Church of the City New York

This week, Pastor Raegan continued our FOLLOW series by teaching from Jesus' temptation in the wilderness in Matt. 4:1–11. If apprenticeship to Jesus means learning His way of life, then it also means learning how to resist what pulls us away from Him. Looking at Jesus' three temptations in the wilderness, Pastor Raegan explored the ways the enemy still works today—drawing us toward comfort over dependence on God, cynicism over trust, and God's gifts apart from God Himself. At the heart of the message was the question, What is your ultimate prize? If anything other than intimacy with God becomes our highest pursuit, temptation will always have something to offer us. But when God Himself is the prize, even the wilderness can become a place where our faith is refined and our love for Him grows deeper.

This week, Pastor Keithen opened our FOLLOW series with a question that kicks off the heart of the series, "Is it possible to be a Christian and not a disciple of Jesus?"

Teaching from Matthew 4:18–22, he argued that discipleship is not simply about believing Jesus' teaching but apprenticing under His way of life. Looking at Jesus' first call of the fishermen, Pastor Keithen showed that Jesus' invitation comes before anyone has proven themselves, calling ordinary people into a life of presence, formation, and mission. In a culture where "follow" has become little more than a social media gesture, he recovered its original meaning: to walk closely with Jesus until His life becomes evident in our own.

This Sunday, Pastor Sam Gibson concluded our FREED series with a teaching on freedom from spiritual oppression. Teaching from Colossians 1 and 2, he argued that how we understand spiritual warfare depends on how we understand the Gospel. The Gospel is not only the message that our sins can be forgiven. It is also the announcement that Jesus is King. The powers of darkness have been defeated, His kingdom has arrived, and believers now live under His authority.

In the teaching, Pastor Sam offered practical guidance for navigating spiritual opposition. One of the enemy's great aims is to steal our song—our wonder, our confidence, our worship. Yet throughout Scripture, God's people continue singing in prisons, in exile, and in suffering. Their songs are acts of remembrance, resistance, and hope, and we can live with that same posture today.

This week, guest teacher Luke LeFevre continued our FREED series with a sermon on fear, exploring how fear can quietly lead us into self-preservation rather than faithful stewardship. Drawing from Matthew 25, Luke unpacked Jesus' parable of the talents, challenged the comparison that keeps many of us from embracing our God-given assignment, and called us to live with an eternal perspective. The invitation was simple but costly: freedom from fear is not waiting until fear disappears, but choosing to trust and obey Jesus anyway.

This week, Pastor Tim Brown continued our FREED series with a sermon on unforgiveness—what he called one of the most ignored sources of bondage in the Church today. Drawing from Matthew 18, Pastor Tim explored why forgiveness is so difficult, how bitterness quietly takes root in our lives, and why Jesus speaks about forgiveness with such urgency. Through the parable of the unforgiving servant, he showed that forgiveness is not minimizing an offense, but absorbing the debt, humanizing the offender, and releasing them. The invitation of Jesus is clear: unforgiveness imprisons us, but forgiveness opens the door to freedom.