New Life Downtown

What do we do with the reality of sin? With the pitfalls of behavioristic moralism on one side and a grace that makes no claims on us on the other, Pastor Glenn Packiam helps us see see sin as disordered desire which ends us distorting the object of that desire. For St. John, the "world" is not the created cosmos but the systems and structures of a life organized apart from and against God. To make this the object of our ultimate desire is to settle for the lesser joy-- the love of the Father.

Pastor Glenn Packiam begins a new series on 1 John, helping us see what it means to live in the light. We fear that being in the light means being exposed. But John understood that the Lord is our Light and our salvation, and therefore we have nothing to fear. Confession, then, is not an occasion for shame; it is an opportunity for God's light to flood our lives.

In our fast-pace world where busyness is a badge of importance, we rarely ever truly stop. Yet the sabbath is, at its core, a call to cease from labor. Pastor Glenn Packiam explains how the sabbath is rooted in both creation and salvation. We explore rhythmic and organic ways of entering into God's rest, recognizing that God is with us in both green pastures and in dark valleys.

Have we become so used to the noise and the pace that we find it hard to sit alone with our thoughts? While not all busyness is a sign of unhealthy, many times busyness can mask a deeper brokenness that God wants to heal. Drawing from the story of Jacob, Pastor Glenn Packiam helps us see what it means to come face to face with ourselves and with the God who gives us a new name.

Pastor Evan Reedall shares about the church becoming the light...and the fact that it requires our darkness to be exposed and us to become visible (Ephesians 5). Through personal story and biblical insight, Evan delves into the tension between darkness and light, fear and hope. As we learn to trust in God's work and way, our response is to not just learn to trust, but to learn to be trustworthy.

Probably the most difficult 'question' that is asked - why would a loving God allow such suffering and tragedy in the world. Dr. Steven Todd talks about the 'problem' of calling it the 'problem of evil.' This "problem" language often propels us to try to find a 'solution' when the Scriptures seem to answer the 'who' and not always the 'why' of suffering. "To Whom else can I go?" Peter asked Jesus. The "Who" is a loving God committed to being with us before, during, and after difficulty and suffering.

In this 'Family Sunday'

sermon, Pastor Glenn Packiam

responds to questions on how to

know what issues to 'agree to

disagree' on in order to

preserve Christian unity, what it

means when we say the New Life is

a charismatic church and where the

gifts can be in operation, and how

parents can share the gospel with

their children.

Pastor Glenn Packiam responds to

specific questions emailed from

the congregation. This week he

discusses going to two services,

suffering and the book of Job,

healing and the 'now but not yet',

and homosexuality.

What is the goal of the Christian life? We are tempted to say, 'Becoming like Jesus'; but that is a result, not a goal. The goal, as Pastor Glenn Packiam points out, is abiding in Christ. But what does that look like? With the help of a panel of seven people in different seasons of life, we explore spiritual practices that function like 'roots' or 'trellises' for abiding in Christ. These spiritual practices are discerned, not decided, and become our own 'rule of life', a way of inviting God into our everything.

It seems to be ubiquitous: everyone cares about justice and global engagement. But what fuels our work for the good of the world? Is it human dignity? A focus on results? In the third and final part of this series, Pastor Glenn Packiam explores the central Table narrative in Luke's Gospel- the Passover- to show both a model for how and a motivation for why we 'prepare a Table' for Jesus in the world.