Redemption Hill Church

After Jesus identified Himself as the Light of the World, who will draw all people to Himself, we see the One who created and sustains all things get down to His knees to wash His own disciples’ feet. All the way through John’s Gospel we have seen different aspects of who Jesus is, like facets of a prism. This passage shows the glory, beauty, and brilliance of Jesus as both Lord of all and Servant of all.

Chapter 13 takes a turn to the passion of Jesus, taking us into the upper room on Thursday evening as Jesus and the disciples celebrated Passover together. Before we turn to that part of the Gospel, though, we see Jesus cry out. These few verses seem to give a summary of all that has come up to this point in John's Gospel. The world we live in is dark. It is confusing, impossible to navigate, and we stumble our way through most of our lives. Jesus is the hope we have to bring light to the darkness, clarity to the murkiness, and hope to the hopelessness. 

This Sunday we continue our series with John 12:27-43. This passage will help us take a long look at glory. There is a stark difference in the glory of humanity and the glory of God. We will explore our own tendencies and desires, and what kind of glory our lives reflect. We will also see that the glory of Jesus is in the cross, which turns the world upside down.

This Sunday we continue our series with John 12:12-26. The Triumphal Entry is typically held for Palm Sunday in the spring time. Does that mean we hit the wrong equinox? No! The rest of the Gospel of John focuses on the last week Jesus spent in Jerusalem leading to His death and resurrection. John was there for it all. He was the only one of the disciples that was present all the way through the crucifixion. This last week had clearly left a major impression on him, and we will see details that none of the other Gospels include. That all beings with the Triumphal Entry. 

We are so excited to get back into the Gospel of John together this Sunday. We left off at the very beginning of May in chapter 11. Many see chapter 12 as a turning point in John’s portrait of Jesus.

This Sunday we will dig into John 12:1-11. Jesus had just raised his friend Lazarus after he had been dead for four days. We will take a look together at the reactions of the people around Jesus in the aftermath of that incredible miracle. People’s hearts are exposed in the presence of Jesus. In some we see examples of loving devotion, while others show their own selfishness.

This Sunday, Pastor Rich will preach from Psalm 11:7. There is no doubt that God want us to see him. It is part of who He is. He wants to be known and He wants us to recognize that we are known by Him. This is why he looks for those who rightly worship Him. Yet, we often find reasons to disqualify ourselves from being seen by God. This sermon will help us identify the barriers in our lives that keep us from intimacy with God. This sermon will help us realize that seeing God’s face requires seeking and growing in intimacy with Him. Ultimately, this sermon will help us see that in Christ, we can indeed stand before God, with unveiled faces, knowing that we are seen and loved for who we are.

Last Sunday, Pastor Bill talked about his hopes for the church as we look ahead. Our church is heading into a new season together. Now that we are over a decade into this work, Redemption Hill is not a church plant, we are a church. Even more, Redemption Hill has had the privilege of investing into other church plants and planting efforts. Coming through a few difficult and tumultuous years together has shaped everyone of us, and our church as well. On Sunday we returned to a text that has been very familiar through the planting and establishment of Redemption Hill Church, Jeremiah 29:4-14. We saw what God's people are called to in whatever place they find themselves.

This Sunday we will continue our Roots & Fruit series as we look at what it means to do the Lord's work in the Lord's way. We talk a lot about church as a family and a community. There is more to being a church, though. We are called by God to be His people, carrying the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ into this world, empowered and led by the Spirit to good witness and work. Way too often, though, serving in a church can start to lose its lustre and feel like a grind, or we feel the draw to sit back and enjoy without much personal cost. Jesus is building His Church, and we get to join Him. Let's make sure we do it His way.

Jon Parks is a Pastor of Village Church East Belfast. Pastor Jon was involved from the very beginning of the plant, though not as its pastor. His brother Lucas was the planting pastor. Over time, though, God called Jon into pastoral ministry and the church affirmed his gifts and qualification for that ministry role. In summer 2020, Lucas moved away from Belfast and took a new role in a different church. Pastor Jon has continued as a key leader and pastor for Village. Redemption Hill has supported the work in Belfast for over a decade through financial support and many other ways that we have partnered together. 

It is difficult not to be consumed by ideologies and perspectives that surround us, allowing other thoughts to take precedence over the gospel in our lives. DC is our culture’s Athens, where people “spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21). 90 minutes of church per Sunday, on its own, is not going to reshape our lives. And yet, the church is essential to shaping our spiritual lives and perspectives. 

Pastor Jon will help us see the importance of prioritizing our local church. He will highlight the difference between empty moralism and gospel transformation, setting a vision for the importance of our local church in helping us to keep Christ at the center as we stumble toward maturity together. In some ways, this sermon will serve as a capstone for all that precedes it in this series, emphasizing the rhythms of worship, community, and mission that are all centered on, shaped by, and driven by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Redemption Hill is committed to intentionally equip members of the church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to do the work of ministry. Redemption Hill equips and resources members to pursue their passions and gifts as they join Jesus on His mission in our city. Ministry at Redemption Hill is deeply contextualized and reliant on the Holy Spirit to wake up sleepy Christians, save nominal Christians, and reach lost people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In this sermon, Pastor Eric will emphasize the priesthood of all believers from Ephesians 4:11-16. Read over the passage this weekend and pray for Eric as he continues to prepare to preach.