Worshipping God is more than the 20-minute block of singing on a Sunday morning. Rather, we worship God with all that we are. This is what Christ believers will do for eternity. How we spend the time we are given is an act of worship. Pastor Scott goes through some practical guidelines for how everything we do in a day can be shaped to glorify God.
Standalone Sermons: Reflections from Israel
Pastor Scott returns from his recent trip to Israel! Listen to the prayers he wrote while in the gospel story’s landscape, along with reflections on what it means to be “a city on a hill,” and what mission and prayer in the holy land can say about God’s mission in Rhode Island.
Great Commandments: Love One Another
John 13:34
About a hundred times in the Bible, Christians are called to love “one another,” which refers to serving fellow Christian believers. John Michaelson unpacks six aspects of loving one another that we can apply in our life today: how to be present in the community, show hospitality, tend well to relationships, meet practical needs, use our gifts to serve the church, and how to disciple one another.
Great Commandments: Love Your Neighbor
Leviticus 19: 13 - 18; Mark 12: 28 - 31
“Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Our neighbor could be the person who lives next to us, or it could be anyone: refugees in our state, college students, Muslim believers, and all the favorite and not-so-favorite people in between. To what degree do we love? God has called us to love our neighbors as much as we ultimately look after ourselves, if not more. Neighbors we meet cannot only be those who are like-minded or cross our paths in the routines we establish, but we may need to go out of our way, change habits, and seek opportunities to serve people and display God’s goodness. Pastor Scott gives some practical ideas for how we might love people in our actual neighborhood, people in existing spaces that we visit, and people in spaces we create.
Great Commandments: Love God
The great and first commandment, Jesus said in Matthew 22:37, is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” What does it look like to love God with all our hearts in everyday life? In this message Pastor Scott walks through ten principles, such as faithfulness and quality time, that will help us shape our lives toward pleasing God.
Advent 2022: Love
“Jesus loves you” is a truth that many churched people would find overfamiliar, but what if one really took time to ponder the vastness of God’s love? In this message Pastor Scott processes with us the impact of what Jesus did on earth for us out of love, and when we truly understand the gospel and respond to God, we’ll find that His love can satisfy the deepest part of our hearts.
Advent 2022: Peace
Ephesians 2:11 - 22
In the midst of Christmas kitsch, high-volume holiday ads, and impatient shoppers, the peace of Christ cuts through the noise. Advent is the time where we celebrate Jesus and anticipate his arrival. The first time Jesus came, he created a way for us to be reconciled to God and be reconciled to people who are different from us. The next time Jesus physically comes, we will see peace fully restored through the earth. Ren’s CityLove Director, Katherine Gosnell, gives a message that studies Ephesians 2:11 - 22 to explore in depth how peace comes with Christ.
Advent 2022: Hope
One element of the human life that is difficult to talk about is the fear of death. People may avoid the subject, use humor to deflect, or will hold onto vague sentiments about the afterlife, but death is a certainty in our future. Where do we hope beyond that? The good news is that Christ came to this world to give us a hope that solves the problem of our fear of death. Pastor Scott in this message shares how Christian hope is built on Christ himself who conquered death, and how His Spirit marks us for eternal life, giving us assurance.
Acts: Glorifying God within Culture
In Acts 17, Paul and Silas continue their missionary journey through Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens: cities where Paul introduces Jesus to Greeks through philosophical presentation. What motivates Paul to reason with people in Athens is the sight of idols filling the city, taking precedence over God. Pastor Scott challenges us to evaluate what our motivation is for sharing the gospel with others. Do we take seriously the things in our culture that offend the glory of God? How often do we tolerate idols in our culture today instead of sharing the gospel to confront these idols?
Standalone Sermons: Living for Jesus
Sean Carew is the founder and director of Providence Rescue Mission, an emergency shelter for the homeless population in Providence. In this message, Sean shares a little about his story and looks at the life of Peter in the Bible, a fisherman who follows Jesus, denies him at one point, and returns to Jesus to end up leading His Church. A life like Peter’s—and Sean’s—shows how Jesus creates all of us for a purpose and God’s goodness, no matter what background we come from.