This summer we’re going to walk through 1 Corinthians 13 phrase by phrase, considering both the nature of love, and how to embody it. It’ll be ugly at times, because none of us are touching the way of life in this chapter. But it will be hopeful, because we can see real growth in love, individually and as a community....
Here's what you need to know and remember about coming back to the building for worship as we reopen. ...
For our Signs sermon series we had several artists from New City represent the sign in their artwork. Sadly we had to cease meeting together in the midst of the series but here are the pieces and brief descriptions from the sermons shared in the series either in person or via our house church liturgies. Thanks to all the artists who encouraged us by using their gifts to create these delightful works! ...
Judges—a new sermon series beginning June 2, 2019...
Here's some of what's happening this Sunday morning....
What's happening in the life of New City as of January 24th, 2019...
During the Psalm 69 sermon last Sunday we came across an example of an imprecatory prayer. Imprecatory prayers are those that call out for justice and the condemnation of evil, and they are pervasive in the Psalter. If you just flip through the first ten psalms, you'll notice that more than half include warnings about God's judgment, prayers for judgment, or promises of ju...
Keep ReadingGratitude was one of the things we talked about last weekend. Psalm 67 is a harvest psalm, praising God for his provision and reasoning from that to confident hope in his ongoing care in the future. I suggested one practical application would be to find regular and intentional ways of giving thanks....
Keep ReadingOn Monday November 13, we had our annual Congregational Meeting. During these meetings we worship together, hear ministry updates and elect new leaders. I want to give you a short recap of some of what happened at this year's meeting. We re-elected two new elders: Dan Larson and Jacob Samad (both have served before). Paul Boys, Josh Kaufmann and Ben Frade are rotating off...
Keep ReadingWe're just about at the midway point of our Making Room project. Throughout the month of November we'll be taking stock of where we're at and reminding ourselves of where we're going. We'll do this by studying the book of Ruth....
Keep Reading"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." (Mark 6.31) At New City our policy is to grant pastors a three month sabbatical after seven years of ministry. We've been really fortunate to have a lot of longevity on our team -- Brian, Mike and Ryan have all been here long enough to have a sabbatical. And this summer, my fourtheenth at New City, I'm enter...
Keep ReadingCongregational Meeting Recap...
Keep ReadingMaking Room, who's afraid of deconstruction, and getting ready for sunday...
Keep ReadingThis happy convergence got me thinking about Paul's emphasis in the second half of Romans 2 on the dangers of an empty spiritual life. Paul gives a few signs to help us diagnose this kind of "dead orthodoxy" in ourselves....
Keep ReadingThis weekend Pastor Mike walked us through the story of David bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. There's a lot going on in this episode: Uzzah's death, David's dance, Michal's mockery. But this week I was thinking mostly about what the ark of the covenant represented to the people of Israel....
Keep ReadingAmazing Grace was written by John Newton as a New Year's song. It's original title, which I like quite a bit better, was "Faith's Review and Expectation." The idea was to sing out the previous year by looking back at all that God had led you through (that's faith's review); and to look ahead to the next year with hope for more of God's grace (that's faith's expectation). I...
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