New City Presbyterian Church Podcasts

Depending on the culture it’s sitting in, Christianity can either be considered radically liberal or horribly conservative. But Christianity isn’t to the left or to the right. In fact, if it’s true that Christianity doesn’t arise from the human spectrum of thought, but that it comes from above, then it’s natural that it doesn’t fit any particular i…

We’re looking at a subject that’s controversial. I’m going to try to speak as personally out of my own experience as I possibly can. Yet it’s still an area to think carefully. In our series on marriage, we look for the second time at Ephesians 5:22: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is…

God’s Covenant with Noah 20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse[a] the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from…

"God's Lavish Grace" (Ephesians 1:7-14; Bill Conway) © New City Presbyterian Church, 17 September 2023. newcitypresbyterian.church Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All …

Let the Spirit do his work. He convicts us. He tugs at us. He urges us to believe the gospel and surrender our lives to Jesus anew. It is a simple release that costs everything to which we cling, which always turns out to have been nothing that matters. You have been called to be a jewel that adorns the glory of Christ who died and rose to save you…

There are secondary issues over which Christians will disagree and have different convictions. This is not a problem, provided we treat one another with respect and seek to put others ahead of ourselves. This aligns with the EPC distinctive, "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."…

We’re in a series on marriage, and we’ve said the purpose of marriage is friendship and a unique oneness. And we’ve also said there’s a structure in marriage. Ephesians 5 teaches that there’s a mutuality between husband and wife, and yet the commands are not the same to both. They’re equal, but they’re not equivalent. We’ll look now at 1) the conce…

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) What a hopeful verse to cling to; knowing that God is sovereign over every season under heaven and that everything is unfolding in his divine timing. And althou…

Marriage is a cosmic friendship, a spiritual friendship, a friendship with eternal dimensions. Marriage is not romance garnished with friendship. Rather, biblically, marriage is friendship garnished with romance. If you’re going to marry somebody, you should marry someone who is now or has the potential to be your very best friend. But friendship i…

I’m tired of listening to sentimental, slurpy talks on marriage during weddings and in Sunday school and in sermons. They have about as much depth and reality to them as a Hallmark card. The fact is, marriage is many things—in fact, it’s everything except slurpy and sentimental. Marriage is glorious: it’s a burning strength and joy. Marriage is har…

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of t…

The Flood Subsides 8 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. …

"Beggars & Brothers in the Kingdom of God" (Matthew 18:15-35) © New City Presbyterian Church, 10 September 2023. newcitypresbyterian.church Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permiss…

By Gerrit Dawson

Our willingness to unashamedly conform to the moral standards of the Word of God rather than the standards of the world, and to hold one another accountable to these Biblical standards, sets us apart as a different kind of community. This will be compelling to those who are submitted to God, and repelling to those who are not.…

The purpose of marriage is friendship, companionship. Your spouse has to be your best friend, or you don’t have a marriage. I know that’s not traditional, but it’s biblical. We’re in a series looking at marriage: at its power, its definition, its priority, its purpose, its structure, and its mystery. So far, we’ve looked at the power of marriage an…

We hold sorrow in one hand, over life “under the sun,” over the brokenness of our fallen world that’s cursed by sin. But we hold joy in the other hand as we consider our life “above the sun,” made possible through the Son . . . there, we find purpose and meaning and lasting satisfaction.By Jaime Carnaggio

Ephesians 5 is the most detailed and famous of New Testament passages about marriage. It shows us the power, the definition, the priority, the purpose, the structure, and the mystery of marriage. In this series, we’ve already looked at the power of marriage, though we’ll talk a little more about it now. Then the next aspect to discuss is the defini…

"Children of Heaven" (Matthew 17:24-18:14) © New City Presbyterian Church, 3 September 2023. newcitypresbyterian.church Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights rese…

Whether you’re single, married, widowed, or divorced, you can immediately apply Scripture’s teachings about marriage to your life. According to the Scripture, marriage is a divine invention. It stands apart from other human institutions because it didn’t evolve out of human thinking. And the basic principles for marriage that are laid out in Ephesi…

We can clearly see that God has called us to unity. He is more concerned about the unity of the Spirit than he is about the unity of our races or even the unity of our politics. There is a unity that the spirit is capable of producing that will bring us together, if we will allow him. We are different and it's NOT a mistake nor is it a curse, it's …

Our witness to the watching world is heavily dependent upon our love for one another and our willingness to humbly serve together.By David Milroy

There are obvious ways Christian hope affects us, like in the way we face death and troubles. But I’d like to show you that Christian hope affects everything, every area of our lives. The biblical understanding of hope is a life-shaping, joyous certainty that your future is the eternal love and glory of God and a new heavens and new earth. And this…

Although life “under the sun” is brief and bleak (nothing new, nothing remembered), life “through the Son” is eternal, joyful, significant and substantial.By Jaime Carnaggio

There are two problems people have with God today: the problem of evil and suffering, and the problem with the exclusiveness of religion. We’re all in the same boat here. Whether you believe in God or you don’t believe in God, you still have these two problems. Because they get at something that really is a problem. But the real question is, are th…

Most of the great world religions share a tremendous amount of ethical common ground. But suddenly, Jesus breaks through all the conventional principles of morality—he soars into the stratosphere and puts forth the most radical love ethic anyone has ever seriously presented. On the one hand, when we hear it, we feel we’re in the presence of somethi…

The message of the Gospel will only be recognized as true and powerful to those who are called. Therefore we should not be ashamed if people reject it, nor should we try to adapt it to the times in which we live to make it more appealing.By David Milroy

Increasing Corruption on Earth 6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in[a] man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Ne…

"Getting Jesus" (Matthew 16:24-17:23) © New City Presbyterian Church, 27 August 2023. newcitypresbyterian.church Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. T…

Because Christ makes himself present to us, we must be immersed in His presence. And in turn follow his example of incarnational ministry. Jesus demonstrates that physical presence matters. His is an incarnational ministry and so should ours be. What good would it be to ship money, water, food packets, and Bibles if there’s no one on the ground to …

As we look at the hard sayings of Jesus, we see in this passage that Jesus gives us a radical principle of truthfulness. The whole Bible is built on covenants, public promises, observed words. So what does Jesus mean when he says to let your “yes” be “yes”? He can’t mean you can’t take oaths. What he does mean is actually something almost the oppos…

We’re looking at the most strange, enigmatic, perplexing things Jesus ever said. This is one of them. People always blink a bit when they read it. But here, Jesus is actually teaching us about power to change. He’s telling us something extremely practical. Even though it’s an enigmatic passage, Jesus is basically saying three things: 1) There are m…

In this interview from November 2019, Rebecca McLaughlin talks about some of the inspiration for writing her book Confronting Christianity and some of the insight she's gained in her life that led her to address the hardest questions that Christians face today. As she talks about her experiences, you will learn how and why she believes that Christi…

When Jesus is asked by his disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray,” he tells them a story and puts forth an approach that runs against common sense and against what other religions say about prayer. In the story, a man who’s in bed at midnight gives bread to another man who’s knocking and asking. Jesus says the man gives the bread not because the other…

Adam’s Descendants to Noah 5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man[a] when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The da…

"The 'Who & Why' Gospel of Jesus" (Matthew 16:13-23) © New City Presbyterian Church, 20 August 2023. newcitypresbyterian.church Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rig…

Whenever someone asks if I believe in predestination or freewill, my answer is always “Yes!” One supports the other. And if this seems hard to understand, my counsel is very simple. This is a word that can be spoken to every person in the entire world. The message of the gospel: Believe in Jesus and discover your chosenness. And if you do believe i…

God has a plan for our church, and for us as individuals, to see many in this city who are His people come to faith in Christ.By David Milroy

Today on Gospel in Life we're sharing a special worship service of praise to God for Tim Keller’s life and ministry. The memorial took place on August 15, 2023 at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. To access the service program or view a video recording of the full service made available thanks to Redeemer City to City, visit gospelinlife.…

If Jesus was a pastor, I don’t think his church would’ve grown very fast. Any leader of a movement wants to make it easy for people to enter. But Jesus acts in a completely different way. People come and say, “I want to join up,” and Jesus says, “Get back. Think.” In Luke 9, Jesus does this because the three men clearly don’t understand what they a…

Sometimes when you read Jesus’ teachings, you feel like you’ve gotten on a horse that’s much too big and much too fast for you. When you read what Jesus says in Luke 12, you have nothing but lightning and blood, but in the center of this teaching is the most wonderful thing a human heart can hear. In this text, we learn two things: we learn about t…

In Matthew 11, Jesus talks about the kingdom of God, and he uses the word “violence.” That’s what the Greek word means. There’s no way around it. The context is Jesus telling us about John the Baptist, who realized the kingdom of heaven is real. Then Jesus says the kingdom of heaven comes with violence. This bothers us. Isn’t this Jesus? Isn’t this…

139 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. …

17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other…