New City Church

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!

Hear an encouraging message from Pastor Devin Gough!

What does it mean to be great? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres kicked off our NAAMAN series with a message about the grace and greatness of God.2 Kings 5:1Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.Sandwiched in these stories about the prophet Elisha and God's people is the story of God's great mercy toward one of Israel's enemies.1) God does not abide by our categories of greatness.At the beginning of the story we are introduced to both Naaman and a servant girl. Their interaction becomes the engine that drives all of the events that follow, and it causes us to ask, “What does it mean to be great?”2) God sees us as we truly are.The story calls us to see that Naaman's identity as a great man was not his whole story, and the girl's identity as powerless was also not her whole story. 3) God frees us to do for others what he does for us.Through a miracle of grace, the young girl in the story has concern for Naaman, and so shows that she is actually the hero of the story. She refuses to be defined by her situation, and instead has compassion on the very person responsible for her suffering. “Christian” is the only identity that's received, not achieved.Timothy KellerIf who I am in Christ is received, then this identity is to be discovered, nurtured and experienced, not performed. It's an identity that doesn't exclude others who aren't on my level, because MY LEVEL was NEVER ACHIEVED in the first place, IT WAS RECEIVED.

Dirty feet, ugly toes! This weekend Pastor Joaquin Pardo concluded our SUNDAY BEST series with a message about serving one another. John 13:5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. In the final hours before His death, Jesus chose to spend His remaining moments humbly serving His disciples, kneeling to wash their feet.1) Greatness is spelled S.E.R.V.I.C.E.The Gospel of Luke gives us a glimpse into the conversations happening at the Last Supper.Luke 22:24A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.In a moment when Jesus deserved all the attention, all the support, and all the love, His response was unexpected. Instead of demanding to be served, He said, in essence, “Let me show you what true greatness looks like.” And then He showed them—it looks like love.2) Service is spelled S.A.C.R.I.F.I.C.E.Jesus sacrificed and served even those who would betray Him. True service means laying down our bitterness, offense, and idols—the things that consume our hearts and blind us to others' needs. Instead of asking, “What have they done for me?” We follow Jesus by asking, “What can I do for them now?” Sacrifice is giving up what holds us back so we can serve with love.3) Sacrifice is spelled L.O.V.E.Jesus washing His disciples' feet was more than an act of service; it was a powerful picture of the sacrifice He was about to make on the cross. He took on our dirt, shame, and sin to make us clean and free. We sacrifice because we love. As He loved us first, we are called to love others through sacrifice.