New Life Downtown

Sadness is a normal and healthy response to losses of all kind. Yet, we struggle to express our grief, and want to make it simply go away. Drawing from Scripture, sociology, and stories of walking with friends dealing with loss, Pastor Glenn Packiam helps us give voice to our grief and to recognize Jesus weeping with us. In this participatory sermon that includes reflection, psalm-praying, and sing, we begin to see that because Jesus carried our griefs, sorrow will not have the last word.

Jesus experienced a great deal of suffering as he obediently carried out the Father's will and stepped into the brokenness of creation to transform humanity from the inside out. What do the suffering's of Jesus teach us about our own pain in the Father's plan for us as son's and daughters? Pastor Jeremiah draws richly from the Scripture and from his own journey of pain to help us see that nothing is ever wasted in the Father's Kingdom!

We often hear that the church is 'behind the times', but this belies a particular view of progress: that what is now is superior to what was then. Pastor Glenn Packiam examines this claim while sharing his personal journey toward Anglican ordination. We then turn to the words of Jesus, calling us away from our own way and to Himself, the source of true rest. It is from the place of rest- trust in Christ's finished work and in the Spirit's ongoing work? that we can embrace spiritual practices that help us to 'keep company' with Jesus.

How should we think about alcohol or marijuana or other complex issues? The Bible isn't a rulebook or answer manual; but when we stand under it and let the Spirit draw us into the text, we often find that our questions are reframed. Teaching from 1 Corinthians 8, Pastor Glenn Packiam shows how Paul urges us to consider how our actions will affect others. This means paying attention not only to our own motives but to the stories of the people around us. It is Jesus who inextricably connects love for God with love for neighbor. And it is because of Jesus, not because of our correct-ness or our "freedom", that we are "known" by God.

Working from the foundation of the "theology of the body" established in 1 Corinthians 6, chapter 7 helps us to see sex as powerful, marriage as beautiful, and singleness as purposeful. While graciously dealing with questions of premarital sex, divorce, and same-sex attractions, Pastor Glenn Packiam helps us recognize the good gifts that marriage and singleness are. We discover that we need not try to undo the past or postpone obedience to the future. We can trust that God is with us now and that we can serve Him in every season.

Much is made of the fact that Christians have a different sexual ethic, but few understand that this ethic is rooted in a radically different view of the body. Unpacking 1 Corinthians 6, Pastor Glenn Packiam asks, "How are we to live in our bodies? What is the body for? Whose body is it?" We discover that our bodies were made for glory and for intimacy; that, in Christ, our bodies have been reclaimed and redeemed; and that by the Spirit's power we can glorify God in our bodies.

In trying to avoid the harsh judgmental attitude Christians have sometimes been known for, we can over-correct to a version of love that is reluctant to deal with sin. Pastor Glenn Packiam explores an unpopular passage, helping us to see whom, how, and why we are to judge. With God, judgment is not merely punitive; it is restorative; it isn't about paying a person back but turning them back. The goal is to break our self-reliance--which can look like rebellion or religion--and turn us again to Christ. Because of Jesus, the no earthly judgment need be the last word.

Is Christianity the religion of the weak or of the strong? The young church in Corinth seemed to think faith in Christ meant always being at the top of pile, reigning like kings; they had moved beyond the Gospel to a kind of spirituality that worked with their love of success and status. Paul wants them to know that the 'self-made person' and the 'spiritual triumphalist' are both lies, facades for their true god: self. Pastor Glenn Packiam shows the futility of both lines of thought, calling us to cling to Christ alone, whether we are strong or weak, rich or poor, wise or foolish. In the end, it is when we confess our weakness that we find the strength of God?s love.

Beneath the surface of our many interactions and associations, questions persist: "Who am I connected to? What am I part of? Do I matter?" We often think that the Gospel's response to these questions is to silence them, to slap us on the wrist for caring about these things. Pastor Glenn Packiam shows us that Paul wants the young Corinthian church, eager for status and significance, to realize that it is their connection to Christ that matters above all. Leaders are just laborers; Jesus is the foundation. Moreover, the Church is the place where God himself dwells. For all these reasons and more, we realize that the life we are being offered is really better than anything we could earn or create on our own.

Pastor Daniel Grothe continues our series on 1 Corinthians with a look at chapter two. He highlights Paul's 're'definition to the Corinthians of what it is to have the mind of Christ, and encourages us with weakness and humility according to God.