2020

|giv| 2020

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For most of the Bible, God’s people were seen as an exiled people. Life was far from how they imagined or hoped, as they were constantly reminded of the brokenness and sin around them. And yet, amidst their exile, God reminded them that good news was on the way.

This year has been far from how anyone of us would have imagined or hoped either. We’re reminded in the headlines and in our daily lives that we are still a people in exile. So during this Christmas season, we want to once again remember that good news has come through Jesus, and one day He is coming back.

So every year, we take 3-4 weeks to intentionally focus on our hope in Jesus through growing in generosity. We take this time to think about how God has given us undeserved grace while we were still sinners and continues to grow us as his people.

Here you

Listen to sermons & download LifeGroup resources.

Week 1: Jesus, God With Us - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Transcript)

Week 2: Jesus, Our Shepherd King - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Transcript)

Week 3: Jesus, Our Comforter - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Transcript)

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1. Sign up to Tithe

We consider tithing a spiritual practice that helps develop a lifestyle of sacrificial generosity. We are encouraging members of our church to set up a recurring tithe because the gospel transforms us not just to be generous around the holidays, but throughout the entire year. It’s also specifically how we fund and fuel all that we do as a church in our city.


2. Attend the Personal Finance Class

We want to equip our church family to be spiritually healthy by stewarding the financial resources that God has entrusted to us. On Sunday, January 24, January 31, and February 7, we’re hosting a class that consists of practical training to manage your finances, pay off debt, invest well, and practice biblical generosity. The class will be hosted virtually from 2:00-3:30pm.


3. LifeGroups partner with a Serve the City Organization

Due to the pandemic we’re postponing our annual Serve the City Weekend to a later date; however, we want every LifeGroup to select a Serve the City organization to partner with over the next year to serve. Through LifeGroups regularly serving alongside our STC organizations year-round, we’re able to sustainably love and serve the most vulnerable and marginalized in our city.


4. Give to Agape Children's Ministry

Give to Agape Children’s Ministry - Agape Children's Ministry is an orphan reunification ministry that seeks to reunite street children in Kenya with their biological families when possible through family rehabilitation. The executive director of Agape is the father of a Missionary Member at Lexington, and their efforts in Kenya have been very successful in a much-needed and often-neglected area of orphan care. Their ministry serves approximately 1500 families and they are seeking to establish a new arm of their ministry in the city of Nakuru. We are seeking to raise $20,000 for Agape, and those funds will serve approximately 56 additional children from rescue to reintegration (including follow up care for 5 years).

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To help us prepare our hearts for the Christmas season, we wrote a brand new five-week-long Advent devotional guide for you and your LifeGroup to work through during this season. Iif you haven’t received a hard copy yet, you can pick up a copy at any of our on-campus events. The guides are first come first serve and the suggested donation is $6 per copy.

The Way of Jesus: A Study of the Sermon on the Mount

We are studying the principles of 1 Timothy as we learn how we should live as the church and spread the gospel in Columbia, SC and Charlotte, NC.

SERMONS | PRACTICES | READING PLAN | COMMENTARIES

The gospel according to Matthew was one of the earliest accounts of Jesus’ life that circulated among the church. These early believers were first called, “Followers of the Way”. They weren’t marked by merely believing in a few theological truths, rather they were marked by being with Him, becoming like Him, and doing what He did. 

For this series, we’ll focus on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7. It’s here King Jesus gives us a radical picture of what life in the Kingdom looks like. It’s our hope that as we meditate on Jesus’ words that we might more closely follow His Way.

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To help you worship at home, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: The Kingdom of Jesus

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: The Beatitudes

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Salt and Light

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Jesus and the Bible

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: From Murderers to Reconcilers

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: On Lust & Objectification

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: On Integrity and Becoming Truth-Tellers

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 8: On Retaliation and Becoming People of Peace

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 9: On Enemy Love

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 10: The Right Kind of Notice

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 11: The Practice of Prayer

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 12: The Age of Anxiety - Pt.1

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 13: The Age of Anxiety - Pt.2

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 14: Dogs, Pigs, Specks, and Planks

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 15: A Call to Decide

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

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For this series, we want to focus on a particular tool to help us learn to follow Jesus more closely. It’s our hope that as we do new teaching series, we would be introduced to new practices that help us learn to be with Jesus and look more like Him.

In order for us to meditate more fully on Jesus’ words - our practice for this series will be journaling.

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As God’s people, we want to be guided by His Word and empowered by His Spirit to fuel us to be a Jesus-centered family on mission. This reading plan is designed to ground you in God’s Word to better prepare your heart for the teaching you’ll hear on Sundays.

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The commentaries below are some of the resources used in preparation for our series. For those wanting a more in-depth study of the text, we’d recommend the following to you.

Greetings From 2020

Volatile issues consume our newsfeeds, but we need to approach these issues biblically. As a church family, we want to fix our eyes on Jesus, and become a people of peace, hope, and love as we follow Jesus.

A worldwide pandemic. Protests all-over our country in a cry for justice. Months on end with stay-at-home orders. A presidential election just around the corner.

Occasionally, things happen in our world that are so turbulent and so divisive, that as a church, we feel it helpful to step in and address those issues head-on.

In this series, we will look at some of the volatile issues consuming our newsfeeds, and equip ourselves to think about these issues biblically. We hope that as a church family, rather than getting swept up in the chaos, we would fix our eyes on Jesus and become a people of peace, hope, and love as we follow Jesus together.

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To help you worship at home, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: Hardship & Glory

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Following Jesus in a Polarizing Political Climate

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Following Jesus in the Midst of Injustice

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Following Jesus in a Cancel Culture

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Following Jesus in Pain & Chaos

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

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For this series, we want to focus on a particular tool to help us learn to follow Jesus more closely. It’s our hope that as we do new teaching series, we would introduce to you new tools and practices to help us learn to be with Jesus and look more like Him.

Considering how chaotic things are right now - we can easily get anxious or numb ourselves to the world around us - so our practice for this series will be breath prayer.

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As God’s people, we want to be guided by His Word and empowered by His Spirit to fuel us to be a Jesus-centered family on mission. This reading plan is designed to ground you in God’s Word to better prepare your heart for the teaching you’ll hear on Sundays.

1 Timothy

We are studying the principles of 1 Timothy as we learn how we should live as the church and spread the gospel in Columbia, SC and Charlotte, NC.

Jesus’ kingdom-sized vision is to go and make disciples - to teach others how to follow the way of Jesus in teaching and practice. As disciples are made and gathered together, the Church is formed. And that’s exactly what His followers did. Through making disciples and planting churches, the kingdom of God has been on the move for millennia and shows no signs of stopping. In the book of 1 Timothy, we zoom in on one of Jesus’ disciples equipping a new pastor on what the church is called to be and how to lead accordingly. In this series, we’ll take 12 weeks unpacking what is the church as we seek to be the called out people of God together.

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To help you worship at home, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: Defend the Truth (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide) (Podcast)

Week 2: The Gospel vs. The Law (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Prayer and the Church (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Men, Women, and the Church (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Teaching, Authority, and the Church (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: Leadership and the Church (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: Some Will Fall Away (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 8: Guard Your Life and Doctrine (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 9: Care for the Widows (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 10: Godly Elders and Spiritual Authority (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 11: Warnings to the Rich (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 12: Fight the Good Fight (Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

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As a church, we want to be people marked by God’s Word. For only in His Word do we find the death-defying, hope-giving good news of Jesus. In His Word, we see an invitation to a way of life that is overflowing with joy, peace, and love not only in the life to come but in the here and now.

Because of this, we want to put every effort into making us into Word-marked people. We do this by preaching the Bible on Sundays, bringing it into our lives throughout the week in our LifeGroups, and creating resources to help you abide with Jesus regularly.  

One of those resources is this 1 Timothy Bible Study Reading Plan. In this e-book, you’ll find the book broken down into smaller passages to help you slowly take in what we’re going through on Sundays. Along with that, we’ll be studying other passages in the Bible that connect with the bigger ideas in 1 Timothy throughout the week.

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We want to see God’s Spirit move, to push back spiritual darkness, and bring His Kingdom here in Columbia. In the Bible and in church history, we see the Spirit of God unleashed when God’s people wage war on their knees in prayer. To that end, as long as we physically can’t gather together, we’ll be gathering virtually to pray for our church, our city, and our world. We’ll pray Wednesdays at 8am for 30 minutes through the video conferencing platform Zoom.

These calls will be facilitated by Midtown leadership or prayer team members and will last for up to 30 minutes. To take part in this make sure to sign up below no later than 24 hours before the Zoom call that week. Once signed up, you will receive a link Tuesday evening to our call the next morning.  

In the meantime as we prepare our hearts to pray together, we invite you to do three things

1 - Get equipped. To help us see the power of regular intercessory prayer in our lives and the life of our church, read the article “Kingdom-centered Prayer” by Tim Keller.

2 - Abide. The more we are personally with Jesus through regular Bible reading and prayer, the more we can serve our family in prayer. If you don’t have regular time in the Bible or don’t know where to start, follow along in our 1 Timothy Bible Study Plan or go to our Abide page.

3 - Consider fasting. When we fast we are more empowered by God’s Spirit and our love for others increases (Luke 4:1, 14, Isaiah 58:6, John 4:34, Matt 4:4). So before coming together to pray, we ask you to consider what you might give up to get more of God. Examples can include forgoing food, alcohol, TV or anything else that “grips your soul” for 24 hours before meeting. To learn more about fasting, listen to our sermon, “Fighting with Fasting.”

If you have any questions, contact Jake Blair.

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“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people” - 1 Timothy 2:1

When followers of Jesus pray for God’s kingdom to come, the Spirit answers. So as a church family, we will be praying in specific ways for each day of the week, as we ask Jesus to work in and through this series:

Monday

Pray for our church to be a “pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Pray that we would defend and cling to right doctrine which would lead to right hearts that produce in us right love for God and for others. 

Tuesday

Pray for needs within our church right now - those in your LifeGroup or others - who are struggling. Pray that they would draw near to God in this season. 

Wednesday 

Pray for our church family to fight for spiritual health and maturity. Pray that we would all “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching” (1 Tim 4:16) and “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim 6:12).

Thursday

Pray for the leadership in our church - for the elders/pastors, coaches, LifeGroup leaders, directors and others who serve in various ministries. Pray that they would draw near to God and that he would sustain them with wisdom and joy as they lead.

Friday 

Pray for Citizens Church Charlotte. For all of the logistical details - jobs, housing, etc. For them to experience unity as a new church plant. Pray that the core team members would grow in their walks with the Lord and that people in Charlotte would come to know and love Jesus through Citizens Church.

Saturday

Pray for tomorrow’s Gathering - that whether we are together or apart, we would experience unity as a church family. Pray that we would be engaged with worship and the teaching of God’s Word. Pray that God would speak to us through conviction or encouragement.

Sunday

Pray for you and our church family to Sabbath well today. Pray that we take the time to stop our work, get physical rest, delight in God’s good gifts, and worship Jesus together.

As a church, we’re committed to providing you with helpful resources to better understand who Jesus is and how to live in light of that. The following titles were used for our current series. For more recommendations go to our Bookstore.

Church In A Plague

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If you take a quick scroll through Twitter or turn on the news for all of two minutes during this time, you might hear something like the phrase, “This is an unprecedented time in human history.” And in many ways what’s going on right now in our city, our country, and our world does feel that way. None of us have faced a global pandemic like this in our lifetime. Many of us are still trying to adjust to new normals and others of us are still trying to figure out what to think at all.

The reality is that we are not alone. During these and many other times throughout human history, the Church was faced with a decision that we as Christians face every day - How do we love God and love our neighbor in the place, time, and circumstance where we find ourselves? In light of the coronavirus, we continue to ask this question and see how we can still be the Church in a Plague.

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Week 1: Churches & Plagues (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 2: God’s People In A Pandemic (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 3: You Are A Mist (Sermon) (Worship Guide)


Lent: Fighting the World, the Flesh, and the Devil

Traditionally, the season of Lent is a time for followers of Jesus to press into specific teachings and practices as we look ahead to Jesus’ death and resurrection. As a church family during this season, we’ll be focusing on teachings relating to th…

Traditionally, the season of Lent is a time for followers of Jesus to press into specific teachings and practices as we look ahead to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

As a church family during this season, we’ll be focusing on teachings relating to the three enemies that wage war on our soul - the world, the flesh, and the devil. During this series we'll learn how to fight together as a church family and see the victory that Jesus has made available to us.

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To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: Fighting With Fasting (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: The Three Enemies (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: The Devil (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: The Flesh (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kid's’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: The World (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: Fighting With Prayer (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

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Why I'm a Christian

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The Christian faith is not a blind faith, but a rational faith that transforms what we believe about ourselves and the world around us. For this series, we’ll look at the evidence for the Christian faith to equip us as a church to be on mission.

During the Why I'm a Christian series, we want to know the concepts and ideas you that you wrestle with the most. If you have a question, text "DOWNTOWN" followed by your question to 91011. On the final week of this series, we'll choose a few of the texts we've received to discuss and answer. We hope that through this Q&A time, we'll provide further insight and substance to our faith in Jesus Christ.

For this series we’ve created a website full of helpful books, videos and articles. Check them out at whyimachristian.com

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To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: God (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Jesus (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: The Bible (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Doubting Your Doubts (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kid's’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Q & A (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Following Jesus Together

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Sermon by Jake Blair on January 12, 2020.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus talks about the abundant life. This life radiates with love, joy, and peace with one goal in mind - to be with Him and look like Him.

This is the abundant life Jesus invites us into and makes available to us now.

FollowingJesusTogether.com