Christ City Church Memphis

Listen to the sermon "Who do you say Jesus Is?" From Ronnie

How do we grow? How do we realize our potential as unique human beings made in the image of God? Listen in as we discuss the path of a learner.

As humans we can’t help but create and we use this impulse with both noble and reckless intention. Jesus saw the material world infused with the blessing and goodness of God to the point that a sparrow does not fall without God's notice and care. Seeing through this divine paradigm means we get to take what God has given us and bless it, form it, shape it, build it, break and share it. Christ created in these ways with the bread and wine, mud on a blind man's eyes, building a community of followers, restoring those who had fallen ill, were possessed or maimed, and with water made wine.

Listen in as we move toward a greater understanding and inspiration of creating lives of purpose! The final part of our mission series.

Without wonder, our faith and life can become inflexible and rigid. At Christ City we are calling one another to a space where we can worship in wonder. This means we may have to address some of the ideas, narratives, and behaviors that crowd out the possibility of wonder in our lives. Jesus winks at this when he says the kingdom of heaven belongs to children and that we will access it only by becoming like them.

What is a child if not a being filled with wonder? Listen in as as we explore part two of the new mission of Christ City.

At Christ City Church, and as followers of Jesus, we are compelled to serve one another and our community. To serve others well we need access to our hearts. Duty and obligation alone will not sustain us. Join us this Sunday as we learn more about the first part of the new mission of Christ City Church - Serve with Heart.

Join us as we continue to explore our vision - A Place to Know God and see how belonging and believing (knowing God) are intricately and intimately connected.

Join us as we talk about the first half of our vision -- belonging.

Join us this Sunday in welcoming guest preacher Rev. Dr. Rosalyn R. Nichols. Roz is the organizing pastor of Freedom’s Chapel Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Memphis, TN. She is a native of Memphis, TN and proud to have graduated with honors from the historic Booker T. Washington High School and LeMoyne Owen College.

Join us this Sunday in welcoming guest preacher Vahisha Hasan. Vahisha is a faith rooted organizer with a passion for well people and well systems. She is currently serving as the Program Director at the Historic Clayborn Temple, where she plans and implements programs that support the artistic, interpretative, and community based expressions of the organization. An ordained reverend, powerful public speaker, and transformative facilitator, she has published 4 books, contributed to published works, and written curriculum for an Applied Psychology Degree Program. She holds a Master’s of Divinity and Master’s of Mental Health Counseling with an Education Specialist Certification from Gardner-Webb University. Vahisha is her best self in community and can be found moving to the end of her own rainbow in the US South.

As we explore the complex and all too familiar family dynamics of Isaac and Rebecca’s family, we reflect on what healthy expectations of God, ourselves and others look like. What does it mean to be blessed? Are you giving you giving up your blessing?

Join us as elder Amanda Wiig shares the story of the meta narrative of the Bible, pulling out specifically redemptive themes and highlighting the role of women and marginalized people.

Humans find it so easy to separate themselves from one another: through sports, politics, theology, tragedy, culture, etc. Some are certainly more welcome than others. But when these lines drawn become barriers to genuine relationship with others and Christ, which will we find ourselves valuing more? Which will we allow to define us? Join us on Sunday as we discuss how Paul sees becoming like Christ and finding Christ in others as the answer.

Who is in God’s family, and on whose behalf should God act? The answers to these questions have the power to build or destroy families and communities (and has!). Spending time with the story of Hagar and the oppression she experiences from Sarah and Abraham can help us to see family, faith, and the provision of God in a more complex, empathetic, and grounded way. Join us as we walk with Hagar in her journey of faith and the ties it has to family. Part three of three of Family Matters.

How do you deal with the ever-present gap between what you hope for in life and reality? Each of our families taught us ways to manage, engage, deny, or denounce our hope. This doesn’t always work out well. Is there a better way? Listen in as we continue exploring how family matters in life and faith. Part two of a three-part series called Family Matters.

Our faith and spirituality is inextricably tied to those we call family. Some of the most difficult, and necessary, times in every family are the seasons when someone leaves to explore who they are and to make their own choices in life. Whether we are the one leaving or letting go, how do we navigate these threshold moments in family life? Listen in to join the discussion.

What does it mean that humans are “made in the image of God?” Many have proposed that this means humans possess consciousness, rational thought, a spirit, among other things. While none of these are necessarily incorrect, do they help us in understanding what Genesis One wants to communicate? Join us this Sunday as we explore how the image of God, as understood in Genesis One, is a descriptor of humanity’s vocation or role within creation, rather than a specific attribute imbued upon humankind, and how this can inform how we live.

Sometimes we lose the capacity to be surprised by what others are capable of and how God might use them. When we find ourselves here we will almost certainly miss out on the Spirit of God’s movement in the world. Listen in as we open up to a curiosity and wonder of how God chooses to work.

What motivates you? Dreaming about the future, and imagining what God will do and how we can partner with the Divine, can inspire us and strengthen us to live with courage, wonder, and purpose in the present. Part of the series Life Goes On.

People in our culture often claim to be spiritual. This is good! We are spiritual beings. Yet our spirituality has a source and knowing that Source is what our faith claims is possible- that the great unknowable one [God] has been made known. How can we engage the infinite mystery of God in our own spiritual lives today? How could doing so make us more whole? Part of the series Life Goes On.

Have you ever noticed that when you expect to find something(or someone) in a particular place you have better chance of finding it/them? In scripture and the breaking of bread is how Jesus is revealed to the disciples who traveled down Emmaus road on the third day after His crucifixion. Join us as we continue to explore how we can do the same. Part of the series Life Goes On.

Have you ever thought- “I don’t really know what to do with the Bible or how to make sense of it?” If you have, this eastertide message is for you. If you think you already know how to use the Bible, this message is for you. Part of the series Life Goes On.

Pain, disappointments, grief and hurt are gifts no one longs for, yet they come. When they leave somehow we become stronger - trusting in what no one else can see and feeling God’s loving arms as they surround us letting us know it’s okay!

Come join us as we explore waiting for this peace that surpasses all our understanding.

Distraught and confused, completely out of equilibrium; looking for something (or someone) that has almost certainly been lost forever -have you ever felt this way? Mary Magdalene, one of the first witnesses to the resurrection, experienced this loss of balance until she was steadied by a familiar voice. Open your ears to hear the kingdom of heaven! The final part in the series- The Kingdom of Heaven is Near You.

Good Friday homily.

Maundy Thursday homily.

As we observe Palm Sunday we contemplate what success looks like in the Kingdom of Heaven. Part Six of the series- The Kingdom of Heaven is Near You.

Why do we suffer? Why do some people have good health (sometimes despite the way they live) while others fight unrelenting sickness or disabilities? These questions have always troubled humanity and religion has grappled with them just as long. Unsurprisingly, Jesus is faced with this problem when he and his disciples encounter a man who was born blind. Jesus’ answer may not satisfy our curiosities but it can help us to see through his eyes into the Kingdom of Heaven. Join us for part five of The Kingdom of Heaven is Near You.

Join us as we continue the conversation about sharing our faith and how we can speak of God in a way that feels as natural as breathing, eating or even drinking(water). Part four of series the Kingdom of Heaven is Near You.

When you think of sharing our faith with others do you feel constricted to only a few metaphors and ideas? -a particular type of speech that must be said in a singular way? Can God be found only in these places? Let’s listen in to Jesus’ conversation with a woman at a well known location to gain some insight. Part three of series The Kingdom of Heaven is Near You.

Contrary to what is often said, most of us see the world the same way, it’s how we interrupt what we see that greatly varies. Sometimes our interpretation of the world is so wounded and disfigured it needs to be reborn, so we can see the world as an awe-strikingly beautiful place full of a staggering potential for good and evil. This type of vision is what Jesus sometimes calls seeing the kingdom of heaven. Receive the gift of new sight!

Have you ever tried to take control of something thinking it would be better if you were in charge? In a moment of desperate weakness Jesus was tempted to take charge over all the kingdoms of the world. But he rejected it. The gospel of Mathew makes it clear that that type of lust for power is akin to worshiping evil/the devil and courting disaster. Yet as human beings we are made to wield power and to have ambitions. Jesus rejects one kind of power that leads to pain and misery for the many and corrupting greed for the few. He embraces a different power residing in a kingdom of physical, spiritual and justice oriented abundance for all- The kingdom of heaven. It's available for us as well!

As we wrap up our Epiphany series, Robert Grisham will be sharing a story of one day in the life of Jesus.

Whether they are spiritual or secular, laws are meant to create justice and order in our world. If only they worked (better). Join us as we wrestle with Jesus’ stance on the rules of our sacred text and what might help us work it out in a better way. Part 5 of the series Epiphany.

How do you handle change? Do you reject it or embrace it? And what happens when what you thought you knew about God comes crashing down around you? This week, in part four of the series of Epiphany, we'll explore how God actively works patient, loving change in us and through us to bring newness of life to everyone.

In the wake of the murder of Tyre Nichols, we contemplate the connection between protest and seeking justice. How do we do this as individuals and as Christians, and what does this look like for our congregation in particular?

Have you ever tried not to know something? Because knowing it would mean you had to face a truth you weren’t ready to face(good or bad)? Many epiphanies strike us when something significant is revealed and at the same time we have the feeling we already knew it somehow. What if we lived our lives knowing that we were made to know God and so was everyone else? That this “knowing” lay dormant in every individual we see? Join us as we explore the thing you already know in part three of the series Epiphany.

Have you ever been working hard on something important to you only to watch someone else do it far better and more creatively? How did you react? There is an incredible life lesson available to us in these moments, when we have done all we can do and we are still unable to become what we want to become. All it takes, to attain this understanding, is a willingness to reexamining what the biggest thing about your life could be. Easy right? Part two of the series Epiphany.

What are the moments that create a distinct sense of a “before and after” in your life? How have these moments changed the way you view the world and your relationships? As we begin the series Epiphany we start by reflecting on the revelation of Jesus as the place where heaven and earth comingles as never before. Once recognized, this event, this person, forever changed and changes the perception of what is possible for humans and God and for us today.

Have you given up on love? -the love of relationships filled with meaning and hope? Love that anticipates divine care in the midst of the mundane and ordinary loneliness of life? What if we were in the company of such love and didn’t know it? Join us as we explore love, loneliness and the expectation of divine company in our final sermon of the series Elevating Hospitality.

Have you ever felt the heights of optimism and the depths of despair within a single day? As we wait for God during this advent season, it can be frustrating to acknowledge that our lives are continuously filled with both joy and sadness, beauty and ashes. How we think about this paradox is essential to how we practice hospitality. Join us in part three of the series Elevating Hospitality.

In our second sermon in the series Elevating hospitality we explore the sometimes difficult idea of preparing a place in our world for the activity of God and how repentance plays a critical role in the process.

Hospitality is one of the most essential needs. It has the potential to deepen existing relationships and create the space for new ones to flourishing. The prophets dreamed of a day that God would make a home with God's own people and, in turn, that all people would benefit from God's divine and universal hospitality. Join us as we ponder the importance of hospitality in our faith. This is a four part series called Elevating Hospitality. 

God’s ultimate goal for humanity is redemption and rescue, and his means for doing that was Jesus’ death on the Cross. Join us this Sunday as we seek to unpack all that this means as Robert Grisham teaches.

Join us as we explore the value of hard work, the distinction between idleness and rest, and how our faith can help us find the equilibrium we all so desperately need.

As we acknowledge all saints day this Sunday we take time to engage some of life’s most eminent questions. What happens when we die? If there is an afterlife, what will it be like? Do we have a connection to those who have died? Join us as we contemplate what it means to know the Divine as the God of the living.

What does it mean to be reconciled to God? Is it believing the right doctrine or following the right teacher? Maybe it’s simply having a personal relationship with Jesus? What if reconciliation with God actually has just as much to do with with our relationship with God as it does our relationship with others? Join us this Sunday as we explore these questions.

What if generational poverty didn’t exist? What if each family had their own property? What if the deck was stacked, every seven years and every fiftieth year, toward the most vulnerable- debts being forgiven, priceless family land restored? How would our world look different today? In the book of Leviticus, which is mainly concerned with holiness and purity laws, stands a chapter where these magnanimous and holy statutes are given. The year in which these things take place is called the year of Jubilee! A time of celebration where burdens are removed and the vulnerable are made secure. What would happen if we believed it was possible? Listen in as we continue to discuss the divinity of debt forgiveness! The final installment in the series Possession(s).

The concept of owing someone something seems to be an inescapable aspect of human interaction. It’s something we don’t often question unless we are the ones that need to be forgiven. What kind of world would we have if every debt had a shelf life and everyone, not just those “too big to fail”, had a chance to start fresh-financially. This is the world that the prophets of ancient Israel put forth to the people of God. What will we do with these ideas today? Listen in and discover more. Part five of the series Possession(s).

How do we respond to the demands and opportunities within the complex web of social and economic relationships we call society? How do we live when resources, jobs, and opportunities seem to be at our finger tips or, inversely, far out of reach? What would it look like if we began to view our money and resources, not only autonomously, but as part of a greater economic, interdependent ecosystem? Join us as we dive deep into the state of welfare in our city, and in ourselves, in the fourth installment of the series Possession(s).

What does it look like to be mastered by money, and in contrast, to learn to master money? Join us this Sunday as Robert Grisham preaches part three of the series Possession(s).