Palm Sunday is not a celebration. Palm Sunday is the shattering of hope and watching one's worst fears come to pass. How do we reconcile hope in the midst of our grief, our pain, and the shattering of our own expectations?
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Jonathan Williams returns to Forefront to teach on one of his favorite subjects, Hell. In this sermon, Jonathan tells us that Hell is not biblical and that what seems to be a pillar of the Christian faith is not something Jesus believed. And that we could actual thank Christian nationalism for Hell rather than God. He hopes that we come out of church with a different idea of what Hell means. We may even exclaim, "What the Hell?!"
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Continuing 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.
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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.
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?
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.
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 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The opposite of fear is saying yes to living fully.
The future is unknown. That scares the crap out of us. What do we do in the face of the unknown?
Jonathan Williams shares that the way forward is not fear, it’s faith. Faith is a choice to take action and move forward even when there is nothing guaranteed. To make the conscious choice to believe just for today that the great I AM is at work in our fears and in our unknowns. The opposite of fear is saying yes to being made in the image of God, of living fully alive, warts and all.
This is the fifth and final sermon in our “This Feeling's Got Me Like...” series.
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Covid has highlighted an unspoken struggle for millions of us. We're not doing well and don't know how to find healing. We suffer silently and are afraid to talk about mental illness in the church. We believe that we're not holy enough, godly enough. That's a lie!
In this sermon, Jonathan Williams explains how our struggles with mental challenges can actually shape the kin-dom of god.
This is the third sermon in our “This Feeling's Got Me Like...” series.
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“How anger is a gift and a gateway to positive change”
We’ve been taught that the Christian response to anger is to minimize it, but it’s actually *not* Biblical to deny our feelings of anger.
In this sermon, Jonathan Williams shows us that our anger is not a spiritual weakness or failure, but rather something we can employ to help create positive change.
This is the second sermon in our “This Feeling's Got Me Like...” series.
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What will you do with what God has entrusted you?
Jonathan Williams looks at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus tells his audience that they do not have to compare themselves to others because they are already righteous, they’re already loved, and they’re already children of God.
This is the sixth and final sermon in our “BE” series.
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“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Sarah Ngu, Makenzie Gomez, and Jonathan Williams discuss how to interpret this passage for today. The "narrow road" that Jesus talks about is not about orthodoxy -- believing and doing the right things. Instead, it's about living with intentionality and purpose, and embracing the process and not just the destination.
This is the fifth sermon in our “BE” series.
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"Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect" is one of the most misinterpreted and damaging scriptures in our bible. How do we redeem the idea of perfection?
Jonathan Williams explores how striving for perfection has been incorporated into Christianity and reminds us that the real measure of worthiness is not perfection, it’s courage to be compassionate and justice minded towards others. God’s perfection is the simple practice of being courageous, compassionate, and creating connection.
This is the fourth sermon in our “BE” series.
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Jonathan Williams asks the question - is judgment always bad?
Jonathan examines Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and the context in which Jesus judges others. He reminds us that God’s judgment is restorative justice in action. God’s judgment always believes the best in others. And so we believe the best in others because that’s how God sees the other.
This is the third sermon in our “Be” series.
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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.
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Saying yes to new experiences brings about radical equity.
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.
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