Forefront Podcast
500 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsThe 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.
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Episodes
Cultivating & Letting Go | Time to Breakthrough
April 09, 2023 13:00 - 1 hour - 112 MBEaster Sunday marks the culmination of the holiest week of the Christian calendar all over the world. It is the fulfillment of prophecy where we celebrate the resurrection power of Christ Jesus. This sermon highlights the various ways Jesus reunites with his close friends after rising from the grave. It also illustrates how our 40 days of Lent and spiritual gardening has allowed new life to breakthrough in us through our union with Jesus.
Cultivating & Letting Go | Cultivating Active Loyalty
April 02, 2023 13:00 - 27 minutes - 50.2 MBIn the sixth week of Lent and the start of Holy Week, Pastor Mak preaches on the story we now know as Palm Sunday. It’s the story where Jesus enters Jerusalem surrounded by a celebratory crowd claiming Jesus is King. But the entrance itself isn’t the only point. The entrance is part of this continued movement towards facing what's to come. And the week ahead isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. The light is fading fast. What can we learn from anticipating Jesus’ death and resurrection?
Cultivating & Letting Go | Cultivating Lavish Love for Yourself & Others
March 26, 2023 13:00 - 26 minutes - 48.8 MBThe 5th Week of Lent highlights John 12, and a very unique experience which Jesus has in Bethany while sharing a meal with friends. This selfless act helps us consider the special ways we too can confidently give of ourselves with abandon, and exercise lavish love for ourselves which can ultimately be extended to others as we seek to build community.
Cultivating & Letting Go | Cultivating a New View of God & Others
March 19, 2023 13:00 - 26 minutes - 49.3 MBA predominant religious view is that God can’t be around sin, God must separate Godself from humans' sinfulness. Its this very reasoning that led to the religious elite of Jesus' day, isolating themselves from people who they deemed sinners. However, in this sermon Rev. Josh challenges us to let go of certain views of God and cultivate a view of God that recognizes that God never distances Godself from us but we in our shame estrange and hide from God. So Did Jesus come to change God's dispo...
Forefront Conversations with Sean Thomas
March 15, 2023 01:02 - 46 minutes - 84.4 MBSean Thomas, like many other congregants at Forefront, found the church online while searching for progressive, affirming churches in New York City. When Forefront sent a group up to Albany in partnership with 13th Forward, Sean jumped at the chance to raise awareness of New York's prison system acting as institutional slavery. Why did it mean so much to him? Because Sean was once incarcerated for 18 months in NYSDOCCS and witnessed the trademarks of institutionalized slavery first hand: uns...
Cultivating & Letting Go | Letting Go of Giving Up (A Discussion on Cancel Culture)
March 12, 2023 13:00 - 19 minutes - 36.5 MBRecent Bootcamper Nytasha joins us for the third week of Lent as we tackle “The Parable of the Fig Tree.“ This parable told by Jesus in Luke 13 is given as an answer to the question of cause and effect as it relates to good and evil. Follow Nytasha as she explores this concept from a different angle, Cancel Culture and our society’s insistence of giving up on those who do not bear fruit.
Cultivating & Letting Go | Cultivating Meaningful Work
March 05, 2023 13:00 - 21 minutes - 38.6 MBRev. Venida journeys through the second week of Lent with a focus on Cultivating Meaningful Work. In the highlighted Gospel story, Jesus boldly places priority on ensuring that he was accomplishing his goals, rather than shirking back because of fear, uncertainty or distrust. Jesus’s work of love, healing and transformation can help us feel more content with ourselves, and the gifts we extend to others.
Cultivating & Letting Go | A Smorgasbord of Ways to Connect with God
February 26, 2023 13:00 - 28 minutes - 51.4 MBRev. Josh started our Cultivating and Letting Go series by connecting the story of Jesus fasting and praying for forty days in the desert in order to cultivate the beginning of ministry to the value of us cultivating our spiritual lives so that we are prepared for the struggles and tribulations of our everyday life. Jesus wanders with God as a spiritual practice, thus preparing him to face trials and stay centered on his purpose. Many of us may have gotten out of the routine of spiritual pra...
Bible Say What? | Seeing Yourself in the Text
February 19, 2023 13:00 - 33 minutes - 60.7 MBIn the final sermon of this series, Bible Say What, Pastor Mak explores the journey to finding oneself in the very text that may have once been used against us. How can someone begin to find themselves in the text if they haven't even felt permission to find themselves in the church? So many of us here have come from a background of harmful theology, myself included. Many of us have been told or taught that our very existence is shameful and unwelcome in Church. If we’ve been told we shouldn...
Bible Say What? | Is the Bible Authoritative, Inspired, Inerrant?
February 12, 2023 13:00 - 29 minutes - 54.2 MBIn today’s sermon we ask questions related to the Bible, and whether it is the authority which is the word of God to be believed and obeyed; or whether its words were inspired by God; or whether it’s infallible and free from errors and untruths. There are so many different beliefs and theological perspectives, and there probably will be until the end of time.
Bible Say What? | Often Missed Themes in the Bible
February 05, 2023 13:00 - 30 minutes - 55.1 MBWhat themes do you think can easily be missed if reading this text from a place of power and privilege? Jesus placed himself in solitary with the weak and so did Moses and the 17 prophets in the Hebrew Bible. So what happens if you don’t find yourself as weak? Might you find it difficult to see yourself in the narrative of Scripture as the one in need, being oppressed, held captive. Jesus came to give sight to the blind… perhaps this is spiritual metaphorical blindness. In this sermon you’re...
Bible Say What? | How Did Jesus and the Disciples Read the Bible
January 29, 2023 13:00 - 22 minutes - 31.5 MBWe continue this sermon series by looking at how Jesus and his disciples read the Bible. Through the framework of Rob Bell’s work, What Is the Bible?, we consider Interpretation, Incarnation and Invitation to determine how we too can be enlightened through the retelling of Scripture.
Bible Say What? | Seeing God in a New Way in the Bible
January 22, 2023 13:00 - 16 minutes - 23.3 MBJennifer Uriele Derenoncourt will continue with our new series, Bible Say What? and explore questions like What is the version of the Bible you want to take with you on this journey of life? What are the stories that speak to you and how do you interpret them? How do those stories align with your God?
Bible Say What? | The Who, What, Where, When, & Why of the Bible
January 15, 2023 13:00 - 30 minutes - 41.6 MBEver heard someone refer to the Bible as the manual or GPS for life, the magic 8 call, the rule book? Well Rev. Josh started our new series, Bible Say What? By exploring questions like: What is the Bible if not a GPS? Who wrote the Bible? Who decided what books were included? When did it come together? How and Why do we even read the Bible? Some of the responses to these questions just may surprise you…
From Generation to Generation | We Keep Seeking
January 08, 2023 13:00 - 24 minutes - 33.9 MBUsing the story of the Magi visit to Jesus, and the escape to Egypt, this sermon reminds us of how individually and collectively, we keep on seeking Jesus. We keep connecting with Him through worship, and through the love, joy, and goodness we share with others. It also reminds us that even in the most unlikely of circumstances, God will continue to graciously be found holding our questions, answers, and all of who we are, from generation to generation.
From Generation to Generation | We See God in Each Other
December 18, 2022 13:00 - 31 minutes - 43.9 MBIn two miraculous turn of events, Mary and Elizabeth, two relatives, experience a special connection through the power of a greeting and the Holy Spirit which ultimately helps us consider how we are able to see God in each other.
From Generation to Generation | We Can Choose A Better Way
December 11, 2022 16:00 - 27 minutes - 37.6 MBHave you ever experienced a shift or change in how you understood yourself, God, spirituality, the world, racism, sexism, sexuality, or perhaps your expectations for yourself vs. your family's expectations? Has it ever been difficult for certain people to trust where God is guiding you? Have they struggled to stand alongside you through every season of your life? Well in this sermon Rev. Josh RaderLee looks at similar challenges that Mary and Joseph faced as they discerned their unexpected fu...
From Generation to Generation | God Meets Us In Our Fear
December 04, 2022 16:00 - 36 minutes - 50.6 MBPastor Venida shares what the 12 days were like after the announcement of her mother's body's transition.
From Generation to Generation | Room For Every Story
November 27, 2022 16:00 - 16 minutes - 22.7 MBPastor Josh kicked off our advent series, “From Generation to Generation” with a kid-friendly sermonette by highlighting the generations of Jesus' ancestry from Matthew 1. In that long list of names, we remember the trauma and triumph of those who came before; each name holds a story and their story gives way to Christ’s story. What is your story? Who is part of shaping your story? And how are you loving and living to shape the next generation?
The Antidote to Racism | Counter inUrgency
November 20, 2022 16:00 - 32 minutes - 44.8 MBA sense of urgency at work, in life, and certainly for the cause of justice, sounds like a good idea. But in reality, a culture of urgency can be soul-killing and undercut our essential work for justice and to fight racism in our world. We must identify the tyranny of urgency and choose to fight with a counter (in)urgency.
The Antidote to Racism | Collectivism over Individualism
November 13, 2022 16:00 - 30 minutes - 41.9 MBIn the third week of our antidote to racism series, Rev. Josh RaderLee shares how he first became aware of his own individual privilege which opened his eyes to see racism as something that went beyond individual bias or internalized racism. But instead, we must actively let go of supremacy complexes that one way is better or normal. Remembering that deeming some people or cultures as "better" and "normal" requires that we dehumanize all those designated as "less than" and "abnormal."
The Antidote to Racism | Cherish The Messiness
November 06, 2022 16:00 - 30 minutes - 42.2 MBPastor Angela continues our series on The Antidote To Racism, with the topic: Cherish The Messiness (One Right Way and Perfectionism). Inspired by the movement to dismantle White Supremacy Culture, we will discuss antidotes and explore scriptures that dispel the practice of exclusion and division.
The Antidote To Racism | Tell Me More: How Is It Racism?
October 30, 2022 16:00 - 29 minutes - 41.1 MBPastor Mak kicks off our four week series, The Antidote To Racism, with the topic: Tell Me More: How Is It Racism? (Denial and Defensiveness). We are drawing from the White Supremacy Culture Characteristics and their accompanying antidotes and looking at the story of Peter denying Jesus 3 times (Luke 22:31-34, 54-62; John 21:15-17). Read more about Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture here: https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/characteristics.html
What Motivates Our Values | Love
October 23, 2022 16:00 - 27 minutes - 37.2 MBPastor Josh will wrap up Our Values series by highlighting how love of God, self and others informs every part of our values and theology. We will explore how we can be intentional to foster a deeper understanding of God’s love for us, so that we can grow in our love for ourselves and ultimately then extend that love to others. Many of us have been taught in fundamentalist forms of Christianity that we are inherently evil, bad, broken, and flawed. It’s hard to love yourself when you’re taught...
Our Values | Theological Distinctives of Forefront
October 16, 2022 16:00 - 25 minutes - 34.6 MBRev. Josh RaderLee wraps up a series on our values by highlighting our theological distinctives as a community. Many churches and denominations have a beliefs page, doctrinal statement or creed that defines who they are. However, as an interdenominational church, we are united by our shared values not our beliefs. Under the banner of these values that gives space for a lot of different theological believes to be held at Forefront. While there are common theological distinctives that many at F...
Our Values | Radical Equity
October 09, 2022 16:00 - 39 minutes - 54.4 MBRev. Venida promotes a message of fierce, intentional, radical equity which is the result of the generous, disruptive, and unconditional love of God. The message centers a portion of the story in the Gospel of John where Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus goes straight to the place that some people would avoid, and this sermon encourages us to boldly do the same to meet needs and creating access for those who society continues to marginalize.
Our Values | Uncommon Kinship
October 02, 2022 16:00 - 23 minutes - 31.8 MBDenia Pérez offers an interpretation of Ruth 1:16-17 that centers platonic intimacy and suggests that it is a way to understand and grow closer to God.
Forefront Conversations with Margaret Kamitsuka
September 29, 2022 16:48 - 56 minutes - 103 MBWith the recent SCOTUS Dobbs decision, Christians who have long been declaring abortion to be Biblically condemned rejoiced as their conservative theology was validated. But does the Bible actually explicitly condemn abortion? In her book, "Abortion and the Christian Tradition: A Pro-Choice Theological Ethic," Margaret Kamitsuka uses rigorous academic research to debunk the assumption that the Bible is inflexibly anti-choice, examining the patriarchal structure that early church leaders estab...
Our Values | Worship Re-Imagined
September 25, 2022 16:00 - 32 minutes - 45.1 MBAngela Lockett-Colas, Forefront's Worship Pastor, explores what it means to Re-imagine Worship.
Coming Home | Redefining & Reclaiming Home
September 18, 2022 16:00 - 31 minutes - 43.9 MBThis sermon will focus on coming home - back to Forefront. Our church may have undergone some changes and may even have a different feel; however, it still has the same values and the same love. Exploring one of the Bible’s creation stories and the story of Cain and Abel, this sermon from Rev. Venida and Rev. Josh will be an opportunity for self-reflection as we redefine and reclaim home.
Coming Home | Finding Home After Death
September 11, 2022 16:00 - 40 minutes - 55 MBContinuing our "Coming Home" series, Jonathan Williams joins Angela Lockett-Colas and Rev. Venida Rodman Jenkins to bring a unique worship experience brings together sermon and song to convey a message of God's constant presence, comfort and grace during times of loss and grief.
Coming Home | Finding God For Yourself in Every Season
September 04, 2022 16:00 - 28 minutes - 39.2 MBRev. Venida Rodman Jenkins continues our Coming Home Series by talking about the importance of adjusting one's life to the rhythms of the seasons in your life, and finding God for yourself in the midst of it all.
Coming Home | Finding Messy Progressive Religion
August 28, 2022 16:00 - 28 minutes - 38.8 MBRev. Josh Lee starts our Coming Home Series by highlighting the ways in which The Church has always been a messy progressive religion. He outlines how our views have progressed or differed throughout Scripture while also highlighting a disagreement had in the early church around the full inclusion of non-Jews. The Church of Jesus Christ has always been progressing, changing, adapting, and super freaking messy! But even amidst the mess some really beautiful things have been born when we allow ...
The Path | Reconciling and Redefining
August 21, 2022 16:00 - 28 minutes - 39.3 MBIn our third and final sermon of "The Path" series, Rev. Josh Lee borrows from Father Richard Rohr on how he describes our spiritual path as one of order, disorder, and reorder. This cycle is the historical Christian journey. Rev. Josh then shares 5 Things he does to reorder (reconstruct) his life and faith when it becomes disordered (deconstructed). This very practical sermon is full of helpful tools and wisdom in your journey through your spiritual path!
The Path | Navigating Questions and Disbelief
August 14, 2022 16:00 - 28 minutes - 39.5 MBIn our second sermon of "The Path" series, Rev. Venida Rodman Jenkins reminds us how we are confronted with a host of experiences on the path causing us to question and have doubts about how we will overcome. This sermon will be a reminder that we can come to God with our fears and concerns, and the presence and power of God can be comfort and healing, and work in miraculous ways as we journey on.
The Path | Losing My Religion
August 07, 2022 16:00 - 29 minutes - 40.7 MBHave you at one time believed something so strongly you could hear no other perspective? But then over time you could hear what you wouldn’t before and see what you couldn’t see before? In this message Rev. Josh Lee starts our new series “The Path” by challenging us to consider where on the path do we find ourselves? Perhaps like Saul, just having recently lost our formerly held religious convictions or perhaps like Ananias being called to give sight and compassion to folks who have previousl...
What Forms Us | Chew On This
July 31, 2022 16:00 - 34 minutes - 47.7 MBBen Dubow, co-lead pastor of Riverfront Family Church in Hartford CT, asks "does scripture really matter today? Is it still relevant?" We explore how scripture can have practical impact on our lives. By exploring what scripture is not (and what it is) we can better embrace God's Word as being relevant and powerful in our day, without becoming dogmatic in our approach to scripture.
What Forms Us | Tradition
July 24, 2022 16:00 - 26 minutes - 35.8 MBRev. Josh Lee continues our "What Forms Us" series with this sermon on tradition. In this series we are gleaning from the founder of the United Methodist Church, John Wesley. John believed that as Christians we should allow our thinking, beliefs, ethics, and practices to be formed by four things (experience, reason, scripture, and tradition) In this message we focus on how Miriam brought her tambourine with her as she fled enslavement in Egypt during the exodus. Miriam choosing to bring her t...
What Forms Us | Reason
July 17, 2022 16:00 - 25 minutes - 35.6 MBKeli Young continues our "What Forms Us" series with this sermon on reason. Jesus strains our ability to reason. He was disruptive, not just to systems of oppression but to how people understood the world. but the good news is that we’re not expected to make sense of the world or our faith on our own. The disciples were always curious, constantly trying to figure out Jesus, and by extension their faith. Jesus welcomed their questions, doubts, and fears and he welcomes ours just the same!
What Forms Us | Experiencing Jesus
July 10, 2022 16:00 - 28 minutes - 38.9 MBRev. Venida Rodman Jenkins kicks off our "What Forms Us" series with the topic "The Authenticity of Experiencing Jesus." In this sermon, Rev. Venida talks about how each and every experience has formed us -- the good, bad, and the ugly ones, and how those experiences have authenticated our spiritual journey. We can bear witness to these experiences to enlightened the lives of others.
Unapologetically Us | Free
July 03, 2022 16:00 - 29 minutes - 40.7 MBGuest preacher Chris Romine from Common Ground NYC continued our "Unapologetically Us" series with the topic "Unapologetically Free." To travel with the Spirit of God the way Jesus did, is to be drawn into places we could not have expected, around people we did not know, doing work we could not have anticipated, and having thoughts that might surprise us. To walk in the Jesus tradition is to cultivate a wild, unbridled will to seek collective freedom & enough imagination to settle for nothing...
Unapologetically Us | Affirming
June 26, 2022 16:00 - 25 minutes - 35.5 MBMakenzie Gomez continues our “Unapologetically Us” series with the topic “Unapologetically Affirming”. Makenzie draws from Acts 8, when Philip meets the Ethiopian Eunuch. What can we learn from their interaction? How is Philip showing us what it means to listen and be open to questioning? In this message on NYC Pride Sunday, Makenzie encourages us to consider how to shift our allyship from passive to active, and celebrates the affirming faith our community has come to know.
Unapologetically Us | Wondering
June 19, 2022 15:30 - 25 minutes - 34.6 MBHere's the start of our new sermon series, "Unapologetically Us". Rev. Josh Lee explores Jesus's habit of asking questions instead of providing straightforward answers. Jesus both engages people with questions who would have never engaged him and engages with people's questions who approach him.
The Holy Spirit | Sharing the Spirit in Community
June 05, 2022 15:15 - 22 minutes - 30.8 MBThe power of the Holy Spirit is at work right now revealing the truth that we all can be recipients of the deep, passionate, and fierce love of God. God’s strong and loving arms continue to draw us in, and assure us that no one is left behind.
The Holy Spirit | Whispers Of The Spirit
May 29, 2022 15:30 - 27 minutes - 38.3 MBThe Holy Spirit calls upon us throughout life, yet, how often are we receptive to the whisper? Some may think they are not worthy to be addressed by the God they've come to know, so they sink away from those fleeting moments. Others know so little that they miss it. In this Sermon, Rev. Josh unpacks an inspiring story from Acts 8, when one of the shunned of society, The Ethiopian Eunuch, bravely follows the whisper.
Forefront Conversations with Rusty Hawkins
May 27, 2022 23:12 - 41 minutes - 75.8 MBIn 1954, something happened that changed the Southern evangelicals forever - and not in a good way. When the Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Board of Education that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional, Baptist and Methodist churches in the south found that public sentiment echoed the court's calls for integration and suddenly their stance on segregationist theology had to change. So, it changed for the worst. In "The Bible Told Them So: Southern White Christians’ Fight against...
The Holy Spirit | What Is The Holy Spirit?
May 22, 2022 15:45 - 26 minutes - 37 MBHere is Rev. Venida sharing the opening sermon in Forefront's new series, The Holy Spirit and You. She provides insight on who the Holy Spirit is and how her fruit manifests itself in our lives.
A GenderFULL God | Panel Discussion
May 15, 2022 14:30 - 27 minutes - 38 MBWe wrapped up our GenderFULL God series with a panel discussion with fellow Forefronters hosted by Rev. Josh Lee. The panel discussed how tradition, experience, reason, and Scripture have all informed how they each see God. Check out the full Sermon Series here: t.ly/GCxi Thank you to our panelists! Susanne Scheel Sami Main Angela Lockett Frank Espinal D. Eng
A GenderFULL God | God as She
May 08, 2022 16:30 - 25 minutes - 35.3 MBCould it Be That God is She? For so long we have only considered a masculine God with male pronouns. What is the impact on women and nonbinary folx who don't identify with masculinity or male pronouns? If we were all created in the image of God, then how can we be more inclusive in our references to God? Watch Rev. Venida Rodman Jenkins address this question in this third sermon in our GenderFULL God series. Join us this Sunday for the final sermon in this series which will take the form of...
A GenderFULL God | God as They
May 01, 2022 15:45 - 24 minutes - 33.7 MBGender is one of many categories that we deploy to organize society and create order. We demand, thus, that people who don't fit into categories neatly explain themselves, justify themselves. But as Christians we worship a God who doesn't fit into categories and refuses to justify Themselves. Listen to former Forefront Community Director, Kai (Sarah) Ngu (they/them), as they speak about "God as They" in our GenderFULL sermon series.