WS Update: Incarnation
December 1 is the first Sunday of Advent. During the Advent season, Christians celebrate that the “Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). Or as The…
WS Update: Generosity
The book of Acts describes the first Christian community as radically unified and radically welcoming – a beautiful combination. God used those first communities of Christians to bring great joy…
WS Update: Volunteer for Birthday Party for Jesus
There’s one Saturday every December when our church building, W83, is transformed into what just might be the biggest birthday party on the Upper West Side – Birthday Party for…
WS Update: Redeemer’s 35th Anniversary
Just over 35 years ago on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a new church called Redeemer opened its doors for its first Sunday morning worship service. That day the new church’s…
WS Update: Church Alive for the Good of the City
Yesterday, we began a five-week sermon series in which we’re looking at different accounts from the Book of Acts. In the narratives of Acts, we encounter a church that’s alive…
WS Update: Friendship
As we saw in yesterday’s sermon, one of the wonders of the Christian faith is that Jesus calls his people friends: Greater love has no one than this: to lay…
WS Update: The Hope and Joy of Music
In 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave the opening address for the Berlin Jazz Festival. As he spoke about music’s power to connect to your soul and provide hope, he…
WS Update: At the Table
Theologian Robert Karris said that if you read through the Gospel of Luke, you’ll see that “Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a…
WS Update: Prayer
Imagine for a moment that you’ve been given the location of a buried treasure. You’ve been told where it is and given everything you need to dig it up. This…
WS Update: The Stars of Our Future
A few years ago, one of our church’s youth ministry volunteers told me that serving with youth was a lot like being Alan Shepard. He explained: Shepard was “the first…