What does it look like when the Gospel begins to transform an entire city? This past Sunday, Pastor Mark Snee introduced a new study through Ephesians, challenging City Church to consider that question head-on.
Pastor Mark set the stage with the ancient city of Ephesus: a place shaped by idol worship, superstition and immorality, hardly the soil where a church seemed likely to flourish. Yet that’s exactly where God was at work. In Acts 19, Paul spent over two years teaching there, and lives began to change so radically that people publicly burned items tied to their old way of life. The Gospel wasn’t just changing what people believed — it was changing how they lived.
Pastor Mark challenged the congregation to imagine that same transformation in Fresno: addiction losing its grip, families reconciled, resources once spent on destructive habits instead feeding children and blessing neighbors. Revival is not confined to Sunday morning, it’s meant to reshape a city throughout the week.
Turning to Ephesians, he reminded believers that they don’t live faithfully to earn God’s approval. They live differently because of grace already received. That grace brings a peace that doesn’t wait for circumstances to improve. Fresno doesn’t have to change before the church can make a difference; God uses transformed people right where they are.
A Celebration of New Life
The service closed with baptisms. A vivid picture of everything Pastor Mark had preached. City Church has long talked about being a place and a pathway for purpose, and Sunday night was one of those moments where that purpose was on full display: 19 people were baptized, a remarkable number for a congregation of just over 100 adult attendees. Pastor Mark pointed to it as clear evidence of God’s power at work, faithfully pointing people to the finished work of Christ for their salvation.
Among those baptized was a woman who shared how she had come from a life marked by prostitution, abuse, and addiction. Pastor Mark described how she is now experiencing the life-transforming work of Christ in her, and how her testimony is giving hope to everyone who hears of God’s faithfulness through her story. To God be the glory, he said.
Each of those 19 people stepped into the water as a reminder that the past does not have the final word.
None of This Happens Without You
Moments like this — 19 lives publicly marked by new life in Christ — are only possible because of the generosity of donors who believe in what God is doing in Fresno. Every gift to City Church helps fund the discipleship and the everyday ministry that walks alongside people as they leave old lives behind. Your support is not just keeping the lights on, it’s fueling real transformation in real lives, one testimony at a time.
Fresno doesn’t have to change before the church can make a difference. God calls His people to follow Jesus faithfully right where they are and your giving makes that possible.
