We're excited to welcome Forefront's Deacon Jim Rohner to deliver the message. Jim explores the story of Job. It's not a story that can be broken down into simplistic, easily conveyed morals. Instead, it's a complicated and nuanced look at a culture trying to find meaning amongst uncertainty, which in turn gives us permission to question the easy lessons that have been told we should believe. In fact, the story of Job has great relevance to what we're facing today with so many crises at our doorstep. With an ongoing COVID pandemic, climate change, an economic roller coaster, and social unrest, accepting uncertainty about the future has never been so difficult, especially when powerful forces seek to advance a narrative of certainty that keeps them in power.

Emmy BrettForefront ChurchAugust 22, 2021justice

Disruption and Jonathan Announces His Departure

In this sermon, Jonathan Williams explores how disruption is a place where God is perhaps most present. Disruptions mess with our lives and what we know. They take away our comfort. And worst of all, they make us grow. We hate growing. But these are the times when the divine is really up to something. On theme, Jonathan used this sermon to announce that he is leaving Forefront to pursue new challenges. He is choosing disruption in order to grow and learn.

Jonathan WilliamsForefront ChurchAugust 8, 2021MINISTRY, MISSION, VISION

Why are people opposed to women in ministry?

In this joint sermon with outgoing co-founder of Forefront Church, Jonathan Williams, and new Teaching Pastor, Rev. Venida C. Rodman Jenkins, Jonathan inspires us with the Vision and Mission of Forefront and Venida speaks women in the Church. Why are people so opposed to women leading in ministry when the first preacher of the Gospel was Mary?

Venida Rodman Jenkins, Jonathan WilliamsForefront ChurchJuly 25, 2021WOMAN, MINISTRY, MISSION, VISION

A Fish, A Tax, and a Servant's Heart

In this second sermon of our “What in the…?” series, Joel Field, a “graduate” of our Preaching Bootcamp, tackles one of the strangest scriptures and uncovers how Jesus shows his love through the miracle involving a fish. Joel has been with Forefront for several years and preaching is nothing new to Joel. Originally from Louisville, KY, Joel earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and, later, a master's of divinity from Cincinnati Christian University. Now living in NYC with his husband, Joel runs a boutique financial practice and serves as Chairman of the Board of The Family Center in Brooklyn, NY, which is a social services organization serving disadvantaged families to help keep them together and stronger when they do not have anywhere else to turn. Joel and his husband are hoping to have children and start a family in the near future.

A fresh view on Sodom and Gomorrah

We welcome our second Forefront Guest Speaker, Emmy Brett. Emmy takes us on a fascinating journey into the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah isn't just about fire and brimstone, but about choosing holy resistance against evil and refusing to be a voyeur to systems of oppression.

Forefront ChurchJuly 11, 2021QUEER, SEXUALITY, HOSPITALITY, RESISTANCE, OPPRESSION

Reclaiming Our Bodies

Unlearning Purity Culture and Shame

Venida Rodman Jenkins joins us again as Guest Preacher and closes our "Sex Positive" series. Many of us have been taught that our "flesh is a mess" which can lead to body shaming. Let's unpack this message and more as we seek to reclaim our bodies.

Power of Forgiveness

We're excited to welcome the first Guest Speaker from our "Forefront Preaching Bootcamp". Frank M Espinal, a long time Forefronter, took to the stage and opened our new series "What in the...??" Frank explores the difference between forgiveness and redemption.

Forefront ChurchJune 27, 2021forgiveness

Can you be Pro Choice and still be a Christian?

Unlearning Purity Culture and Shame

Jonathan Williams tackles the church and their role in politicizing women's bodies. We're talking about abortion, which has become a Christian rallying point in the past 30 years. Our Pro-Life theology is actually way more political than Godly.

Sex Workers and their prominent role in the Bible

Unlearning Purity Culture and Shame

There is an active movement going on nationally and in New York to decriminalize sex work, and I think as a church we have to participate in this movement due to how purity culture has contributed towards the criminal punishment of sex workers and how our own Scriptures call us to honor sex workers. During this Sermon Series “Sex Positive”. Sarah Ngu explores the role sex workers played in Scripture and how we as a society need to come to grips with this today and respect sex workers.

Do you want to know what the Bible really says about marriage and sex?

Unlearning Purity Culture and Shame

There is no biblical definition of sex and marriage unless you count sleeping with your father in law, marrying your brother, having 700 sex slaves, or becoming a eunuch for the sake of the gospel. So what does healthy sex look like? Here's Jonathan Williams preaching about Marriage and Sex in our "Sex Positivity" Series.

The Song of Songs | Erotic poetry in the Bible

Unlearning Purity Culture and Shame

In our second Sermon in the series "Sex Positive", Sarah Ngu walks us through the Song of Songs, the book medieval Christians commented on more frequently than any other book in the Bible.

The Song of Songs uncomfortably dares us to hold all our human experiences, including our sexual ones, as a mirror by which to see God and ourselves. The relationship between the two lovers in the Song of Songs can be seen as an allegorical metaphor of the relationship between God and God’s people.

Sex Positive: Unlearning Purity Culture and Shame

Unlearning Purity Culture and Shame

Makenzie Gomez (@baby_got_mak__) opened the door on purity culture in the first sermon in our new series: Sex Positive.

THE GOSPEL OF: "Community"

The Gospel Of: Community

Guest speaker, Venida Rodman Jenkins, joins Forefront for the first time and speaks on "The Gospel of Community". The Gospel of Community is about bringing people in rather than excluding them. Here's something to ask yourself: "How can you work with others to be an agent of change?"

Venida Rodman JenkinsForefront ChurchMay 16, 2021gospel, community, diversity, inclusion, belonging

THE GOSPEL OF: "Heaven in a time of Lament"

The Gospel Of: Heaven in a time of Lament.

What if heaven isn't an escape chute? Heaven isn't a place we're whisked to after we die; it's God's order of justice and mercy coming towards us. In this, we know that God cares about community, God cares about suffering, and God is actively pursuing our good.

In this 5th sermon in our EasterTide series, Guest Speaker Shay O'Reilly discusses the coronavirus pandemic, its uneven impacts, and the pressure to move on.

Shay O'ReillyForefront ChurchMay 9, 2021heaven, eschatology, grief, coronavirus, hope

THE GOSPEL OF: "Gratitude"

The Gospel Of: Gratitude. Giving as a liturgical act.

Do you believe in 'tithing' or giving a percentage of your income to church? Do you believe it's even worth giving to the church?

Sarah Ngu explains how tithing -- giving a percentage of your income to the church -- is an outdated concept rooted in a time when Israel was a sovereign nation where people had to give tithes to their priests. We don't live in such a context- so why give?

Sarah NguForefront ChurchMay 2, 2021deuteronomy, giving, gratitude, tithe

THE GOSPEL OF: "Heaven"

The Gospel of Heaven: Is Jesus the only way?

At some point in your life you were told that Jesus was the only way to heaven or told someone else that Jesus was the only way to heaven. We justify this by using John:6. It says, "Jesus answered, I'm the way the truth, and the life. No one comes to God but through me." This is a terrible interpretation of scripture!

In this 3rd sermon in our EasterTide series, watch Jonathan Williams remind us how Jesus excluded no one from his promise of Heaven. As always, it’s critical that we understand the context of culture at the time these stories were written. When we believe that people who don't believe in Jesus are unworthy of eternal life, we'll treat them poorly in this life.

Jonathan WilliamsForefront ChurchApril 25, 2021jesus, covid-19, heaven, hell, Sheena Iyengar

THE GOSPEL OF: "Generosity"

We Christians never believe that we're holy enough.

We have to believe a certain way. Read scripture a certain way. Attend Church often. Believe that some people are holy and others are not. Believe an atonement theory that says God is holy and separate from us because we are not holy.

With Jesus it seems like we have a really clear picture of what God sees as holy.

God sees refugees as holy. Jesus was one. God sees the politically oppressed as holy. Jesus was politically oppressed. God sees the homeless and underserved as holy. Jesus was too. God sees those ruthlessly murdered by a corrupt justice system as holy. Jesus experienced death at the hands of a broken system.

What God does through Jesus is essentially tell us that there is no line between that which is holy and that which is not. All of it is sacred and all of us are sacred. All of us are holy and worthy to part of God’s priesthood.

If the God we believe tells us that we are separate and not holy then maybe it's time for us to kill that god.

Jonathan WilliamsForefront ChurchApril 18, 2021generosity, worth, holy, justice, homelessness, refugees

THE GOSPEL OF: "Inclusion"

Mira Sawlani-Joyner, guest preacher and former Community Director at Forefront Brooklyn, shares her personal experiences as an Asian woman. Inspired by the story of Rahab, Mira shows us how Asian women have divine purpose in this world, partnering with and co-laboring with God to bring God's kin-dom to fruition.

Unfortunately, Asian women are hyper sexualized by the media and popular culture, and are relegated to tropes and stereotypes that render them as submissive and docile. These stereotypes lead to their treatment as second class citizens and stand in the way of us seeing Asian women as image bearers reflecting the diverse qualities of God.

This is a powerful, heartfelt sermon that challenges our views towards Asian Americans and helps us take a step closer to a society that accepts, values and respects all.

Mira JoynerForefront ChurchApril 11, 2021justice, Asian-American, StopAsianHate, AAPI, racism, Rahab

EASTER SUNDAY 2021 | "New Birth"

The resurrection story is not a neat and tidy formula to get us into heaven.

It is a wild and imaginative story that asks us to take big risks for others and to work with God to bring about new creation. Jonathan Williams shares that If what we see in Jesus is God's own self, revealed, then we are dealing with a God who is ridiculously indiscriminate about choosing friends, who would rather die than have a neat and tidy sin management system complete with a scorecard, who would not lift a finger to condemn those who crucified him - A God unafraid to get God's hands dirty for the ones God loves. The resurrection of Jesus Christ did not happen so that your soul would be saved from hell and your sins forgiven, rather so that you would open your eyes to the unexpected and radical love that God has for God's creation.

THIS FEELING'S GOT ME LIKE | "Hope"

Hope is what comes when all else fails.

On this Palm Sunday, Jonathan Williams shares that’s not really what hope is -- it’s what comes when all else fails. The hope that comes when all else feels hopeless -- apocalyptic hope -- shows that the apocalypse isn't an ending, it's a revelation. What can feel like failure or pain can actually be the beginning of hope.

This is the sixth and final sermon in our “This Feeling's Got Me Like...” series.

Jonathan WilliamsForefront ChurchMarch 28, 2021hope, palm sunday, apocalypse, mass shooting, student debt, covid-19