Forefront Podcast

THIS FEELING’S GOT ME LIKE | ”Mental Illness”

Erasing the stigma of mental illness Covid has highlighted an unspoken struggle for millions of us. We're not doing well and don't know how to find healing. We suffer silently and are afraid to talk about mental illness in the church. We believe that we're not holy enough, godly enough. That's a lie! In this sermon, Jonathan Williams explains how our struggles with mental challenges can actually shape the kin-dom of god. This is the third sermon in our “This Feeling's Got Me Like...” series.

Forefront Conversations with Char Adams

"Make no mistake about it: evangelicalism is white supremacy disguised as religion." That quote comes from Renita J. Weems, just one of the three Black women biblical scholars whose work Char Adams digs into for her thesis, "If It Wasn’t for the Women: An Exploration of Works by Renita Weems, Wil Gafney, & Kelly Brown Douglas." These three women are disparate but prominent Womanist voices whose work analyzing and interpreting the Bible have informed the experience of Black women in history with a specific eye on the writing and canonization of books in the Bible have perpetuated white supremacy, misogyny, and trans and homophobia. This interview demands that we confront how there were very harmful and demeaning factors that led to the Bible's creation, but also offers hope for how decolonizing the allegedly infallible text can open us up to the truly revolutionary example of Christ on the road to embracing and elevating Black women. ABOUT CHAR Char Adams is a journalist currently living in Texas working for NBCBLK. The thesis was written as part of her Master's Degree for The Graduate Center of CUNY and can be read in full at the following link: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3726/ More of her work for NBCBLK can be found here: https://linktr.ee/CharAdams

THIS FEELING’S GOT ME LIKE | ”Anger”

How anger is a gift and a gateway to positive change. We’ve been taught that the Christian response to anger is to minimize it, but it’s actually *not* Biblical to deny our feelings of anger. In this sermon, Jonathan Williams shows us that our anger is not a spiritual weakness or failure, but rather something we can employ to help create positive change. This is the second sermon in our “This Feeling's Got Me Like...” series.

THIS FEELING’S GOT ME LIKE | ”The Practice of Receiving”

These days we're all about optimization, self-hacking, and efficiency. We feel enslaved to our to-do lists. How do we resist some of these values? In this sermon, Sarah Ngu examines the value of productivity in our workaholic society. It all began with industrial capitalism, which led to the “machinization” of the human body. But the Christian tradition starts from a very different place. Our faith begins from the premise that human beings are not machines created for labor, but that we are created to receive. This is the first sermon in our Lenten series: “This Feeling's Got Me Like...".

BE | Comparison is Conformity

What will you do with what God has entrusted you? Jonathan Williams looks at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus tells his audience that they do not have to compare themselves to others because they are already righteous, they’re already loved, and they’re already children of God. What are you planning to do with what God has entrusted to you as God’s unique, adopted, and favored child? This is the sixth and final sermon in our “BE” series.

Forefront Conversations with Singled Out Co-Leaders

Valentine's Day is just a few days away and many people won't have a partner with whom to celebrate it. And you know what? That's okay! In fact, that's more than okay. Despite what society and even the Church may imply, being single does not and should not mean that you're on the path to finding someone to complete you. This is one of the many points that Brittany Kahn and Kim Owens, the co-leaders of the Singled Out small group, hope to convey to the people who sign up and attend. This interview doesn't just cover how they both arrived at the point to form the group and what to expect if you attend, but also examines how the Bible has been used as a club by oppressive forces to idolize the nuclear family, to stigmatize people who choose to be single, and shame people who do not adhere to a heteronormative and celibate worldview. For more information about Singled Out, be sure to visit forefrontnyc.com/groups. They meet virtually every Tuesday night. If you wish to get in touch with the leaders directly, you can use the following emails: Brittany Kahn - bkahn818@gmail.com Kim Owens - kimberly@forefrontnyc.com

Forefront Conversations with Jana Bennett

1 Corinthians 7:34 says "An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit." For many people -- women, especially -- Paul's words on the virtue of his own singleness may be the only answer they're given to the question of "what value is there in being single?" For far too long, the American church has perpetuated the idea that being single is only noteworthy because it means that one is on the path to being married, further cementing the hurtful stigma that being single means lack of fulfillment. Jana Bennett had heard enough of this, so she wrote the book "Singleness and the Church: A New Theology of the Single Life" with the purpose of changing the conversation around the value that being single can have as individuals and as church members even if they're not emulating Paul and devoting their body and soul to mission work (because, honestly, who is?). Steering the conversation are Brittany Kahn and Kim Owens, the co-leaders of Forefront's Singled Out small group. ABOUT JANA Jana Marguerite Bennett is the Chair of Department of Religious Studies at the University of Dayton a mortal theologian, and in addition to writing about singleness, has also written about technology and the use of technology ("Aquinas on the Web? Doing Theology in an Internet Age"). She also gives public lectures on marriage and sexuality, Christian asceticism, technology use, war and peace, and environmental care and is the Co-Editor of the Journal of Disability and Religion. For more information on Singled Out, visit https://forefrontnyc.churchcenter.com/groups/small-groups/singled-out

BE | ”Intentional Life”

“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Sarah Ngu, Makenzie Gomez, and Jonathan Williams discuss how to interpret this passage for today. The "narrow road" that Jesus talks about is not about orthodoxy -- believing and doing the right things. Instead, it's about living with intentionality and purpose, and embracing the process and not just the destination. This is the fifth sermon in our “BE” series.

BE | ”Courageous Compassion”

"Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect" is one of the most misinterpreted and damaging scriptures in our bible. How do we redeem the idea of perfection? Jonathan Williams explores how striving for perfection has been incorporated into Christianity and reminds us that the real measure of worthiness is not perfection, it’s courage to be compassionate and justice minded towards others. God’s perfection is the simple practice of being courageous, compassionate, and creating connection. This is the fourth sermon in our “BE” series.

BE | ”Restorative Judgment”

Jonathan Williams asks the question - is judgment always bad? Jonathan examines Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and the context in which Jesus judges others. He reminds us that God’s judgment is restorative justice in action. God’s judgment always believes the best in others. And so we believe the best in others because that’s how God sees the other. This is the third sermon in our “Be” series.