City Chapel NYC

Matthew 13:44-46 - FIND, SELL, BUY // Receive - Jeremiah Lepasana

Full Sermon Summary and Discussion Questions [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z0yHe182ZkQtZeQ4tVIGqVa1WLuI8Bkc1m15CsqmEf8/edit?usp=sharing] FIND, SELL, BUY // Matthew 13:44-46 In Matthew 13:44–46, Jesus compares the Kingdom to a treasure buried in a field and a pearl of great value—something people pass by every day without recognizing its worth. The kingdom appears in overlooked places, among ordinary people, and through a King the world did not expect. To receive the kingdom requires a complete reordering of value. The men in the parables sell everything because they realize what they have found is worth more than anything they already possess. Following Jesus is not simply adding spirituality onto an existing life—it is building your whole life around Him. But the beauty of the gospel is that Jesus did this first. Before we gave anything for Him, He gave everything for us. He saw us as the treasure worth pursuing and laid down His life to bring us home. The invitation is simple: stop admiring the kingdom from a distance and buy the field. Trust that life with Jesus is worth surrendering everything for.

Matthew 13.24-30 - Parable of Wheat: Real v. Counterfeit // Receive - Jeremiah Lepasana

Full Sermon Summary and Discussion Questions [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lrNLDGux_6_iUUEyi88dByaKg00w6t_FCTyMZ0C0deg/edit?usp=sharing] We often try to understand Jesus while staying safely in the crowd—close enough to listen, but distant enough to avoid surrender. But in Matthew 13, Jesus leaves the crowd and goes into the house, and only the disciples follow Him there. The movement is intentional: the kingdom is not understood from a distance. It is received by those willing to step closer, wrestle honestly, and respond to the King. Jesus describes the kingdom as a field where wheat and weeds grow together. In a world full of counterfeits, not everything that looks alive carries the DNA of the kingdom. There are counterfeit versions of belonging, peace, success, and spirituality that promise life but cannot truly heal or satisfy. The kingdom of God offers something different: a new way of being human under the leadership of a different kind of King. At the center of this kingdom is not power or domination, but the cross. Jesus gathers people not through force, but through self-giving love. He invites the overlooked, the broken, and the lost to His table, making room for them through His own sacrifice. This is the true DNA of the kingdom. The invitation is simple but costly: leave the safety of the crowd and move toward Jesus. Learn to recognize the real thing in a world of imitation. Receive the kingdom by receiving the King—His leadership, His love, and His way of the cross. Because in the end, everything false will fade, but what is rooted in Him will endure.

Matthew 13 - Parable of Good Soil // Receive - Paul Lee

Full Sermon Summary and Discussion Questions [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FSIqJYwpCK1f-MLXb4KH2tH8d6yAhy0CTAaY0km7Jms/edit?usp=sharing] We long to grow, yet we often wonder why the life of God doesn’t seem to take root as deeply as we expect. In Matthew 13:1–23, Jesus tells a simple story about a sower and seeds—but beneath it is a searching truth: the issue is never the generosity of God, but the condition of our hearts. The same word is scattered everywhere, the same invitation extended again and again, yet the outcomes are strikingly different. Jesus names what we often overlook. Some moments pass us by because our hearts have grown hard—worn down by hurry, distraction, or quiet resistance. Others begin with joy but fade under pressure, revealing roots that never went deep. Still others are slowly choked by the weight of everyday cares and misplaced desires. He is not condemning; He is revealing. The parable becomes a mirror, showing us how we receive—or fail to receive—the life God is offering. And yet, the aim is not exposure but transformation. The invitation is to become good soil—to cultivate a heart that can truly receive. This kind of heart doesn’t happen by accident. It is formed as we respond to God’s quiet invitations, allow trials to deepen our trust, and honestly name the things that compete for our attention and affection. When we do, something begins to change beneath the surface. Because when the word of the kingdom finally takes root, it does more than inform us—it reshapes us. It grows into a life marked by quiet, steady fruit, a life that begins to reflect the character of the One who planted it. And in that process, we discover that what God has been offering all along was not just truth to understand, but life to receive.

Matthew 13.10-17 - Divine Bids // Receive - Jeremiah Lepasana

Full Summary and Discussion Questions [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KDkGYSpNwn2Xj0JfiuFjKY67qCFZDGjBePSb7Y6dpjU/edit?usp=sharing] In Matthew 13:10–17, Jesus speaks in parables, not to obscure truth, but to reveal something deeper: that the kingdom of God is not merely information to grasp, but a reality to receive. His stories draw a line between hearing and truly perceiving, between listening and actually responding. And so the question shifts from What is Jesus saying? to How are we responding? Parables become what we might call divine bids—God’s ongoing invitations for attention, trust, and nearness. Yet Jesus is honest that not everyone perceives them, not because God is silent, but because hearts can grow dull, distracted, or resistant over time.  The goal is never distance but healing: “turn and I would heal them.” The kingdom is revealed to those willing to respond, to let their guard down, and to bring their real condition before Jesus. What we carry—confusion, weariness, inconsistency, even resistance—is not a barrier to Him, but exactly what He is willing to meet. And in that meeting, the invitation remains simple and steady: to turn, to receive, and to find that He is already willing to restore what we bring.

2 Samuel 22 - Give Him Your Life // Access - Jeremiah Lepasana

Full Summary and Discussion Questions [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CVE9RdLDh9Ul88AK2GCwKIMNoSLUVbuqcSk94aTfVQc/edit?usp=sharing] We often want our stories to end with clear victories, but in 2 Samuel 22, David ends his life with a song. After all the highs and failures, he looks back and realizes that even in the promised land, life still felt like a wilderness. Yet it was in that very place that he encountered God most deeply. The wilderness was not wasted. It became the place where David discovered God as his rock, his refuge, and his deliverer—not in theory, but in lived experience. Under pressure and uncertainty, he came to know God not just as powerful, but as personal—both a warrior who fights for him and a gentle presence who sustains him. In that same place, God was also forming something in David. What looked like weakness—surrounding himself with the distressed and overlooked—became the foundation of a people and a calling. The wilderness was not just where David survived; it was where his identity and purpose were shaped. This song reminds us that the wilderness is not the absence of God, but often the place where we see Him most clearly. It is where we learn that we are not the foundation of our own lives—and that we need a rock to run to. The invitation is simple: give Him your wilderness. Instead of escaping or resisting it, run to God within it. Because what feels like chaos may actually be the place where He becomes most real, most present, and most transformative in your life.