Stand Alone Sermons
Sermons by Cities Pastors and Guest Speakers
New Grass, ‘Nuff Milk
September 3, 2023 • Jonathan Parnell
In this stand-alone sermon, Pastor Jonathan Parnell explains the obscure passage of Proverbs 27:23-27 and gives an image of three realities that we pray will mark our church as we enter a new season together: deepened theology, increased surrender, and multiplied joy.
Work Out Your Salvation
January 1, 2023 • Joe Rigney
In this stand-alone sermon, Pastor Joe Rigney preaches on an obedience that shines by expounding upon words from Paul's letter in Philippians 2:12-18. God works within us so that we can work out a proper mindset and spirit – cheerful, without grumbling or complaining, looking first to the interest of others – so that God is happily pleased.
Recognizing Grace
April 24, 2022 • Jonathan Parnell
In this sermon, Pastor Jonathan Parnell recognizes the grace of God in the life of our church by looking at the past, present, and future. We want to ask the question: By the power of his Spirit, through the grace of the Lord Jesus, what is God doing in our church?
Calling a Pastor and the Pastor’s Calling
May 1, 2022 • Ryan Griffith
This Sunday marks a high point in the life of our church — we are celebrating the ordination of Max Kozak to service as an elder. In this sermon, Pastor Ryan Griffith gives us a biblically rooted explanation of ordination, explains the responsibilities of our Church members and Max, and charges Max to depend on God, be holy, be a man of the word, and give us Jesus.
The Love of Jesus at the Tomb of Lazarus
April 4, 2021 • Joe Rigney
In this sermon, Pastor Joe Rigney examines John 11, highlighting the key elements and themes seen in the narrative about Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead. Jesus waited to arrive—if he had arrived in their town sooner, he would have been able to heal Lazarus before death. But Jesus waited. Why? Because he loved Lazarus. We clearly see that Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus, and because he loved them, he waited to arrive in their town. Jesus knew there was great purpose and value in the waiting—even if it didn't make sense to Mary and Martha. Jesus also loves us, contemporary believers. We know that he loves us, and because that is true, he may wait to bring the healing we long for too. He may take us through unimaginable suffering and loss and pain in this life. And when he does, he will weep with us. He will receive our questions and our confusion and our tears and our cries of, “Where were you?” He’ll take them and he’ll join us in your indignation at death and sin. And someday, because he loves us, he will raise the dead.
Because of Jesus, The Best is Yet to Come
December 27, 2020 • Nick Aufenkamp
In this standalone sermon, Pastor Nick Aufenkamp expounds upon Hebrews 13:12-16, exhorting us to live in light of the second coming of Christ. Jesus has come, and he will come again—that truth inspires us no matter what we face. It is essential for us, as believers, to remember that eternity future shall be glorious for us, because of what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf. For the Christian, the best is yet to come. This sermon is Pastor Nick's final sermon as a pastor of Cities Church (his family intends to relocate to the Pacific Northwest in spring 2021 to potentially pursue church planting or other ministry opportunities).
Receive Your King!
December 29, 2019 • Jonathan Parnell
One author writes: "I have often said that the sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room." The writer writes this sentence as a lament to the busyness that surrounds him. Everyone is hurried, preoccupied, and distracted. We fill their lives with stuff, and then give the rest of their time in pursuit of the ability to acquire more stuff. Most of our energy is given to the attainment of things we do not yet have rather than the enjoyment of things we already have — and it’s an epidemic — and it is a spiritual problem. One writer has said "hurry is a form of violence to the soul." Because we cannot crowd our lives without crowding our hearts. Which means, if we’re honest, the space in our hearts is as jam-packed as the inn of Luke 2:7. We’ve got no room for a king.
Those Who Sow in Tears
April 21, 2019 • Jonathan Parnell
Wasn’t the whole life of Jesus a sowing in tears? And isn’t that the way of God? Jesus is God become man to show us the way, and the way is hard. The way is a cross. And how did he do it? Hebrews 12, verse 2 says that Jesus “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” How? How did Jesus hope for joy in the way of the cross? It’s because in God’s way, he knew God’s work. Jesus sowed his tears in hope because he knew what the psalmist knew in Psalm 126, and it’s that we have a God who can send rain. We have a God who makes rivers in the desert. We have a God who gives life to the dead. And so the whole life of Jesus then was sowing. Last Sunday he rode into Jerusalem, sowing. He was conspired against on Wednesday, sowing. He was betrayed on Thursday, sowing. He as crucified on Friday, sowing. And then he was dead. Then it was over. He was finished. His body was wrapped. The tomb was sealed. All his tears had been sown. But Sunday morning came the reaping. Sunday morning came the shouts of joy. “He is not here,” the angel said. “For he has risen.”
How Jesus Will Keep You in 2019
December 30, 2018 • Mike Schumann
If we hear that vile whisper in our ear “God will not keep you, he will forsake you, he will withhold from you in 2019.” We will be kept by Jesus, as we read John 17:26, “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Yes, we will be kept by Jesus in 2019 as we immerse ourselves in his Word.
Coming Into the Presence of the Omnipresent God
April 29, 2018 • Joe Rigney
So here are three basic facts about reality. You are here and now. God—your Maker—is here and now. And this God, the living God, is pursuing you. These three facts yield a fourth—every moment of every day, we are confronted with a Choice— either embrace and welcome this reality, surrendering ourselves to the eternal, omnipresent, and pursuing God, or we can vainly try to hide from him, to resist his advances, to reject his demands.
Run for Joy
December 31, 2017 • Sam Choi
The race that we are running is infinitely more important than The Olympics. It doesn’t merely have repercussions on this side of eternity, but forever. It echoes into eternity. It’s a race that if you do not finish, you do not live. It is infinitely more valuable, more important.
We Three Kings of Orient Aren't
December 24, 2017 • David Mathis
When the magi came to Jerusalem asking, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” little did they know that they were asking for the very title that will be written above his head as he hung on the cross dying for sins not his own: “the king of the Jews”
Open the Gates to Paradise: Celebrating 500 Years of the Reformation
October 29, 2017 • David Mathis
The real essence of the Reformation wasn’t the doctrine of justification — vital as it was, and is. The real essence of the Reformation was access to, and personal encounter with, God himself through his word. The Reformers took the Catholic Church’s closed book and opened it first for themselves — to read and preach and write and sing — and then for all to hear.
Grace Glorifies Nature
August 27, 2017 • Joe Rigney
There’s a lot to say about these two, but for our purposes today, I want to highlight the simple claim that grace (or super-nature) glorifies nature. Grace brings nature to its highest and proper perfection. And I want to demonstrate this by focusing on the three elements in today’s worship service—child dedication, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Let’s begin by highlighting the natural features of each of these acts.