A faithful presence of love in the absences of our city.
February 24, 2022
"We fail to remember that God is as the Psalmist describes: an abundant fountain, a river of delights, a full house, a radiant light. The Psalmist knows God never operates out of scarcity. Where we must begin with Deeper is recognizing the ever flowing depths of the fountain of God. He is living water, because it is always abundant and always flowing. Scarcity mindset keeps us from going deeper, because we are afraid the safety net either isn’t there or doesn’t go deep enough. We won’t risk, because we can’t. We can’t possibly risk such things. There might not be anything left. There might not be any left for me. We are all like Goldilocks lamenting lost porridge, broken chairs, and occupied beds. But God always has room and always makes room. He is an overflowing fountain."...
February 17, 2022 by Emily Spare
Abiding through the fall at City Pres meant holding on for dear life to your life preserver ring hoping the other side of the rope is attached to the rescue boat, continually clinging, continually waiting. But abiding in the new year at City Pres is what I think we’re being called into: “Deeper.” ...
July 31, 2019 by Joanna Hinks | Category: Sermon Reflection
"After recognizing that God wants to speak to us, another important part of listening is to put ourselves in situations where we can hear him clearly. God is perfectly capable of speaking to me in a thundering voice from the sky next time I go for a hike in the wilderness, but until that happens I’ve learned to also hear him in Scripture, in preaching, during quiet times...
Keep ReadingJuly 25, 2019 | Tags: friendship, Hospitality, making room
"But all of that is worth it for the hope that people might connect and be known, that conversation might happen about things like the enneagram or stories shared about how we made it to Albuquerque and how we are doing now that we are here. Making room is worth it. Hosting people around tables is worth it. Having kids frolicking about is worth it. People being the pre...
Keep ReadingJuly 18, 2019 by Carly Haynes | Tags: grace
"Jesus is just over there breaking down all of the social normalcies and conventions, and making room for everyone at His table. He’s just casually hanging out with a pharisee and a prostitute in the same room. No big deal. That’s actually what Jesus is getting at. We should be defying those social norms and, as Justin puts it, offering a space where change takes place...
Keep ReadingJuly 11, 2019 by | Tags: silence, time with the Lord
"When I am planning to sit in silence, my mindset is the same as what I approached the weekend with, and I tell God something like this: “God, I’m coming to you in silence now to get this done. I need to hear from you in order to feel like I was productive in being silent.” If my silence is not met with some sort of enlightenment or a new inner peace, then that tim...
Keep ReadingJuly 4, 2019 by Josh Spare | Tags: Fasting, feasting, beholding the Lord
"Paul is calling us to remember that the kingdom of God is forever, that the work we put into justice and goodness and sanctification and edification, that work will endure while our weak and frail bodies will pass away to be replaced with immortal bodies, freed from the limitations and weaknesses that we endure now! And so, in light of that, we fast. We take opportunities...
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