New Life Downtown

In a world where the notion of sin seems archaic and irrelevant, the sacrament of baptism can appear rather strange. Pastor Glenn Packiam unpacks three powerful Biblical metaphors that each shed a particular light on the meaning of baptism as a passing from death to life. Through the process, we come to grips with the power of what it means to be really and truly forgiven of our sins.

For most Christians, it is not a challenge to confess faith in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But to say that we believe in the Church? That seems like a stretch. Pastor Glenn Packiam gives voice to four common objections to the Church, and shows how each word in this sentence of the Creed invites us to confess a different "now but not yet" reality of the Church.

If we had stopped earlier in our series, we may be tempted to think of the Christian faith as an intellectual achievement. But professing faith in the Holy Spirit reminds us that faith is not about becoming better people; it's about sharing in God's life. Pastor Glenn Packiam helps us embrace the Holy Spirit as God's personal and empowering presence in our lives.

If the deep human questions are if there is more to this life, if we have purpose, and if we have hope for the future, then the answers according to the world's unofficial creed is that this life is all there is so live it up, purpose is based on achievement, and the future is either progress or inevitable doom. Yet this stanza of the Nicene Creed offers us the counter-narrative of the Gospel and an alternate way of answering these questions. Pastor Glenn Packiam shows how the resurrection of Jesus means that we get to share in His life, the ascension of Jesus means that we get to share in His mission, and the return of Jesus means that we get to share in His future.

On this family Sunday, Pastor Evan Reedall takes us into what it means that we are made in the image of God. We get to share in his attributes by our creation. Surprisingly, we also have opportunity to share in certain attributes by our fall. For when sin abounds, grace abounds all the more!

As our series on the Nicene Creed continues, we explore the full humanity of Jesus. Pastor Glenn Packiam helps us see what it means to say that because Jesus took on the frailty of our humanity we can become whole. In this most personal section of the Creed, we move from our action of believing to our reception of the miraculous salvation of God.

Our series on the Nicene Creed continues as we begin the first part of learning to confess rightly who Jesus is. Pastor Glenn Packiam unpacks each phrase in this section of the Creed, helping us understand how the early Christians came to believe in the divinity of Christ and why it matters for us.

In this series on the Nicene Creed, Pastor Glenn Packiam helps us see how the Creed is an instrument of unity, an outline of Christian theology, and a guide in uncertainty. This first sermon in the series also lays the groundwork for the rest of the series by distinguishing 'we believe in' from 'I know that'. Then, walking through the first stanza of the Creed phrase by phrase, we come to stand in awe of the 'one God, the Father, the Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen'.

In the conclusion to this brief survey of the Psalms, Pastor Glenn Packiam unpacks Psalm 95 as a hymn which includes both an invitation to praise and reasons for praise. The reasons for praise are clear: God is a great God, and God is our God. Praise has the power to break our habit of self-reliance. But more than that: it is the only way to complete our joy.

A thanksgiving psalm is one that reframes a lament in past tense and fulfills the vow to praise. In this special sermon, Pastor Glenn Packiam interviews Pastor Evan and Karen Reedall about the traumatic birth of their firstborn child and his miraculous road to recovery. Even in weakness, our trust in God opens a door to thanksgiving.