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City Central Church is a place where followers of Jesus Christ seek God's power and presence by adoring the Savior, becoming more like Him and contending for His kingdom. Based in Tacoma, Washington, City Central seeks to share the good news about Jesus with those who are lost, bring restoration and healing to those who are broken and build up and train the saints of God. This podcast features sermons originally delivered at City Central Church in Tacoma during Sunday morning worship service ...
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Advancing Church series with a message about the power of Jesus to restore our hearts and set us free. Through Jesus we are forgiven and made new, no matter where we have been or what we have done. The good news doesn’t end there as the Lord wants to partner with us in our restoration from one degree of glor…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Advancing Church series teaching about sharing the gospel and being aware of how the world can choke out our faith. As believers, we advance God’s kingdom through evangelism but must guard our hearts from the world so we can bear good fruit unto the Lord. God has great affection for each one of us and desire…
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This week, Pastor Chris started a new sermon series called Advancing Church. God has a great vision for the Church and wants to use His bride to establish His kingdom on earth. As we gather, we meet with the Lord through worship and prayer and build one another up for the works of the ministry. There is power in the gathering of God’s people!…
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This week, Pastor Chris finished our Romans series with a word on being aware of the Enemy’s schemes in our lives. Whether we realize it or not, we have an Enemy of our soul and are in a spiritual battle, which Jesus has already one. The Enemy desires to deceive, accuse and tempt us but we can expose his schemes, live in authority over him and walk…
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This week, Pastor Chris taught out of Romans 15 about overcoming selfishness. Our society emphasizes self-promotion and self-focus, but God desires for us to be emptied of pride and filled with love for others. The Lord gives us tools to help defeat the Self including carrying one another’s burdens, building others up, staying in the Word and shari…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series with a second teaching on how to love those with different opinions from ourselves. The Enemy aims to divide the Body of Christ though personal opinions and judgement, but the Lord wants us to walk well with one another in love.
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series teaching us about God’s heart for the Church to be united. Christians can be so divided and unloving toward one another over issues that are not essential to the gospel, but there is a way forward! We can follow God’s command to love and respect one another by keeping our hearts humble, and our…
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Community Life Director, Casey Mock shared this week about the different Life Groups at City Central and how you can get plugged in. It is not our inheritance as believers to walk through life alone, rather God has a vision for the church to live in community! Today was a call for each of us to either join a Life Group if we haven’t already or eval…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series with a word about resetting our hearts on the Lord through His love and grace. Sometimes we grow weary in our walk with the Lord or start walking in our old ways. We need a fresh awakening and today is the opportunity! The first step to softening our heart towards God is to allow Him to love us…
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This week was Youth Takeover at City Central! Recent high school graduate and Legacy student leader, Lakiyah, brought the Word from Habakkuk. We spend a lot of time waiting and asking the Lord to move, and we learned from Habakkuk that God is gracious with our questions and ready with a plan. In these seasons of waiting, we can look to God’s charac…
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This week, Pastor Chris shared a message about being directed by the Word of God when facing the topic of political authority. As believers, we have dual citizenship- heaven and our country- and therefore, we walk in the tension of honoring both God and our government leaders. It is key to submit to God before a political party, check our hearts fo…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Roman series with a powerful message on using our gifts to build up the Church, and the call to love others well. The Lord has loved us with an everlasting love and calls us to love and forgive one another. We could all use an upgrade in love and Romans 12 encourages and challenges us to humble ourselves for…
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This week, Adam Narciso brought the Word from Romans 12 about spiritual gifts. Jesus followers carry a special grace from God, known as spirituals gifts, that show up in our day-to-day functions. These gifts are meant to bless and build up the Church, but how we step into them matters.
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Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series with a word on God’s faithfulness to His people Israel from old testaments times to today, and how we as Jesus followers are grafted into God’s family. As we live in the end times, looking back at God’s faithfulness gives us peace and hope knowing He will fulfill His promises to us!…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series with a message about being transformed by Christ rather than conformed by the world. We are always being influenced by the world around us and must intentionally set our hearts and mind on Christ and godliness. Renewing our minds regularly keeps on the path of righteousness and helps us become …
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series about sharing the gospel so that many can be saved, and so we can live a vibrant life in Christ. Just as our physical muscles atrophy from lack of use, our spiritual muscles also lose health and vitality when they are not regularly exercised. Evangelism and sharing our testimony help build thos…
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This week, Pastor Chris continues our Romans series with a message from Romans 9 about the relationship between God and believers, known as the Human-Divine Cooperation. This concept is seen throughout the Bible, as God partners with His people, demonstrating His grace and sovereignty while calling them to fulfill His will on earth through their fr…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series with a message about being secure in God’s love. The love of God is abounding and dependable, different from human love. If we are not careful, we can project our experiences with human love onto God, leading to a deceived and defeated life. With the Lord’s help we can tear down any wrong view …
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series with a message about how the promise of eternity gives us hope in the struggles of today. Life can be difficult and painful, but Scripture describes a future for the believer that is better than anything we can imagine. The joy, peace and beauty of eternity with Jesus gives us hope in life’s tr…
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This week, we took a shift in our Romans series from understanding the weight and burden of sin to understanding how to walking free from condemnation. We can be our worst enemy, ready to let the hammer of condemnation and shame drop on our heads. Christ has the answer to set you free from condemnation through Jesus’ victory over sin and death, and…
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This week, Pastor Chris shared a message on Romans 7 about the tension of being fully alive in Christ but not a perfect person. Misunderstanding this passage can lead to living in compromise and bondage, instead of the abundance and victory God has for your life. As we partner with God through the Holy Spirit, we learn to walk in a transformed life…
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It was a fun time at City Central this week as we had our first ever Join The Team Sunday! Pastor Chris encouraged us with a message about the joy of giving our lives away through serving the church. God wants to advance the His Kingdom and impact eternity through His people’s time and talents. As we allow God to use us how He sees fit, we experien…
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One of our elders, Darrin Miller, brought the word this week from Romans 6 about the God who overcame the entanglements of sin on our behalf. In Christ, we are no longer controlled by the effects of sin, rather we are free to live by the Spirit. We can now choose to be dead to sin and alive to Christ.…
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This week, we had the privilege of hearing from a mama in our house, Carrie Jones, on the Hesed love of God. Motherhood (and life in general) can feel difficult and overwhelming, filled with great days, but also really hard day. Carrie encouraged us that even on our hardest days, God’s deep, steadfast love covers us and Jesus’ blood bridges the gap…
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This week Pastor Chris and one of our elders, Jarrad Mock, shared the next sermon in our Romans series. Many people have wrestled with questions of salvation- am I saved? How do I know I’m saved? How do I become saved? Romans tells us we can have assurance of salvation by trusting fully in God’s grace, evaluating the fruit of our lives, and yieldin…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series with a message about repentance and Jesus’ power to forgive. It is easy to see how something is deeply broken in the world around us, but often it is more difficult to see or acknowledge the brokenness in our own heart. Just as sin causes chaos in the world, it seeks to destroy our lives and re…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans sermon series with a message about rejoicing in the hope of Jesus. When we lift our head and set our eyes on Jesus, we experience a living hope that carries us is a world marked by hardship and tragedy. In God’s sovereignty, he not only gives us hope in our suffering and hardship but also purpose, usi…
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We had the privilege of hearing from guest preacher Pastor Larry Jones this week as he taught about being justified by faith. We can easily think we have to earn our way to God by our own merit- through good behavior or works. However, we must recognize we can do nothing on our own to reach God and depend fully on Him for our righteousness. Living …
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series teaching on the inspiring faith of Abraham. Chosen from a pagan culture far from God, Abraham became the prototype for how we are saved today- by faith through grace. Thousands of years later we still look at his faith journey to understand how we come the Lord, by faith in Jesus’ death and res…
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This Easter Sunday, Pastor Chris shared powerful message of hope in Jesus. No matter where you are in your walk with the Lord, a newcomer or a regular, this message is for you! While there is overwhelming evidence of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection two thousand years ago, the evidence of His deep, personal love for you is alive today. We place…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series. One of life’s big questions is “how can a person be right before God?” Every major world religion has an answer to this question, but Christianity’s answer is set apart. All other religions require human effort to reach God, but the gospel states we can do nothing to reach God, rather we open …
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This week, we continued in our Romans series, the Power of the Gospel. Pastor Chris taught on the wrath of God, and the difference between living in cheap grace verses biblical grace. When we understand just how bad life outside of Christ is, we deeply appreciate the good news of God’s love and grace. However, it’s possible to live in cheap grace t…
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This week in our Romans series Pastor Chris taught us the difference between authentic and counterfeit Christianity. Genuinely walking with the Lord brings transformation, obedience, and sincerity of heart. God invites us to give Him our whole heart and allow Him to change us.
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This week in our Romans sermon series, Pastor Chris taught us how religion blinds us to our own sin and hardens our heart toward God. God created us to live in a relationship with Him that transforms us from the inside out. However, we sometimes find ourselves living in religion instead- an outward appearance of loving the Lord while inwardly our h…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series with a message about God’s wrath toward sin and His desire for us to repent and choose Him. We can only know the goodness and power of the Gospel when we understand the deep depravity of mankind. This is good news! Jesus died that we could be righteous, and we want to be a people who oppose our…
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Our Young Adult Pastor, Adina Olson, brought a powerful Word from Romans 1 this week about not being ashamed of the gospel. We know the world is becoming more and more lawless, but as biblical Christians we believe in one true God above all other gods and that every knee will bow to Him. This is our hope in a dark world, and we want to unashamedly …
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This week, Pastor Chris started our series in Romans called The Power of the Gospel. The book of Romans is known as one of the most important books for understanding the rest of the Biblical narrative. We unpacked God’s heart for us to be bondservants of Christ, devoted to the Lord because of a deep understanding of His love for us.…
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This week was Life Group Sunday! God has a vision for the church including the corporate gathering of God’s people and a home group reality that is essential to a healthy, thriving Christian walk. Pastor Chris shared the different levels of living in community, and components of a healthy Life Group. Casey Mock, Community Life director, then shared…
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This week, Pastor Chris finished up our Abide series teaching us the power and importance of meditating on the Word of God. We can continue in the lifestyle and heart posture of abiding by remaining in the God’s Word, letting it sink deep into our hearts and keeping it at the forefront our minds. God’s invitation to us is to be planted by streams o…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Abide series teaching on the theology of prayer. Prayer is our primary communication link with God, yet many of people do not understand why we pray or how it moves the God’s heart. The Lord wants to partner with us through prayer to bring about His will on the earth, but He is waiting for us to pray.…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Abide series about finding God in the secret place. Life can be difficult and many people ask, “where is God?” God is longing and waiting to meet with us in the secret place. In His presence, we connection with Him and can experience dynamic change in our lives and our hearts.…
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This week, Pastor Chris started a series called Abide that will guide us through our 2024 all-church fast. Just as our electronics need to be restarted so they function at their best, we too need a restart to refocus and reset our hearts on the Lord. That is the goal of this sermon series and the Abide Fast. Pastor Chris shared the benefits of fast…
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This week, our Legacy Youth Director, Elijah Hippe, shared a word on throwing off passivity as we move into 2024. We are called to go and make disciples, but often passivity keeps us from obeying the Lord. By actively initiating with the Lord and with others, we can be a people who partner with God to bring His Kingdom to Tacoma.…
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This week, Pastor Chris finished our Christmas Peace series teaching about relational peace. The peace of God reaches from the depths of heart and emotions all the way to our relationships with others. The full experience of God’s peace hinges on being in right relationship with the Lord.
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This week, Pastor Chris shared a brief exhortation in our Christmas Peace series. For many people, Christmas brings stress and hurry rather than peace. However, God has shalom (peace) for us through a relationship with Jesus. This is open to all who commit to trust in Him, walk with Him and be changed by Him.…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our sermon series called Christmas Peace. God offers us an authentic, biblical peace available through relationship with Jesus our King. When we come to Jesus, connect with Him and allow Him to change us, we experience a peace the world cannot offer. We can only have true peace in our life when we rest in Jesus’…
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This week, Pastor Chris started our Christmas Peace series. During the Christmas season, most people are looking for peace but instead experience stress and hurry. God offers us a heart-level, lasting peace the world cannot give. Through a relationship with Jesus, we have peace with God, ourselves, and those around us.…
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This week, Pastor Chris continued in our mini-series about how God’s generosity towards us compels us to live generously. It is easy to think we are aligned with God’s heart, but a good look at our willingness to live generously may show we are misaligned. Pastor Chris shared some ways we can see if your generosity is reflecting God’s generosity to…
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