Church of the City New York

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.

Pastor Suzy Silk discusses Jesus's call for repentance in Matthew 23, highlighting the Pharisees' hypocrisy. Jesus offers mercy and urges genuine transformation, emphasizing the importance of repentance and inner change to avoid repeating historical mistakes.

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.

Suzy Silk, an expert in religious studies and activism, discusses Jesus' critique of false religion, exploring broken promises and the importance of commitment in personal, political, and religious contexts. She emphasizes honesty, reliability, and the significance of promise-keeping to build trust and stability in relationships. The podcast reflects on confession, repentance, and healing, highlighting Jesus's restoration of individuals who have broken serious promises and the need for healing within the church.

Pastor Jon Tyson discusses toxic evangelism and converting people into children of hell. He challenges listeners to bring the gospel without coercion, emphasizing Jesus drawing people to himself. The podcast explores psychological aspects of conversion, challenges of Christianity, and navigating cultural differences in the Bible.

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 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.