New Life Downtown

Acts 6 seems to be about the ordinary matters of administration. But in this story we find a remarkable picture of how servant leaders arise and are established. We also see how the apostles became "fathers" in the Church instead of business managers because they devoted themselves to prayer and the Word of God. With a little "Biblical imagination", Pastor Glenn Packiam helps us see a parallel mes...

Most of us have come to understand that worship is much more than what happens on a Sunday morning. But in the midst of making "everything worship", we've lost a sense of why corporate worship matters. Pastor Glenn Packiam unpacks the three "stanzas" of Psalm 95 as we explore why- and how- we gather together for worship each week.

Acts 5 shows the young church facing trouble from within and opposition from without. Yet in the midst of it, God gives them signs of His continuing work. As we enter the story, Pastor Glenn challenges us to think how we may be tempted to, like Ananias and Sapphire, undermine the honesty and trust within the community of God's people, or, like, the Saduccees, cling to control and miss God's work....

Pastor Glenn Packiam explores the fledgling Church's first brush with opposition. Examining Acts 4, we see just how subversive the announcement that there is no other name but the name of Jesus is to the power-brokers of this world.

What does it mean to speak in the name of Jesus? As we explore the story of Peter and John brining dignity and wholeness to man who had been an outcast since birth, we discover that prayer gives us eyes to see the world, to truly see the ones that pain keeps in a prison. Then, taking a closer look at how we pray for healing, Pastor Glenn Packiam invites us to embrace the tension of living in a Kin...

The followers of Jesus have received the Holy Spirit- God's empowering presence- and have heard Peter proclaim Jesus as both the "Sovereign One" (LORD) and "Saving One" (Messiah). Now we want to know if there is more to being the Church than presence and proclamation. In this sermon, Pastor Glenn Packiam examines four core strands of the Church's DNA: the Apostles' Doctrine, Fellowship, the Breaki...

Part of being a follower of Jesus means proclaiming Him to the world. But what exactly are we to say about Him? We often hear people talk about Jesus as their "personal Lord and Savior," but the sermons in Acts don't talk about Jesus that way. They say something much larger- and much more confrontational- than that. In Part 3 of this series on the Book of Acts, Pastor Glenn Packiam takes a closer...

Continuing our series through the Book of Acts, Pastor Glenn Packiam explores the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the first followers of Jesus. Luke describes the Holy Spirit in a disruptive and untamable way, difficult to dismiss and resistant to our desire for formulas. And yet, what happened at Pentecost was not a private ?ecstatic experience? but rather God?s empowering presence giving the e...

The Book of Acts is exactly what we need to explore as we wrestle with the questions of "Why Church"? and "What is Church?" After all, this collective of stories are formed in a narrative with the likely intent of helping the early congregations remember their story. Pastor Glenn Packiam begins our series in the Book of Acts by exploring what it means to wait. Waiting is what forms us as the peopl...

What does it mean to live like Jesus has risen? Does it mean our evacuation plan has been secured and so we just wait it out? Or does it mean that we try to take the world by force? Or is there a different way altogether to see Jesus? resurrection? A careful look at the way the first followers of Jesus saw Jesus? resurrection shows that they saw it as a sign that the rightful King has taken His pl...

On Easter Sunday, Pastor Glenn Packiam gives the inaugural message at new life DOWNTOWN, calling Jesus' resurrection the "most explosive thing there is." We explore the lives of three people in John's gospel-- Mary the Outsider, Thomas the Wounded, and Peter the Failure-- as they experience what the risen Christ does to the "dead ends" in their own stories.

Pastor Glenn Packiam continues the ?Legends & Misfits? series with a look at the young King David in 2 Samuel 6 compared to an older King David in 2 Samuel 11. What is it that changes us from being free and open-handed to being controlling and closed-handed? The truth is, the tighter we grasp, the less we have and the smaller our world becomes. Discover how grateful worship can open us up once...

"As part of the 'Legends & Misfits' series, we will be taking the next few weeks to look at aspects of the life of David. In this talk, Pastor Glenn Packiam explores David as the warrior who learns how God works with where he is and who he is. But the most pivotal part of David's victory is the understanding that God wins in a different way, a truth that becomes clear in the life of Jesus, the...

Pastor Glenn continues the Legends and Misfits series with an exploration of the book of Ruth. Ruth is a story about loyalty. It's ultimately about how God remains loyal to us even when we feel like He has turned His back on us. But it is also about how, through our loyalty to others, we can let people know that God has not walked out on them.

Pastor Glenn Packiam continues the "Legends and Misfits" series with an exploration of the key moments in Joshua's and Caleb's stories. As it turns out, we find ourselves in a similar position to Joshua and Caleb. We have been called to redeem and reclaim the land, colonizing earth with the culture of heaven. But we find the world to be "enemy-occupied" territory. How do we follow Christ, bringing...

Is it possible to serve God in the midst of a wicked or "worldly" environment? The story of Joseph says, "Yes." As Pastor Glenn teaches through the Joseph story, he explores questions that resonate with us about how we handle the promises God gives, the temptations we have, the adversity that befalls us, and the influence that we may gain.

This is where our "family story" begins, with Abraham. If Genesis 1-2 is the story of God forming the world, and Genesis 3-11 is the story of the world coming apart, then Genesis 12 is the beginning of God working within his world to rescue and redeem it. Abraham's story culminates in Jesus and opens the way for us to join it now.

Pastor Glenn concludes our series in Luke with a talk from Luke 24 and the ?present tense? sense of Advent. Because Jesus came, we can know with confidence that God comes to us each day. Sometimes God?s presence with us is stunning? as it was with the angels at the empty tomb; sometimes it is hidden? like Jesus with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Yet at all times, we can learn to be attentiv...

Pastor Glenn continues the Luke series with a teaching from Luke 23 on the story of the criminal on the cross. In Luke's Gospel, an ANGEL is the first to ANNOUNCE Jesus as a King whose Kingdom has no end but a CRIMINAL is the first to CONFESS Jesus as a King whose Kingdom has no end. Because Jesus has gone to the lowest of the low, we are never too low and we are never too late to call on Jesus.

Pastor Glenn continues the Luke series with a talk on the "generous widow." What does it mean to give sacrificially? Because the Kingdom requires a whole-hearted response, what we do with our money has less to do with what we've got than with Who's got us.

Pastor Glenn unpacks the parable of the vineyard, revealing Jesus as the culmination of Israel's story. If Jesus is the Lord of the Vineyard and the beginning of the new, true Temple, the only question that remains is if we will humble ourselves before Him.

Pastor Glenn continues the Luke series with a talk from Luke 19 on Jesus coming into Jerusalem. What does it mean to weep over a city, and pray for it's "comprehensive flourishing"? What does it mean to welcome Jesus the King into our own broken lives and allow Him to make us whole again?

Pastor Glenn teaches from Luke 18 where Jesus blesses babies and little children, reminding us that to receive the Kingdom of God, we must lose our pretentions, lower ourselves, and confess our complete dependence on Christ.