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Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan was founded by nationally acclaimed pastor and author, Tim Keller. Since the church’s birth in 1989, it has offered life-giving ministries in the Name of Jesus, and each weekend, thousands of people gather at the church (which meets at multiple sites across the city) to hear the Gospel.
If asked why Redeemer Church even exists, Pastor Keller will quickly point to God’s sovereign will. But the details behind the church’s birth give incredible insight into how God can use anything for His glory. Here’s how Rev. Keller tells the story of Redeemer:
The reason I am in New York City today is because one particular teacher in seminary convinced me to go into Presbyterian ministry. He was teaching that semester because, as a British subject, he had been granted a visa to come and teach. He had had a great deal of trouble getting that visa and had almost given up coming to the United States until someone in the State Department helped his application along. That was possible because a member of the family then in the White House was attending our seminary. That family was in the White House because the previous president had to resign. The reason he had to resign was because of the Watergate wire-tapping scandal. The Watergate scandal only came to light because a night watchman noticed an unlatched door. If that door had been latched, and the scandal had not happened, and the changes in government had not occurred, I never would have sat under that professor.
At this point I ask my hearers: “Are you glad Redeemer Church is here?” When they nod, I respond, “Then Watergate happened for you.”
Only our God can use something as bad as Watergate to bring about something as good as Redeemer Church!
Resource’s Origin:
Encounters with Jesus by Tim Keller. Penguin Books, 2013, Pages 184-185.
