Members of the church established by the Rev. Timothy Keller told Fox News Digital about the influence of the late New York minister on his understanding and practice of Christianity, as well as how he rose above the political noise.
Keller often said, “The Gospel says you are more flawed and sinful than you dared to believe, but you’re more accepted and loved that you dared hope.” This aphorism was, according to multiple sources, the most memorable thing Keller preached at Redeemer Presbyterian Church , in New York City.
Keller, who passed away on May 19, following a three year battle with pancreatic carcinoma, founded Redeemer in 1990 after being appointed director of church plantation in the Presbyterian Church in America. He was also a young minister at , a small Virginia church.
Redeemer’s congregation would eventually grow to over 5,000 congregants per week in multiple locations.
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Tim Keller died on May 19, after a three year battle with pancreatic carcinoma. (Tim Keller/Facebook).
Keller’s Church-Planting Ministry Redeemer City to City spread across the globe, helping to establish more than 1,000 churches, in more than 150 different cities. Keller wrote 31 books, which sold over 6 million copies. They were also translated into 29 different languages. The bestsellers were “The Reason for God,” and “The prodigal God.”
‘Extremely humble’
Jana Van Singel said that Keller was humble despite his fame. She served as the deaconess of Redeemer.
She said: “You wouldn’t know at first, if you met him, that he is this famous minister who has written so many books and preached around the world.” “He was extremely humble and down-to earth, which is what I would consider a Christian leader to be.”
Van Singel thinks Keller’s intelligence — he used quotes from Marx, Kierkegaard and others to illustrate his point — made his sermons attractive to a wide swath young New Yorkers, who may not have been drawn to church settings.
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Keller would often use philosophers as examples in his sermons. (Rachel Martin/Redeemer City-to-City via AP).
She said, “They would come and say, ‘This sounds like a philosophical lesson, but it’s being compared to the Bible’.” “He could talk to people of all types and backgrounds.
Van Singel, despite Keller’s breadth of knowledge said that Keller’s main message was Jesus and God’s grace, which resonated with Van Singel “because I am a sinner and I need grace.”
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She said, “I don’t always feel loved but I know someone as amazing as Jesus who died for me and that he loves no matter what.” “I love this reminder. “Every time [Keller] spoke it, I knew he was talking to me. He was talking to a crowd, but he spoke to me. He brought Jesus to my heart.
“It’s not a political issue”
Beth Lefever was a Redeemer member for 25 years. She remembered that she cried when she first heard Keller’s message about God’s forgiveness and grace. She told Fox News Digital she was a pastor’s child who had become a Christian as a young girl, but that she and her family had suffered abuse in churches.
She said Keller’s sermon was “just so different.” It was more about ‘Yes you are a sinner but God loves you more than you know’.
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Keller stressed that the Christian gospel transcends political issues, according to several congregants who spoke with Fox News Digital.
Keller’s gracious demeanor allowed his gospel message to transcend political divisions, something Lefever was very careful to warn about.
She said that Keller’s political view was fine to argue about. “But turning against each other, hating one another or putting down others was not.” It means that politics isn’t important.
“To him, it was what the people in power wanted, but he put on the brakes and said, “No, this is not where we want as Christians.” This will tear us apart and God wants us together.
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Van Singel recalled that he had given a sermon in which he stated, “I will not preach on one side of the political spectrum, nor am I going to take sides.” He said: ‘I will only speak the truth.’ I will speak the truth, love and about Jesus. It is not a political issue.
“The real deal”
Keller’s emphasis of God’s grace had a profound effect on Laura Pfortmiller. Laura Pfortmiller is a musician and who began attending Redeemer in the fall of 2009 after becoming disillusioned by what she called the “works-based righteousness” of her childhood upbringing at the Church of the Nazarene. This was a branch of the Wesleyan/Holiness movement.
Pfortmiller said to Fox News Digital, Keller’s sermon “was the first I heard of this perspective that God was grace and that we cannot save ourselves through what we do or our actions.”
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Pfortmiller explained that he had made some terrible decisions and messed up often. It was mind-blowing for me to realize that there was no Plan B with God. I wasn’t a second-class citizen because of my mistakes, but rather, a daughter to God, king of all the universe.
Pfortmiller stated that Keller’s sermons always included this idea.
Keller founded Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City in 1990 after being appointed director of church plantation by the Presbyterian Church in America.
She said, “It was always about grace and what God did to bring us to him. And how Jesus’ atonement and sacrifice were the core of Christianity.”
Kyle, Laura’s spouse, said that when he heard Keller preach for the first time in the early 90s he was drifting towards New Age beliefs after leaving his Methodist background while attending college. He was challenged by his future wife to attend Redeemer despite his claim that Jesus is just a great teacher.
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Kyle recalled his first Keller message. “I still remember it,” he said. “I’d never heard anything quite like Tim Keller, and it was life-changing for me. I’d professed my belief before, but this was the moment when the rubber met the road. I said, “This is the real thing.”
After Keller’s message, Kyle stopped experiencing what he described as “year-long attacks on his spirituality“.
He said, “After that evening, it was all gone.” “That was quite amazing.”
“God is in Control”
Rob DeRocker is an economic marketing consultant and has been attending Redeemer Church with his wife Melinda since the 1960s. He cites Keller’s 2004 message ” your Plans: God’s plan” as being particularly memorable.
Keller preached based on passages from Proverbs 11-12 that many cultures believed their fate was subject to external, impersonal forces.
DeRocker stated that Keller contrasted this worldview with the many elites in places such as New York City who believe they are “totally under control,” which Keller rejected both as false.
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According to several congregants, who spoke with Fox News Digital, Pastor Tim Keller stressed the grace of God in his sermons. (Jose A. Alvarado Jr. from the Wall Street Journal).
DeRocker stated that “[he said] the Bible’s understanding is neither of these, but it’s more nuanced.” “And then, he continues to say that decisions we make, good or bad have absolutely consequences,” DeRocker said. You will either enjoy or suffer the consequences.
But ultimately, God is in charge. Even the worst decisions that you make, which have bad consequences, God is able to redeem and use them for his purpose.
He added, “That is just an example you don’t often hear from many preachers.”
“It pierced my me”
Melinda DeRocker, DeRocker’s wife, said that she was raised Baptist and instilled with the importance of being a “good girl” in the Deep South. She was also taught to reflect well on the family name. She said Keller’s sermons transformed her after she heard them for the first time at age 45.
Melinda said to someone, “I’ve never heard grace quite like this in my life,” after hearing Keller’s sermon. She claimed that it brought her joy.
She said, “It was like drinking living water to hear him preach.” “I couldn’t stop listening to it.” Keller’s straightforward, but profound presentation of gospel was different from what she had experienced in her Baptist upbringing.
She said, “It had not pierced my heart yet.” “Finally at 45 it pierced my heart.”
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Keller’s ministry offers hope to a city, country, and the world that are broken, said Ben Ghatan (19), a student at Georgetown University.
Ben Ghatan is a 19-year old student at Georgetown University. He told Fox News Digital his Christian faith was “largely the result of Tim Keller’s evangelism” in his life.
He said that growing up in New York in an agnostic family, his childhood was “surrounded by doubts about objective truth.” He added that school discourse was “defined by the consensus that nothing else exists in this world but what we can see.”
Ghatan said Keller’s ministry gave hope to a city, a country, and a world that was broken. This helped him realize the need for God in his own life.
He added, “We’d be wrong to idolize Tim’s life.” It’s my hope that his life will serve as a reminder of Jesus’ love for the world and his need to redeem us.
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According to Redeemer’s website, an online memorial service will be held in the next few weeks.
