City Church OTR Messages

This week, we kicked off our Christmas series, Still Near. Chris began by unpacking some context in the story of the prophet Isaiah and giving us some context around our theme passage for the series, Isaiah 61:1–4. God sent His Son to bind up the brokenhearted — to draw near to us in our pain, our grief, and our moments of lament. He has always been close, and He is still near.

This week was our annual Sermon Slam—five five-minute messages from five different voices in our church body: Eric, Mackie, Lizz, Damian, and Donna. Each person taught on one of the women in the genealogy of Jesus: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. After each teaching, we took a moment to pause and worship together. Their stories reminded us that God often works through unlikely people —just as He did through these women—to bring His Son, our Savior, into the world.

Chris challenges listeners to perform a 'generosity audit' to reflect on their giving. He shares inspiring stories of how others' generosity has made a significant impact. Diving into 2 Corinthians 8, he highlights the Macedonians' joy in giving despite poverty. With a focus on spontaneous, systematic, and sacrificial giving, Chris illustrates how generosity can transform lives. Personal anecdotes reveal his journey from greed to disciplined giving, emphasizing that true generosity often costs us something.

This week, Chris wrapped up Exponential, our series on discipleship. He invited us to imagine a Cincinnati shaped by generation after generation of people becoming more like Jesus — and reminded us that this kind of movement requires sacrifice: the way we spend our time, the way we spend our lives. City Church is just one part of the greater discipleship work God is stirring across our city.

This week, Chris continued our discipleship-focused series, Exponential, by asking: where in our lives does the standard need to be raised? Jesus demands more than we think—but offers more than we could ever imagine. He may ask us to surrender our dreams, the very things we believe will fulfill us, yet in the end, He alone is the one who truly can.

This week at City Church OTR, we celebrated a milestone in our story. After five years of being externally governed by a trusted board of experienced leaders, we established our very own board of elders—a group of leaders marked by integrity, honor, and deep investment in the life of our church. Chris and Katherine introduced each of them to our church family and cast vision for what this next season of leadership and shepherding will mean for City Church OTR.

This week, Chris continued our discipleship-focused series, Exponential. He cast vision for what Triads could become and the movement we could join if we intentionally pour into the next generation. Looking back at church history, we saw how the early church exploded in both salvation and discipleship—and were reminded, “If we want what they had, we have to do what they did.”

This week, Kristen kicked off a brand-new sermon series on discipleship called Exponential. She shared three case studies of people who exemplify what it looks like to live a life of discipleship—following the command Jesus gave us to make disciples. Kristen also introduced Triads, City Church’s new opportunity for intentional discipleship relationships.

This week, Rob Groves taught on the Holy Spirit. God wanted so much more for His children, so He sent us a gift—the Holy Spirit. He’s not just someone we encounter; He’s someone who dwells within us. As followers of Jesus, we’re invited to live fully surrendered and Spirit-filled lives.

This Sunday, Chris concluded our five-part series on Revelation by walking us through a recap of the past year—summarizing each week’s message and the story it’s been telling. He highlighted Jesus’ promise, “I am coming soon,” unpacking what “soon” really means and how it calls us to live with sustained urgency.