Neighborhood Church of Greenwich Village

What happens when a church loses it will to press on in the face of persecution? It begins to accommodate the world in ways that compromises its witness.

This is one of only two churches in Revelation that received unqualified praise from Jesus. As far as he was concerned, they were a healthy, successful church. He's using a very different metric than we usually do, however, and that's a telling reality.

Is it possible to believe all the right things, even defending them in the face of persecution, yet lose sight of the truth that both the gospel we believe and the Lord we serve call us to not just love Jesus and the truth, but each other? It's possible. It's what happened in Ephesus.

The Book of Revelation starts with a vision of Jesus that is meant to guide our understanding of what he goes on to say to the seven churches he addresses. This sermon provides the needed framework for the series that follows.

When Jesus clothed himself as a slave to wash his disciples feet, when Paul teaches that Christ emptied himself out of love for God and neighbor, we are being told, we are being shown, that we are to live outward focused lives. This is the story that we've brought into. One that removes us as the central figure and places Jesus at the center. He is the hero and we are to embrace the role we've bee...

We might not like it. We might wish he would do it a different way. But God has chosen suffering as a means of purifying our faith. We shouldn't be surprised. It was the path that Jesus walked. And if we are aligned with him, and the purpose God has for us is to be like him, then we can expect that he will lead on a path of suffering.

Several times the Scripture states, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." The vertical nature of humanity's relationship with God is manifest throughout his creation. Authority is granted in particular spheres to be exercised with a servant's heart. Authority is misused and abused, however, when those exercising it neglect the truth that all authority is of God who places it into the...