Restoration Community Church

The Way of Jesus - The Non-Anxious Presence

Pastor Chris Ansell of CityReach Church Swissvale continues our sermon series, "The Way of Jesus: Lessons from the Teacher." In this installment, Jesus performs two healings. Two individuals in the community are desperate for his help. Jairus, an official in the synagogue has a twelve year old daughter who is dying, and an unnamed woman who has been bleeding for twelve years. See how Jesus lovingly responds to both.

Passage: Luke 8:40-56

The Way of Jesus - The Sermon on the Plain

Pastor Chris Ansell of CityReach Church Swissvale continues our sermon series, "The Way of Jesus: Lessons from the Teacher." In this installment, we see the pinnacle of Jesus' ethical teaching in the gospel of Luke. Jesus' teachings are instructional to us, and provides examples of what it looks like to love our neighbor. This is hard teaching, but Jesus promises provision to those who would take up his charge.

Passage: Luke 6:20-49

The Way of Jesus - The Miracle Man

Pastor Chris Ansell of CityReach Church Swissvale continues our sermon series, "The Way of Jesus: Lessons from the Teacher." In this installment, we see one of the early healings of Jesus. What is noteworthy in this encounter, is not the healing itself, but the events surrounding the healing. Pastor Chris helps us see our need for friends who can support us when we struggle, the facades that we put up veiling our sin, and the need to move towards Jesus in faith.

 

Passage: Luke 5:17-26

The Way of Jesus - Jesus and the Kingdom

Pastor Chris Ansell of CityReach Church Swissvale continues our sermon series, "The Way of Jesus: Lessons from the Teacher." In this episode we see Jesus kicking off his ministry by teaching in the synagogue. The Scripture that was chosen for him to read that morning came from Isaiah 61:1-2, and it contained many promises of God which points to the kingdom he is bringing here on earth. Jesus claimed the authority to bring this kingdom and the crowds were incredulous.

 

Passage: Luke 4:14-30

The Way of Jesus - An Exercise in Hope

Pastor Chris Ansell of CityReach Church Swissvale continues our sermon series, "The Way of Jesus: Lessons from the Teacher." In this episode, we look at the baby Jesus being presented at the temple. In that setting, there is a particular exchange with Simeon, an older man who God made a promise to. As Simeon finally saw the fulfillment of the promise in Jesus, we also are encouraged to have hope that God will follow through on his promises.

Passage: Luke 2:22-38

The Way of Jesus - Remedy to a Post-Christian Culture

Pastor Chris Ansell of CityReach Church Swissvale begins our new sermon series, "The Way of Jesus: Lessons from the Teacher." In this series we will look at how Jesus encouraged us to live our lives. In an age of secularism, we need people who are rooted in the things of God and not tossed to and fro by the tides of culture.

Passage: Luke 1:1-4

The Ministry of Reconciliation

Guest speaker, Nick Bersin, fills the pulpit at CityReach Church Swissvale. Nick, a student at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, shares with us the good news of what Christ is doing in the world, reconciling it to himself.

Passage: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Groaning Inwardly While Waiting Eagerly

Guest speaker, Michael Pierson, fills the pulpit at CityReach Church Swissvale. Mike uses the imagery of childbirth to give us encouragement and hope in the midst of the pain and suffering of life. Just as a laboring woman endures the pain to seek the joy of the child who is born, we too can endure the pain of life, knowing that God has prepared a resurrected and joyous life for us.

Passage: Romans 8:22-25

Are You for Us, or for Them?

Guest speaker, Michael Thornhill, fills the pulpit at CityReach Church Swissvale. He looks at a particular encounter between Joshua (leader of the Hebrew people) and a warrior on the eve of battle. Joshua asks this warrior, "Are you for us, or for them?" The same question we often ask God in our own lives. Tune in to see how the warrior responds, and what God might be teaching us through his response.

Passage: Joshua 5

Christian Liberty and Love of Neighbor

Pastor Chris Ansell of CityReach Church Swissvale addresses the intersection of our freedoms as believers of Jesus, and the call to love our neighbor. Looking at 1 Corinthians 8, we see that Paul explains when our freedoms conflict with caring for our neighbor, our love for our neighbor ought to win out every time. He uses some relevant issues of churches, masks, and schooling to help drive the point home.

Passage: 1 Corinthians 8