Rise City Church Sermon Podcast

What if Jesus isn't only calling you to life—but calling you to let go of everything that keeps you from living it?

In one of the most moving moments in the Gospels, Jesus weeps beside the tomb of Lazarus before demonstrating His power over death itself. He enters humanity's deepest pain, then does what no one else can do: He speaks life where death seemed permanent.

John 11 reveals a Savior who is both powerful enough to conquer the grave and compassionate enough to stand beside us in our sorrow. Through His own death and resurrection, Jesus makes new life possible for everyone who believes. But He also calls us to leave our grave clothes behind and walk in the freedom He purchased for us.

The voice that called Lazarus out of the tomb is still calling people by name. The question is: will we step into the life only Jesus can give?

What if the life you've been searching for isn't found by following yourself—but by following a Shepherd?

In John 10, Jesus makes one of His most beloved declarations: "I am the Good Shepherd." While the religious leaders used their authority to exploit God's people, Jesus reveals Himself as the Shepherd who leads, protects, and willingly lays down His life for His sheep. He doesn't simply point the way to life—He is the source of it.

The problem is that Scripture says we're all like sheep. We wander. We chase things that leave us empty. We return to the same destructive patterns over and over, convinced we know what's best for our lives.

But the Good Shepherd never stops pursuing His sheep. He calls us by name, gives His life to rescue us, and invites us into the abundant life that can only be found in Him.

What if the greatest darkness in our lives isn’t around us—but within us?

In John 9, Jesus encounters a man blind from birth. While the disciples look for someone to blame and the Pharisees defend their traditions, Jesus does what only He can do: He opens the man’s eyes. Yet the deeper miracle unfolds as the man gradually recognizes Jesus—not merely as a healer, but as Lord.

John 8–9 reveals that humanity’s greatest problem is spiritual blindness. We don’t simply need better behavior, stronger opinions, or more religious knowledge. We need the Light of the World to help us see.

At the cross, darkness appeared to overcome the Light. Three days later, Jesus walked out of the grave. Sin did not win. Death did not have the final word.

Jesus still opens blind eyes—and those who see Him clearly can’t help but worship.

We’re all hungry for something—for love, purpose, significance, peace, or acceptance. We spend our lives trying to satisfy those longings with things that never seem to last. In John 6, Jesus meets a crowd searching for another miracle and reveals that their greatest need isn’t more bread—it’s Him.

In the first of His great “I Am” statements, Jesus declares, “I am the Bread of Life.” He doesn’t offer another self-improvement strategy or a better way to live. He offers Himself as the only One who can satisfy our souls, reconcile us to God, and give us the life we’ve been searching for all along.

Stop settling for what fills you for a moment. Come to the One who satisfies forever.

The world says people never change. Jesus says watch what My grace can do.

In a culture that writes people off because of their failures, their reputation, or their past, Scripture introduces us to Saul—a man everyone feared and no one expected God to use. Yet Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and transformed the church’s greatest persecutor into one of its greatest proclaimers.

Acts 9 reminds us that grace isn’t earned—it pursues. Jesus still knows our names, still rewrites our stories, and still calls ordinary people to join Him in His work of redemption. Every baptism declared the same truth: no life is too broken for the transforming power of Christ.

God isn’t finished writing your story.

The world says masculinity is toxic. God says men are called.

In a culture that wants men passive, distracted, and compromised, Scripture issues a different command: Be watchful. Stand firm. Act like men. Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

This Father’s Day, we’ll look at the high calling God places on men in 1 Corinthians 16—to guard what matters, stand firm when the pressure comes, take responsibility for the people entrusted to them, and love with the sacrificial strength of Jesus.

The enemy is real. The stakes are high. Your family needs you awake at your post.

Most of us spend our lives trying to hold everything together. We carry the pressure to succeed, provide, lead, and figure it all out. Yet beneath all that effort is a deeper reality: we were never created to live independently from God. From the beginning, humanity was designed to thrive in His presence, not apart from it.

Tune in as we discover how Jesus restores what self-sufficiency has stolen. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are invited into a life of daily dependence, deeper intimacy, and greater purpose. As we learn to pray, listen, and respond to God’s leading, we’ll find that the strongest people in God’s Kingdom aren’t the most capable—they’re the most available.

The greatest evidence that Christ is changing us is not what we know, but who we are becoming. Paul calls the church to put on the clothing of Christ: compassion for the hurting, kindness without harshness, humility that values others, gentleness that uses strength to serve, and patience that bears with imperfect people. These qualities are not optional extras—they are the visible marks of a community shaped by the gospel.

As believers learn to forgive as they have been forgiven, allow Christ’s peace to settle disputes, and let God’s Word make itself at home in every area of life, the church becomes a powerful witness to the world. We become a storefront of the kingdom, displaying the beauty, goodness, and grace of Jesus to everyone who walks through our doors.

Every life leaves something behind. The question isn’t whether we’ll shape the next generation—it’s what we’ll shape them toward. In a world competing for the hearts, minds, and identity of our kids, it’s easy to focus on our own race and forget the baton in our hand. But the Kingdom of God has always advanced through generations of ordinary people who chose to pass faith forward.

Jesus is still building His Church, and He invites us to join Him in raising up the next generation of disciples, leaders, and world changers. Tune in as we explore why the Christian life is a relay race, what it means to intentionally form faith in our homes and church, and how our ceiling can become their floor. Together we’ll discover how a legacy rooted in Jesus can echo far beyond our lifetime.

Once your soul tastes Heaven, Earth will never fully satisfy again. In Colossians 3, believers are called to “set your hearts on things above” because Jesus is coming again in glory, and that future reality changes how we live right now.

Jesus came giving humanity a taste of the world as God intended it to be. Every miracle was Heaven leaking into Earth. Every healing was Christ declaring war against the curse. And because we belong to that coming Kingdom, Paul says sin should begin tasting bitter to us. The old self no longer fits who we are becoming. This message is about learning to put the old life to death, fixing our hearts on Jesus, and becoming people who carry the culture of Heaven into a broken world.