Christ City Church, Washington DC

In the Parable of the Sower, we see that God's liberating good news of justice, freedom, and flourishing can fall differently depending on the condition of our hearts. And still, regardless of the soil, the Sower sows.

Pastor Watson explores Jesus' Parable of the Weeds and Wheat (Matthew 13), unpacking what it looks like to live faithfully in a world full of both beauty and brokenness. Discover five spiritual practices that help us navigate a fallen world with hope, humility, and grace.

Pastor Lisa explores Galatians 5–6 and unpacks what it means to sow toward a life filled with the fruit of the Spirit. Rather than striving harder, God invites us to stay connected to the Spirit and trust that, in God's timing, a harvest will come.

In the second week of our series "All Things New," Pastor Andrea explores Psalm 1's vivid contrast between a windblown piece of chaff and a deeply rooted tree, inviting us to consider where our roots are reaching in a season that has left many of us feeling scattered and exhausted.

In a season of longing for renewal, we explore Jesus' words in John 15 and the image of the vine and branches — a reminder that our flourishing, revival, and new life are found by remaining in God, and held securely by the love of God no matter what winters we've walked through.

Pastor Justin shows how in John 20 the resurrection of Jesus meets people in their real lives—grief, fear, and doubt—bringing new life by calling them by name, offering peace, and inviting honest faith. This same resurrecting love is at work today, breathing life into us and sending us out to embody hope, healing, and love in a broken world.

Pastor Matthew Watson teaches on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem as both a humble protest against oppression and a proclamation of God’s saving Kingdom, where power is redefined through love, justice, and healing. Through cleansing the temple and welcoming the marginalized, Jesus calls us to embody a faith that resists exploitation, centers restoration, and trusts God enough to both act and rest.

In this closing message on the book of James, Pastor Justin explores what it means to have a faith that endures — one that sees injustice clearly, stays active in waiting, and keeps showing up even when the road is long.

Guest speaker Rev. Dr. Eun K Strawser teaches on the Hebrew word for wisdom, "chokmah," used in the book of James, and how it can sometimes seem like a bad idea to the world, but it is that very wisdom that cultivates more brilliant beauty, stronger faith, and deeper relationships, bringing God's kingdom closer to Earth.

Pastor Lisa Rodriguez-Watson continues our series in James, reminding us of the importance of words, and the importance of wisdom. While the world around us is starting fires, we are invited to plant fields.

Pastor Watson continues our "Enduring Faith" series with a message on James 2, where we are warned against showing favoritism to the wealthy and powerful over the poor and marginalized, and we are reminded of God's mercy and grace when we fall short.

In this opening message of Enduring Faith, Pastor Andrea reflects on the gap between knowing and doing, inviting us into a faith that is practiced, embodied, and formed through real-life pressures. Rooted in the book of James, she calls our community toward endurance that leads to wholeness—an integrated life where belief, integrity, and action align in steady, courageous trust.

In this closing message of our series We Will Be…, Pastor Justin invites us to rediscover our truest identity as beloved children of God—already claimed in love, yet still becoming.

Guest preacher Rev. Mia M. McClain (Riverside Baptist Church) continues our series on who we are becoming, and reminds us that despite trial and tribulation, chaos and calamity, God is inviting us to dream impossible dreams.

When the countless voices, demands, stresses, busyness, and suffering in the world pull us apart, Pastor Lisa Rodriguez Watson talks to us about God's invitation to wholeheartedness and wholehearted living.

As we gathered online due to the inclement weather, Pastor Andrea preached on what it means to be sustained by God in every season, especially the hard ones.

In week three of our series "We Will Be," guest speaker Kat Armas pulls from her latest book, "Liturgies for Resisting Empire," and reminds us that liberation is not just about freedom from the empires around us, but also freedom from the empires within.

Although fear seems to be the defining force of our time, God’s most frequent command to us is "Do not fear." Through the story of Gideon, we can see that God meets us in our fear, and we are invited to be courageous in the knowledge to God is with us.

Pastor Justin starts off our new series, "We Will Be." What kind of people do we want to become in 2026? And who does God say we already are? 

Christmas doesn’t arrive in a vacuum. In this Christmas Day homily, Pastor Justin Fung names what is true: both the weariness many of us are carrying and the deeper truth the Church proclaims at Christmas—that the light has come. He explores what it means to say "Emmanuel, God with us" in a world that is still marked by grief, injustice, and exhaustion. Christmas is not about pretending everything is fine; it is about God choosing to enter human life as it actually is—fragile, complicated, unfinished—and to remain with us there. This message is for those arriving at Christmas in all kinds of ways: joyful, grieving, tired, uncertain, or somewhere in between. Wherever you find yourself today, you are welcome here.

In the fourth week of Advent, Pastor Matthew Watson reflects on the theme of love, naming Jesus’ birth as God’s light breaking into a weary world’s long night, inviting us to receive God’s love and to "punch holes in the darkness" through love.

Advent joy invites you to participate in what God is already doing in setting things right: The desert will bloom. The wilderness will sing. The speechless will find words. The ransomed will return with everlasting joy.

In this second week of the Advent season, Pastor Watson shows us that God's peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of wholeness—shalom—breaking into the chaos. It is the presence of God's Spirit that enables us to have peace in the midst of life storms and chaos. It is the presence of God’s Spirit in you that brings the Shalom we are aching for.

In this first Sunday of our Advent series, Pastor Andrea invites us to name our darkness while still daring to await the promised light of Jesus, whose arrival brings hope into places of fear, injustice, and exhaustion. True hope is not passive optimism but a courageous, active refusal to let darkness have the last word, trusting that God is already at work and that the dawn is breaking in.

Acts 28 shows that God meets us in the in-between places, where vulnerability opens us to receive and share the Spirit’s surprising kindness, healing, and love. Even in constraints and uncertainty, like Paul under house arrest, the Spirit remains unhindered—forming us, sending us, and working through ordinary acts of welcome, courage, and faithfulness.

Guest speaker Rev. Dr. Essentino Lewis, Jr. (Clifton Park Baptist Church) continues our series in Acts, preaching on Acts 27.

Pastor Andrea teaches on Acts 25:23-26:32, where we’re reminded that even when we feel bound by circumstance, God’s Spirit gives us the freedom to speak truth and bear witness through our own stories. Discover how your story, no matter how unfinished or ordinary, can become an act of resistance, faith, and transformation in a world that tries to silence what the Spirit is still writing through you.

When Paul stands on trial before Festus in Acts 25, he shows us what faithfulness looks like inside a broken system—telling the truth, using what we have, and remembering where our true citizenship lies. 

Guest speaker Rachael Wade, founder of the Olive Us ministry, preaches on Acts 24, where Paul is put on trial before the the governor of Caesarea because he was deemed to be a "troublemaker." This was not Paul’s first trial, or his first imprisonment. What can we learn from Paul on how to continue despite persecution, pain, and imprisonment? Where might we also need to stir up some "good trouble"?

In a world where control feels elusive and power is often abused, Acts 23 reveals that followers of Jesus are called to wield a different kind of power. This message from Pastor Justin reminds us that true power looks like love: speaking truth with integrity, showing up in solidarity, and trusting that God is still at work, even through ordinary people and unlikely circumstances.

Guest speaker Pastor Anthony Parrott from The Table Church teaches on Acts 21 - 22. What does God call us to do in the face of crowds of opposition? What do we say when we are outnumbered by those who refuse to believe the truth?

In Acts 21, Paul's journey to Jerusalem shows us how the Spirit leads us not around hardship but through it, inviting us to confront fear, persist in resistance, and trust that God is still at work even when we’re exhausted. In a time marked by collective weariness, our call is to endure, and to be rooted in the Spirit.

As Paul makes plans to leave Ephesus and say farewell in Acts 20:1-38, we can recognize six important lessons from Paul's time that feel particularly relevant for today.

This week in our Acts of the Spirit series, guest pastor Thomas Bowen preaches on Acts 19:21-40. Paul’s preaching against idols in Ephesus challenges both the people’s spiritual loyalties and their economic interests. A silversmith stirs up a chaotic mob, and the crowd, driven by fear and confusion, reveals how quickly people can be swept up in emotion and false idols, rather than facing the truth.

This week in our sermon series, Acts of the Spirit, Pastor Matthew Watson preaches on Acts 19:1-20, where the sons of Sceva discover what happens when you try to use the power of God without being faithful to God.

In Part 3 of our series "Acts of the Spirit," we find the mission of the Spirit revealed through Paul’s experiences in Acts 18, where both extraordinary moments and everyday rhythms of life play crucial roles in advancing the gospel. What does it look like for us to surrender control, embrace our God-given agency, and remain steadfast in our mission, even amid the chaos of the world? Through Paul's journey, we are reminded that the mission remains constant: to live out the gospel and participate in God’s redemptive work, whether in moments of crisis or ordinary faithfulness.

In a world unraveling at the seams, Christ calls us to belong to each other—not just as an ideal, but as a lived reality. We are not merely resisting empire. We are building beloved community.

This week in our Life Together series, Pastor Lisa explores work, worth, and boundaries, reminding us that our identity is rooted not in productivity but in God’s love, and that Sabbath rest is both resistance and delight.

In Week 7 of Life Together, Pastor Lisa Rodriguez Watson explores questions of work and worth, such as how we maintain healthy relationships at work, how we rest, and how our work impacts how we see ourselves.

In week six of our Life Together series, Pastor Matthew interviews therapist Pete Bauman on the cycles and emotional impacts of parenting, understanding how our parents shaped us, and what the pursuit of health can look like for each generation.

In Week 5 of Life Together, Pastor Andrea Ackermann explores the heart of all relationships—marriage, singleness, family (by blood or by choice), and beyond: love.

More than romantic relationships and family ties, friendship is one of the foundational elements of Christian community. In week four of our Life Together series, Pastor Justin Fung interviewed Dr. Marisa G. Franco, friendship expert, sociology professor, and author of Platonic: How The Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends, about: how to make friendships as an adult, why they take effort, how they can help anchor us in times like these, and more.Platonic: How The Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends

In week three of our sermon series, Life Together, Pastors Lisa Rodriguez Watson and Matthew Watson walk through conflicts in the early church according to Acts 15:36-41 and 2 Timothy 4:9-11.

In week two of our series, Life Together, Pastor Justin Fung preaches on Acts 6:1-7 and what shapes our relationships and how our relationships shape us.

In the first week of our new series, Life Together, Pastor Justin Fung reflects on Romans 12:1-5, 9-18, 21, and the hardships and blessings of being in community. In 2025, we’re asking urgent questions about community and connection. What does it mean to live well together when the world feels so divided? How do we build trust across difference? How do we sustain friendships, raise kids, honor our parents, or stay grounded in love when everything pulls us apart? This 8-week series takes its title from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book Life Together, but moves beyond the walls of the seminary he wrote from. It’s a series about real relationships in the real world: where people move, get older, carry trauma, hold privilege, feel lonely, long for intimacy, and struggle to connect. We’ll explore how faith speaks to the challenges of modern relationships—especially in a diverse and dynamic church like ours.

In the final week of our Dwell series, Pastor Andrea Ackermann invites members of Christ City to share about what it means to be an intentional neighbor.

Who are your neighbors? What relationships are you called to? Rich Rivera invites us to consider these questions in week three of our series, Dwell, in light of Luke 10:25-37.

In week two of our sermon series, Dwell, Pastor Justin Fung preaches on Jeremiah 29:4-7 and the importance of seeking the shalom of the places we inhabit.

Pastor Matthew Watson kicks off our latest sermon series, Dwell, as he explores John 20:21-22 and Jesus' incarnational ministry.We are in a cultural moment where caring for neighbors is a sign of weakness at best and treason at worst, yet Jesus’ invitation is to love our neighbors, regardless of who they are. In this sermon series, we’ll take a practical dive into Jesus’ command to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

In the last week of our sermon series, KAIROS, Pastor Andrea Ackerman preaches on Galatians 5:16-26; 1 Corinthians 12, and what it means to move as the Spirit leads. In a world obsessed with control, the Spirit leads in ways we don’t always see or expect. How do we cultivate a faith that is responsive to the Spirit? How can we be a people who walk in step with the Spirit, practicing the gifts of the Spirit, and bearing the fruit of the Spirit?