The first disciples of Jesus were the Early Adopters of Christianity -- willing to sign on to faith in Jesus before it made sense to them and before it was even particularly helpful. As followers of Jesus in San Francisco, the least Christian city in the country, what can we learn from their bold faith? Listen as Dave recounts five qualities of Jesus' first disciples from these early stories of faith.
Read MoreUpon seeing Jesus, the first thing John the Baptist says (as the Ideal Witness) is “Behold, the Lamb of God!” What would this have meant to his first listeners, and what should it mean to us now. Nick Parsons explains what it meant and why it matters, and why we, too, should drop everything to follow Christ.
Read MoreGod's Kingdom grows through faithful witnesses and John the Baptist is the ideal witness. He knows who he is, who he's not, and who Jesus is. It is vitally important that we, as God's witnesses, know who we are and who we aren't.
Read MoreThe Gospel of John was written not only to emphasize how Jesus was God, but that Jesus was God Made Flesh. This claim is both amazing and unsettling! Listen as Dave explains the fourfold scandal of the incarnation, and why it's still good news.
Read MoreIf the Bible had elevation, John 1 might be Mount Everest. The Apostle John begins his biography of Jesus before there even was a beginning, when Jesus was simply God. In John 1, we learn that everything that can be said about God can be said about Jesus. He is God, Creator, Life, and Light.
Read MoreEvery January, we take six weeks to walk through the Story of God from beginning to end. Our Sundays have less liturgy to accommodate more dialogue and reflection from everyone. Listen in as we wrestle through the beginning of God's story, including the First Creatures, the First Humans, and Separation.
Read MoreWhat 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.
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