Redeemer City to City

Meet Seth Hoffman from New York City : Church planting has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It has challenged me spiritually, physically, emotionally and cognitively in ways I didn’t expect. When I first connected with a CTC coach, I had hit a wall. I was seriously considering calling it quits on the vision we felt God had given us. I’m so glad I didn’t. My coach helped me to unravel some of the knots that had formed over the previous couple of years. Through discussi...on, I began to see God’s hand in the challenges we were facing and to have faith for what God could do in the future. The best part was that there weren’t any strings attached. I was able to be more honest with my coach about personal struggles and doubts than I had been with other pastoral leaders. Since he had also planted churches, he understood. Because of coaching with CTC, our church plant is in a much healthier place. See more

Spiritual development can happen in different ways, and in both collaborative and individual environments. Sometimes, reading offers a unique window of opportunity for development in a more private setting. Recently we partnered with Alastair Sterne to produce his book Rhythms for Life. Coincidentally, it’s being released at a time when many external rhythms have been disrupted since the pandemic began. Rhythms for Life presents a wonderful opportunity to remind ourselves tha...t spiritual rhythms are not something that our situation determines, but something we develop over time. If you have been looking for a resource to support your own spiritual development, we recommend Rhythms for Life. Now available for purchase: https://buff.ly/3jgfopu

As gospel ministers laboring alongside one another, we often view each other as competition and with deep suspicion instead of seeing opportunity to collaborate. Movements can gather momentum quickly because they can partner across denominations and networks, working together for a single greater goal. The sum is very much greater than the parts. When a movement owns a compelling vision that’s bigger than any single church or network could achieve, it compels transdenominational partnership. Quite simply, reaching a city with the gospel doesn’t take just a movement; it takes a collaborative movement. - Neil Powell & John James, Together for the City

Since the recent explosion in Beirut, City Bible Church’s local leaders have been able to serve the community in very significant ways such as: They served in supporting the reconstruction of 28 homes and 4 businesses They were able to distribute over 5,000 fresh meals They delivered 100 food boxes to families in need Paid the tuition for several children... Gave benevolence gifts, paid for minor medical care and replaced possessions that were damaged in the recent blast. Distributed over 100 Bibles (Arabic, English, and French) as well as a couple of thousand tracts (City Bible Church produced a local Arabic version). Join us on Echo as we continue to pray for the leaders on the ground in Beirut. That the Lord would strengthen them, keep them and continue to lead them as they serve the immediate needs of their community.

"Many times, we swing the pendulum too far left or too far right some over-prioritize caring for themselves and end up ignoring the needs of others. Some prioritize caring for others so much that it ends up harming themselves, their family, and their relationships. Some Christians who grew up in a home where it was all about giving themselves away feel uncomfortable talking about self-care. Others light up (perhaps too much) at the thought of self-love. Sadly, Christianity has not navigated this issue well. Regardless of what we think of it, a biblical self-care grounded in the gospel is a necessity for pastors living a life of ministry." Read more from Derrick Puckett here:

For more reflection on the church’s role in protests, listen to Reyn on the Building Beloved Community podcast below:

"Instead of using our large rented facility next to Tokyo Station, we ultimately decided to gather in homes across the city dubbed worship stations. Since the pastor and several musicians live within walking distance of my living room, streaming worship from there removed the need to use public transportation, lowering risk and anxiety. In so many ways, the situation felt similar to the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan. In those days, people stayed in...side and glued to television sets, but the Japanese church led the way in drawing thousands into community by reaching out to neighbors and cooperating together in relief work. This led to unprecedented growth in the church, enabling the City to City network to plant ten churches in Tokyo in less than ten yearsunheard of in unreached Japan. In the midst of that similarly volatile and terrifying situation, none of us knew what to do. By God’s grace and leading, we found ways to meet urgent needs. Grace City Church Tokyo became a distribution center for food, water, and supplies before we knew how to distribute anything. We prayed for a truck, and God provided a truck. We prayed for drivers, and God provided drivers." - Roger W. Lowther, Director of Faith & Art and Director of Music at Grace City Church Tokyo. https://buff.ly/3hrbaub

"Firstly, I invite you not to move on too quickly, but to stay in the moment. To feel hopelessness and weakness of the blizzard. Because, as it turns out, it might be just the thing we leaders need. For years now, most of us have led in situations of change, complexity, and weakness, but not in such overwhelming ways. As one leader described it, this situation is so overwhelming that there is now a new category of pastorthe powerless pastor. Of course, this has always been... true, but it has taken a pandemic to bring it into focus. When I say stay in the moment, I don't mean that you should avoid professional help if you need it. I mean that you should embrace the helplessness and weakness as if it was your friend. A real friend only wants the best for you. This friend can lead us to see what is truth about this world and ourselves that we otherwise could not see." - Roger Bray, Coaching Catalyst for City for City Asia Pacific and Director of Coaching Australia See more

Just two days ago, one of the world's most powerful explosions occurred in Beirut, Lebanon. At least 137 people were killed and 5,000 wounded in a massive explosion that shook Beirut on Tuesday, according to Lebanon's health minister. Hundreds have been reported missing, raising fears that the death toll will rise, the health minister said Wednesday. More than 300,000 people have been displaced from their homes. Authorities declared Beirut a "disaster city" and imposed a tw...o-week state of emergency. Join us as we pray for restoration in Lebanon. For the next week, we will be posting prayer requests for Beirut on our Echo feed (https://buff.ly/3khgTEF) for healing in Beirut. The link is in our bio. We hope you will join us as we continue to pray for the grieving, distressed and injured as well as the local and global responders to this crisis. #prayforlebanon #liftinguponevoice

"The way forward for evangelicalism in the moment is found in the deep biblical principles of Repentance, Responsibility, Restorative Justice, and Reconciliation. To avoid this is to hinder evangelicalism's ability to fully represent the Gospel." - Dr. Efrem Smith

Listen to Trillia Newbell's talk from Gospel & Our Cities entitled Love of Neighbor and the Race-Transcending Gospel. http://bit.ly/RaceTranscendingGospel

As God’s image-bearers, we are all equal. We are equal in dignity and worth, and we are also fallen equally (Rom. 3:23).... Understanding our equality as image-bearers changes everything about our human relationships. Trillia J. Newbell (@trillianewbell) Join us as we continue to pray for racial reconciliation on our Echo app (the link is in our bio). May our identity as image bearers become more and more clear to us as we work out our salvation and learn to love our neighbors as ourselves.