Christ City Cast

Christ City Church

A podcast for Christ City Church in Dallas, TX. Sunday sermons, community conversations, and more...

  1. 2d ago

    The Simplicity of Saintliness | Simple Saints

    What does listening to God have to do with the body you live in, the work you do, and the people you find difficult to hear? Our name, saints, is both a gift and a task: we are, thus, set apart in Christ and called to become who we have been named, together. By Simple Saints, we refer to simplicity as the harmony of our whole selves: spirit, soul, and body receiving and sharing in the life God gives. Yes, the body, too, belongs to that hope. Though it grows tired and passes toward death, it will be resurrected; it is where the Spirit saves and forms us even now. Romans 12 calls us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, with minds being renewed to discern what is good. The habits of an ordinary day matter: how we work, care for what has been entrusted to us, and attend to one another. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah moves from the triumph of Carmel into fear, exhaustion, and the conviction that he is alone. God meets him with food and sleep, then with a still, small voice and a calling to return. Elijah discovers that God has been at work beyond what he could see, including among people he did not know were faithful. We enter this passage through Lectio Divina, a practice handed down through our faith family across generations. We listen to Scripture, meditate on what we hear, respond in prayer, and rest with Jesus. Before we speak, we listen. As we learn that habit with God, we can begin to practice it with our spouses, neighbors, and even our enemies. Our whole selves participate: bodies at rest, minds attentive, hearts and wills open to God. Questions for Reflection: Where do you treat your body or your ordinary responsibilities as though they have little to do with life in God? What changes when you offer them as worship?Where do you recognize yourself in Elijah’s story: afraid, exhausted, convinced you are alone, or being invited to return? What do you notice about how God meets him?As you listen to 1 Kings 19:1–18, what word, detail, or person draws your attention? Ask God how it connects with your life today, respond in prayer, and leave time to rest with Jesus.Scripture References: Romans 12:1–2; 1 Kings 19:1–18 (with the context of 1 Kings 18); 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24; 2 Corinthians 7:1. Voice referenced: St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Simple Saints --- Tired of consumer Christianity? So are we.Come rest in Jesus. → Sundays at 10:10AM642 Brookhurst Dr, Dallas, TX 75218.Christ City Church is a faith family following Jesus together in east Dallas.Learn more at www.christcity.life Follow us on...IG: @christcitylifeX: @christcitylifeTH: @christcitylifeFB: christcitychurchdallasYT: @christcitylife

  2. Oct 7

    Holy Body | Simple Saints

    If one day our bodies will be raised anew in, with, and by Jesus, what does that say about how we live in them now? Our bodies tire, ache, deteriorate, and change. The Christian faith names that honestly (perhaps, sometimes even emphasizes our physical and spiritual vulnerability a little too much). Still, historically, Jesus people have always held that the body that is wasting away is also the body God promises to raise. Thus, we cannot understand life with Jesus by leaving our our bodies--our fleshly, material, physical, dirt and dust filled bodies--out of it. In Holy Body, we consider the whole person, our whole selves—spirit, soul, and body—and Paul's insistence that we are the temple of the living God. With Irenaeus, we attend to the flesh as the place where God's life saves and forms us. With Augustine, we consider why our loves can restrict us: even beautiful, good things cannot give us lasting rest when we cling to them as though they must last forever. That brings us back to the work of living. The way we make and care for a life, the way we begin a day, the habits that keep us attentive or distracted, aware or distant, present or promiscuous... as the case may be. We can begin by offering ourselves to God through the work already before us, praying the Lord's Prayer as people who have received this day. We can ask whether our habits help us notice the person across from us--including the person we would rather avoid. And we can worship as a body, with our bodies, receiving together the life we cannot manufacture for ourselves. Questions for reflection: Where, when, and in what circumstances have you experienced an alignment of your complete self: spirit, soul, and body?What practices are dividing your body and spirit? What would it mean to turn from them today and tomorrow?Do the habits of your day make you more attentive to God and to the person beside you, or make it easier to avoid them? Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:11–7:1; 2 Corinthians 4:8–18; 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24; Romans 12:1; Matthew 11:25–30; Psalm 1. In the liturgy: Psalm 84; Romans 8:27–28. Voices: Irenaeus, Against the Heresies; Augustine, Confessions; Hans Urs von Balthasar on receiving life from God. Explore Simple Saints --- Tired of consumer Christianity? So are we.Come rest in Jesus. → Sundays at 10:10AM642 Brookhurst Dr, Dallas, TX 75218.Christ City Church is a faith family following Jesus together in east Dallas.Learn more at www.christcity.life Follow us on...IG: @christcitylifeX: @christcitylifeTH: @christcitylifeFB: christcitychurchdallasYT: @christcitylife

  3. Sep 16

    Simply All | Simple Saints

    How do you stay whole even as contemporary life pulls you in different directions? Saint Paul calls the church "saints": people made holy in Christ, set apart, and called to grow into that gift of holiness... together. In the second message of our fall series, Simple Saints, we consider how God's own undivided life gives shape to that calling. Drawing on divine simplicity—the harmony of God—the sermon asks how our desires, actions, and relationships can become whole and holy in world of fracture and brokenness. Questions for Reflection: Where, when, and in what ways have you experienced the wholeness of being set apart by God?Where do you feel divided or mixed up in spirit, soul, or body?As you bring those places to God, how does Paul's promise, “He who calls you is faithful,” shape your hope?Scripture References: 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24; 1 Corinthians 1:2–3; 1 Thessalonians 3:11–13; James 5:7–8; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Peter 1:13–16; John 1:9; Exodus 3:14.Liturgy: Psalm 116:1–9; Romans 8:27–28. Voices/Quotes: Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Elwell and Beitzel); Eugene Peterson, Practice Resurrection; Michael Gorman, Inhabiting the Cruciform God; Augustine, Confessions 1.3.3–1.4.4; Peter Leithart, “What Sort of Parts is God Without?” Aristotle. Sermon Notes & Liturgy | Simple Saints --- Tired of consumer Christianity? So are we.Come rest in Jesus. → Sundays at 10:10AM642 Brookhurst Dr, Dallas, TX 75218.Christ City Church is a faith family following Jesus together in east Dallas.Learn more at www.christcity.life Follow us on...IG: @christcitylifeX: @christcitylifeTH: @christcitylifeFB: christcitychurchdallasYT: @christcitylife

  4. Sep 8

    Our Family Name | Simple Saints

    What's in a name? Really? The first message from our Simple Saints series begins by gathering the 'fruit' of our summer in James. James ends his letter calling us to speak life over one another, to draw one another into life — which is another way of saying: live into who you are and who's you are... Live into your family name. So... what is our family name? You might be thinking "Christian." But did you know that the name "Christian" appears only three times in the New Testament? And, it wasn't a 'family' name, but was given by outsiders at Antioch who noticed this group kept talking about Jesus. The name the early church took for themselves was "saints" — Paul's most common way of addressing the churches, thirty-nine times over. A saint is one set apart by God, for God: a holy one, distinct because of their relationship to God. It is not a title of distinguished accomplishment but of received blessing, one that gives shape to the identity and actions of the person so blessed. What we are called by, who we are called to be and to become and... Who it is that calls us... in every sense is our "call-ing." Which is why Paul greets the church in Corinth as those already "sanctified in Christ Jesus," yet "called to be saints" — made holy, and becoming holy. Saintliness is both a gift and a task. But, it is derivative: it comes from Christ and is being given to us. For fourteen years, this has been our quiet work as a faith family — becoming simple saints in life together, ones who cannot be described or understood apart from God's intent and attention. Questions for Reflection: What emotions, thoughts, doubts, or affirmations arise as you read Paul's greeting as addressed to you: "to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints"?"Saint" names you by what God does in and for you, not by what you do for God. Where do you struggle to believe that?What would it look like this week to live into the name you have already been given? Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 1:2-3; Romans 1:7; 2 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 13:13; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2; Philemon 4-5; James 1:2-4; James 5:13-20; Acts 11:26; Psalm 34:1-10; Romans 8:27-28. Voices/Quotes: Eugene Peterson, on Paul's use of "saint"; Michael Gorman, on saintliness as gift and task; James D. G. Dunn, on holiness as the beginning and the process of salvation; John Webster, on holiness as indicative and imperative Sermon Notes & Liturgy | Simple Saints --- Tired of consumer Christianity? So are we.Come rest in Jesus. → Sundays at 10:10AM642 Brookhurst Dr, Dallas, TX 75218.Christ City Church is a faith family following Jesus together in east Dallas.Learn more at www.christcity.life Follow us on...IG: @christcitylifeX: @christcitylifeTH: @christcitylifeFB: christcitychurchdallasYT: @christcitylife

  5. Sep 7

    Complete Faith (5:13-20) | James: Faith at Work

    What do you do when you believe, but feel too weak to live what you believe? James ends his letter where he began: with faith growing toward a life that is complete, lacking nothing, amid the troubles of ordinary life. In this final sermon in our Faith at Work series, James 5:13-20 invites us to participate in that work through prayer, praise, and the care we give and receive. In suffering, we turn to God for wisdom. In joy, we sing praise. And when we feel weak, we call for others to pray over us and remind us who we are in Christ. Anointing in the name of Jesus gives visible expression to a life held in Christ. The prayer of faith rests in his faithfulness and his restoring work. As we confess our sins, pray for one another, and bring a wanderer back, we participate together in that work. Faith matures in a shared life, where we can receive care in our weakness and speak the truth and grace of Christ to someone else. Questions for Reflection: Where do I turn first when life becomes difficult, and what would it mean to ask God for wisdom there?Who could I invite to pray for me where I feel weak? Whose need might I attend to this week?What would look different tomorrow if I responded joyously to faith at work within me? Scripture References: James 5:13-20; James 1:1-8; James 1:17; James 4:13-17; James 5:7-8; Acts 2:42. Voices/Quotes: Douglas Moo Sermon Notes & Liturgy | James: Faith at Work -- Tired of consumer Christianity? So are we.Come rest in Jesus. → Sundays at 10:10AM642 Brookhurst Dr, Dallas, TX 75218. Christ City Church is a faith family following Jesus together in east Dallas.Learn more at www.christcity.life Follow us on...IG: @christcitylifeX: @christcitylifeTH: @christcitylifeFB: christcitychurchdallasYT: @christcitylife

  6. Aug 22

    Protest, Patience, Presence (5:1-12) | James: Faith at Work

    "Come now, you rich. Weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you." Just some light, Sunday morning devotional reading... right? In James 5:1-12, James speaks first as a prophet against the unrighteous rich: those who hoard, defraud, and live in self-indulgence while the people who work for them go unpaid or overlooked. Then he turns to those who are taken advantage of--the ones who were slighted or simply forgotten about--and asks for something harder than outrage: patience. This sermon moves through three questions. 1) Not "are you wealthy," but "are you righteous" — do you rightly relate to what you have, how you got it, and who you owe? 2) Not "will your cries reach God," but "have they already" — James writes in the perfect tense: the cries of the harvesters have already reached the Lord of hosts. 3) Not "how long," but "who is with you now"--the same compassionate and merciful God who met Job's grief, argument, and lament without flinching. Patience, is not doing nothing. It is doing the faithful thing without pretending you are in control of the end. And in the end, all he asks of us is a simple yes--not a performance of faith, not a grand gesture to prove we mean it, but a yes that is yes, because the God who hears us is nothing like the ones who need convincing. Questions for Reflection: Do I trust in my riches more than I trust in God — and what does that trust produce in me, or around me?When or why do I grumble, and how does it shape the way I treat the people closest to me?What would be different tomorrow if I humbled myself through faith at work within me? Scripture References: James 5:1-12, James 4:13-17, Matthew 6:19-24, Job 1-42, Psalm 146 Voices/Quotes: Douglas J. Moo, The Letter of James Sermon Notes & Liturgy | James: Faith at Work --- Tired of consumer Christianity? So are we.Come rest in Jesus. → Sundays at 10:10AM642 Brookhurst Dr, Dallas, TX 75218.Christ City Church is a faith family following Jesus together in east Dallas. Learn more at www.christcity.life Follow us on...IG: @christcitylife X: @christcitylifeTH: @christcitylifeFB: christcitychurchdallasYT: @christcitylife

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A podcast for Christ City Church in Dallas, TX. Sunday sermons, community conversations, and more...