
36.1K
Downloads
670
Episodes
The latest messages, interviews, and updates from Forefront Church based in Brooklyn, NY, but accessible from anywhere. Learn more at www.forefrontnyc.com. Forefront Church is a fully inclusive, affirming-of-everyone-community based on the deeds of Christ not the religion and bureaucracy that followed. Our vision is to build a just and generous expression of the Christian faith. We are more interested in good questions than good answers.
Episodes

Sunday Jan 17, 2021
BE | ”Integrity Matters”
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
Integrity starts with being grounded in yourself. Sarah Ngu reminds us that Jesus sees us as more than the worst decisions we’ve made or things we’ve said. In Jesus’ sermon on the mount, he tells us that words matter and that truth matters. Integrity means not just saying what we really mean, but also realizing when we don’t really mean what we are about to say. This starts with being grounded in ourselves and recognizing when we are not in the right mind to speak honestly. This is the second sermon in our “Be” series.

Sunday Jan 10, 2021
BE | ”Attitudes”
Sunday Jan 10, 2021
Sunday Jan 10, 2021
God is on your side. Jonathan Williams tells us that when Jesus delivered the Beatitudes during his Sermon the Mount, Jesus was saying that God is on your side -- even when you're in the midst of a crappy year and it doesn't feel that way. God doesn't need you to believe in certain principles, policies, or social agendas -- God just needs you to believe that God is on your side. This is the first sermon in our “BE” series.

Sunday Jan 03, 2021
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE | ”Radical Equity”
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Saying yes to new experiences brings about radical equity | Sermon 1/3/21 Jonathan Williams unveils the final of Forefront Brooklyn's new core values: Radical Equity. Same is safe, different is dangerous -- or so the saying goes. We're afraid of new experiences because they take away our control and power, but God's kin-dom only comes when we're able to say "yes" to that which feels different. Our faith should always evolve and feel a bit dangerous, and we can only bring about radical equity when we're willing to say "yes" to that which feels different. This is the fourth sermon in our "Make A Joyful Noise" series.

Sunday Dec 20, 2020
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE | ”Worship Reimagined”
Sunday Dec 20, 2020
Sunday Dec 20, 2020
Believing we're worthy reimagines worship. Jonathan Williams unveils another one of Forefront Brooklyn's new core values: Worship Reimagined. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the first preacher of the New Testament, and by believing she was favored by God, she reimagined worship. Just like Mary, when we truly believe we're already favored by God, we can reimagine worship as well.

Sunday Dec 13, 2020
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE | ”Uncommon Kinship”
Sunday Dec 13, 2020
Sunday Dec 13, 2020
Building a community through uncommon kinship. Sarah Ngu unveils one of Forefront Brooklyn's new core values: uncommon kinship. Common kinship often focuses on taking care of people who are in the center, but what makes kinship uncommon is taking care of people who aren't in the center of their community, and how it's worth having a community that will take a risk to ensure those who aren't typically centered feel loved, valued, and elevated.

Sunday Dec 06, 2020
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE | ”Radical Church”
Sunday Dec 06, 2020
Sunday Dec 06, 2020
Why Forefront Church is as radical as Jesus. In a time when duality and division is at an all time high, Jesus preaches a message about the radical love for all God's children. In the process he pisses everyone off. Perhaps we should do the same? Pastor Jonathan Williams begins our “Make A Joyful Noise” series by sharing how Jesus’s first sermon changed his life and profoundly shaped Forefront.

Sunday Nov 29, 2020
HOW WE GOT HERE | ”Heaven & Hell”
Sunday Nov 29, 2020
Sunday Nov 29, 2020
Why does the concept of heaven and hell play such a powerful role in Christianity? Our beliefs about heaven and hell originate from our inability to make sense of suffering in our present lives. Heaven and hell used to be ways to help us cope with suffering today. But when Christianity became an empire, they morphed into tools to make people suffer today. Do your beliefs about the afterlife help you or prevent you from living your life presently? Sarah Ngu walks us through an enlightening perspective and an emotional story about the limiting effects of living out of fear of hell.

Sunday Nov 22, 2020
HOW WE GOT HERE | ”The Cross”
Sunday Nov 22, 2020
Sunday Nov 22, 2020
The death of Christ on the cross does not change God's mind about us. In this 5th sermon in our "How We Got Here" series, Jonathan Williams reveals a provocative view on the traditional fear of God. We believe that God is upset with us and needed the blood of Jesus to make things right. The good news of the cross is that God is not angry with us at all. The cross isn't so that God changes God's mind about us. The cross happens so that we change our minds about the goodness of God.

Sunday Nov 15, 2020
HOW WE GOT HERE: ”The Bible”
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Rethinking the role of the Bible in our faith. In our fourth sermon in the "How We Got Here" series, Sarah Ngu presents an engaging perspective on the Bible and how we've interpreted scripture over the centuries. Biblical interpretation is not something to be afraid of but that is baked into our tradition. Wherever there is divinity, humanity is mingled in with it. We ourselves are living testaments. In fact, we are living Scripture.

Sunday Nov 08, 2020
HOW WE GOT HERE | ”Communion”
Sunday Nov 08, 2020
Sunday Nov 08, 2020
The incredible meaning of Communion. Jonathan Williams reminds us of the origins, meaning and importance of communion. Communion is especially relevant today, as we fight to bring all people to the table of peace and prosperity. Communion is the reminder that we've never been separate from God, rather we've always been seen as sacred and holy. Communion is used too often to exclude. It's not a dividing line rather a unifying feast that reminds all of us that we're unequivocally qualified to be in the presence of God. Our activist, justice, and continued political work is a beautiful reflection of the communion table. Our work is holy.