History's Biggest Scam

"If you received an official letter in the mail on company letterhead saying that a relative you never knew about had died and left you several million dollars inheritance, you would be skeptical. You would probably think it was a scam. Especially if you're a New Yorker, there are more scams in New York than anywhere else. But, at the end of the day, I bet you'd probably still call the number on the letter... just to be sure.

The Resurrection sounds a lot like a scam. In fact most New Yorkers believe it is a scam. But the offer is simply too great not to at least look into it... just to be sure."

-Tim Keller, today's Easter sermon

a story from Paris

What's so great about Paris? Ah, I think the better question is, what's not so great about Paris? And the answer is probably nothing. Paris is beautiful and charming and has a quaint vibe despite being a huge city. It's also richly historical with a lot of deeply rooted French living there. 

But my favorite things happening in Paris are the things this little church plant is doing to make a big difference in their neighborhood. As Samy said, If you can reach the deeply rooted French population in Paris, you can reach anyone. But if you reach only the others, you'll never reach the French.

Community for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

This post was originally posted on Redeemer City to City's blog.

Good community is hard to find. And, it's even harder in a large international city like Brussels where the Christian population is so small.

Despite this reality, I found my time in Brussels to be quite the opposite. The community that Matthieu and Olivier are cultivating through their new church plant is rich and deep. It's full of diversity, open hearts, and friendship.

Laura and I were guests in Matthieu's home during our short stay in Brussels and this is where I experienced community the most; he and his lovely wife, Christella, were such gracious hosts. They fed us delicious food, told us wonderful stories, and shared their lives with us. But what made the stay even more grand was the constant influx of community and friends.

We would wake up each morning and hear beautiful hymns being sung by Matt, Christella, and ... three or four other core group members. Each morning. Before work! (Did I mention Laura and I weren't even out of bed yet?) It was a sight to behold. We would all sit down at the table together for breakfast. We would pray, we would chat, and we would enjoy life together. The bonds were so strong that I felt a part of it after having been there only one day.

This breakfast experience only scratched the surface of the community there. Members from the core group met us for lunch. They hosted us at their office cafeteria. They toured us around the city in the evening and gave us a crash course in Brussels history.

So, why does any of this matter? I'm glad you asked. Since there hasn't been an evangelical church planted by Brusselites, for Brusselites in this neighborhood in the last 13 years, having an approachable, friendly, deep community is quite important. Église Protestante de la Cambre is blessing their neighborhood already. They're displaying the love of Christ to those around them in the way they love each other so well.

You can partner with Matthieu and Église Protestante de la Cambre and help them reach their goal of $5,000. 100% of your gift goes to this project. 

a story from Brussels

Redeemer City to City helps local leaders like Matthieu and Olivier start churches like Église Protestante de la Cambre in global cities like Brussels. Support Église Protestante de la Cambre www.redeemercitytocity.com/brussels Église Protestante de la Cambre is a new church in Brussels and meets in Ixelles, the heart of intellectual, cultural and political life in the city. At the center of Ixelles is Place Flagey, where wealthy families, entrepreneurs, university students, and the poor intersect daily. Matthieu and Olivier are part of a very small number of Belgian Christians, and have been called to proclaim the gospel in Brussels. Their goal is to plant a new church in the center of the city and to work hand in hand with existing churches in order to ignite a movement of the gospel in Brussels through church planting and church renewal.

If I were fluent in French, I'd pack my bags and be on the next plane out to Brussels. I loved my time there—the food, the delicacies, and, most of all, the people at this church. They hosted us with warm generosity and kindness and were incredibly fun to spend a few days with. 

Now, we're so happy to tell the story of their church plant, Église Protestante de la Cambre. I bet after watching this, you wouldn't mind moving there either.

(ps, hear the jazz piano at the beginning? That's Matthieu, the church planter, at a casual dinner party they had while we were visiting. Impressive, huh!)

a story from Frankfurt

Redeemer City to City helps local leaders like Stephan start churches like Nordstern in global cities like Frankfurt. Support Nordstern Kirche www.redeemercitytocity.com/frankfurt Nordstern Kirche is a new church in Frankfurt. Their vision is that the people of Frankfurt would grow—through the gospel—in their love for Jesus and their neighbors in the city. They pray that this would happen for the glory of God, the happiness of the people, and the good of the city. Listen to the entire song written and produced by members of Nordstern: https://soundcloud.com/redeemerctc/nordstern-du-bist-koenig

You got a quick glimpse of what my time in Europe looked like from my perspective: it was primarily seen through the lens of a Canon EOS 7D camera.

Now you can finally see what happened on the other side of that lens.

During our 4-city escapade at the end of March, our itinerary included meeting with church planters in European cities, shadowing each of them for three or four days, conducting video interviews, learning as much as we could about their city and neighborhood, and building stronger relationships with those church planters and their core group members. 

Upon returning home, my team's next task was to make a video to tell their story. This is the story Nordstern.Kirche in Frankfurt, Germany shared with us, and—get ready—because it's a tear jerker. Our team is thrilled about sharing their story and stories from the other three cities over the next few months.