CityChurch Charlotte

The Bible teaches us a powerful principle: "He who refreshes others will be refreshed" (Proverbs 11:25). God's abundant provision isn't just about meeting our own needs but equipping us to bless others. The miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000 reveals that God provides more than enough, with leftovers for sharing. God's purpose in filling us is bigger than us; He designed us to pour out His blessings for His mission on earth.When we look at the biblical pattern of generosity—we see that we're called to trust God's abundance. Jesus multiplied food and met the needs of the crowd, showing that even when resources seem scarce, He provides. This miracle reminds us to trust God's provision, even when He calls us to give sacrificially.Living in overflow also serves as a testimony to others, celebrating God's faithfulness and inviting them to know Him. As we receive, we're called to let His love, resources, and grace flow through us. God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3 was that all nations would be blessed through him—a purpose that extends to us today.When we embrace this mission, we reflect His generosity and demonstrate that true blessing is found in giving. Living in God's overflow isn't just about material abundance but about finding life, joy, and purpose in being a vessel for His blessings.

At CityChurch, we rarely focus on money—not because it's not important, but because we want to be intentional to keep our attention on Jesus and His mission. Yet, as we conclude our season with “FUELED,” we're reminded that God's desire is to fill us with life, overflowing so others can benefit from our life in Christ.Psalm 23:5 captures this beautifully, “My cup runs over,” symbolizing God's generosity in every aspect of our lives. If you're inviting a visitor to our Sunday Celebrations, remember that we're not here to get anything from people; we want to see everyone living in the abundance God has for us.The Scripture reminds us of this principle of “overflow”, in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, Paul teaches that when we give for the glory of God, lives are eternally impacted. It's not about compulsion but about giving cheerfully, knowing that God is our source. God's economy is one of abundance in every area of life and we want to trust Him for this.Our giving reflects God's character and makes a tangible impact—both physically and spiritually. It allows us to participate in transforming lives, providing for needs, and giving others reasons to thank God. In this way, we become part of God's mission, blessing others just as He blessed Abraham, who was called to be a blessing to all nations. Jesus also said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). God's overflow is not merely material but brings fullness to every part of our lives.Join us as we experience God's overflow in our time together.  

We've reached the sixth and final week of the Fueled series, and I hope the messages and discussions have been life-giving. It's important to assess how your four tanks—spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental are doing now compared to the start of the series. This week's focus is on managing stress, highlighting that not all stress is harmful; we can categorize it into three zones: the gray zone (too little stress), the blue zone (healthy, productive stress), and the red zone (excessive, harmful stress). To navigate stress effectively, we need to recognize our body's signals, respond with positive coping strategies, and reflect on what changes we can make to simplify our lives and incorporate rest.As we conclude, let's remember Jesus' invitation to come to Him for rest, a crucial step towards maintaining balance and health in our lives.

Our hearts hold immense significance, as highlighted in Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Neglecting our hearts affects our entire lives, it is vitally important that we prioritize our spiritual growth and our connection with God so we can overflow with life.When Jesus calls us to love the Lord with all our hearts, He invites us to abide in Him, and to align our hearts with His for profound spiritual renewal.Join us as we bring our hearts to Jesus; everything transforms when we connect with Him. What a privilege this is!

This series is proving to be a very valuable investment in our lives. We are trusting the Lord for growth and transformation in every area of our lives. This week is yet another powerful opportunity to come to Jesus - this time we will be growing in our soul. Our soul plays a significant part of our lives. When it is well with our soul, then life is different. It is a place where what God does in our hearts can actually be experienced in our lives. When our soul is downcast as the Psalmist writes, then we truly struggle and the struggle is real. Join us as we learn how to nurture a healthy soul, how to be aware of our deepest needs and how to bring them to Jesus. This truth has the potential to transform our lives forever.

We can sometimes be so spiritually minded that we forget that we actually do live in a body. This body is a temporary home (2 Corinthians 5:1) but is still very important. Paul writes to the church in Corinth that believers are called to glorify God with their bodies.The Lord gave us a body to nurture and preserve without worshipping it. When our bodies are healthy, we experience freedom but when we are unhealthy – it affects every part of life.This will be a great opportunity to reflect on how we are stewarding our physical bodies as well as growing in loving the Lord with all our strength. We can use our physical well-being as a catalyst for the glory of God.Join us as we enter the second week of our Fueled journey together.

I think all of us run on empty from time to time. We get tired, we feel sad, we get overwhelmed and we struggle to experience God. This is part of life, but it does not have to be our whole life. We can be intentional about our continual renewal and liveNlives filled with God's grace.This “Fueled Series” is a powerful opportunity to grow in loving the Lord with all our hearts, all our soul, all our strength and all our mind. God created us in a special way and every intricate part of us matters and has to be filled with the life of God. We are all called to glorify God with our whole life. It truly is powerful when we grow in this reality. This Sunday is the start of the journey and we are so excited to preach about this, give you a daily devotional and also a midweek small group course where you can prioritize the renewal of your whole self for the glory of God. This is a special time to invite your friends and family.

We had a stunning Sunday rediscovering our “why”. This is not an isolated reality. We have to realize that the “why” is always connected to the ‘WHO'. Firstly, it starts with who God is - everything flows from Him.When we study the scriptures, we clearly see that God divinely calls people to join Him on His mission here on earth. It's so significant that God still chooses the 'WHO' in connection with the ‘WHY' . He chooses ordinary people like you and me to be part of His extraordinary plan. We sometimes struggle to embrace God's “why”, because we struggle to believe who we are called to be. When we have a distorted view of ourselves, it often results in us rejecting the plans and purposes of God for our lives.Join us as we look at our calling personally and corporately. We will see that each of us have a role to play. It is also very exciting to see how God has called CityChurch to make a lasting impact for His glory.God's call for your life is to Know Jesus, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose and Make a Difference. We will experience how the Lord gives us faith by the power of His Spirit to say “Yes” to His invitation.

Our lives are much bigger than the here and now. There is truly so much more to our existence. We have a tendency to get lost in the details: the ‘What', the ‘When' and the ‘How' - but these flow from understanding the ‘WHY.'If we lose track of why we work, why we are married, why we are studying, or why we have a church, we miss the point. Join us as we take two weeks to rediscover our "why." It will be such a powerful time as we turn our eyes on Jesus to see again, to believe again and to become even more passionate about God's heart for us and those He wants to touch through us.God's vision for every person is that we know Him, find freedom in Him, discover our God-given purpose and make a lasting difference. Vision Sunday is always a very special opportunity to hear from God and be encouraged in our eternal purpose together.

When we allow ourselves to be honest with God and with ourselves, we step into a space of freedom. It seems counterintuitive to let go of control, which is hard.But can we open our hands and trust Him? Can we lift up our heads and look to Him? Will we let go of striving in the midst of the mystery and will we wait on Him? No one wastes time waiting on the Lord, it's a beautiful journey of finding His Grace in our weakness.Join us as we learn how to encounter Jesus in the midst of pain. We will see what it really means to walk by faith and not by sight. It's going to be life changing for all of us.

This is one of those extra special opportunities to celebrate together as a church. Bruce and Myra McAlpine are with us and it's always encouraging to have them.We see in the New Testament that churches had deep friendships with leaders that would strengthen them, encourage them and give them biblical perspective. A great example was the Apostle Paul, who would visit churches and also wrote letters to them to impart spiritual blessing to them (Romans 1:11).Bruce and Myra are here to share God's love and God's word with us – they are dear friends and are a blessing to us all.

We all have a story to tell, these stories often define us and set the tone for our future. The dream will always consist of both battles and blessings, the question is what will we focus on the most? We might be living the dream, but we are still carrying the pain of past experiences.While these realities are true, they don't have to consume the story of our lives. We know that God took Joseph from pain to promise and from brokenness to beauty. There's something beautiful that happens when our lives are marked with God's faithfulness and His goodness and that's what we emphasize without denying the hard times. This is our last part of the series and it has been so enriching to journey through the last 14 chapters of Genesis.

Living the Dream comes with special privileges. Joseph's life was a shadow pointing to Jesus Christ. Just like Joseph honored and appreciated his father, we know that Jesus honored and appreciated our heavenly Father.Joseph eagerly desired the blessing of his father and so Jesus also walked in the blessing of our Father. The beauty of this reality is that all of us can have that close relationship with our heavenly Father. We can honor Him, prioritize Him and desire His blessing. Our heavenly Father loves us deeply and His words are life to our soul. Unlike Joseph's father, our Father is not weak and He will never leave us or forsake us.

Jim Carey famously said that he thinks everyone should become rich and famous so that they can see that it's not the answer. Many people want the dream, but they don't want the responsibility that comes with the dream. We dream about having kids, getting promoted, leading in the church or serving with a non-profit etc. All of this calls for the empowering Grace of God – it's one thing to see the dream fulfilled, it's another thing to acknowledge that God made it possible.While living the dream, we need to extend mercy instead of revenge, acceptance instead of rejection, humility instead of pride and vulnerability instead of pretense. Join us as we open our hearts to God as He shows us how to handle success.

A miracle happens! Pharaoh calls for Joseph and Joseph gets an opportunity to promote himself. He could talk about his faithfulness to Potiphar and prison; he could talk about his track record of accurately interpreting dreams etc. He does none of that, he honors God and takes the humble posture of serving another person's dream. Most people who live the dream are not selfishly using people to fulfill their own dreams.NO! They are selflessly serving other people's dreams. When the moment of truth arrives, how will we respond and what will we prioritize? Could it be that God's dreams in our lives are way bigger than ours? Could it be that God paints on a canvas that's beyond our wildest imagination?Let's invite you to join us as we explore the bigness of God's dream and how we can respond to great opportunities.

There are times when we find ourselves in limiting situations – we run out of options and we could even feel trapped. All of us go through these seasons of life where it just doesn't make sense.Our career might be at a dead end or we feel isolated or we feel like God forgot about us. It's hard to hold on to the dream when we are treated unfairly or circumstances are just so hard and hopeless. How do we cope? How do we keep the faith? How do we respond to extreme disappointment?I believe we have an opportunity to flip the script and that's what we'll focus on this Sunday. Invite someone to sit with you as we look at Joseph's time in prison, it's a profound time in Joseph's life and pivotal for living the dream.

Jody and Vanessa Romero, who lead Restoration LA, are sharing God's word with us. They are not guest speakers, but friends and gospel partners who come to serve us and encourage us in our faith. Jody and Vanessa both serve on the NCMI team and they have a beautiful testimony – from adopting children to serving their community in east LA and preaching the gospel in many parts of the world. What a way to Celebrate Pentecost!

What do you do when your dreams seem to be dying? How do you respond when you are rejected and treated unfairly? It's so hard to make sense of some seasons of our lives, especially when we are doing our best.It's clear that the Lord is interested in both the dreamer and the dream – He has to prepare the dreamer for the dream and this is a challenging process. When God gives us dreams, He kindly develops us so that we can take hold of these dreams. He will even use circumstances and the pain caused by people to work for us in the long run – it truly is amazing!Join us as we celebrate the favor of God even in seasons of limitations. We will be encouraged by the fact that God keeps the dream alive, even when we lose hope. It'll be such a wonderful Sunday to invite someone to sit with you.

We have heard a lot about the “American Dream” or building the “House of our dreams” or even finding the “Person of our dreams” etc. What about God's dream for our lives? There's something beautiful that happens when God gives you a dream. It re-affirms the reality that He is interested in your life and that He has good plans for you.Many people have lost the ability to dream, they've had some disappointments along the way and now they don't look ahead with expectation anymore. May I remind us that one of God's greatest dreams was to reconcile humankind back to Himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus. God is a God of destiny and purpose and He wants us to engage with Him in this regard.As we start this “Living the Dream” series, we want to invite you to come with an open heart to encounter God and His heart for our lives. This series will also be very helpful for our unchurched friends – seeing that many need to find a fresh sense of destiny and hope in these times.

Do we really need the church? If so, why? Some will argue that the church is an antiquated institution that is irrelevant in a postmodern world.  How does a local church, like CityChurch, make a difference in a world that seems more chaotic and confused? Together, let's discover the church's mystery and beauty and why it matters!

One cannot study the life of Jesus without recognizing all the amazing healings and miracles He performed. It was and is a very large part of His ministry. Then we look at the book of Acts and we see many healings and miracles done by believers. As we also study church history, we see many testimonies of healing and miracles. This is a very special blessing and God's word affirms that He still heals today. The challenge often is that we don't always see physical healing and that makes us wonder. I believe that God is calling us to contend for what we see in scripture, even in the midst of the mystery. Even when we don't understand, we can still trust Him for miracles – because He is the same yesterday, today and forever more!  Join us as we answer a very difficult question and as we all grow in trusting God to use us to bring His healing to people who need it.

We all have a story to tell. Think about your life, your experiences, some of your highs and some of your lows. Most parts of our stories are so unique and special – it's real. As believers, our lives and our faith are closely linked. The good news about Jesus Christ and the impact that He made in us isthe story each of us carry – it's a story that most would love to hear. Sharing our faith needs to become a way of life, an expression of love and gratitude. It really is bearing witness to the reality of Jesus and all of us can share it.  Join us as we take the “religiosity” out of sharing our faith and we explore the most powerful keys to testifying authentically.

It's Easter and we have reason to celebrate the new life that Jesus made possible through His death and resurrection. What a GIFT! What a JOY! Jesus is risen and death is defeated and we are victorious in Him! It is by far the most amazing news – no one has to be lost, hopeless, shameful, guilty, bound or rejected. Jesus paid it all and His resurrection established the victory that we can all experience! There is a special freedom that we have access to: Not only “freedom from” things that hold us back, but also “freedom to” embrace more of what God has for us! Join us as we explore our freedom in Christ, the way to live our lives in the light of His Glory and Grace. We will give each person something special to remind us all about the value that Jesus places on each of us and the victory we have in Him.

The beautiful privilege of a Christ follower is that we can hear God's voice and we can follow His leading. Knowing God involves knowing His will, He makes His will known to us by confirming it through His Word, His Spirit and His people.  This is going to be a very special Sunday, it'll be part of our Holy Spirit Weekend and we will have our friend David Swart from Columbus OH with us. David used to be a worship pastor in Chicago before going into banking, his banking career took him and his family to Columbus OH where they planted 614 church. At first David was leading the church while working as a CFO for Huntington Bank and then he resigned from his job to devote all his time to the church. David and Kathy serve on the NCMI team and their church is really a stunning expression of Jesus in their city.

As the Best Seller of all time, the Bible is the most amazing book ever compiled. It is a compilation of 66 Books, written over 1500 years by 40+ human authors and ONE Editor and Chief. It is the inspired Word of God and still more than 100 million bibles are sold or given away every single year. Billions of lives have been changed by just reading it - it's filled with truth, principles for life and timeless wisdom for every generation. Much more than that, at its core: the Bible is God's love letter to us where He expresses His undying love for us through the countless passages of redemption, forgiveness, kindness, goodness and empowerment etc.Join us as we explore the Power of God's word and how we can engage with God's word in a way that profoundly impacts every part of our lives. God's Word is alive and brings life to our lives as we engage with Him through His Word.

There has been so many questions about prayer...‘Does it work?', ‘How should I pray?', ‘Why are some prayers answered and others not?' etc. Prayer is vital to our relationship with God and it's often neglected, because we don't fully understand the privilege or the power thereof. I am convinced that God wants to liberate us from the duty of prayer and bring us into the beauty of prayer. He is calling us to a deeper connection with Him that transcends all temporary demands.  Join us as we explore the more that God has for us, taking hold of the encounters in God and the divine interactions He made available to us.

Even though we spent a considerable amount of time on faith during our ‘Radical Faith' series, there are still difficult questions about faith in Jesus Christ. No matter how true the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is, you can't enjoy the benefits without believing in Him. Many people might feel like the disciples who asked Jesus to help them in their unbelief. Join us as we look at a few people interacting with Jesus by faith and learn how we can grow in walking by faith. It's powerful to note that faith is not ‘super spiritual', but rather practical and authentic. When we ‘believe in', ‘rely on' and ‘trust in' Jesus, everything changes and that's why this question is so important to our lives today.

Many people understand the cross to be a legitimate historic event that happened and we try to remember it especially around Easter time every year. This is really just a fraction of the significance of the cross.  The cross of Jesus Christ is one of the most life giving realities of all time – it's way more than an event in History, it's actually pivotal to our everyday lives. When the questions about the cross are answered then life, liberty and freedom become more and more tangible. The Kingdom of God comes in and through our lives, our mere existence makes more sense and our joy becomes complete.  Oh the wonders of the cross, oh the glory of our Savior's love and the life transforming power available to us. My prayer is that this will be a life changing opportunity for you and your friends as you survey the wonderous cross.

As we launch our “Got Questions?” series, it's important to start with the most influential and controversial person that has ever lived and is still alive…Jesus. Time magazine named Him the most influential figure in all of history and close to 3 Billion people on the planet call Him their Lord and Savior. He called Himself the only way to the Father and paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Jesus Christ is still changing lives every single day, He is gracious, compassionate, loving, forgiving and also righteous and true. He is the only true King and when we see Him rightly, our lives start making sense. For many people these are very difficult questions – “Is Jesus really real?”, “Is He the only way to eternal salvation?”, “How can I trust Jesus as Lord and Savior?”. Join us as we explore these important questions that affect our lives and eternity in a real way.

There's a difference between worrying about tomorrow and planning for tomorrow. While we don't invest out of fear, we actually still need to invest by faith. God wants us to manage the resources He gives us in such a way that we have enough in lower income seasons of our lives. It glorifies God and it honors our families when we don't spend everything we earn, but invest a portion of our income for the future. Join us as we look at the Bible and catch God's heart for our financial management. This could make a difference for you and your family.

One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves is to give to God. It sometimes feels counterintuitive, but it's a profound reality - He has given so much to us and we have the privilege to respond to His generosity by being generous ourselves. Join us as we explore the beauty of giving to God and honoring Him with our finances.

We live in a world where we are conditioned to be unsatisfied with what we have - we have to have more, what we have is not enough. Isn't it amazing how we complicate our lives with more stuff? This leads to constantly upgrading, buying more and often using debt to do so. Join us this week as we open our hearts to God's truth about our approach to finances and possessions.

When we read the New Testament, we often see God using prophetic voices to strengthen, encourage and edify His people. My heart is that you will receive from God and that Jesus will be honored and glorified this Sunday.

We are sorry due to technical issues a portion of the sermon is missing.We all face giants and we all go through seasons of limitations and it's in those seasons where we often come to the end of ourselves. God wants to give us His faith in those times of desperation. Join us as we are reminded that God makes a way where there seems to be no way.

Join us as we explore the ways of God and embrace a heavenly perspective on life.

We celebrate Christmas in light of the awesome reality that Jesus came from heaven to earth to redeem all of us and it's right that we go even deeper in this truth. Jesus' birth is the fulfillment of multiple promises throughout scripture. Join us as we celebrate CHRISTmas eve together.

Join us as we continue our Radical Faith series, learning from a person who experienced restoration in the midst of a challenging situation. This is part of our special season as we Celebrate Jesus, the Hope of the world coming to earth to restore what was lost.

A life of Radical Faith really results in obedience, but this doesn't have to be sophisticated or ‘super-spiritual'. It truly is often just simple obedience that makes the difference. Join us as we engage with Naaman, a very successful character who encountered God's restoration in his life when he obeyed by faith in a simple way.

We are often overwhelmed by what we don't have. It's exhausting to constantly address the apparent lack in our lives, but God has a better way for us all. This way is Radical Faith! A life where we give thanks by faith. We will engage with the truth that Jesus is not just enough, but He is in fact more than enough and it's when we give Him thanks that we experience it.

When we trust God with Radical Faith, He turns dead areas to life, He becomes more than enough for us in every way. It's not about having the answers, it's about trusting the ONE who IS the answer. Join us as we explore a life of trusting God and His Word in the midst of everyday life.

In this message we will engage with the reality of God's promises in our lives and the role that faith plays to access His promises. We will glean from the examples of a resourceful woman of faith and a humble prophet.

Welcome to your journey of faith. We follow Jesus by faith, we love by faith and we are called to live by faith. Every single part of our lives requires faith and Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith.

Jesus constituted not just a new understanding of faith, but a new people. The church. If Jesus identifies himself so closely with his church, then surely so must I. But what does it mean to have an identity that goes beyond just me, that involves that difficult thing of other people?

The Bible also calls believers, who trust in Jesus - “Ambassadors”. We are citizens of Heaven, representing our King and His Kingdom here on earth. We have the privilege and honor to be commissioned by our King as ambassadors. Join us as we embrace our God given privileges.

When we understand our eternal citizenship, it helps us to gain perspective on the realities we are facing here on earth. Join us as we explore our heavenly citizenship and how it impacts the way we live here on earth.

When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you become a saint and as you follow Him, you live out your identity as a saint. Explore the freedom of becoming who we already are - living out our new Identity as SAINTS.

Today we will explore the joy in knowing that we are adopted into the family of GOD as true sons and daughters, with all the rights that God's children have.

The truth is that everyone experiences an Identity GAP - the GAP between how you see yourself and how God sees you. When we are not secure in the truth about who we are and Who's we are, we become insecure and this affects every single part of our lives. Join us as we start our Identity Series, engaging in the truth about God and ourselves - being established in Him.