Posted on September 22, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

New York Trip: Part IV

I guess you can only appreciate Times Square (above) when you’re actually there. I think I’ve seen a hundred pictures or clips of the area but it’s quite something to see all the lit up advertising. So, yes, we were in Times Square this weekend, but let me back track a bit first…

On Friday we spent time hearing about some of the ministries at Redeemer, particularly their mercy ministry initiatives through Hope for New York and then also about their faith and work department at the church.

Their approach to mercy ministry was really fascinating. Basically they don’t run any mercy ministries directly out of the church but rather work, in partnership with a handful of other churches, to resource and provide volunteer help to the various affiliated faith-based organisations around the city. Definitely a concept  worth exploring in Cape Town. The faith and work department was something that really resonated with both Robin and I as its probably the area in which we’re weakest in the evangelical church in South Africa – at least as far as we’ve experienced. Redeemer is committed to demonstrating that the gospel makes a difference to work in this life, this side of heaven. And so they invest a lot in helping professionals work out what it means to use their work in a gospel-centered way (and, shock and horror, that means a whole lot more than trying to track-bomb evangelise your colleagues). We desperately need to learn from them in this area.

On Friday evening we headed up to Times Square and had supper at a little Brazillian restaurant to celebrate the birthday of one of our fellow intensive church planters. Saturday morning I watched Arsenal beat the stuffing out of Wigan (streamed on my laptop) and then we headed on the ferry to Staten Island – got to see the Statue of Liberty but not a whole lot else (there isn’t a ton of stuff happening on Staten Island). On the walk back from the ferry launch we walked through the financial district and saw Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange. We also saw the giant hole in the ground where the World Trade Center stood – they’re busy preparing to build a new tower there.

Sunday we attended two Redeemer services in the morning hearing Tim Keller and John Lin preach respectively. We then attended Trinity Grace Church in the evening and heard Jon Tyson (an exiled Aussie) preach.

Today we debriefed those three services and got to talk with Jon Tyson and John Lin about their stories and approaches to ministry and preaching.

Things are seriously pacing along – can’t believe we’ve been here for over two weeks already. But we’re doing great and enjoying it more and more. We miss all you Saffa’s – New York is amazing, but it still hasn’t got a patch on Cape Town!