standing in order to put on godly servanthood. In his last few moments on earth, Jesus took on the form of a slave to wash his disciples' feet. 

In the same way, Jesus commands his disciples to serve others. While there are many reasons we try to avoid serving, we should serve (and do so with the right heart) because Christ first served us. Praise God for his sacrificial service!

In this week's sermon on Luke 12:13-34, co-lead pastor Ricky Kennedy walked through our next component of what it means to follow Jesus: stewardship. We learned five principles of stewardship: (1) money is powerful; (2) everything we own actually belongs to God; (3) our money & possessions should be used for God's purposes; (4) worldly wealth is fleeting; heavenly wealth is eternal; and (5) giving generously breaks the power of money. 

While the world will tell us that money is awkward, money shouldn't be discussed, money is ours to use as we see fit, money should be what we strive for, etc., Jesus talks openly about money and urges us not to find our identity or security in it. Instead, seek first the kingdom of God! For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In this week's sermon on Ephesians 5:1-21, co-lead pastor Ricky Kennedy continues our series on following Jesus: what it means to be a disciple. He asked the question: "Who are you becoming?" We are all becoming like someone, and as disciples of Jesus, our goal is to become more like him. We learned about the purpose of life: to imitate God and become more like him. 

Then, we walked through the path of life, which is sanctification. Sanctification involves beholding Jesus, loving and believing him and then obeying and following him. Praise God! We are sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit, which enables us to live in gratitude towards God, practice holy habits and live in community.

This week, co-lead pastor Alex preached the next sermon in our series called Follow me: What it means to be a disciple of Jesus. He walked us through John 15:1-17 where we see the famous instructions of Jesus to remain in him, the True Vine. From these versus we first unpacked what it actually means to remain or abide in Jesus; using the words of A. W. Tozer as a helpful guide, "habitual, conscious communion with God." Then we talked about the beauty of remaining with God, which is that we actually get to personally KNOW the living God! What an amazing reality! Lastly, remaining in Jesus affords us the privilege of bearing fruit according to our passage! What a joy it is to know that our God, despite our weakness and shortcomings has given us a way to know him intimately and become like him increasingly through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This week, co-lead pastor Ricky continued our sermon series called: Follow me: What it means to be a disciple of Jesus. He took us through Exodus 20:1-5 where we see God's commandment to worship Him and Him alone. It's through this passage that brought us to our second core identity as a disciple of Jesus: a worshiper! In these verses we saw first what it means to worship as God designed it but also the way we can skew worship and worship things that will never leave us satisfied. We see that the only place our worship is rightly placed is in our savior, Jesus Christ! Lastly, we will grow in worship when we see God, love and believe Him, and obey Him. Praise Jesus, that we have something, or rather Someone, that will not leave us unsatisfied and searching in our worship but who is completely worthy of it all!

This week, co-lead pastor Alex launched our new sermon series called Follow Me: What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? He walked through Mark 1:16-20 as Jesus invited his disciples to drop their nets and follow him in discipleship. In these verses, we learn that first and foremost discipleship of Jesus starts with Jesus himself. He calls us, not the other way around. 

Then, we follow Jesus by being around him, looking like him and doing what he did. Discipleship is apprenticeship of how he lived his life. Praise God! Even when we fail, he is the one who continually draws us back into discipleship.

This week, Youth Ministry Resident Matt Reed walked through Exodus 37:1-9 and discussed "the seat we sit under." In these verses, we see how the ark of the covenant is built, and learn about God's desire and effort to be in relationship with his people. Praise God! He does not sit on a seat of judgment or fear, but one of mercy. This mercy was ultimately lavished on us through the death, resurrection and atonement of God's Son, Jesus Christ. We sit under his perfect, merciful seat, from now through eternity.

In this week's sermon on Luke 2:1-20, we celebrated Christmas Eve by listening to co-lead pastor Alex speak on our savior's birth! In these verses, we see that Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Christ's birth brings good news, great joy and is for all people. Praise God! Jesus Christ has been born into the world, so that we may believe in him by the power of the Spirit and have right relationship with God the Father!

What makes a great gift? In this week's sermon on John 3:16-17, co-lead pastor Ricky walks through these well-known verses word by word, to discuss the greatest gift we have ever received: God's love. We learn that God (the awesome and almighty) so loved the world (the mightiest motive), that he gave his one and only begotten Son (the greatest gift), that whoever (the widest welcome) believes in him (the path to provision) will not perish (the divine deliverance), but have eternal life (the priceless possession). In this season of Advent, sit and celebrate the fact that GOD LOVES YOU. And he reveals his love to you by sending his Son. Amen!

In this week's sermon, we continued our season of Advent with JOY. Lay elder Dakoda Kilzer preached through Habakkuk 3:16-19, and taught how we find joy in the God of our salvation. In these verses, we learn that joy is found in God, not in circumstances, and rejoicing in God gives us strength. 

Though the prophet Habakkuk was facing horrible conditions through the rise of the Babylonian empire, he placed his foundation in the God of deliverance. Praise God—we have full deliverance through Jesus Christ, and can place our joy in his salvation!

How do we deal with anxiety? In this week's sermon on Philippians 4:6-9, lay elder Eric Knoll answered this question by continuing our series of Advent with PEACE. In these verses, we see four steps of casting our anxieties on the Lord: (1) prayer with a worshipful heart; (2) supplication with a humble posture to our Father; (3) thanksgiving, not complaining; (4) request by revealing our hearts to God. 

What, then, is the result of casting? Peace. We apply casting by being in Christian community, praying in fellowship with the Father and dwelling on the truth of God's Word. Praise God! In him we have eternal peace with Christ Jesus our Lord!

In this week's sermon on Psalm 33:16-22, our Ministry Resident Trent Marshall kicked off our Advent series with HOPE. We learned how the season of Advent is designed to prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ. What is hope? In today's culture, we use hope interchangeably with words like want or wish, but Biblical hope is significantly different. 

In these verses, we see that your hope is only as secure as what it rests upon—and we have the most secure hope in the world in Christ. While everything else over promises and under delivers, God promises *and* delivers. Praise God—we have hope in the incarnate Christ!

This week, co-lead pastor Alex Leyva finished our series on Nehemiah with 13:1-31. After returning to Jerusalem, rebuilding the wall and attempting to rededicate their lives to God, the Israelites once again fall away from the Lord. In these verses, we learn that only God's internal restoration leads to a true rebuilt people. 

How do we be a people like this, seeking after the Lord? By cherishing responsibility, fighting for a content rest and pursuing set apart relationships. After the book of Nehemiah, there are 400 years of silence... but then, Jesus! Praise God that even when we fall short, Jesus Christ is the perfect fulfillment of God's people.

In this week's sermon through Nehemiah 11:1-12:47, Pastor Ricky asks the question: "What do want the culture of our people to be like?" After the wall surrounding Jerusalem was rebuilt, this was the question that God's people asked themselves. 

In these verses, we learn that God has a mission, so we move; God moves in us, and leads us to worship; and God gives, so we give. Ultimately, we find that for us to be this kind of people, it must first be an individual change. When we live out God's desire for his people, the world will see the difference.

In this week's sermon on Nehemiah 9:38-10:39, guest Pastor Joe Julian from Citylight Omaha walked through Israel's vow of faithfulness to the Lord. In these verses, we learn that God's covenant with us requires a response of trust from us. We can trust God with all of our priorities, allegiances and generosity. Paise God! His new covenant requires nothing but our trust because Jesus fulfills everything through his humanity.

In this week's sermon on Nehemiah 9:1-37, Ricky walks through the Israelites' prayer and national confession of sin. In these verses, they remember Israel's history and how God has consistently been faithful to them, despite their failings. 

Through this, we remember God's power, pursuit, presence, provision and payment. We learn that no matter our sin, God never tires of us coming to him in genuine repentance for his forgiveness.