May 15th, 2024 | Citylight Church | Blog

Madi Wright was born in Fort Worth, Texas, so naturally she uses the word “y'all” in most  sentences. Madi loves animals and anything and everything sports (go cowboys!!). But, after getting to know her, you will see that her love for King Jesus surpasses everything else!

Madi grew up in the church and was gifted with godly parents who loved her deeply and showed her and her siblings their love for Jesus. However, it wasn't until Madi was 20 that her life was radically changed by the Lord. In December of 2022, she hit rock bottom. She developed crippling anxiety, fell into a state of depression, questioned her purpose and had never felt more alone. Madi’s life was consumed by others' approval, anxiety and other worldly desires. She ran hard after things that only provided temporary satisfaction and she completely rejected Christ and the idea of living for Him. Prior to that rock bottom moment, she endured a lot of hardship early on in her life. Some of the suffering led her to doubting the entire existence of God and His love for her. How could God love her and allow all of those terrible things to happen?

But by the grace of Jesus Christ, now Madi’s life looks completely different! She has tremendous peace, a God given purpose, and so much more joy than she has ever experienced. Christ broke into her story and now she can confidently say that she has never known a sweeter love than Christ’s love for her.

In August of 2021, Madi met her now husband, Connor, playing volleyball at a young adults ministry in Texas. Connor moved to Colorado and then about a year later, Madi moved to CO after getting a job offer to work for the Denver Post. Jesus radically changed their relationship and they got married in March 2023. After a year of living in CO, Madi and Connor got involved in Citylight Church and became members. Madi got baptized in January of 2024 and stood up in front of our entire church, sharing her testimony and proclaiming that Jesus had changed her life!

The Lord put Ministry on Madi's heart a while back, so it felt like an obvious open door when an opportunity became available at the church for the position of Citylight Kids coordinator. One of her biggest passions is teaching the next generation to know and love King Jesus with their whole heart. She is so excited to have said yes to this role and is eager to see what the Lord has in store for Citylight Kids. Her prayer is that God would use her to better proclaim His name through this ministry.

Outside of the ministry in the church, Madi works in a veterinary clinic. She enjoys spending her time taking care of animals and connecting with people! For fun she particularly enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, jamming out to country music, photography, road trips, and spending quality time with her friends and family!  

May 3rd, 2024 | Citylight Church | Blog

Eric Zengler was born in Wausau, WI, and the first things you will realize about him is his Wisconsin accent, enthusiasm for sports, and love for Jesus! He has a twin sister named Stephanie who he is 30 seconds older than.

At the age of 18, Eric's life was radially changed by the gospel. The Lord used a sports Bible study to show him his need for grace, and at the age of 18 he was saved by Jesus! Before  Christ, his life was consumed by success in sports, the approval of others, and other worldly mindsets. He was chasing things that were temporary and only provided limited satisfaction. Now, Eric life looks a lot different. He lives with tremendous peace, purpose and passion! After high school, Eric went to college at UW-Stevens Point where he competed collegiately in cross country and track. He majored in Social Work and Sociology, and was heavily involved in the campus ministries of Cru and Athletes-in-Action.

As a college student, Eric learned about evangelism and discipleship through having teammates that were atheist or agnostic, but open to spiritual conversations. Eric saw the a need on his campus and began to study the Bible on a deeper level. This led to him taking on the role of a student leader through Athletes in Action (AIA) and then accepting a full-time position with the ministry after graduation. Eric has worked with AIA for the last five years, and four of those years were with Division 1 and D-3 athletes in Wisconsin. Last year he moved to Colorado and worked with D-1 athletes and coaches at Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado.

Shortly after moving to CO, he got involved in Citylight Church and became a member. He quickly jumped all in and started serving on the prayer team and in Citylight Kids.  Overtime, it was clear, he was the right man to step into the role as our Salt Company Co-Director alongside Larissa Wach. Life-changing Bible verses for Eric have been Proverbs 27:17, Proverbs 3:5-6 and 2 Corinthians 5:17.

For fun, Eric loves sauna talks and pretty much any sport. He particularly likes running (trails or mountains) and soon will be running another marathon! Eric also enjoys some simple things in life like feasting on a good meal with friends, showing off his vocal chords on long drives, and throwing on a new cowboy hat whenever he gets the chance. God has equipped Eric to be, as some would say, the ultimate hype man! If you have met Eric, you know that he lives his life with gratitude for Christ and the people God has placed in his life.

Eric is ecstatic to jump into the Salt Company Co-Director role to join the students and staff team to reach college students and faculty at CSU with the good news of Jesus Christ! His prayer is that he would help others experience not just eternal life, but life abundantly that only Jesus provides (John 10:10).

March 16, 2023 | Citylight Fort Collins | Stories

Back in September, Brayden (a resident in our Salt Company) was in a CSU dining hall. The day wasn't unique or special, and our Salt staff regularly spend time in the common spaces on campus to be in proximity to students. Brayden had on a Salt Company t-shirt that said, "All Glory be to Christ" and unexpectedly he got a tap on his shoulder from a stranger. The student simply said, "Hey man, I like your shirt." Brayden thanked him and then the student quickly went on his way.

But before the student could get too far, Brayden was prompted by The Holy Spirit to chase him down. They stuck up a short conversation, Brayden got his number, and he invited the student to come to our Salt Company weekly gathering on Tuesdays. However, the student never responded to Brayden texts and four months passed without seeing him on a Tuesday. It seemed like nothing would come from that tiny seed being planted.

Flash forward to a little over a month ago. It was a Tuesday night and our Salt gathering had just ended. The student from the dinning hall (who we learned was named Ridge) walked straight up to Brayden. Brayden didn't remember him, but Ridge reminded him of when they met in September at the dining hall. Ridge shared that he was a Christian, but that it wasn't until recently that he realized how much sin he was struggling with and how desperately he needed Christian community to walk alongside him. He said to Brayden, "God reminded me of you chasing me down in the dining hall, and He told me that I needed to come to Salt tonight, so here I am."

Brayden knew this was a holy moment and he was cut to the heart. The Lord reminded Brayden that the seeds we sow can sprout at any time - only God gives the growth! Ordinary, mundane moments of faithfulness can be used by God in mighty ways. Jesus said, "the harvest is plentiful" and we never know how God is at work all around us.

About a week after, Brayden met up with Ridge and was blown away when he heard his story. Ridge got saved hearing the gospel on social media two years ago! God is so faithful at pursuing sinners in every way and at all costs. Ridge is now plugged into our Salt Company and for the first time, is growing in his relationship with Jesus within a gospel community.

1 Corinthians 3:6-7
"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."

January 18th, 2023 | Citylight Fort Collins | Stories

I still remember exactly where I was when I listened to my first Citylight Fort Collins podcast sermon…I was on a run on a dirt road in the outskirts of Battambang, Cambodia. A couple days later, I sat in a cafe down the road as I prayed over my future and sent my first email to my now-boss, Larissa Wach, co-director of the Salt Company at Colorado State University.

To provide context, let me back up a couple of months. I graduated from Missouri State University in December 2021, where I was actively involved in the local Salt Company there. The Lord did a great work in my heart during my college years, giving me passion for Himself first and foremost, but also for the local church, for college ministry, and for the nations. During my time there, I learned a lot about the vision and mission of the Salt Network, which seeks to plant a healthy church and college ministry in every major university town in America and overseas. As my time at MSU came to a close, I, like many other college graduates, had no idea what I was going to do with my life. So naturally, I went overseas to buy time in making a long term decision.
 
I spent six months doing missions in Eastern Asia, and in that time the Lord started speaking to me about going back to America to do college ministry in Colorado. I was confused at the time, because I had been expecting the Lord to call me overseas long-term. Instead, He was laying my favorite state, and a type of ministry that had changed my own life, heavily on my heart? It felt too good to be true. The more time I spent in prayer, the more confident I felt that this was where the Lord was leading me.

I began looking into college ministry opportunities in Colorado, and that’s when I remembered that there was a Salt Network church plant in Fort Collins. I reached out to the staff at Citylight, and asked if there were any open positions in the Salt Company there. I know now that they get requests like this all the time, and responding to my email was a unique and rare situation. I had no idea that God was paving my way, providing favor and opening doors for me. As my time overseas ended, I came back to America with a renewed sense of purpose in pursuing college ministry state-side, and quickly began the interview process.
 
Within a month of coming back to America, I headed to Fort Collins for a vision trip, and just two short months after that, I was driving out again, this time with all my belongings crammed into my little Camry, ready to dive into my new position as a Salt Resident with Citylight. The Lord was incredibly faithful to provide everything I needed, every step of the way. My position with Citylight church is support raised, which means that my salary is provided entirely through the generous donations of the people around me. Normally, it can take 3-6 months to raise the financial support necessary for a position in full time ministry, but within 25 days I was 100% funded and ready to begin working on CSU’s campus in time for the Fall Retreat.

In this whole process, the Lord’s hand has been evident throughout. He blessed me so much by cultivating within me a heart for the people and place that He would call me to in Fort Collins, long before I was actually released to move here. He also financially provided in a way that only He could, as it doesn’t make sense from a human perspective to raise that much money that quickly. And since I have moved, the Lord has continuously been faithful to provide friendships, community, a home, and spiritual fruit in my own life and in the lives of the students I get to interact with every day. This job is one of the biggest blessings in my life, and I am so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to work with Citylight church here in Fort Collins!

November 30th, 2022 | Citylight Church | Video

Lucas Johnson, a college student who is a part of our church created this short biography video for his firm editing class. We hope you see the grace of God through Porter's story! 

April 18th, 2022 | Citylight Church | Video and Story

Jose Cruz Carbajal grew up in Firestone, Colorado and from an early age was thrown into the brokenness of the world. He grew up with an abusive father and was substance abuse was all around him. But in the midst of it, God was always pursuing  Jose -  using others to tell him that  God loved him.

In 2018 Bret Carava and his wife moved into a trailer park in Fort Collins, praying that God would use them to bring light to a space with a lot of darkness. Quickly, Bret met Jose and they began a friendship. Bret shared the gospel with Jose and showed the gospel through helping meet practical needs of Jose and his kids.

But time and time again, when things got difficult, Jose turned to alcohol as an escape. His heart was divided - knowing the love of Jesus and the life that can be found in him, but still turning to the lifestyle that was comfortable and familiar.

One night, Jose showed up in tears on Bret's doorstep, holding a beer can. Jose handed it to Bret, symbolically showing that he was done choosing alcohol and wanted to fully choose Christ. Bret prayed for Jose and the Spirit of God began to work.

Jose came to Citylight in the Fall of 2021 through an invitation of one of his co-workers, Jey Kolb, who was our Kids Ministry Director. Jey has been sharing Christ with Jose for over a year and was able to invite him into a loving community. Week after week Jose began to experience the love of God through God's people, and see his kid's grow in their affection of Christ through the Citylight Kid's ministry.

Jose's life has been transformed by the grace of God! 

April, 3rd, 2021 | By Citylight Church | Video

On April 3rd, we celebrated one year since we publicly launched. Tyler Wright, one of our church members, made this video to celebrate a few of the stories God has wrote in the short life of our church!

November 1st, 2020 | By Citylight Church | Video

A few months into our Core Team we got to celebrate 8 baptisms as a church family!
Check out this video one of our church members made to remember the celebration.