We’re so excited that the new season of Community Groups starts next week! Community Groups are an excellent way to get plugged in at Liberty Church. From book studies to cooking classes to discovering how to better connect during worship, there’s a group for everyone across all three Liberty communities.

I recently sat down with Vince to hear his story about how Community Groups have impacted his life.

I was new to Liberty Church. It was my first or second week attending when I overheard a conversation regarding a subject that interested me, and learned it was the theme of a Community Group. I quickly joined the group, and within days found a weekly safe haven and second home home amongst a dozen or so strangers who turned into close friends fast. More like family, really.

The overall experience for me was not as much a learning one as it was a sense of belonging, and of being heard. Those things we may not realize are missing in our lives until they show up and we are left wondering how we ever survived without them.

Knowing people in your group are experiencing many of the same things you are, both the good and bad, is incredibly empowering and the result was a stronger, more purposeful and focused week. Although I did learn about the theme that first interested me in the group, I learned much more about myself. I needed that. And how much better to receive it in the light of God’s truth around people who “get it” than from any other outlet. God’s grace is just too amazing to experience alone.

I know for myself I can easily isolate in my own world. It’s comfortable and I can get loads of stuff done. The problem is we are not meant to do life alone, and eventually we tire and get discouraged. We are meant to draw strength and encouragement, wisdom and compassion from each other. Often times simply hearing yourself speak the things that have been on your mind among others brings clarity to a situation. The answers are there, and bouncing stuff off of each other in community is a great way to discern and discover them. And I did. So go in with high expectations or go in with no expectations, but just go in. Get in a group because we need to be intentional about community in NYC.

There is something about an environment that is grounded in grace, freedom and love that just naturally (and supernaturally) brings out the best in us, while also allowing us to take the fight to parts of us that need improvement. In community I found allies in that fight. I also found co-laborers, prayer partners, late night Shake Shack eaters and life long friends. No matter the subject or theme of the group, something awesome is bound to occur.

If you’re interested in joining one of our Community Groups, there’s still time to sign up! Check out the groups and sign up here.

This Easter – we wanted to capture some of the incredible people in our church. We had a photo booth at our Brooklyn, Soho, and Union Square Communities.

On Friday May 2nd, the women from all 3 Liberty Church Communities will gather at St. Paul’s German Church in Chelsea to hear a panel of our very own women share their personal stories of freedom. Come and cheer these women on as they share their journey to freedom thus far. There will be worship, prayer, giveaways, food, friendship, honor moments, and so much more. Bring your friends, and we’ll see you there!

Date: Friday May 2nd
Time: 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Location: St. Paul’s German Church, 315 W 22nd St, New York, NY 10011

Liberty Sisterhood: Stories of Freedom from LibertyChurchNYC on Vimeo.

Liberty Sisterhood is a community of women from Liberty Church who gather together in strength, taking our time and place in history to be all that we’re called to be. This is not an “event” or “ladies meeting” - it’s a movement of women determined to live out God’s purpose for our lives on earth.

As we near Easter Weekend and wrap up our “Jesus Is” message series, we wanted to hear more stories from those in our Liberty Community about who Jesus Is to them. Here is Tyler Pines’ story about how Jesus Is…Worthy.

Worship music captivated me from a very young age, which I find is a testimony in itself. I grew up trained to play and listen to almost exclusively the “fine arts” of musical genres - classical, jazz, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, etc. These are wonderful pursuits that I still value highly, but by high school I was waving off simpler or more popular music within seconds of pressing the play button. My policy tended to be: if there’s nothing musical in it that I don’t understand, why bother? There was just one exception to this pattern: worship music. However basic, however simple, however manageable … it just got to me. Listening to Matt Redman sing “Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?” would stir my soul in a way that no other sound could. But it took the better part of a quarter-century for me to figure out why: Jesus is worthy.

I grew up in a church culture that understood worship as 20 minutes of song every Sunday morning. My experiences during worship typically ranged from mildly tiresome to reluctantly enjoyable. Granted, my attitude was the main factor standing in the way of God’s presence and voice during these times. But nobody ever told me that my entire life - everything I do - could be worship unto the Lord, or why it should.

After stumbling into Liberty in 2010 through a very strange and timely friend-of-a-friend connection, I was floored by the presence of God during worship. That very day, I re-dedicated my life to Christ and went up front after service to join the team. At that point, I was practically catapulted into a life of running after Christ. I found freedom, fellowship, and purpose within weeks. More importantly, I found a Savior who could reach into the depths of my heart and pull out passions I didn’t know I had, soothe wounds I had long nursed, and inject into me supernatural power and strength I didn’t know was available. I couldn’t quite grasp why Jesus would want to have anything to do with a neglectful, short-tempered, prideful, and deeply troubled me. But that’s the thing. God loves first, because that’s His nature. He just loves His kids.

The only natural response to such unconditional, perfect love coming from the Author of the stars is worship. It’s bowing. It’s raising your hands. It’s jumping, clapping and dancing. It’s singing. And it’s more! It’s being an excellent employee, because God is excellent at everything He does (look around). It’s tangibly showing your coworkers that you deeply care about their success and wellbeing. It’s caring for the poor. It’s prayer.

It’s all different ways to place worth on the King of Kings, and it’s all because he’s worthy.

Revelation 4:10-11 (NIV) says:

The twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Today, I serve on the Liberty Worship team and lead a Community Group that is studying the book “How to Worship a King” by Zach Neese. I’ve seen the love of Christ result in so many life transformations at Liberty that I’ve lost count long ago. I’ve seen people miraculously healed of injuries and sickness, relationships repaired, priorities reordered, prophesies declared and fulfilled, and so much more.

Most importantly, I love being able to say with full confidence: Jesus is real, His Kingdom is here now, within reach, and He’s worthy of every ounce of our adoration. Jesus. Is. WORTHY.

We may be biased, but we believe that we have some of the most incredible people in New York City on our team at Liberty Church. With our next All Team meeting happening tomorrow, we wanted to take a moment to share the story of an irreplaceable part of our team - Shilvy Yee.

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September 18, 2011, was a momentous day: It was the day Liberty Church launched its Union Square community, and it was the day God brought me to my church home. As I stood there during service wrapped up in God’s love, the truth of Jeremiah 29:11 echoed through my heart . . .

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV).

That day I sensed that vision and purpose were being planted in my heart for the kingdom of God. I wasn’t sure what lay before me, but I knew that it would be good. What would unfold over the next few years would be a series of surprises; and had someone told me back then all that would unfold, I probably would have looked at them incredulously and laughed. How grateful I am that I didn’t get a chance to laugh at the wonderful plans God had in store for me! “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20, NLT)!

About a month after my first day at Liberty, I joined the Prayer Team and went to my first All Team Meeting. All Team Meetings are special gatherings where the teams across the Liberty communities come together in a spirit of unity to fellowship with each other, worship God, and hear vision and teaching from our leaders. After my first All Team, I remember telling a friend how blown away I was; I felt like I had gotten free admission to a conference I would have gladly paid for!

Eight months after I began to serve, I became the Prayer Team Leader of Union Square. It’s been almost two years since then and I’ve had the joy and privilege to be a part of what God has done in and through this team. We’ve seen signs and wonders, changed lives, healings, breakthroughs, freedom, God’s manifest presence. I’ve seen team members discover and develop their gifts in incredible ways through serving on the team. When my team members tell me that they’ve found community on the team, that they love how they can be themselves, that they relish the powerful prayer sessions full of God’s presence, that they appreciate what they’ve learned, I see how true Psalm 92:13 (NIV) is: “planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.”

Being planted in the house of God and leading the Prayer Team has blessed my life in countless ways. The greatest way it has impacted me is to see God’s love for us and our love for Him and others over and over and over. I see it through answered prayers; I see it through the relationships at Liberty; I see it in the eyes of those receiving prayer and those who pray for others.

This Friday, April 4, we gather for our next All Team Meeting. I can’t wait to be with my church family, and I hope to see you there!

All Team Meeting
When: April 4 at 7:30 PM
Where: St. Paul’s German Church, 315 W. 22nd Street, New York, NY, 10011

There will also be water baptisms happening on this night, as well as childcare provided. Please email [email protected] if you’re interested in being baptized, or to sign your child(ren) up for childcare.

At Liberty we believe it’s important to not just attend church, but to be planted in a church community where you can flourish. That’s why we encourage anyone interested in being a part of Liberty Church to attend Grow - a series of classes where you can find out how Liberty began, meet our pastors, understand what we believe and find your place in our church.

Here’s recent Grow graduate Casey Roger’s story about what she got out of the course, and how it has helped her find her place at Liberty.

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I first found Liberty via Jessi Green’s Facebook page last May when I was looking for a church here in New York. I had tried what felt like every single church in the city, and nothing really felt right.

Honestly, I’m not even sure what I was looking for. I knew I needed a place where I would learn how to have faith in God and where I could strengthen my relationship with Him. I also knew I needed to get involved with a solid community, and boy did I find that!

One morning I finally decided I was going to try Liberty. I walked in and was completely overwhelmed by what I now know was the strong presence of God. I had never felt something like that before. It was powerful and scary because it was so foreign to me.

To be honest, at first I was a bit intimidated. I’d come in right at the start of the service, bawl my eyes out the entire time, and then be so embarrassed I was crying that I’d leave before the last song was even over.

I knew I needed to dig deeper, so I took the Alpha course and joined a Community Group. I joined Jessi and Gracie’s group, and I and met a ton of great girls there. I still didn’t feel completely connected, though. I was afraid to fully let God come in and take control of my life. Then one day at church, Jessi stopped me from leaving and introduced me to a ton of new people. Gradually I started to make some great connections, and it started to feel right for me. So finally I decided it was time to go “all in” and take the Grow course.

Yes, I was there to worship and take in the Word of God, but I was also there to serve others.

Grow was a great course for me as it helped me understand what my purpose was for being at Liberty. Yes, I was there to worship and take in the Word of God, but I was also there to serve others. My favorite part of Grow was learning about my spiritual gifts. I mean, WOW, what a cool thing to learn about yourself. At the end of the course, Amy Lockmiller asked if I’d like to join the Connections Team, where I now greet and connect with people on Sunday mornings.

Grow has really helped me realize how and why I need to step out in faith more, and Liberty has been the perfect place to begin that journey. I am naturally an introvert, but God is working in me more than ever. He’s teaching me how to embrace community.

I love getting to know new people and helping them feel comfortable at Liberty, especially since I can completely relate to being in their shoes. I can also encourage them to take the Grow course for themselves, as I can personally attest to how much of a difference it’s made in my own life.

I feel so blessed to be a part of the Liberty Church community. Not only am I surrounded by so many people who love and support me, but I’ve learned how to get over some of my fears. I never realized how rewarding it would be to not only be part of a community, but to begin welcoming others in to that as well.

If you’re interested in signing up for Grow you can RSVP here, or email [email protected] with any questions.

The wait is almost over! Our next All Team Meeting is this Friday, April 4th. We’ll be gathering at St. Paul’s German Church to worship God, learn from our leaders, and celebrate our volunteers.

More good news: we’ll also be having water baptisms! Baptisms are a public declaration of a private commitment to God. It symbolizes the death of your old self (submerging in the water) and being raised again as a new creation in Christ (rising out of the water).

If you have never been baptized and would like to or if you have before but didn’t fully understand it at the time, we invite you to sign up to be baptized on this night. Join the dozens in our community who have made this bold declaration! To all who have already been baptized, come ready to support and pray for all those who will be taking that step.

If you call Liberty Church home and currently volunteer on a team or if you are interested in doing so, we would love for you to join us. Child care will be provided, so bring the whole family! If you would like to RSVP for the meeting, sign up for baptisms, or sign up your child(ren) for child care, please email [email protected]

Our first Relationship Seminar is just two days away! We’re so excited to come together as a church community to discuss the importance of the various relationships in our lives, and hear from pastors Steve & Sharon Kelly from Wave Church.

Unfortunately tickets are all sold out, but check out this final (hilarious) short with a not-so-serious take on relationships thanks to Raji and Shawna.