New City NYC Sermons

They were with Jesus, Acts 4:1-13

What turns an ordinary person into someone whose life points unmistakably to Jesus? In this special message, Shawn Wallace opens Acts 4:1–13 and explores the remarkable transformation of Peter—from a fearful disciple who denied Jesus to a bold witness who stood before rulers and religious leaders proclaiming the gospel without hesitation. The difference wasn't education, status, or natural ability. As those who opposed him observed, "they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Drawing from Peter's restoration after failure, the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, and decades of ministry experience across cultures and nations, Shawn reminds us that lasting spiritual transformation begins not with trying harder, but with encountering Jesus and living under the Spirit's influence. Whether you're carrying shame from past failures, feeling exhausted from relying on your own strength, or seeking direction for what God has next, this message is an invitation to hear the Father's voice, receive His restoring love, and offer yourself fully to His purposes. When people look at our lives, would they be able to tell that we've been with Jesus?

From Netflix to the Cross, Philippians 2:1-11

What does Netflix have to do with the cross? In this solo message, Koob Vang opens Philippians 2:1–11 and invites us to examine what truly moves us. We know what it feels like to be pulled into a story, to stay up for one more episode, to give hours of attention without needing to be forced. But when it comes to the work of God, especially in seasons that feel tiring, stretching, or slow, many of us find ourselves asking a more honest question: where does real motivation come from? Drawing from Daniel Pink’s language of autonomy, mastery, and purpose, Koob reframes motivation through the lens of the Gospel. Paul does not call the church to unity, humility, and obedience through guilt or pressure. He reminds them of what is already true in Christ. We are not servants trying to earn a place in God’s family. We are children of God, already transformed, empowered by the Spirit, and called into mission. And at the center of it all is Jesus, who did not cling to comfort, status, or power, but emptied himself in love and walked the road to the cross. Not by coercion. Not for applause. But because we were the joy set before him. So what happens when the fire that moves us is no longer pressure, performance, or results, but the mind of Christ formed in us?

As You Go, Matthew 28:18-20

Discipleship is not only something we schedule. It is something we carry as we go. In this message, Kevin Douglas opens Matthew 28:18–20 and focuses on one word from the Great Commission: "Go." But this "go" carries the sense of "as you go" — as you walk, work, parent, commute, eat, listen, and meet the people God places in front of you. Kevin invites us to see discipleship as a way of being formed by God for the sake of others. It begins with being with God, knowing we are loved, secure, and made in His image. From there, we learn to see others not as projects to convert, but as people to behold with the same love God has shown us. Through stories from Roosevelt Island, a playground conversation on Mother's Day, Paul and Silas in prison, Lydia by the river, and Kevin's years as a chaplain in a senior living facility, this message reminds us that discipleship can happen in five minutes or over five years. Sometimes it looks like sharing the Gospel clearly. Sometimes it begins with a simple word of presence: "We are all here." What would change if we stopped waiting for the perfect program and began paying attention to the people God has already placed along the way?

Becoming a Glocal Disciple-Making Church VII | The Holy Spirit: The Catalyst of Gospel Transformation, Embodiment, and Multiplication, Acts 2:1-11

We cannot become a Glocal disciple-making church by strategy alone. We need breath. We need fire. We need the Holy Spirit. In this final message of our "Becoming a Glocal Disciple-Making Church" series, Piero Gorriti opens Acts 2:1–11 on Pentecost Sunday to bring the whole journey together: Gospel Transformation, Gospel Embodiment, and Gospel Multiplication. The Gospel changes us, becomes visible through us, and is reproduced through us. But none of this is possible unless the Spirit of God fills, empowers, and sends the people of God. The Holy Spirit is not a force to use, but a person to know. Not a shortcut to spiritual power, but the relational presence of God who meets us in our dependence. And because the Spirit is communal, He does not simply form private spirituality. He forms a new family. A Spirit-filled community where cultural, ethnic, and social barriers are broken, and ordinary people become witnesses together. But even then, the burden of multiplication was never ours to carry. The Lord is the one who adds. The Spirit is the one who breathes life into the church. We are witnesses, ambassadors, storytellers, embodying the greatest story ever told. What happens when we stop trying to manufacture the movement and begin asking, again and again, "Come, Holy Spirit"?

Becoming a Glocal Disciple-Making Church VI | Gospel Multiplication: Disciple-Making in The Kingdom of God , Mat. 4:12-17

We are all waiting for a kingdom. The question is whether the one we're expecting is shaped by God or by our own pain. In this sixth message of our "Becoming a Glocal Disciple-Making Church" series, Andrea Gorriti opens Matthew 4:12-17 and sits with one word: Metanoia. Often translated as repentance, it is not a command to clean up your act. It is an invitation to change the way you think, to let go of your own kingdom with its own idols and its own ways, and receive something that will actually fulfill you. The Jews were waiting for a Messiah shaped by their hurt and their context. If we're honest, many of us are doing the same. But what Jesus calls the Kingdom of God is not the upside-down thing the world makes it out to be. It is right-side up, the way we were always created to live. And the man in the parable who found it did not reluctantly sell everything he had. He ran. He sold it all with joy, because when you truly see the Kingdom, giving up your own does not feel like loss. Discipleship in God's Kingdom costs everything. And yet it turns out to be the best trade you have ever made.