When People ask me why I moved to NYC I always want to share the story of hearing a sermon by Tim Keller while spending a summer in Africa in 2004. Although I don't remember the sermon I do remember him saying something to the effect that if 1% of ministering christians moved to the city our world would be greatly impacted for Christ. I decided then I wanted to move to the city and 4 years later I did just that!
Not only did I move to NYC to attend Tim Keller's church, but I was able to move here with a job at his church, Redeemer. I really could not have imagined where the Lord would take me or that I would end up being the Children's Director at one of the most influential churches in the world, but He wrote this story and here I've been.
Redeemer is not a perfect church by any means, but it is a church that the Lord has used to influence this city in more ways than anyone could ever have imagined. The Lord chose Tim Keller to be the one who would lead this congregation and to impact thousands (probably more like millions) with the Gospel.
This year Redeemer celebrated it's 25th anniversary and as I sat through different celebration programs I was reminded how incredibly blessed I am to have been a part of this church and under the leadership of Tim Keller for the past 6 years.
Redeemer is such a unique church on so many levels. It is reaching a cultural that is completely secular and has learned how to take the same Gospel message and contextualize it for a city that really is like nowhere else in this world.
The Lord has done great things since this church first started and I know the Lord will only take TK's vision and passion for this city to continue prayerfully to great things. You can't help but be excited when you here TK lay out his vision for Manhattan in the coming years.
On Saturday night Redeemer held a Variety Show (think the Tonight Show) hosted by Martin Bashir. The show held different elements but I think my favorite was watching 2 of my co-workers play Tim and Kathy (for all you CO peeps that is Josh Simmons as TK:-)) They nailed it!
They also held a trivia game for the all the Community Group Directors to compete in. I think this was my favorite category...
As I think about leaving NYC I will also be thankful for my time here at Redeemer. I've learned about grace on a whole new level thanks to TK's teaching and know that my life has been forever changed because of these years.
Excited to see what the Lord has in the next 25 years for Redeemer...
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