In the Bible there is a different kind of joy that is referenced multiple times. It is called "joy in the Lord." How is joy in the Lord different from other kinds of joy? How can we cultivate this joy on a daily basis and it all situations? In this teaching, Christian offers 10 passages of Scripture that shed light on how each of us can live in the…

God cares deeply for those who are living with lack, struggling in life, or suffering from difficult circumstances. Throughout the Bible the poor, the mistreated, the lonely, have been His priority. Jesus came not just to give people the hope of salvation, but also hope today, in this life. He chooses to give them that hope through the church! How …

The amazing truth hidden in Psalm 16, is that no matter how low we get or how hard life gets, God has got us. Because Jesus raised from the dead He offers us a new life! With this new life in Jesus we can have full confidence of knowing God in a very intimate way. When we do, that confidence provides us with security, sustenance for our souls and t…

In the story of Moses we see an incredible picture of the lengths at which Jesus will go to free us from our bondage to sin and death. The beauty of this story is that God is the main character. He is the one who brings freedom, deliverance and healing. It is a free gift of His grace, just like the work He does in our lives today. We can find peace…

When we read the Old Testament story of Joseph, we see a picture of the whole life and ministry of Jesus. One key theme that is evident within whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, God will lift us up! Let's listen as we study together how God lifted up Joseph. We will see how this reflects how Jesus, will in turn, lift you up.…

We all face the same test, don't we? The test of whether we will choose to follow God's way for our lives or choose to go our own way. Abraham was faced with this test, Jesus was faced with this test, and we are faced (almost daily!) with this test. In the passages about Abraham and his son, Isaac, we see the powerful foreshadowing of Jesus. In thi…

We could also use more power for living, couldn't we? Power to live for God? Power to live full of peace? Power to live full of love for others? Guest speaker, Pastor Ray Longwood, exhorts us to live lives set apart for Jesus. In doing so, God will fill us with His power for living!Oleh Ray Longwood

Living in this world will drain you! Life will wear you out if you aren't careful. But God has given us a way to be refreshed, replenished, and renewed—His presence! God invites all of us to the oasis of His presence. The hard part is making time to cultivate that in our lives. Will you?Oleh Christian Dunn

As we continue our series on how we can engage with politics in this election season, we look at the Biblical principles of justice, humility and hope. These can guide us as we engage with politics and civic engagement.Oleh Christian Dunn

In this election season, does Jesus offer us any guidance on how we show up as Christians? In this teaching we explore the politically divisive climate of Jesus' day. We see how He and His followers chose to engage in a new way. Jesus challenges us to rise above the fray to bring peace and love to even those we disagree with most vehemently.…

When we go through difficult times, often our struggles can be so consuming, it becomes hard for us to see God working. The truth is that God is working in us, through us and for us. This is one of the many ways that following Jesus brings us hope in our most challenging trials.Oleh Christian Dunn

As we continue our series on "Bad Strategies", we are challenged to keep pursuing Jesus even when we don't see the outcomes we have prayed and hoped for. In this teaching, we dive into the story of Moses' mother, Jochebed. We see how a Mother's love continues and finds a way for her son! This is what God does for us! He is always working to see His…

Guest speaker, Andrew Greenplate, shares the Biblical vision for how God transforms cultures and nations, one person at a time. He shares passionately about God's mission to reach those far from Him and that begins locally but extends globally!Oleh Andrew Greenplate

When you face problems, do you tend to isolate from other people? How is that working for you? In this teaching, we explore the story of Elijah and how God brought others into his life to support him. In this provision, Elijah could get through the hardest part of his life. We don’t have to face our problems alone, especially as followers of Jesus.…

When we face the hard times of life, it can be tempting to just ignore them and hope they go away. As we look at the story of Jonah we discover that ignoring your problems only makes them worse. Can we learn, instead, to face our problem with the grace and help of God? In choosing to let Him into our problems, we guarantee we never have to face our…

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus poses a choice to all of us. Will we choose the way of Jesus? Or will we choose one of the many other "easier" paths to follow. Jesus promises us that His path, while more difficult, will ultimately lead to true life!Oleh Christian Dunn

Jesus wraps up the main portion of the Sermon on the Mount with perhaps one of His most famous one-liners: The Golden Rule. It is so simple anyone can do it, and yet so hard, no one can do it without God's help. What if we started to put ourselves in other's shoes and treat them the way we wish they'd treat us? How would that change our relationshi…

Jesus invites us to a lifestyle of prayer. Not just a one-off prayer but a consistent, relationship-driven, full-hearted life of prayer. Guest speaker, Brad Dunn speaks about the power of prayer in our daily lives. The need for patience when we pray. The power of hearing the testimonies of others.Oleh Christian Dunn

As we continue our series on, The Sermon On The Mount, we read in Matthew 7, where Jesus commands each of us to not judge one another. Jesus challenges us to evaluate how we look at ourselves and one another. Do we tend towards the critical, the snap judgment and the negative evaluation? Or do we tend to be like Jesus in how we view one another - w…

No matter what stage of life you are in, there is plenty to be anxious about these days. Yet, in the middle of the chaos of life, Jesus invites us to "not worry." How does this work? How is it even possible? In this teaching we look at several "truth anchors" in the Word. These anchors can hold us fast to His peace when the world is a storm of anxi…

This week we interview two teenagers (Noelle and Maddie Robinson) at CityLight to talk about what it looks like to live for Jesus with an "undivided heart" as a teen. They share some personal insights that will be helpful for teens and adults alike. If you are a parent - definitely have your teens listen!!! If you are an adult - listen as much of w…

Jesus encourages us to store up treasures in heaven rather than focusing our energy on storing up treasures on earth. What does this mean for you? Clearly, He is teaching that there is more to life than just making money and being comfortable. It can be challenging to not be distracted by this fast paced life of consuming more. What can we do to re…

The Good Life Podcast is back! In this episode we discuss with Mandy Dunn the importance of our secret life with God and she shares some personal insights on how reading the Bible continues to be so powerful for her. She also shares some of her story of how hard worship leading is for her. And, of course, we talk about a lot of other really off top…

Before we practice our faith in the presence of others, we need to be practicing our faith before an, "audience of one." In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges us to have a robust "secret life" of faith. He stresses that God sees what we do in secret and He will reward us. He is looking to have our hearts, and not just our act…

When Jesus talks about loving your enemies, it can be easy to dismiss it as irrelevant for our lives since most of us don't have literal enemies. What can we learn from this teaching for our lives? How can we apply Jesus' encouragement to pray for, love, and do good for those who are difficult for us?…

Guest speaker John Elmer invites us to consider the "holy discontentment" God has placed inside each of us. What gets us up in the morning? What gets us stirred up in our hearts enough to DO something about it? John challenges us to use the gifts and talents God has given each of us. To use them in this world for His purposes. Listen and be challen…

Why does God care if we lust after other people? Why does God care who we sleep with? In this teaching we cover both of these questions and more, as we look at how God can help us live with sexual wholeness in an over-sexualized culture.Oleh Christian Dunn

In this episode we dig deeper into Jesus' teaching about contempt, anger, and reconciliation.Oleh CityLight Vineyard

In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus puts His finger on our relationships. Where are we hurting? Where are we harboring resentment, anger or bitterness? How can we move towards forgiveness and reconciliation? Jesus emphasizes that the community of believers will be the light of the world. If we are to be that light we need to learn to …

Listen in as Amos and Christian discuss what it means for us to be the Salt and Light of the earth - and how when Christians live by the Word of God, we really do offer the world an hopeful alternative!Oleh CityLight Vineyard

What happens when the people of God live by the Word of God? It draws the world to God! The world is looking for Christians, for churches, who live by the Word of God. Who love like Jesus, serve like Jesus and live like Jesus. When we live according to His Word, we become that light that those living in darkness need. Are you living in the light?…

During our new sermon series, "The Good Life", we will be releasing midweek mini podcast discussions about the text from the previous Sunday. This week's episode is a conversation with Kevin Schneider about the Beatitudes. Enjoy!Oleh CityLight Vineyard

As we begin our series on the Sermon on the Mount, we tackle Jesus' incredibly surprising opening to His most famous teaching. Jesus turns our expectations upside down as He talks about how different life in the Kingdom of God is. He invites all of us to consider how we can live differently, treat each other differently, and therefore experience th…

Where have you seen God work in your life? How have you seen Him help you? What struggles has He helped you overcome? What if all of those times that God worked in your life, formed a story that would help others come to faith in Jesus? Your story could be someone else's doorway to faith. We just have to be willing to talk about it!…

Jesus didn't just save us FROM something, He saved us FOR something. God has given spiritual gifts to each one of us that we are called to use for the benefit of others. Do you know what your spiritual gifts are? Are you using them? Have you lost the passion for God using you? Listen to this message and be encouraged to lean in to the gifts God has…

As Christians, we long to hear God's voice. We look to him for direction, comfort, encouragement and more. At the same time, we often struggle with doubt about whether it is truly His Spirit speaking to us or not. Listen as Christian teaches about the importance of why the Spirit speaks to us. How we need to create space for His voice in our lives.…

In the Gospels, Jesus spent a lot of time healing the sick. He taught His disciples to do the same. After His ascension, the early church continued to emulate what Jesus had taught them. They continued praying for the sick and seeing them healed! If God really still heals the sick, how does that impact how we practice our faith?…

In the Garden of Eden the serpent's first words were, "Did God Really Say?" To this day, doubt about whether we can trust God's Word continues to be an issue. In this teaching, we take a deep dive and look at the evidence that supports the reliability of the Scriptures. We discuss how the earliest believers of Jesus treated, what we now call the Bi…

If you want to follow Jesus you may be wondering, "What exactly is a Christian?" In this teaching we show from Scripture, four areas of growth and formation that all Christians are invited to apply to their personal growth, in their relationship with Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we should always be in process and maturing in our walk with Him. The…

This is a core belief of Christianity - Jesus died for our sins. But why? Why did He have to die? What did His death accomplish for us? In this teaching, we tackle those hard questions. We read in the Bible how it explains and reveals the purpose for His death on the cross. The common thread that we can plainly see if His amazing love for each one …

When we read the Bible it can be easy to get lost or misunderstand the text if we don't read it as part of a unified story that leads us to Jesus. In this teaching, we learn of how God's amazing inspiration led many authors over hundreds of years to write this unified story. The Scriptures are powerful and life changing! When read the Bible in this…

Jesus has been crucified and His body is no longer in the tomb. As two of the disciples leave Jerusalem, on the road to Emmaus, they are discouraged and heartbroken. They do not see how the death of Jesus has brought life. They can't make sense out of the events that have occurred. They feel lost, discouraged and confused. How often do we feel this…

When we read the account of Palm Sunday, we see a clear picture of the crowds being overjoyed at the arrival of, Jesus. However, their excitement is based in their expectation of what Jesus will do. When the crowd discovers that His plans are different than theirs, many walk away. Are we the same? Do we try to fit God in our plans? Do we attempt to…

One of the great challenges of prayer is learning how to respond when God says "no" to something we have prayed for. Do we respond by running away? Getting angry? Praying less? Or do we lean into God and his strength and comfort in those times. As we do that, we will find that even when God says "no," he still makes a way.…

Whether its dealing with unanswered prayer, unmet expectations, or unfulfilled promises, there are times when following Jesus requires us to live in tension. Guest speaker Becky Olmstead shares Biblical perspective on living in this tension. How we can hold onto God's grace and find His hand at work in those times.…

It can be tempting to think of prayer as just an exercise in obedience that helps us grow, but really does nothing to impact how God moves and works in the world. The Scripture seems to teach something very different though. What would happen if we started praying like we actually believed God wanted to respond to our prayers?…

As we look forward to Easter, CityLight is committing to 40 days of prayer together as a church family. Scripture encourages us to be "devoted" to prayer. What does being "devoted" to prayer mean? God gives each one of us an invitation to discover what consistent and persistent prayer can look like in our lives. Join us as we lean into prayer and t…

When we live in the awareness of our needs as well as our limitations, we are then free to connect with and receive from God. Psalm 23 guides us to seek God in our limitations. We can then grab onto the fullness of His rest and love for each of us. We cannot fully embrace the sufficiency of God’s grace Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 12, if we do…

Sometimes it's easier to cognitively understand the truths about God's love for us. How He views us versus what we truly know and apply in our hearts and minds. You may "know" how much God loves you. But does your heart feel and know that love? Or is it all cerebral? Do we know that He is for us? Or do we think He is trying to make our lives as har…

The Bible is filled with verses concerning the power our words hold. They have the power to bring pain. Words we have the potential to remember for a lifetime. However, they also have the power to bring life. Words that can be stored up in our hearts. What if we became more intentional with our words? What if we looked for opportunities to build ot…