New Life Fellowship NYC Sermons

The book of Matthew tells the story of a Syrophonecian woman who approached Jesus as he withdrew further into the region of Tyre and Sidon. Jesus appears to put her off, but she continues to plead for Jesus to heal her daughter, responding with “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Jesus was moved by her faith and healed her daughter. Pastor Matt leads us in a message about how this woman pressed in and hung on to Jesus and what it means for our own faith.

We begin a new series entitled, "Encounters with Jesus." Over the next 2 months we will explore various stories from the gospels that highlight the ways Jesus encountered ordinary people and what it means for our lives. In this sermon, Pastor Rich preaches on the amazing grace of Jesus and the amazing faith of a Roman Centurion.

In this Ten Commandments series finale, Pastor Rich preaches on the 10th command, “You shall not covet.” In a world that is marked by discontentment and an endless fascination with more, God’s final command is a path to true freedom and joy.

On this Easter Sunday, Pastor Rich preaches on the good news of Jesus' resurrection. In this passage, Jesus encounters two men who have experienced profound disappointment. The Risen Jesus finds them and helps them to make sense of his life and history as they knew it. If you or someone you know has experienced disappointment, this Easter sermon is for you.

We continue our sermon series through the 10 Commandments. Pastor Rich explores the 8th and 9th commandments together. He explains how these two commands damage community and the ways God calls his people to be marked by stewardship and honesty.

The ministry of reconciliation requires us to reckon with sociological realities and systemic injustices. But the first multicultural church testifies that true reconciliation begin with the power of the Holy Spirit. What does it look like to depend on the Spirit within this nation’s legacies of white supremacy, genocide, and systemic racism?

In Acts 17, Paul challenges the Athenians to take a look at the ways that God is revealing himself in their history, culture, and story. God’s story is intertwined with the stories of his people. God uses history and culture, in surprising ways to reveal his character and his heart.

In this sermon, Pastor Rich preaches on one of the commands that often reminds us of the wounding we have experienced or observed in others. The 7th commandment was given to remind the people of God that their lives were to be marked by fidelity, love, and loyalty. Sadly, the people of God in the story of scripture, and throughout history have often fallen short. Pastor Rich also explores the power of sex, the call to faithfulness, and the ways that God's grace moves towards us when we fail.

For the past 31 years, New Life Fellowship Church has been one of the most multiracial churches in North America. This happened out of an intentional, beneath-the-tip-of-the- iceberg approach to discipleship that deeply informed our approach to race and the gospel. (In fact, the development of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship around the world happened out of the crucible of racial reconciliation.) From the creation of speci c tools (e.g. genogram your family, incarnational listening, clean ghting) to a theology of brokenness and vulnerability and grief and loss, New Life developed speci c theological applications of the gospel to the powers and principalities around race to become a prophetic sign for the world.