Life is shorter than we think and more significant that we know. Are you living your life on accident or on purpose? What will you be remembered by? Are you living for what matters most to you? Two pivotal conversations with Jesus openely point us in the direction of our purpose here on earth. Today, Jesus is calling us to a focused and undistracted life, to live for what matters most. 

In this message, we discover that during seasons of silence God is still working. 

In this message we uncover the many ways that God has spoken throughout history and is speaking today.

In this message, we raise the sign posts of partnering with God while we’re here on earth. As the church, we are partners who extend the wisdom and beauty of heaven here on earth. 

This message is also the spiritual launching of the swamp rabbit property in Greenville, South Carolina.

In this message, we unearth and explore what the word “greater” meant each time it was used in the Gospel of John.

In culture, if we don’t know something, the human tendency is to remain quiet and to try and make sure that no one else knows that you don’t know something. In the kingdom of God, not knowing something and asking questions about it serves as a sign that you know who and whose you are. 

In the presence of earthly trouble Jesus offers people the present tense reality of His Father’s eternal influence in their lives.

In the Upper Room Jesus was not only announcing his death, but also the death of the Old Covenant Law. Under the law God’s people could draw near but never draw close to the Father. What does it mean to live in relationship with the Father and not religion? What does it mean to live in the intimate living room of God?

At his final meal on earth, Jesus sat down with his closest friends along with his betrayer. In this intimate exchange we see come to see just how Jesus responds to his enemies. 

If standing above the rest of the crowd was rightfully available, and serving was also an opportunity, which would you choose? Jesus was able to be the most influential human in history, and yet he chose to serve in every opportunity that arose. How might understanding the purpose and drive behind Jesus’ words and actions affect how we interact with those around us?

Jesus’ public ministry comes to a close with the results Isaiah prophesied years prior: the Light shined in the darkness but the darkness couldn’t comprehend it. Jesus performed many signs yet many didn’t believe. 

In this study we look at what causes us to see Jesus and what causes us to miss him, even when he’s standing right in front of us. 

Expectations are part of life. When a person isn’t aware of others, or their own expectations, life can become quite difficult. This is true in our relationship with God; expectations matter.

Trouble is part of living this life, even for faithful followers of Christ. If this is true, what level of comfort can we expect from God in the midst of the troubles we face?

The Jews and Greeks that flocked to Jesus on Palm Sunday actually had more in common than they thought: they both looked to right king, but wanted to put him on the wrong throne. If you long to see the Kingdom of God, listen in as we unpack this portion of John 12 and see Jesus reveal the true and simple Gospel.

Justin McRoberts, a well known singer/songwriter, speaker, and co-author of the book Prayer: Forty Days of Practice, shares with us what it looks like to not only pursue the practice of prayer, but to find the essence of it. 

There’s a serious myth and misunderstanding in culture, “We can only share when we have more than enough for ourselves.” Jesus demonstrates and teaches the opposite reality, that we are most whole and “at home” in God when we give ourselves away to others.

Are you in a season of uprootedness? To one degree or another, life is in a constant state of change. What would it look like to see new seasons, new chapters, and uprootedness as opportunity to find true rootedness in Jesus and others?

In this message, we discover things that have already been true long before we ever imagined they were possible.

It seems that everything on earth and above the earth has been measured. Measurement is used to calculate the value of something. However, God is immeasurable. What can the immeasurability of God reveal about how we approach every moment of our lives?

Just before Jesus was crucified, Mary of Bethany poured out $25,000 worth of perfume on his feet. The disciples complained that her offering was wasteful, but Jesus corrected them. This week, Oliver teaches on Mary’s story, Leviticus and what makes an offering pleasing to the Lord.

Have you ever wondered why God seems to work in some cases while in others it seems like He doesn’t work at all? Could it be that Jesus provides how the “supernatural works” actually work in the story of Lazarus’s resurrection? We believe He does just that!

What is the appropriate relational, emotional, and mental response to all kinds of pain in people’s lives? In this sermon, we see that Jesus models perfect presence in the midst of one of life’s most excruciating pains. 

When Martha seeks out Jesus to resurrect her brother Lazarus, Jesus declares, “I AM the life and the resurrection.” This powerful statement changes everything about the way we see life and death. 

Death was not meant to be a part of life, it is the result of sin in a broken world. Jesus declares that it is for our good that we witness the death of his friend Lazarus so we might understand the meaning of resurrected life. In the final sign performed in the book of John, Jesus demonstrates that we are not only sick people being made well, but that we are dead people being raised to life. 

Carl Gustav Boberg had an encounter with the Lord, searched the scriptures to understand that very encounter and went on to write a poem that would later become the 2nd greatest hymn of all time. How Great Thou Art would bring millions of people to salvation all around the world over the next 100 years, all because he responded to what God was already stirring within him. What would happen if we chose to allow the Holy Spirit to birth a doxology from the theology that is already being spoken to us?

Have you ever wondered why so many people were offended by Jesus? What if it was more about personality than grace or truth? Could it be possible that personality plays a bigger part in people believing in Jesus than we might realize?

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep. He is the Eternal Shepherd in whom we find our only true security. Listen in with us as we further discuss how to be both the sheep and the shepherd. 

What happens to people when they’ve been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit?

The Good Shepherd is defined by laying his life down for others. What is your life defined by?

God, as our shepherd, doesn’t miss a thing. He sees you, knows you, and speaks to you, personally by name. He protects, and he provides for you. 

Believing is demonstrated through worship.

Rejection, shame, and disconnection are some of the most painful experiences of our lives. In our study of John 9, we find a blind man who has been saved and healed, but rejected by his church and family, all in the same day. Though it was never His design, how has the Lord used loneliness in your life to strengthen your love for Him?

John 9 tells a powerful story of a blind man who was SENT before he fully believed. His sermon was simple: I was blind but now I see. Join us as we spend time as a family sharing stories of what God is doing in our midst.

God seeing you and knowing you is the most important thing about you.

The death and resurrection of Jesus opened heaven here, now and forever.

Jesus didn’t come to abolish the law on adultery but to fulfill the law through the forgiveness of the woman in John 8. We stand before a Great High Priest who gives a favorable verdict to the guilty. 

Jesus is the Light of the World. People come alive wherever He is.

What would Jesus say to you if you were caught in the act of sin?

The final installment to our mini-series Exposing Unbelief.

Sometimes we can find ourselves looking for Jesus in so many different places, even when he is right in front of us.

Is it possible that your intellect, interpretations, and traditions would be rebuked by Jesus?

There are only two paths, darkness and light. There is no gray area.

This week we took some time to focus on our vision at CITYLIGHTS. We exist to EQUIP people to be and make disciples who EXALT Jesus and EXTEND His kingdom right where they are. Listen in as we walk through 1 Cor. 3 to be reminded of our mission here on earth: to be and make disciples of Jesus.

Your participation matters in the making of your masterpiece. 

Christ is at the core of who you are becoming. 

God has the vision and the skills to take the raw materials of your life and use them to create a masterpiece. 

 Our invitation to a new spiritual family was never and exit from our physical family. The scriptures invite and send redeemed individuals back to their families to redeem their family lines.

This week we concluded our study in John 6 and responded with Communion. Christmas and Communion both proclaim the good news to us; that Jesus paid the greatest price so we could have the greatest gift of His presence.

Either Jesus will be enough for us or we weill never have enough.

Levitical Law, the Arc of the Covenant, Temple Requirements, and even the Crucifixion were each heavenly designs of the same end; to return His people into the presence of God. Let’s follow our forefathers of the faith to His presence through the gift of hunger. 

At Jesus’ table, He is the only meal on the menu.

Since The Fall God has been restoring our world through family. Family has always been God’s method to calling His children not only to belief, but to belonging. Join with us as we celebrate Miracle hill Foster Care in our city and open our families to those needing belonging and belief. 

Jesus came to demonstrate and communicate how to have eternal life. Eternal life is free, but it might cost you everything.

When Jesus cleanses the temple, He’s getting everything out of the way so that He can love His bride.

Belief actually leads to seeing and knowing. Often times people tend to see that the other way around.

The term “blessed” is used a lot for a lot of things in our culture, but what does it actually mean in the scriptures…

We don’t really know who God is until we look at Jesus…