Controversial Faith: Q&A Panel

This Sunday morning, Pastor Jon Tyson continued our “Come and See” sermon series with a teaching out of John 11 on Jesus’ declaration, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” As Christians, we can stand firm on this central claim of the Christian faith, knowing that we no longer have to fear judgment because judgment already happened on the cross. We don’t have to fear death because of Christ’s resurrection. We can experience a taste of the life and peace that Jesus promises us now, and join God in the renewal and healing of shalom in the world today.   Listen to Church of the City New York's first live album, Where He's Wanted, on all streaming platforms Friday, June 28th. Spotify Apple Music

This week, Pastor Suzy Silk continued our “Come and See” sermon series by teaching on Jesus as the Good Shepherd out of John 10:1-42. With this statement, Jesus directly references the prophecy that there will be a coming Messiah who will lead God’s people and that God Himself will shepherd them. In doing so, Jesus not only claims to be the best leader, but God Himself, demanding a response to either reject Him as a crazy man or follow Him as a sheep into the fold of God. 

This week, Pastor Ashley Anderson continued our “Come and See” sermon series by teaching on Jesus as the door in John 10:1-10. Jesus makes a radical claim to be the only entry point through which all people can access God and experience abundant life through Him.

This Sunday, Pastor Suzy Silk continued our Come & See sermon Series with a teaching on Jesus’ I AM statement, “I am the light of the world” out of John 7 and 8. Each of Jesus’ I AM claims were incredibly radical for the original audience, and because we live in a world where light is a resource readily available to us, we can easily miss the weight Jesus’ words should still carry for us today. Jesus calls us to believe that He is the true source of light and to follow Him into whole life discipleship. When we walk in step with Jesus, we are able to possess His light, be transformed into children of light, and share in being the light of the world with our Savior. 

This Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our new Come & See series with a teaching on Jesus’ first “I AM” statement, “I am the bread of life.” Jesus has shaped history and radically transformed lives, but our modern understanding of Him often leaves us bored and disinterested. The Christian religion has been reduced to following rules and restraining desire, but following Jesus is meant to be a life of passion, freedom, and deep satisfaction.

This Sunday, Pastor Tim Brown kicked off our new series, Come & See, an in depth study in the Gospel of John of Jesus' words about Himself and the deeds He performed to prove these words. Pastor Tim began towards the end of John’s Gospel, where he states his reason for writing was that people might believe in the good news of Christ being the true Messiah who offers us new life in His name. 

This week, Pastor Jon Tyson and Pastor Suzy Silk wrapped up our sermon series on Controversial Faith with a Q&A to answer some of the common questions and objections skeptics and seekers have regarding Jesus, the Scriptures, and living as a Christian in our modern world. Pastor Jon framed this time with 1 Peter 3:15-16, and claimed it is more important than ever for Christians to deal with their controversial faith.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our Controversial Faith series with a teaching on Biblical sexuality. We live in sexually confusing and chaotic times, and as we begin to examine the effects the secular sexual ethic has on individuals and our culture at large, instead of flourishing, we find decay, pain, and brokenness. However, we are called to honor God with our bodies by faithfully stewarding our sexuality, because we were bought with a price, and one day we will be with Christ forever in a soul satisfying union that is a fulfillment of every desire we’ve ever had. Additional resources: Making Sense of the Church: Marriage - Jon Tyson Listen The Controversial Jesus: Sexual Formation - Jon Tyson Listen / Watch The Controversial Jesus: Jesus and the Gay Community - Jon Tyson Listen / Watch The Controversial Jesus: Jesus, Gender, and the Trans Community - Jon Tyson Listen / Watch  

This Sunday Pastor Suzy Silk continued our Controversial Faith series by asking the question: How can a good God allow evil and suffering in the world? The tension between the sovereignty of God and the realities of suffering often hold people back from experiencing and accepting the person of Jesus, or eventually drive people away from Him. In an effort to address this problem of pain, Pastor Suzy laid out five reasons not to turn away from Jesus when faced with evil and suffering.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon Tyson continued our series on Controversial Faith with a message on how we, as Christians, should engage with politics. As people of God, we can participate in politics with eschatological hope and humble conviction instead of despair. Ultimately, we pray, vote, protest, and practice principled pluralism because we know the solution to the problem of politics in our modern world: declaring Jesus is Lord.