Redeemer East Side Update

A sermon I often come back to personally and find myself quoting frequently is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sermon on Romans 12:2 entitled “Transformed Nonconformist.” (The entire text can be found in a collection of his sermons called Strength to Love.) Here is a longer excerpt of his beautiful and stirring words:

We need to recapture the gospel glow of the early Christians, who were nonconformists in the truest sense of the word and refused to shape their witness according to the mundane patterns of the world … By opening our lives to God in Christ we become new creatures. This experience, which Jesus spoke of as the new birth, is essential if we are to be transformed nonconformists … Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit … This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists … The saving of our world ... will come not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority … Will we continue to march to the drumbeat of conformity and respectability, or will we, listening to the beat of a more distant drum, move to its echoing sounds? Will we march only to the music of time, or will we, risking criticism and abuse, march to the soul-saving music of eternity?

By identifying “Commune” as the fourth Practice of PEACE, we are trying to distill the kinds of commitments needed to become a “dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists” into simple and sustainable practices. As we get together this Sunday to consider how we might intentionally commune with two or three other Christians, our prayer is that our lives at Redeemer East Side would begin to ring more clearly with the “beat of a more distant drum”––the “soul-saving music of eternity."

So join us this Sunday at 8 p.m. on Zoom. We will have the privilege of hearing from none other than Pastor Tim Keller himself! It’s an evening you definitely do not want to miss, so make sure to register now and mark your calendar!

Warmly,

Rev. Abraham Cho
East Side Senior Pastor

---

PEACE: An Invitation to Commune

Join Redeemer's founding pastor Dr. Tim Keller to discover how the belonging we and our world need right now can be found in the practice of Commune. When we foster Christian friendships that share common mission, authenticity and practices, we and the places we inhabit are transformed for the good.

---

PEACE Stories: Commune

We Commune with at least two other Christians, committing to a small community that shares the mission of Jesus. Here's Braxton's story of practicing Commune with friends in the same building, where they seek to be a source of stability, comfort, and embody the grace of God in a neighborhood that's going through a lot of change.

---