After being nominated by New Covenant Church NYC for eldership, Gary has prepared a personal statement of faith and is questioned on his personal beliefs by a council of six elders. In this second half of the questioning, the Doctrines of Sin, Christ, the Holy Spirit, Salvation, the Church, and the Last Things are examined. Special attention is given to- infant salvation, whether Jesus was technically capable of sin, the relationship between the human and divine natures of Christ, how Christ's sacrifice of one man could cover the sins of a multitude of people, the idea that Christ purchased common grace on the cross, historical cessationism, 'feeling' the Holy Spirit, how to counsel someone in sin - discern whether they are born again, whether one has to forsake sin in order to come to Christ, the relationship between Israel - the Law - old covenant - the Church - new covenant - the Christian, whether deacons can be females, the role of female 'teaching' in the local church, and historical premillennialism.

After being nominated by New Covenant Church NYC for eldership, Gary has prepared a personal statement of faith and is questioned on his personal beliefs by a council of six elders. In this first half of the questioning, the Doctrines of Revelation - Bibliology, God -Theology Proper-, God the Father, and Humanity are examined. Special attention is given to- general - special revelation, the tension between God's impassibility - immutability and His emotions in Scripture, reconciling God's sovereignty with man's responsibility, the origin of sin, the literal 24-hour days in Genesis 1, theistic evolution, the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son, and the Biblical teaching on same-sex attraction. There is also a relatively long discourse on the topic of divorce and remarriage.

After going through Christ's final days of crucifixion, resurrection, descent, and ascension to prove the point that it's better to suffer - if it's God's will - than be disobedient, Peter exhorts his readers to do the same. Peter encourages his readers to take up the same mindset that Christ had in the days of his suffering, a mindset that would rather suffer for obedience than sin and avoid affliction. Peter gives five 'parts' of this armor of the mind of Christ to help combat temptations to disobedience- Christian suffering is evidence of true repentance- past time has been sufficient for sin- being mindful of eternity - final judgment- the hope of resurrection- and the suffering - death of Jesus.

After narrowing escaping the angry mob, Paul and Silas were sent away by the Thessalonian church to Berea. The Thessalonian church's generosity was evidence that the Gospel establishes deep bonds that transcend ethnic barriers and empower sacrificial giving. At Berea, the indefatigable team went to the synagogue to preach- the power of the Word of God had taken hold of Paul that he could not stop. The Bereans searched the Scripture, which are sufficiently clear to allow the listener to evaluate the message. Many of those who examined the Scripture correctly and closely came to saving faith. However, the Jews in Thessalonica, upon finding out the team's new endeavors, came to disrupt their work. Satanic opposition comes when the domains of darkness are threatened by the Gospel. As a result, the team split up - but pioneer missions is a team sport. Paul arrived at Athens and preached the Gospel even in this pagan land filled with idols.

In this passage, our Savior partakes in an ordinary wedding but remains focused on His mission. When told that wine has run out, He replies that His hour has not yet come, signifying that nothing is to distract Him from the mission of the cross. At the same time He is full of grace and kindness and remedies the embarrassing situation. He further corrects the Pharisees' overemphasis and abuse of ritual cleansing. His display of glory is a call to belief.

In the second recorded prophetic vision that Daniel receives, he sees a vision involving a ram, a goat, and their horns. The vision foretells the kingdom of the Medes and Persians overthrowing Babylon, the Persian's defeat by Alexander the Great, the dissolution of the Greek Empire into four kingdoms, and the rise of Antiochus IV Epiphanes with his subsequent persecution of the Jews. The reason why the Jews are persecuted in the vision is because of their sin of apostate idol worship under the reign of the Greeks. God is telling Daniel that His people will sin and He will discipline them harshly, but that the persecution will eventually end. The questions then arise- does God repay Christians in the same way when they sin- Is the Christian's suffering retribution for his sin like it is in Daniel 8, or does God relate differently to the Christian-

In this short devotional we are reminded that Bible reading is as much an art as it is a science, and that the only way to get better is through disciplined, daily reading. We are introduced the concepts of reading for breadth and studying for depth, which are analogous to raking for leaves versus digging for diamonds. Both are necessary- raking is needed to know where to dig, and digging is needed to mine the diamonds.

A new MP3 sermon from New Covenant Church NYC is now available on SermonAudio with the following details:

Title: The Eternally Victorious Son of Man and His Kingdom

Subtitle: Book of Daniel

Speaker: Gary Rosenblatt

Broadcaster: New Covenant Church NYC

Event: Sunday Service

Date: 12/30/2018

Bible: Daniel 7:9-14, Revelation 1:13-15

Length: 50 min.

Overview: In the first sermon on Daniel 7, the identity of the four beasts and their natures were examined - particular attention was given to the fourth beast. To over simplify, the beasts represented historical persons - kingdoms - institutions that oppose God and his people through physical persecution. In this sermon, we focused on the Ancient of Days, the Son of Man, and their kingdom. We looked at the identity of the Ancient of Days, the identity of the Son of Man, and how Jesus' use of the term -son of man- in the gospel accounts was meant to have Daniel 7 shed light on Jesus' person - work.

A new MP3 sermon from New Covenant Church NYC is now available on SermonAudio with the following details:

Title: Jesus Bought the Promises of the New Covenant With His Blood

Subtitle: NCC Communion Service

Speaker: Gary Rosenblatt

Broadcaster: New Covenant Church NYC

Event: Sunday Service

Date: 12/30/2018

Bible: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Luke 22:20

Length: 28 min.

Overview: At the last supper, Jesus says that the cup is meant to represent the new covenant that is made in his blood. We first explore what the old covenant was and why it was ineffective, and then examine the promises of the new covenant which Jesus purchased for believers on the cross. Implications of the fact that Jesus decisively bought the guaranteed promises of the new covenant with his blood ought to cause the Christian to feel utter freedom and joy before the throne of God.

A new MP3 sermon from New Covenant Church NYC is now available on SermonAudio with the following details:

Title: What is the Point of the Incarnation?

Subtitle: Christmas 2018

Speaker: Andy Woodard

Broadcaster: New Covenant Church NYC

Event: Sunday Service

Date: 12/23/2018

Bible: Luke 2:1-21

Length: 29 min.

Overview: We first explore five debates that are not the main point of this narrative- the location of Jesus' birth, the date of His birthday, the identity of the shepherds, the registration and the census, and politics. Rather, in the incarnation we see three themes- glory, fear, and peace. We see glory manifested that breaks our paradigm. This glory struck terror among the shepherds. At the same time the source of that terror is also the source of our peace. Such is the message of Christianity- we see glory that humbles us to the dust and strikes fear because of our sin. But the peace comes through Christ's incarnation and death.