What are you known for? When people think of you, what are the first thoughts that come to mind? What do people think of when they think of our church? We are taking a look at how the body of Christ can be known by love over the next several weeks at Center City Church. The series is based around John 13:34-35: "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”Click the link below to view last week's message: Love is Vocal [vimeo...

The story of Abram & Sarai in Genesis 11 is set up by a small statement in the middle of a particularly unfascinating description of a family lineage. But tucked away is a statement about one of the most prominent couples in Scripture: Abram & Sarai.This is what the Word says about Sarai: But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children. (Genesis 11:30 NLT)I haven't gotten to this part of the story yet in my one year Bible reading plan, but I will go ahead and spoil it for you: Sarai not only ended up having a child, but she literally became the mother of an entire nation....

One of the most intriguing & obscure Scriptures is found in Genesis 7 as the story of Noah is told. In short, God gave Noah an incredibly odd directive: build an enormous boat in the middle of the desert, because he was about to send a flood to cover the earth. God trusted that Noah would obey, even if it didn't make sense. The story continues on and we find Noah completing this task in the face of sure ridicule and long days of incredibly difficult work. He loads his family on the boat, two animals of every kind and them the rains came immediately rushing down from the heavens. This is...

As 2011 is coming to a close, I want to give everyone an opportunity to consider an end of year donation to Center City Church. We are moving into 2012 with an incredible anticipation for all that God has in store for us. Just this past week, we had a businessman in our community that I have recently met send along a $5,000 check. He said, "I have never been to your church, but if what I see happening in the community is half as good as what is happening inside your church, this is a great investment." That was followed by another gift of $5,000 from another man in our community that said,...

My oldest son, Max, was in the room the other day when I was telling the story of getting a $1,000 donation from an out-of-state friend toward Ebenezers Coffeehouse. The next day, I was reading the Bible with him and we started talking about generosity. Max has seen firsthand the way that God has provided for our family and he is so sensitive to God's voice (even at the ripe old age of eight years old). A few moments later, Max came into the dining room with a jar full of money. He said, "Dad, I want to be generous. I have $6.02 that I want to give to help bring Ebenezers to Charlotte." I...

Every Godly dream has a death before it fully comes to life. Jesus taught us this principle in John 12 as he teaches about seeds that must fall to the ground and die. The idea being communicated is simple: every seed has a hard outer shell. When a seed is planted in the ground, that outer shell "dies" as it begins to decay over time. When that outer shell is gone, the true life of that seed is released into the ground and comes to "life." Dara and I have been dreaming of opening Ebenezers Coffeehouse (a non-profit coffeehouse & multiple use venue in Uptown) for over five years. We were...

I want to personally invite anyone from the blogosphere to join us at 7pm tonight for Christmas in the City - a one hour candlelight Christmas service. We will be meeting at a beautiful, 100 year old church in the heart of Uptown Charlotte called Grace on Brevard. The venue is located between 3rd Street & 4th Street along Brevard Street (near the Time Warner Cable Arena). I would love for you to join us as we celebrate this Christmas and enjoy our final gathering of 2011 together! This is a perfect opportunity to bring a friend to hear the message of Jesus and share a memorable evening...

Check out this article on Charlotte Family Housing. We are privileged to partner with their aim to end family homelessness in our city. This has been one of the most eye-opening experiences in my life. CFH is holistically helping families break the cycle of poverty. Absolutely love and respect the people that are doing this great work. Click the link to read more about their new shelter that just opened at a local church in our community. http://ow.ly/86HvP

This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen, and a beautiful representation of the life and love that comes from the heart of someone that loves Jesus with all their heart. Our dear friend, Lauren, decided to do "28 nice things" for her 28th birthday. Instead of getting presents from her friends, she asked her friends to partner with her to love and serve our community in 28 different ways. So cool. Click the link to see for yourself. So inspiring.

I believe in the unlimited power of God. I believe that Jesus saved me, set me free and changed my life. I believe that Jesus loves you, no matter what you have done or where you have been. I believe that there is no sin to great to make us unworthy of God's love or forgiveness. I believe that our love for Jesus is the most important relationship we could ever cultivate. I believe that time spent with Jesus, just sitting in stillness, silence and quiet is the most important break we can take in our crazy lives. I believe that spending time with Jesus alone should lead us to love and serve...