“Know the City” Dinner
If you have been to one or 41 of our worship gatherings…or anywhere in between, this dinner is for you. We want to feed you, talk with you, and let you know who we are as a church, what we believe, and how you can get more deeply into the community of City Church as we serve one another and the city of Murfreesboro. You’ll also have a chance to ask questions and get to know our pastors and some of our covenant members. Here are the details. When: Directly following the worship gathering on Sunday May 20th. (6:45-8 pm) Where: The...
read moreSpiritual Anorexia
Thanks for the answers posted on this blog and Facebook to the quesions I posted a couple of weeks ago. They were thoughtful, gracious, and helped me think better about this subject. Now, I’d like to humbly offer some of my observations and opinions. First, let me answer my own questions. 1) Can you really be a Christian if you don’t know the gospel? No. I think Romans 10:13-17 is pretty clear. The good news, the word of Christ, is absolutely necessary to be a Christian, for salvation. In fact Paul uses the phrase “Obey the...
read moreThe Two Questions I Ask People…and the Questions They Raise.
Two questions I often ask people are “Who is Jesus and why do you care?” In the south, I have expected to find a level of nominal Christianity: People that claim to be Christians simply based on a cultural affiliation or the fact that they go to church, or because they know they are neither Jewish nor Muslim…so it seems like the only other option for a theist. But I’ve been relatively surprised at the number of “practicing Christians” that confess Jesus as their Lord, have been deeply involved in church...
read moreEaster Weekend Schedule
There’s a lot going on this Easter. Here’s what you need to know. Good Friday Service- Friday, April 6th at 7 pm. This will be an abbreviated service whose aim is to focus us on Christ and his work on our behalf on the cross. YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS. (No childcare, but children are welcome). We will meet at our regular location- the Walnut House. Egg Hunt and Cookout (Blackman Farm Community)- Saturday, April 7th at Noon. Eggs, face-painting, hamburgers, hot dogs and your neighbors! If you live in the Blackman Farm subdivision (or...
read moreEaster Egg Hunts in the Boro
City Church will be sponsoring two community Easter Egg Hunts this year. The point? We want to be a blessing to our city, not a curse. We want to be known in Murfreesboro as a church that is for the people, not against them. Whether you want to help or just come out and meet some people in your community, we’d love to see you at one of these two community hunts. South Church Street – Innsbrooke Shopping Center When? This Saturday March 24th, 11 am- 2pm. Hunts will occur every 20 minutes. What? Bounce houses, fire truck,...
read moreInto the World: Our Prayer for an Utterly Counter-Cultural, Multi-Cultural Culture
“Who are you trying to reach?” I get that question from Christians a lot. I understand the thought behind it. People want to know if we are focusing our efforts to share the gospel a particular way with a particular people. I also understand that (statistically speaking) churches will generally reach people within 7-10 years of the leadership. For us, that means 23-40 year olds. I get that people are going to be attracted to particular kinds of music, lifestyles, culture, etc. So, I am not surprised that, up to this point, City Church has...
read moreWhy “Gospel-Centered” Instead of “God-Centered”?
This past Sunday, we began a new preaching series for the month of January called “Identity”. What we hope to do this month is explicity introduce/remind everyone of our vision. We want to be clear about who we are and what we believe God has called our church to be. To summarize our identity, we call ourselves a gospel-centered, missional community. This past Sunday (1/1/2012) we began with the foundation of our church…gospel-centrality. I have often encountered people that have asked, “Why would you call yourselves a...
read moreChristmas Generosity Experiment
We passed the plate for the first time at City Church on December 18th. But instead of people putting money in, they took money out. Some people got $10, others $20, and some pulled out $50. Over the next two weeks, we have challenged the people of City Church to take the money they were given and use it generously in our city to bless someone else and point them to Jesus. So, here’s how this will go. If you received some money, comment on this post ANONYMOUSLY and let us know 3 things. 1) How much money you received 2) How much money...
read more4 Ways I’ve Grown in 4 Months
I preach a lot about the way we change not only when we first encounter Jesus, but also as we continue to remember, rehearse, and meditate on the gospel. I’ve found in these last four months since I moved to Murfreesboro to plant City Church that there are four ways that God has really grown me. Joy- There are so many opportunities to experience joy in our lives that we miss daily. This happens when we get so caught up in our own personal agendas that we miss the work of God happening all around us, in our own lives and in the lives of...
read moreGod of the Impossible at Work in Murfreesboro…Answering Prayers.
In all of my training and preparation to plant a church, a few phrases stuck with me more than others. One of those is “Planting a church is not a sprint, its a marathon.” The idea behind that statement is that church planters shouldn’t expend all their energy in a few short months looking for immediate results, but to get into a steady pace moving toward a single goal, a mission, and expect results to come after several months/years, not days. In many ways, I have learned that to be true. But I have also learned to expect great things...
read more