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Expanding Our Team

Expanding Our Team.001  

Are you interested in becoming an integral part of what God is doing at City Church? Currently, we are looking to fill two part-time positions.

Click on the links below to view the position descriptions and contact us with any questions.

CITY KIDS DIRECTOR POSITION: Position Description

MERCY & CARE DIRECTOR: Position Description

 

City Church Spotlight

Homeland Life, one of our neighborhood newsletters, did a spotlight article on City Church this month. You can read the article here: City Church Spotlight Thanks to all the folks at Homeland Life for a great article.

Cutting Room Floor 4.27.14

cutting room floor.001Often there are a lot of footnotes, quotes, links, and illustrations that go into worship and a message on Sunday mornings. Some of those make it, others don't. The cutting room floor includes a little bit of everything. Here is a sampling of this past week's sermon from Acts 2:42-47 called "The Devoted Themselves". You can download the sermon here: City Church iTunes Podcast.

Here is a link to Baltimore Magazine's article about photographer Ben Marcin's recent work called Last House Standing: Remnants of Things Past.

celtic"The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West... Again" by George Hunter is a great little book about St. Patrick and his establishment of Christian communities. It is a great history lesson with practical implications for how practice community today.

 

Here a two quotes from Sunday:

"As the New Testament speaks of it, fellowship is deep, virile, and costly; too often today it is cheap and superficial. The higher we value our personal privacy and freedom from commitments, the shallower our grasp of fellowship will be - reduced to moments of idle chitchat over steaming coffee before or after a worship service." - Dennis Johnson

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Cutting Room Floor - Easter Weekend

cutting room floor.001Often there a lot of footnotes, quotes, links, and illustrations that go into worship and a message on Sunday mornings. Some of those items make it, other's don't. The cutting room floor includes a little bit of everything. Here is a sampling from Easter Weekend: Good Friday: "The Forsaken God" from Psalm 22

You can download the sermon here: City Church iTunes Podcast.

Here is a link to Trent Bell's photo gallery entitled REFLECT: Trent Bell Reflect. It shows the images of 12 convicts superimposed on letters they wrote to their younger selves. Here is link to a video produced about his art: REFLECT Video. Here is a piece the Huffington Post did on the project: Convicts Pose With Heartbreaking Letters to Their Younger Selves.

CNN posted a photo documentary on the execution of an Iranian man named Balal. You can see the powerful photos of his forgiveness here: Iranian Execution Halted

Easter Sunday: "God Raised Him Up" from Acts 2:14-41

You can download the sermon here: City Church iTunes Podcast.

Here is a link to the Lincoln Memorial Interactive.

"The good news, the great news, of Jesus is that with his resurrection it becomes clear not only that he is Messiah and Lord, but that in death he has dealt evil itself a blow from which, though it still retains some power, will never overcome." - NT Wright

"Join this movement, allow the death and resurrection of Jesus to become the badge you wear, the sign of your identity, with you and your children sharing in the new life of the baptized community..." - NT Wright

Cutting Room Floor - 3.16.14

cutting room floor.001Often there are a lot of footnotes, quotes, links, and illustrations that go into worship and a message on Sunday mornings. Some of those items make it, others don't. The cutting room floor includes a little bit of everything. Here is a sampling from this past's week's message entitled: "Unending Mercy" from Psalm 123. You can download the sermon here: City Church iTunes Podcast.

Summary: God sends His mercy to free us from oppression.

Baltimore Fishbowl wrote an article on oppressive conditions in specific Baltimore neighborhood: FISHBOWL.

Here is the full lyric to Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners!

1. Jesus! what a Friend for sinners! Jesus, lover of my soul; friends may fail me, foes assail me, he, my Savior, makes me whole.

2. Jesus! what a strength in weakness! Let me hid myself in him; tempted, tried, and sometimes failing, he, my strength, my vict'ry wins.

3. Jesus! what a help in sorrow! While the billows o'er me roll, even when my heart is breaking, he, my comfort, helps my soul.

4. Jesus! what a guide and keeper! While the tempest still is high, storms about me, night o'er takes me, he my pilot, hears my cry.

5. Jesus! I do now receive him, more than all in him I find; he hath granted me forgiveness, I am his, and he is mine.

Hallelujah! what a Savior! Hallelujah! what a Friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, he is with me to the end.

 

Cutting Room Floor - 3.9.14

cutting room floor.001Often there are lots of footnotes, quotes, links, and illustrations that go into worship and a message on Sunday mornings. Some of those items make it, others don't. The cutting room floor includes a little bit of everything. Here is a sampling from this past week's message entitled: "Songs for the Road" from Psalm 120 and 121. You can download the sermon here: City Church iTunes Podcast.

Summary: The Psalms of Ascent (Psalm 120-134) are ancient "Songs for the Road." They were sung on the journey as God's people approached Jerusalem for yearly worship festivals. They express powerfully both the joys and the pains of life. They a gritty, raw, and beautiful, describing what this journey of faith is all about.

Baltimore Magazine archived the Baltimore Colts departure 30 years ago this month: COLT FOLLOWING

If you want to read more about the Psalms of Ascent, I recommend these books:

Screen Shot 2014-03-13 at 11.31.17 AMThe first is "Journey to Joy" by Josh Moody. I've met Josh and heard his teaching on the Psalms of Ascent. He is the pastor of College Church in Chicago and is a great communicator.

 

 

 

Screen Shot 2014-03-13 at 11.30.47 AMThe second is "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction" by Eugene Peterson. Peterson is best known for his MESSAGE translation of the Bible. He was also a pastor in Maryland for many years.

 

The Cutting Room Floor - 2.16.14

cutting room floor.001 Often there are lots of footnotes, quotes, links, and illustrations that go into worship and a message on Sunday mornings. Some of those items make it and others don't. The cutting room floor includes a little bit of everything. Here is a sampling from this week's message entitled: "The Substance of the Mission" from Acts 1:6-12.

You can download the sermon here: City Church iTunes PodCast.

Summary: God gives His people a substantial mission. Acts 1 tells us of the nature of the mission, the extent of the mission, the carriers of the mission, and the object of the mission. Ultimately, the mission is not about what you do, but about who you know.

Extent of the Mission

Check out "The Blog Post That Exploded: Baltimore and Broken Hearts" for an account of the recently viral Baltimore blogs. Make sure to read "Baltimore, You're Breaking My Car."

Screen Shot 2014-02-18 at 1.25.02 PMWe referenced Antero Pietila's comments on the neighborhood divisions that exist in Baltimore. His book "Not in My Neighborhood" is an excellent resource on understanding the real estate practices that led to the current make-up of Baltimore City neighborhoods.

 

Carriers of the Mission

Here's a quote written in the 2nd century by church father Athenagorus about the carriers of the mission:

“Among us you will find uneducated persons and artisans and old women, who, if they are unable to prove the benefits of doctrine, yet by their deeds they exhibit the benefits arising from their persuasion of its truth. They do not practice great speeches, but they exhibit good works. When struck, they do not strike back. When robbed, they do not go to law. They give to those who ask of them. And they love their neighbors as themselves." 

Object of the Mission

Here are photos from the Baltimore Sun's Darkroom on the Great Fire of Baltimore, 1904.