"The Finish Line" by John Rice

Listen along as Pastor John encourages, challenges and inspires us with this message about heaven. He talks about afterlife, eternity and the Kingdom of Heaven from a biblical perspective, yet respects a sense of mystery for all that is unknown.

This message continues a conversation about salvation that includes three aspects define our journey of faith in Christ as The Moment, The Work and The Finish Line. The following statements were shared summarizing what we see in the scriptures regarding heaven.

  • The Kingdom of Heaven is eternal.

  • The Kingdom of Heaven is near.

  • The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where healing takes place.

  • We will be surprised who will be in heaven.

  • We’d do well to make the kingdom our top priority.

  • The Kingdom of Heaven is qualitatively different (and better) than the earth we now live in.

  • Something about little children reflects the Kingdom.

  • The Kingdom of Heaven has a different kind of physicality than earth does.

  • The Kingdom of Heaven is about love for God, others and ourselves.

BTS Interviews | May 2019

As part of our Big Table Sunday interview tradition, listen along as we hear from the following individuals:

Maddie Young | Interviewed by Britni D’Eliso

Maddie currently works as a Kid’s Ministry Assistant here at CitySalt and is a senior at Churchill High School. She is passionate about acting, soccer and working with kids and is a student athlete graduating with all honors. This fall, Maddie plans to attend Honors College at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, where she will play on the women’s soccer team. She plans to pursue a degree in Pediatric Physical Therapy. Maddie would specifically like to thank the Fairchilds, the Children’s Ministry Team, and CitySalt for being so welcoming, open and supportive to her.

Bill Fairchild | Interviewed by John Rice

Bill is a man of many interests and many talents. Born and raised here in Eugene, Bill had a unique childhood which impacted him greatly and consequently led to a powerful “coming to Jesus” moment in his life. Bill is a lifelong learner, full of curiosity with a love of researching and pondering new ideas. He is never lacking an interesting conversation rising out of his latest discoveries. Bill is married to Margaret and they have two children, Liz Lemmon and Wills, with whom Bill spends ample time, camping and recreating out in Oregon’s amazing natural playgrounds.  


Mollie McAmis | Interviewed by Dusty Johnson

Mollie was born with a twin brother into a loving Christian family in Springfield. She came to trust in Christ at the age of three and grew up in Roseburg attending a Christian elementary school and Sunday school at church regularly. When her parents divorced in middle school, she moved to Lake Oswego with her mom and was very active in a youth group and mission trips. After exploring her interest in youth ministry, she later discovered her passion for nursing. She received her degree from Umpqua Community College and is currently a wound care nurse for Avamere in Eugene. Mollie is grateful to have the loving community of CitySalt and is currently is in the process of purchasing her first home in the River Road area at the end of May.



"Salvation In All Stages" by Dusty Johnson

Listen along as Pastor Dusty shares a message that seeks to highlight the work of God through a variety of seasons and stages in the journey of faith. The six stages discussed are from the book, The Critical Journey by Hagberg and Guelich. Not often talked about in many evangelical traditions, this message provides a vision for navigating important stages of development as we grow and mature in our discipleship journey.

If you are interested in receiving a summary of The Critical Journey by Richard J. Vincent, simply email a request to dusty@citysalt.org.

"The Wake of Salvation" by Mike D'Eliso

Listen along as Pastor Mike shares this message about the working out of our salvation as we follow and are tethered to Christ. As he draws upon the analogy of water skiing, Mike encourages and challenges how we view our life of discipleship as we grow and mature in our relationship with God, others and ourselves.

Philippians 2:13-14 NRSV
12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

"The Ripening of Salvation" by John Rice

Listen along as Pastor John addresses a familiar, yet often confusing topic relating to salvation. This message explores a deeper meaning and application of salvation that can be viewed as 1) Moments/Decisions, 2) The Work/Ongoing Process and 3) The Finish Line/Eternity. May this message bring greater clarity and invitation to trust the abiding work of the Holy Spirit through all phases and aspects of our desire to journey with God.

"Love Pursues" by Dusty Johnson

Listen along as Pastor Dusty shares this message surrounding the failure and restoration of one of Jesus’ closest disciples. In Mark 14:26-72 we see Jesus predict a weak moment for Peter. As Jesus is arrested and undergoing a trial, Peter ultimately does the “one thing he said he would never do” by denying that he ever knew Jesus. After his resurrection in John 21, Jesus pursues Peter by serving him a fireside breakfast conversation on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus clearly communicates love, acceptance and forgiveness in the face of Peter’s worst moment of failure and shame.

March Big Table Sunday | Devotional Readings, Worship and Communion

Listen along as our congregation celebrated March Big Table Sunday a bit different than usual. Rather than interviews and sharing, we took the whole service to linger in the presence of the Lord and worshipped God through scriptural devotional readings, congregational prayers, singing and taking communion together.

The three devotional thoughts read as part of the service were written by Walter Wangerin Jr. from his book Reliving the Passion: Meditations on the Suffering, Death, and the Resurrection of Jesus as Recorded in Mark.

"Love Knows" by John Rice

Listen along as Pastor John shares this message from Mark 14:12-25 around the story of the Last Supper. This is the second message in a series called JESUS | Love Breaks Through, and explores the story of Jesus predicting the betrayal of Judas, setting up the eventual arrest and death of Jesus.

Note: The following video clip was played from the movie Son of God by 20th Century Fox as part of the message and discussion.

"Grace Changes Everything" by Gabe Barreiro

Listen along as our Foursquare North Pacific District Supervisor shares his heart and this message with us from Luke 8:43–48. This Big Table Sunday included a meal before service followed by communion together at the close of service. This was also Pastor Dusty’s first Sunday back after his 12 week sabbatical.

BTS Interviews | Mike and Abby Wilday and Bri Mitchell

Listen along as Pastor Mike interviews Bri Mitchell and special guests Mike and Abby Wilday.

Mike and Abby (and their family) have come alongside CitySalt for a season to provide specific support to our Kid’s Ministry team. They have been working behind the scenes for weeks and we wanted to take this time to learn more about them and their heart for God and service to Him.

"1 Peter" by John Rice

Listen along as Pastor John continues our teaching series called Mini But Mighty, Letters from the New Testament. John titles his sermon “The Power of Choice and the Sea of Grace.” He takes an intimate look at the suffering that happens in this life. We have a choice to follow the Lord or not. But what happens when someone can no longer make that choice?

Click this link to watch The Bible Project | 1 Peter

"Thanksgiving Devotional Readings" by Various Writers

Listen along as various contributors share their devotionals readings as part of our Thanksgiving service and communion time. These writings were featured in previous posts to our weekly Salt Blog. To read these and other contributors, you can find them at http://www.citysalt.org/blog.

This recording features the following people:

  • Sarah Gore

  • Joseph Scheyer (read by Britni D’Eliso)

  • Betty Fletcher

  • Randi Nelson (communion)

  • Mike D’Eliso (closing)