Central Church NYC

Wisdom is revered and coveted. It’s often seen as the byproduct of education, experience, or maybe just a life well lived. But when we seek wisdom in earthly sources, it’s temporary at best and foolish at worst. If you want to embrace a wisdom that will successfully inform your life now and last into eternity, then you don't need to look any farther than Jesus. Listen to this sermon as we consider the true source of wisdom. ________ Sign up for Central’s newsletters here. Visit us on our website to learn more. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

We all have different goals, dreams, ambitions, and desires, but there is one thing everyone seeks: happiness. No matter what paths we choose for ourselves, there is the consistent hope that those paths will bring us happiness. The professor in the book of Ecclesiastes had this same hope, and we have much to learn from his experiment toward this end. Listen to this sermon as we explore the elusive yet good gift of pleasure and consider how to obtain it.  ________ Sign up for Central’s newsletters here. Visit us on our website to learn more. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

To both Christians and non-Christians, life is a baffling enigma. There’s so much about life that we don’t understand. But when it comes to the meaning of life, that’s where Christians differ. The author of the book of Ecclesiastes runs through all different philosophies on the meaning of life to show us that in the end, either nothing matters, or everything matters because of God. Listen to this sermon as we uncover the only source of true meaning, significance, and purpose.  ________ Sign up for Central’s newsletters here. Visit us on our website to learn more. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

Jesus has said that disciples walking with him will be like a city on a hill which cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14). Listen to this sermon as Dr. Jay Harvey explores how Israel’s time in Exile informs the Church’s understanding of what it means to be a new kind of community in Jesus Christ — a city within a city that nurtures those inside it and blesses those outside of it. ________ Sign up for Central’s newsletters here. Visit us on our website to learn more. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

In the beginning of Matthew's gospel, we see Mary fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (God with us)." Matthew explains to his readers that God has always been with his people throughout all of history — in the past, present, and future. Specifically, Matthew shows that all of the Trinity — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit — is Immanuel. Listen to this sermon as pastoral resident Hansol Kang helps us see how God's promise to be with us is the best gift He can give us. ________ Sign up for Central’s newsletters here. Visit us on our website to learn more. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

It certainly counters biblical teaching that once you profess faith in Jesus, it doesn’t matter how you live. Faith is not a license to excuse sin and dismiss it as simply a part of the human condition. The ancient theologian Pelagius knew this, and it drove much of his ideology. But what Pelagius failed to understand was where one finds the power and ability to live a life of obedience to God. Listen to this sermon as we consider how the gospel of grace is the only way to a virtuous life. ________ Sign up for Central’s newsletters here. Visit us on our website to learn more. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

The Bible is clear that Jesus is the Son of God. But many biblical characteristics of Jesus have, throughout history, been analyzed and debated. For the ancient theologian Arius, one of those characteristics was the essence — or the substance — of Jesus. Was Jesus simply the greatest of all created beings, or was he of the same substance as God the Father? Listen to this sermon as we consider how getting the essence of Jesus right doesn’t just settle a theological debate; it revolutionizes our knowledge of God, our worship of God, and even our salvation. ________  Sign up for Central’s newsletters here. Visit us on our website to learn more. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

Christianity is the only world religion with a God who experiences the weakness, temptation, and suffering of humanity. That also means Christianity is the only world religion with a God who has become like us so he can make us like him. So what if, as some have argued in the past, Jesus appeared human but wasn’t actually human? Does it matter whether the baby whose birth we celebrate this month was actually fully God and fully man? Listen to this sermon as we consider how the human incarnation of Jesus was the only means to redemption. ________ Sign up for Central’s newsletters here. Visit us on our website to learn more. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

The Christian doctrine of the incarnation — God taking on human flesh in the person of his Son, Jesus — is a central teaching of the faith. But there has been some debate throughout theological history over whether Jesus was the Son of God by nature, or if, being born a mere human, he was then adopted as God’s Son. While this may seem like a minor distinction, rightly understanding Jesus’ deity and his relationship to God the Father has massive implications for the salvation of the world. Listen to this sermon as we consider how our adoption into God’s family is only possible through the unadopted, eternally divine Jesus. ________ Sign up for Central’s newsletters here. Visit us on our website to learn more. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.