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 Message paraphrases that same verse, Jesus “became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” Christmas is about incarnation: God in Jesus stoops down to…
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 to their cities (Acts 8:8). As a church, God has called us to seek the flourishing of New York City. As we saw in yesterday’s…
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 Jesus! Birthday Party for Jesus is just around the corner and registration is packed with 115 kids and 103 parents! To bring this wonderful event…
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 pastor, Tim Keller, preached: Because I am received in the Savior, because he has pardoned me out of his sheer grace rather than anything I…
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 for the glory of God and the good of their cities. Acts shows us a church that was: In Acts, we see God using imperfect…
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 down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command (John 15:13-14). Friendship with Jesus is made possible through…
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 said: “Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody…
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 meal.” Jesus is always eating with people! It’s no small thing that when Jesus chose a sign for his people to remember him by, he…
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 treasure is vast: not only would it change your life, but with it you could do a great deal of good in the world. And…
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 American in space. His job was at times exhausting, overwhelming, and loud. But he saw the stars, as they say. And more specifically, he saw…