City Church Garland

The 10 Commandments are still relevant to us today. Through them we get an understanding of what sin is, of the holiness of God, the values of God and how we are to love God & others. Listen to this sermon and hear Kevin Diaz preach about the importance & relevance of the 10 Commandments and God's heart behind giving those commands to His people.

In this teaching Kevin Diaz expounds on the some of the details of the tabernacle in the 2nd half of the book of Exodus. God wanted to dwell with His people but how could a holy God dwell among a sinful people? God made provision for that to occur through the tabernacle but there was still something greater that the tabernacle & the sacrificial system pointed to, namely Christ. As Kevin metioned in this teaching, Christ is the fulfillment of the sacrifcial system that God set up with the Israelites. Christ the sinless lamb of God has been sacrificed for our sins so that we can now appoach God with confidence into the holiest place of His presence.

From Psalm 103, we know that our God is merciful and just, and we see this character displayed throughout the pages of Scripture. Listen as Pastor Keith preaches from Exodus 1-4, which shows God's just and merciful character, and learn from these chapters how God desires that we display his character within each of our communities.

God's great story of redemption is powerful. Listen as Pastor Keith walks through the Exodus narrative and tells the story of God rescuing His people Israel out of Egypt with His mighty hand from the opression of Pharaoh.

God cares for and intervenes in the lives of His people to fulfill His plans regardless of the adversity or injustice they may experince. In Jospeh's life we see the beautiful relationship between divine providence and human responsibilty. Joseph lived with integrity, faithfulness and forgiveness towards those who harmed him, while he waited for God to bring about good and fulfill the dream that He placed in Joseph's heart.

God is faithful to His promises and worthy of our trust. The life of Abraham illustrates the faitfulness of God and exemplifies one who who trusted God to fulfill His promises. God worked through Abrham's faith but God also worked to bring about His plan and fulfill His promises regardless of Abraham's failure.

God invites His people to meet with Him every day in prayer. Jesus modeled for us what it looks like not only to value meeting with His Heavenly Father in prayer but also to prioritize it. In this sermon on Mark chapter 1 Pastor Mike shares on the importance of rising early to seek God in prayer like Jesus did.

The book of Genesis answers the big questions of how mankind got here and why on earth we are here. It teaches that God is the Creator of all creation and the author of all human life. He has beautifully desinged humanity in His likeness with purpose and value. God the Creator designed mankind to reflection His image, reporduce His image, be responsible and relational beings, and get rest. In this sermon Pastor Keith Dollar explains each of these aspects of God's beautiful design for humanity.

God the Father gave the ultimate gift ever given, namely His Son Jesus Christ (John 3:16). And the appropriate response to that great gift is to recieve Him & joyfully worship. In Luke chaper 1 Mary the mother of Jesus modeled this appropraite response with a hymn of praise known as the Magnifact. In it she magnified who God is & the great things He has done.

Everyone's heart longs for peace, especially in times of trouble. The world offers its own solution for peace through selfish actions like the accumulation of material goods or the possession of power. But what is God's solution for peace? God has provided each and every person who has trusted in His Son Jesus Christ with His gift of peace. If this is true, then why are so many Christians filled with such anxiety and worry? Listen as Pastor Mike teaches us about the peace of Christ provided for all Christians and how we are able to live in that peace, even in troubled times.

For many, the Christmas Season is a time of pain and despair as the brokenness of their lives is magnified when contrasted with the happiness of others that seems to surround them. As people of God, let's consider how can we respond to this need in the lives of others this Christmas season. Listen in as Pastor Keith explains to us from Luke 2 and Romans 15 how we can be people of live with hope as we we prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord Jesus.

Jesus modeled the perfect prayer life by which His followers were not only inspired by His unhindred communion with God by they also experinced the benefits of His intercession. Jesus prayed that His followers would be kept from the evil one, that they would be sanctified by truth and that they would be unified. This prayer not only included the disciples who were with Christ physically while he was on earth but Jesus also included those who would believe in His prayer recorded in John 17. This includes those of us who are Christ follwers in the 21st century. May you be encouraged by the truth that Christ has prayed for you and is at this very moment interceding on your behalf.

In Matthew 6, the Lord instructed His disciples how to pray as citizens of God's Kingdom. The Lord's instructions to His disciples then is relevent and authoritative for us today. In this sermon, Pastor Keith teaches us how we can lead effective and in depth prayer lives according to the instructions of the Master Himself from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus taught His followers to pray to the Father in sincerity, in solitude and with simplicity.

Jesus teaches in Luke 11 and 18 that prayer is vital to the Christian life. Prayer is God's mean of us communing with Him and is how we seek after Him. If it is so important, then why is it that we neglect this component of our walk with God? Listen as Pastor Keith explains to us from Luke 11 and 18 the importance of prayer and why we are to pray.

We are in a spiritual war. We are confident in our ultimate victory because of Christ's victory on the cross. But how do we live our present lives in this daily battle? In Ephesians 6, Paul teaches us about our spiritual armor and how God has equipped us to stand firm against Satan and his demons as well as to prevail so that God's Kingdom is advanced in this hostile world.

The Christian marriage symbolizes the union of Christ with His church. Within the Christian marriage husbands are to love their wives self-sacrificially and wives are to submit to the headship of their husbands. These two roles can be compared to a dance, which takes work, but is beautiful and thrilling when done with care. Also, families and workplaces are to reflect the grace of the gospel and to be orchastrated in such a way that Christ reigns as head over all.

As beloved children, God calls us to imitate him in how we live our lives. When we choose to imitate our heavenly Father, we maximize our joy and God's glory in our lives. In this passage God calls us to imitate him by walking in love, light, and wisdom. Thankfully our walk is not in our strength, but in the strength of the Holy Spirit.

Christ followers are new creations, so they are to live like Christ by renewing theirs minds and decisively put off the old self and put on the new self. Holiness does develop in the life of a Christian by them spiritually coasting along in life rather they must intentionally pursure holiness with the enablement of the Holy Spirit. Christians possess the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, and thus the fruit of His dwelling within them will become more and more evident by the fruit of holiness brought forth in their lives.

God has a purpose and plan that He is working out in history through His Church (3:1-13) & Paul's prayer is for that purpose and plan to come to fruition in the life of the Ephesian church (3:14-21).

The gospel of Jesus Christ tears down walls that separate mankind from God and from one another and it brings reconciliation and peace in place of hostility.