Church of the City New York

This Sunday, Pastor Jon taught on "Seeing Jesus Through Doubt" with the story of Thomas' reaction to the news of Jesus' resurrection. After missing Jesus' first appearance to His disciples after His resurrection, Thomas begins to wrestle through his doubts around who Jesus is and what He came to do. Thomas' story is not meant to be a cautionary tale for believers today, but display the encouraging truth that facing down our doubts will deepen our faith.

This Sunday, Pastor Suzy continued our Seeing Jesus series with "Seeing Jesus Through Disappointment" by walking through Jesus' post-resurrection encounter with two of His disheartened disciples on their journey to Emmaus. By viewing this account like a miniature play, she broke this story down into three acts and an epilogue that reflect a journey we can still relate to today.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon began a series called Seeing Jesus, focused on different post-ressurection accounts of Jesus and the impact they had on the faith of His followers. Through Peter, Pastor Jon pointed out three things that the can enemy use to block our view of the mercy and hope that we have been given through Jesus. However Jesus calls us back to Himself like He called Peter; to return to Him and strengthen others.

For Easter Sunday this year, Pastor Jon focused on "seeing Jesus" in John's gospel account of the resurrection. Through using three different Greek words for sight/seeing, John lays out the different ways Jesus is viewed in our world today. The invitation of Easter is to "come and see" Jesus for yourself, and find that through faith in Him and His story, all questions of origin, meaning, morality, and identity are answered, and that He alone can satisfy all your needs.

In this week's sermon, Pastor Jon Tyson concluded Jesus' prophetic woes to the Pharisees by providing the cultural and historical context with which He made His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Jesus' rebuke of the Pharissee's ends with a final, heartbreaking plea to repent and recieve the mercy of God, and the same call is presented to us today.

This week, Pastor Suzy taught on the last woe Jesus gave the Pharisees in Matthew 23. The Pharisees knew their own history and had the witness of Scripture, but still repeated the sins of their fathers. This was Jesus's last call to them for repentance, and He longed to show them mercy. Even up until his final days, Jesus calls them to turn back from their hypocrisy and toward him as their Savior. Jesus extends the same invitation to us, offering his blood on our behalf and a new heart.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our Converting the Church series by teaching us about the sixth woe Jesus gave the Pharisees when He called out their pointless practices that defiled people instead of cleansing them. God is so committed to our freedom, that anything we cover instead of confess, will be brought into the light of day.

This Sunday, Pastor Ashley continued our Converting the Church sermon series by encouraging us to receive God's grace and truly believe the love He has for us. In Matthew 23, Jesus uses the imagery of a dirty cup to teach the Pharisees that they are striving for external cleanliness, when really it's the heart that should first be made clean.

This Sunday, our Converting the Church series continued as Pastor Jon called us to focus on the major parts of our faith over the minor details which can easily cloud our vision. To be disciples of Jesus, we need to be like Him and weigh with the actions of our lives and our motivations against His words, and make sure we can see clearly, discern, and practice the things that truly matter to the heart of God.

This Sunday, Pastor Suzy continued our Converting the Church series by unpacking Jesus's third woe to the Pharisees regarding promise-breaking and promise-keeping. As followers of Jesus, we must become a community whose "yes" means "yes," and "no" means "no." In keeping our word, we reflect our promise-keeping God, and can offer the stability we have recived from His unfailing faithfulness to the people around us.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon unpacked Jesus' second 'woe' to the Pharisees in Matthew 23, where He called out their toxic evangelism converting people into children of hell instead of children of Heaven. We are challenged to reflect on how we can bring the good news of Jesus to people without the coercion and cultural baggage that seems to do so much damage. Jesus promises that if He is lifted up, He will draw all people to Himself and satisfy them. All we are called to do is present the free gospel to the thirsty world, and it will bring the Kingdom of Heaven and turn people into children of God.

This Sunday, guest Pastor Ralph Castillo delved Jesus' first of the seven woes to the Pharisees, that they shut the door of the Kingdom in people's faces through their hypocratic practices and selfish stewardship of the ways to connect to God. Jesus came to be the true door to the Kingdom of Heaven, and like the Pharisees, it seems the modern day church has similarly gotten in the way of people coming to Him. This woe calls us to remember God's desire to gather us to Himself, repent of our stubborness, and instead become a pleasing aroma that points people to the satisfying substance of Christ.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our Converting the Church series by unpacking Jesus' critique of the Pharisees' performative religion and revealing how the same self-seeking spirit has crept into today's church, disappointing and disillusioning people seeking truth. Only by being secure in our identity as God's Beloved, as Jesus was, can we recognize the true greatness of a life spent poured out on behalf of others in sacrificial servanthood, and then actually live in a way that walks into a room and says "there you are," instead of "here I am."

This Sunday, Pastor Jon kicked off our new sermon series centered on Jesus' seven woes to the Pharisees in Matthew 23 called Converting the Church. This series will invite us to examine our own ways and beliefs, and create opportunities for us as individuals and a church to repent for the ways we have tried to add to God's law or avoid parts of it. Jesus began His public rebuke of the religion of His day by warning His disciples and the crowds that while the Pharisees' tradition was rooted in truth, their practices were not. The modern, evangelical church must also heed the warning of Jesus to convert religious burdens into freeing grace so that it properly reflects the live giving Good News of His Gospel.

This Sunday, Pastor Suzy finished our "Seeking God" series by preaching from Ezekiel 22 about the importance of the Advocate. In the face of sin, God in His holiness must bring about justice, yet He longs to show mercy, and looks for people to repair the broken walls and stand in the breach to advocate for mankind. As believers, we are empowered by the blood and intercession of Jesus, and are called to become God's advocates by repenting for our own sins and contributions to the corruption of our generation; live righteously, disciple others, and work to rebuild society; and become people of prayer who choose to serve our city.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our Seeking God series with a teaching on the Worshiper. Through the story of the woman at the well in the gospel of John, we find God's passion for worship, and the lengths He will go to draw worship out of the human heart. Jesus' interactions with this woman reveal the Father's determination to satisfy our deepest desires by thrilling us with Himself; telling us everything we've ever done, and still offering us His endless love and living water.

This Sunday, guest pastor Corey Russell continued our Seeking God series by teaching on the Intercessor. Anchoring his teaching in Isaiah 59, Pastor Corey pointed out that God is deeply and emotionally invested in the state of humanity, and in His longing for justice, sought out a human intercessor to stand in the gap for the purpose our reconciliation to Him. Intercessors are living proof of God's love for humanity, emerging for the purpose of salvation, and when God could not find an intercessor on earth, He stretched out His own arm towards us, becoming fully human in Christ Jesus, so that He could be our intercessor.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our January sermon series, "Seeking God," by examining the story of Zacchaeus and the lengths that God will go to seek to save the lost. Jesus' Great Commission at the end of Matthew's gospel commands His followers to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit," establishing that the priority of Heaven is bringing the lost home, and forcing us to ask, "Is it also ours?" For the Gospel of Jesus is the only message in the world that acknowledges both the beauty of the human soul and the brokenness of it, and still says it is worth saving. The church of Christ was made to continue His mission to seek and save the lost, meeting them with the unexpected, life-altering, grace of the Gospel.

SEEKING GOD: SURRENDERED HEARTS — This Sunday, we began our January sermon series, "Seeking God." Pastor Jon pointed out that though we know God is a "seeking" God, we rarely consider who or what He is seeking. This week we saw that God is seeking surrendered hearts, wholly devoted to Him, by looking at the life of King Asa in 2 Chronicles. Asa's reign over Judah displays both whole-hearted devotion and the tragedy of half-heartedness. Pastor Jon exhorted us to resolve to diligently seek God, identify and renounce any division in our hearts (not managing idols but destroying them), and reignite our passion for seeking God. A half-hearted response is inappropriate towards a whole-hearted God who loves us and spared no expense to save us.

This Advent Season, we have been exploring Christmas through different characters in the story of Jesus' birth, and this week, Pastor Suzy took a closer look at Mary in her sermonette for Lessons & Carols. Through Mary, we see a beautiful picture of what happens when the deep longings of both a people, and an individual, are fulfilled. The core longing of each person is to be loved, and at the end of the day, the Christmas story is a love story that we are invited to recognize, respond to, participate in, and witness about to the all the world.

This past Sunday, Pastor Jon explored the curiosity Christmas stirs up in the human heart through the story of the Wise Men in Matthew's gospel. In their journey we see the importance of humbly seeking answers beyond ourselves and actively evaluating and deciding what is worth our whole life devotion.

This past Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our Advent series by examining the story of Joseph and what he teaches us about embracing a spirit of peace in contested spaces. Pastor Jon explained that peace that relies on perfect circumstances is actually no peace at all. Instead, Joseph's life shows us that true peace is disruptive and anti-fragile, is found in the miraculous ordinary, and comes through costly obedience.

This past Sunday, Pastor Olivia kicked off our Advent sermon series with a message on deferred longing being an invitation to hope. Jesus knows that desires lurk within us, both pure and unpure, and that it is much safer to open up these desires in His presence. Once we acknowledge these longings, we are inevitably led into the reality of waiting and hoping for these longings to be fulfilled.

This week, Pastor Ashley concluded our "The Way of Jesus" series with "The Way of Justice." When Jesus inaugurated His ministry, He announced Himself as the same God of the Old Testament who defended the fatherless, the widowed, the poor, and the oppressed. Ultimately, she taught that Jesus' biblical justice requires us to sacrifice privilege with suspended judgment for the restoration of others.

This Sunday, Pastor Suzy continued in our "The Way of Jesus" series by teaching through "The Way of Gratitude." She focused on a story in Luke's gospel of Jesus healing ten men with leprosy, only to have one of them return and thank Him, and pointed out that we often suffer from a similar lack of gratitude when it comes to Jesus. She encouraged us to create rhythms of gratitude, so that we will be able to give thanks in all circumstances and not forget who God is and what He has done for us.

This past Sunday, Pastor Jon preached about the personal and intentional steps he routinely practices to encounter the Lord. He used the acronym of T.I.M.E to explain his process which consists of identifying Truth, asking for Insight, going on Mission, and the resulting experience of true Encounter. Through the devotion of our time, patience, and obedience we continue forward on our journey into understanding and the living out of the depths of joy and freedom our heavenly Father has to offer us.

This week, Pastor Jon continued our Fall series with "The Way of Prayer" by preaching about how to become a people of peace in the midst of anxiety. When we look to the example of Jesus, we see that He pursued the promised peace of God by committing to a life of consistent prayer.

This past Sunday, guest speaker Pastor Ralph Castillo preached on "The Way of Mercy," showing us from the story of Jonah how God orchestrates moments of mercy in our lives to draw us closer to Him. Though we may often believe our way is better than His, God reminds us through his kindness that His ways are higher than our ways, and no matter how far we stray, He is always able to redeem our lives and use them for His glory.

This past Sunday, Pastor Ashley continued in our The Way of Jesus series by examining "The Way of Dependence." She broke down how we define abiding, how we know if we're abiding, and why the invitation to abide is good news.

This past Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our The Way of Jesus series with "The Way of Remembrance." He taught that remembering who God is and what He has done is one of the most important parts of our discipleship, while one of the enemy's greatest schemes to destroy our faith is to have us forget. Pastor Jon urged us to remember Jesus, our salvation, and our mission as believers by setting the Lord before us in every moment, always thinking of Him, just as He is always thinking of us.

This past Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our "The Way of Jesus" series with "The Way of Confrontation." The work of God's formation in us unsurprisingly takes place at the points where we are not yet formed in Christ's image. One of the first steps in formation is that of confrontation: a challenge and call to come out of our brokenness and into the fullness of Christ.

This Sunday, Pastor Suzy continued "The Way of Jesus" series with "The Way of Devotion." She pointed us to two of Jesus' parables about the Kingdom of God being a treasure of immeasurable value that is worth sacrificing for. When Jesus calls us to follow Him, He requires us to give our whole selves, just as He joyfully did for us, to live a life devoted to His Kingdom cause.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our "The Way of Jesus" series with "The Way of Self-Denial." The greatest challenge to our discipleship is the centrality of our self and our desires. Jesus extends us an invitation for a transformed life by denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Him. We must not soften sin to the point of pain management, but rather kill it completely in our pursuit of Jesus. Only His love breaks the spell of our own self.

This past Sunday, Pastor Jon kicked off a new sermon series called "The Way of Jesus." He warned us against the ways our fallen world can trap and form our hearts through lusts, pride, and toxic religion, and instead spurred us to follow in the way of Jesus so that we can be formed, transformed, and conformed to His likeness. We were created to enjoy God and walk with Him, imaging our Creator, and living in the way of Jesus fulfills our ultimate destiny of experiencing the our fully formed selves living with Christ in us.

This past Sunday, Pastor Suzy finished out our Summer Colossians series by teaching about the "Movement You Long For." She reminded us that, as believers, we have all been called into the God's movement to bring His Kingdom by spreading the good news of the gospel and making disciples.

This Sunday, Pastor Adam Durso continued our series through Colossians by diving into "The Mission You Long For." He broke down Paul's exhortation for the church to be devoted to prayer, watchfulness, and thankfulness as the starting point for living on mission in our daily lives. He pointed out that this heart posture brings an awareness of where God wants us to partner with Him, and that often times our mission field is at the intersection of our pain and in the comfort of the Gospel. It is out of the overflow of how God comforts us, that we can begin to comfort others.

This Sunday, Pastor Olivia continued our Summer series by breaking down the relationships in the home mentioned in Colossians with "The Family You Long For." She reminded us that we are called to live like Jesus, who came "not to be served, but to serve," and by taking this posture into our familial relationships, we can present a redemptive vision of families to the world.

THE PEACE YOU LONG FOR: This Sunday we continued our journey through the book of Colossians with "The Peace You Long For" from guest Pastor Ralph Castillo, who implored us to let Jesus and the peace only He can provide reign supremely in our hearts.

This past Sunday, Pastor Ashley continued our Colossians series with "The Transformation You Long For." When Paul wrote his letter to the church at Colossae, he urged them to stay true to the Christian story, which starts with a funeral and ends with a wedding. The path to true transformation only comes through death, resurrection, and return.

This past Sunday, Pastor Suzy continued our Colossians series by preaching about the freedom we long for. Culture tells us that freedom is found in expressing ourselves and satisfying our cravings, but the scriptures reveal living this way actually enslaves us to addiction and sin. Instead, freedom can only be found in Jesus by accepting His death for our sins and receiving a new Spirit that will allow us to walk in true freedom in His love.

This past Sunday, Pastor Phil Manginelli from The Square Church in Atlanta continued our Colossians series with "The Victory You Long For." There is an inevitable human ache within all of us for victory. When victory is pending, we have to figure out which voice we're going to trust and whose call we're going to respond to. Victory is in Jesus's essence, and He's the only one who can get us through sin and death.

THE STABILITY YOU LONG FOR - This Sunday, Pastor Suzy continued our Summer series on Colossians by preaching about "The Stability You Long For." Often, we look for stability in a multitude of places so that we can feel free and self-actualized. In reality, we only find true security in the person and promise of Jesus Christ, our hope of glory.

This past Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our Colossians series with "The Maturity You Long For." He addressed the tragedy of rampant immaturity in the culture and the church, and revealed that God wants to show us a better way by developing spiritual maturity.

This Sunday, we continued our summer series on Colossians with "The Holiness You Long For." Pastor Jon broke down last week's meta-level teaching on our beautiful salvation with a more practical understanding of what salvation means for us in our culture today.

This Sunday, Pastor Olivia continued our summer series on Colossians by preaching about "The Savior You Long For." She dove into the importance of knowing who Jesus really is and having an accurate theology of Him so that we can have a true understanding of the Gospel message.

This Sunday we heard from guest Pastor Ralph Castillo, who admonished us to root God's power in our hearts through patience, long-suffering, and joy as we continue our series in Colossians with "The Power You Long For." If we earnestly seek His power, we can praise the Lord in the midst of any trial, because we will be able to see His fruit in our lives; His kingdom, our redemption, and the forgiveness of all our sins.

This past Sunday, Pastor Jon continued our Summer sermon series on Colossians with "The Good News You Long For." The gospel of Jesus still holds power in our time because it's a message that explains our current reality and condition and transforms our lives, addressing profound questions about the world and ourselves. We as the church are called to build an authentic community of love that bears good fruit and sees the story of Jesus spread throughout the world.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon kicked off our Summer sermon series called "The Life You Long For". Pastor Jon set up the context of the book of Colossians and revealed that Paul wrote it with the purpose of reminding and encouraging the church at Colossae that they need to be faithful to Jesus above all else, because He is the only one who can bring true freedom, maturity, and community.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon closed out our Unexpected Jesus Series by teaching on the unexpected change we can experience when we encounter Jesus. By laying down the pursuit of external righteousness, and instead going to Jesus with a broken spirit and contrite heart, the grace of God can render deep, noticeable change in our hearts and our lives.

This Sunday, Pastor Ashley took an in depth look of Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well, and revealed how His example of unexpected inclusion led to intimate revelation of the gospel and widespread revival.