Redeemer Lincoln Square

Our friends at Redeemer Lincoln Square recently prayed for men and women experiencing homelessness in our city. 

Reverend Graham Girard recently provided a beautiful prayer at Redeemer Lincoln Square's HFNY Sunday. Here are the words he shared, which you can use to pray as well.

While I could tell you all about the logistics of Don't Walk By or the amazing stories of changed lives to tug on the heartstrings, I’m going to share instead why you should sign up to serve again or even for the first time.

The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. — Hebrews 13:11-14 (NIV)

Every year, HFNY hosts HFNY Sunday events and participates in Volunteer Fairs at our church partners. We asked our Church Partnerships team what encouraged them at the HFNY Sunday and Volunteer Fair events.

For an annual Hope for New York Sunday event, a special prayer was shared at Redeemer Lincoln Square: "Father, remind our hearts that there are no ordinary people, that there are no mere mortals, but that every person is an image bearer of the most high, deserving of honor."

As we approach this holiday season, may we focus our hearts on You, Father, and celebrate the gift of life through Your Son, Jesus. Help us also to be mindful of those—whether a friend, neighbor, or family member—who may be wrestling with feelings of grief and despair.

In the next 10 years, we plan to incubate new non-profits to holistically serve our city, activate New York churches to love their neighbors in need, and unite New Yorkers to provide solutions to poverty.

When we encounter weakness, we must first pursue our Lord who knows what it means to suffer more than anyone. Only then can we join together with our neighbors to serve the meek and the poor in spirit without burnout or triumphalism.

Hope for New York volunteers are constantly thinking through how they can best serve their neighbors in need as a response to the grace shown by Jesus. Let these stories inspire you to pray through how God might want to use you to bring greater flourishing to this city.