Citylight Church Center City Philadelphia - Sermons

Luke 5:12-32Mike AndersonLast week, we heard that Jesus saves people through his people. This week, we'll look to answer the question, "what kind of people will Jesus save?". It may not be who you think! Pastor Mike preaches from Luke 5:12-32 that Jesus is willing and able to bring the outcasts back to God. He is willing and able to cleanse the unclean, he is willing and able to forgive sin, and he is willing and able to call the sinners.

Luke 5:1-11Mike AndersonIn this sermon, we'll see not just that Jesus will save people, but that Jesus will save people through his people. To see that, Pastor Mike walks through Luke 5:11 in four parts: His power, his peoples’ response, the mission he gives his people, and then once again his peoples’ response.

Mike Anderson, Gareth WeaklyIn this seminar, we examine what it means to be a Baptist church. We'll look at Baptist distinctives through the lenses of history (including major events in Baptist history that happened right here in Philadelphia), the storyline of scripture, and the New Hampshire Confession of Faith.

Luke 4:14-44Mike AndersonEvery good organization has a mission statement. So, does Jesus have one? Today, we'll learn about Jesus' mission statement: Jesus went public to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. We’ll see in this passage the good news announced, the good news rejected, the good news displayed, and finally, the good news exported.

Luke 3:21-38Mike AndersonA book we like to give away at our church is titled, Who is Jesus?. Our answer to that question will determine what we do with the rest of our lives. If Jesus wasn't who he said he was, he can be relegated to the realm of history. But if he really is who he says he is, it changes everything. Pastor Mike argues from Luke 3:21-38 that Jesus is the ultimate Son of God. He was anointed with God’s Spirit, he was declared to be God’s Son, and he was like God’s first son.

Luke 4:1-13Harry FujiwaraThis week, Pastor Harry Fujiwara joins us from The First Baptist Church in the City of New York to preach God's Word. From Luke 4:1-13, we'll see that Jesus is the true, perfect, obedient Son of God.

Luke 3:1-20Mike AndersonTerminology, accents, sports teams—these things characterize true Philadelphians. What characterizes true Christians, though? Who are God’s people, really? We'll see from Luke 3:1-20 that God’s people are repentant people. God’s people are not characterized by terminology, accents, or sports teams. God’s people are characterized by repentance. And we’ll see that in this passage as we see that repentant people are ready, repentant people are fruitful, Jesus will only save repentant people, and unrepentance only gets worse.

Luke 2:41-52Mike AndersonWhere does your ultimate allegiance lie? We'll see from Luke 2:41-52 that Jesus' ultimate allegiance is to his Father. In fact, Jesus has a relationship with his Father like no other. It gives him a wisdom like no other, it gives him a mission like no other, and it doesn't exempt him from the humanity common to others.

Luke 2:22-40Mike AndersonThe Gospel of Luke does not end with the Christmas story! Even as the cold, dark, post-holiday period of winter sets in for us, the joy of the coming of Jesus remains. In fact, we'll see from Luke 2:22-40 that Jesus is the joy of every longing heart. He consoles the longing heart, he reveals the longings of the heart, and he redeems the longing heart.

Nehemiah 8:1-12Matt BellHow does God turn mourning into joy? In Nehemiah, the surprising answer is that the understanding of God's Word turns mourning into joy. We'll look at the desire to understand God's Word, responding to God's Word by mourning, and responding to God's Word with joy.

Luke 2:1-21Mike AndersonWhy do Christians celebrate with such joy at Christmas time? Because God has sent us the savior we need.

Luke 1:57-80Gareth WeaklyThe classic Christmas carol "What Child is This?" is about the birth of Jesus. But this week, we'll see that many Israelites in Luke ask "what then will this child be?" of another miraculous child, John, and see how his birth is related to the coming of Jesus. With John's birth, the time of mercy has come. We'll see that God's promise to John's parents has come, God's covenant fulfillment has come, and God's preparing prophet has come.

Luke 1:26-56Mike AndersonWhat does it look like to be "great"? How does someone get to be "great"? Is it even something that we should want? This week, Pastor Mike teaches us that God has made his people great through the greatness of Jesus. We'll see that Jesus is great, Jesus is the greatest, and Jesus has made the lowly great.

Luke 1:5-25Mike AndersonMany times, we feel hopeless about the things we wait for the most: children, good health, a job, deep friendship. Luke 1:5-25 is good news to those who wait for God: God gives real hope to his people when things look hopeless. To see that we’ll talk about when things look hopeless, how to live anyway, the hope God promises, how not to respond to it, and then finally at the hope God provides.

Luke 1:1-4Gareth WeaklyHave you ever decided on something, only to later question your life choices when someone asked, "Are you sure?". Luke's Gospel was written to remind you that you can be sure of the message about Jesus. We'll see in Luke 1:1-4 that it's a message that's already been fulfilled, it's a reliable message, and it's an orderly message.

1 Corinthians 11:17-34Mike AndersonWhat is the Lord\'s Supper, and what is its relationship to church membership? Pastor Mike will examine that question in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 and encourage us to take the Lord’s Supper like it’s the Lord’s supper. How do you do that? Take it when you come together as a church, take it while remembering and proclaiming the Lord’s death, and take it with self-examination.

Mike AndersonWhat makes a church a Protestant, as opposed to a Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, church? That's the topic of this Sunday Seminar, which builds off the last seminar on the Nicene Creed, where we looked at what it means to be a "mere Christian".

Galatians 3:26-29Mike AndersonWhat in the world does baptism have to do with church membership? Should churches baptize believers who don't intend to be members of their church? Should churches admit members they don't believe have been baptized? Pastor Mike addresses these questions, and others, in Galatians 3:26-29. We'll see that faith, baptism, and church membership belong together because all church members are treated as sons of God through faith, as baptized, as unified, and as children of Abraham.

Daniel 10-12Mike AndersonA common observation of those who have lived a long time is that many things are cyclical: one generation dies and another takes their place, one leader steps down and another steps up. Will these same patterns, and the patterns that we’ve seen repeating in the book of Daniel, continue forever? In Daniel 10-12, we’ll see that they will not: though wars will come, our God will deliver us. Therefore, be strengthened in his love, stand firm and act, and wait for the final deliverance

Daniel 9Mike AndersonDaniel grew up during a time when God's people were together in the land God had given to them, but we've seen that the book of Daniel begins when he is being forcibly removed from the promised land and God's people are scattered from their land, their friends, and in some sense, even from God. Christians today, too, live in this world as sojourners and exiles. We'll see from Daniel 9 that our God will restore his people to his place…but not yet. We’ll look first at how God’s people pray for restoration, and then at how our God will restore his people.