New City Church

Are you dealing with your character or just getting more discreet? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres continued our MOSES series with a message about the cost of character.Numbers 20:11-12Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”Moses' life serves as an encouragement and warning to all of us. His successes and failures can teach us about how we can faithfully live out God's purposes for our lives. What does this story teach us?1) Your CHARACTER counts.If we look at the story of Moses' life, we can see anger is a persistent and unresolved issue. Character flaws will remain in our lives when we choose to hide them instead of addressing them. There is no healing in hiding.Moses' crazy, rock-striking anger comes because he values his own leadership and the people's respect more than obedience to God. He reacts in a way that diminishes God in front of the people, and God declares a judgment over Moses that he will not personally enter the promised land. 2) Your CALLING is not your healing.The scariest part of the story is that even though Moses was wrong to strike the rock, God still caused the water to flow. Don't make the mistake of thinking that your gifting and calling is the same as God's approval. Gifting can provide validation, but it won't produce transformation.3) CHRIST is the pattern for our lives.Anger can reveal so much about what we love. God's plan and purpose is to grow us up to love what He loves, in the way the He loves. It's easier to act like a Christian than to react like a Christian.Pastor Mark BattersonGod does not call you to greatness; He calls you to Christlikeness. He calls you to the humility and meekness and love and righteousness of Jesus. And He has promised to help you!Philippians 2:13For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

Why do counterfeits capture our hearts? This weekend, Pastor Joaquin continued our MOSES series with a message about counterfeit gods, why we build them, and how God calls us back to Himself.Exodus 32:4And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” Israel's greatest problem didn't begin with a golden calf; it began long before that. Before they ever built an idol, they drifted from God's presence. In the waiting, their hearts were exposed, and they took the very evidence of God's faithfulness and turned it into a substitute for God Himself.1) Reject God's presence, and you'll replace it with something else.James 2:19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!God desires more than our belief; He desires our relationship. Before Israel ever built a golden calf, they first chose distance over God's invitation to draw near. When we stop pursuing God's presence, our hearts don't stay empty; they begin searching for substitutes. 2) Waiting reveals what you worship.Exodus 32:1 “When the people saw that Moses delayed…”Waiting reveals us. It exposes what is really in our hearts. The people of God grew impatient, which opened the door for their idolatry. Every idol begins as an attempt to solve a problem we think God hasn't solved fast enough. God isn't late; He's right on time. The question is whether we'll trust him enough to wait.3) We all worship something.Exodus 32:4 “And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf…”The very gold God had provided as evidence of His faithfulness became the material they used to build a substitute. God's gifts were never meant to replace His presence; they were meant to point us back to Him. Every gift He places in our hands has an assignment: to build His Kingdom, not our own.4) Return to the God you replaced.Romans 1:25 “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie…”The answer to idolatry isn't simply tearing down the idol, because apart from Christ we'll just build another one. Our hearts were created to worship, and if Jesus isn't on the throne, something else will be. The good news of the gospel is that when we replaced God, He didn't replace us. Through Jesus, He faithfully pursued us and still invites us to return to the One who alone can satisfy our hearts.Counterfeits lose their power when you've spent time with the real thing. This week, don't settle for a substitute. Draw near to the God who is still inviting you into relationship with Him!

Where do justice and mercy meet? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres continued our MOSES series with a message about the Law of God.Exodus 20:1-3Then God gave the people all these instructions: I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me.This is the moment when God gives Israel the law, and yet the people are terrified. If the Law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul (Psalm 19:7), why do we hide from it?1) You can't understand the law of God without knowing the person of God.The first words from God are not about what Israel must do, but about who God is and what he has already done for them. To truly understand God's law, we have to first understand God's heart.2) God's laws are rooted in his unchanging nature.Before sin was ever called sin by the Law, it was still sin and it was still deadly. God's laws are descriptions of reality. He draws lines around sin because he knows that it leads to death!3) The Law is meant to point us to Christ.The Law is not able to save. It is designed to clarify our deep need for saving.Galatians 3:24Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.When we feel conviction or guilt because of the law, it is the pain that is designed to get our attention and cause us to address the problem.4) The Holy Spirit is the presence of God to his people today.When Israel sees God's presence at Mt. Sinai, they are terrified because they realize that God's presence will not keep company with sin. And yet the miracle of the New Testament is the gift of God's presence to every believer. How?5) Jesus came to fulfill the law.When Jesus preached his Sermon On the Mount, he clarified the heart of God's Law. In doing so, he made it perfectly clear how high God's standard truly is.Matthew 5:17Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.There are two ways to fulfill a law: obey it perfectly, or pay the penalty for breaking it. Jesus did both! He lived a sinless life that met God's standard, and then he paid the penalty for all of us lawbreakers who deserved punishment. The cross is the place where God's justice and mercy met, and the reason we can now live with daily access to the presence and promises of God!

What are you fighting under? This weekend Pastor Joaquin Pardo continued our MOSES: Live No Lies series with a message about how God's people fight spiritual battles.Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.Exodus 17:11-13Israel had already been delivered from Egypt, but their journey still included opposition. They were no longer fighting for freedom, they were fighting from freedom.The same is true for us. Jesus has already won the decisive victory over sin and death, but every believer still faces spiritual opposition.1) You have to fight.Joshua didn't get to choose whether Amalek showed up. His decision was whether he would engage in the battle. Similarly, we don't choose whether spiritual warfare is real. We cannot experience victory while refusing to fight. We must stop allowing fear, shame, temptation, bitterness, and compromise to bully us into accepting a life God never intended for us. We must decide in our hearts that the enemy does not get another inch.2) Fight faithfully. Fight prayerfully.Joshua fought in the valley, but the battle's outcome was connected to what Moses was doing on the mountain. The sword mattered, but the sword was not the source of victory. Connecting the Lord to the battle was. We do the same today through prayer. Prayer does not make God powerful. Prayer reminds us who is powerful. You cannot win spiritual battles using only physical strategies. Practical obedience matters, but spiritual battles require spiritual dependence.3) Your fight is my fight.When Moses grew tired, Aaron and Hur noticed and moved toward him. They did not wait for Moses to ask for help. They lifted the hands he could no longer lift himself. Victory in the Kingdom of God is never meant to be experienced alone. The church should be filled with people who notice the hurting, the weary, the lonely, and the discouraged and then move into action.4) Fight with The Lord as your banner.When the battle was over, Joshua didn't take the credit. Moses didn't take the credit. Aaron and Hur didn't take the credit. Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah-Nissi —The Lord Is My Banner.A banner gave soldiers identity, direction, courage, and hope in the confusion of battle. When they became afraid or disoriented, they looked toward the banner and remembered that they were not fighting alone.Our Banner is Jesus. Our Banner was lifted up on a cross. He bled, died, rose again, and now reigns in victory. The battle may still be real tomorrow, but don't spend your life staring at Amalek.Lift your eyes to your Banner. The Lord is our Banner.

Who is your source? This weekend Pastor Devin Gough continued our MOSES series with a message about trusting God for provision.Exodus 16:17-18So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot of manna, some only a little. But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.After God led the people to the wilderness, he provided food for them daily. Why daily? Because Israel wanted security, but God wanted relationship.1) God will empty what you used to depend on.God brought them to the wilderness to grow them. Growth happens in seasons of discomfort, as you learn the difference between your RESOURCES and your SOURCE.2) God will give you just as much as you need.God could have given Israel a forty-year supply, but instead he taught them to look each morning for his provision.Dependence is not a weakness, it is discipleship.If God had given them more than a daily supply, they would have trusted in their storehouse, not their Provider.3) God cares more about your formation than your provision.Israel needed to learn a new way because the Egypt living in them was worse than the Egypt they had been living in. The goal wasn't food, the goal was formation. The real miracle in the desert wasn't the bread, it was God staying faithful to a people who weren't faithful to him! The miracle of God's love and mercy is still a daily reality for all of us in Christ!

What happens when pain gets so loud that it affects your ability to hear God? This weekend, Pastor Joaquin continued our MOSES series with a message reminding us that even when pain is present, God is still speaking, still faithful, and still moving towards broken and hurting people. Exodus 6:9Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. Israel had reached a breaking point. Their suffering intensified, their hope faded, and the Bible says they could not listen “because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.”1) Pain can affect your ability to hear God's promises.Pain has a way of distorting perspective, shrinking faith, and making God feel distant. But the good news is that God does not abandon people simply because they are struggling to hear Him clearly. Even in weakness, discouragement, and exhaustion, God continues pursuing His people.2) God speaks in the middle of suffering.While Israel focused on bricks, bondage, and survival, God was already speaking liberation, redemption, and promises over their future. God did not begin by explaining everything; He began by revealing Himself: “I am the LORD.” Their suffering was loud, but God was still in control, still faithful, and still working even when they could not see it clearly.3) Jesus is God's loudest Word.All throughout Scripture, God reveals Himself through His Word. And when God wanted to speak most clearly to humanity, He sent Jesus. The Word became flesh. Jesus is the greater Deliverer who stepped into our bondage to bring us freedom by grace. He did not come merely to inspire broken people, but to rescue enslaved people who could never save themselves. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus breaks the power of sin and brings people into true freedom and new life!Disappointment, anxiety, exhaustion, grief, or sin may have made it difficult to hear God clearly.But the good news of the gospel is this: God still speaks. God still pursues. And through Jesus Christ, freedom is still possible.

Are you trying to bear up the burden of proof? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres continued our MOSES series with a message about identity.Exodus 3:14God replied to Moses, “I AM who I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”Moses has a confusing upbringing, born from an oppressed people, but raised in privilege. In a moment of recklessness, he kills a man who is mistreating his fellow Hebrews, and he is forced to flee Egypt.1) Your behavior follows your sense of identity.Our actions can be traced back to our sense of who we are, for better and for worse. Our lives are an outworking of our beliefs about ourselves.2) What makes you awkward in one season might make you relevant in the next.Moses was not like any other Hebrew, which was isolating. He was trained in the most advanced society of the day, and he was uniquely prepared to lead a nation. From the place of your deepest wound will come your most significant gift to others.Moses spent forty years learning from the best of Egypt, then he spent the next forty years learning humility and faithfulness in the desert.3) An encounter with God raises questions before it offers answers.When God appeared to Moses, it was unsettling, and it provoked even more questions about his identity and adequacy. Finding WHO GOD IS is the surest way to understand WHO YOU ARE.Moses asks God, “Who am I?” The answer Moses gets is about who God is.4) You are the person that God says you are.God tells us who we are, but the miracle is that he commits to prove it for us. Our identity in Christ is a work of God's grace from start to finish!2 Corinthians 5:17This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Are you a critic or do you call out the beauty from others? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres continued our MOSES series with a message about the birth of Moses.Exodus 2:2The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was beautiful and kept him hidden for three months.In the middle of great suffering and fear, a child of promise was born. God's work doesn't happen in a sterile environment, removed from the ugly uncertainties of the real world. How did the love of Moses' mother open the door for God's saving work?1) Love sees and speaks to the beauty in others.At a time when criticism and cynicism has been elevated to virtue, we should develop the skill of speaking to and nurturing what is good in others.Colossians 3:13Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.It's not hard to point out where people are wrong. It is hard to patiently, wisely and lovingly make room for others to grow.2) Love risks when others won't.Moses' mother couldn't control her situation. But she was thoughtful and strategic, and in the end she trusted God with what she valued the most.3) When you love, God picks up the tab.Because she risked enough to love Moses, God made sure her needs were met. 2 Corinthians 9:8And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.Moses was born from a people who were enslaved, and he was elevated to become Prince of Egypt. Jesus was the Prince of Heaven, and he laid aside his title to become a servant so that we could become sons and daughters of our King!