Podcast Summary: Times Square Church - Sermons Episode: "The End Is the Beginning" – December 14, 2025 | Speaker: Pastor Tim Dilena

Episode Overview

This sermon, delivered by Pastor Tim Dilena at Times Square Church, centers on the powerful theme: “The End Is the Beginning.” With heartfelt urgency and warmth, Pastor Tim explores how God turns our suffering, battles, and endings into new beginnings of purpose and ministry. Drawing from 2 Corinthians 1 and personal, historical, and contemporary stories, the message urges listeners not to escape or resent their trials, but to let God comfort, heal, and commission them to comfort others. The tone is sincere, pastoral, at times humorous, and deeply hope-filled.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. God Moves Globally and Locally (05:00–08:00)

• Pastor Tim opens by welcoming an international, multi-campus online congregation, highlighting the global impact of Times Square Church.
• He acknowledges recent tragedies (e.g., Hanukkah shooting in Australia, Brown University shooting) and leads the church in collective prayer for comfort and peace, especially for the Jewish community.

2. A “Big God”: Stories of Divine Connection (08:00–12:00)

• Shares a remarkable anecdote: a Jewish man from Jerusalem meets an Indonesian woman in Singapore, only to find their connection is through Times Square Church in NYC.
  • “We have a saying. We either say, it's a small world or a big God. I said, I'm going to go with a big God.” – Pastor Tim Dilena (10:30)
• Illustrates the church’s worldwide reach and the “big God” who orchestrates connections for His purpose.

3. Main Theme Introduction: The End Is Just the Beginning (12:00–15:30)

• Shares a historical story: the 17-pound gold nugget used as a doorstop and never recognized for its value. Parallels this with how we may undervalue trials and suffering.
• Sets up the message: “We may not know the value that we have when we go through testing, trial, in the furnace… the end is just the beginning.”

4. Suffering and Comfort: Biblical Foundation (15:30–22:00)

• Reads aloud 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, highlighting Paul’s teaching that believers go through suffering and are comforted, so they in turn can comfort others.
• “The end of difficulty for all of us is the beginning of ministry for other folks. The end is not ‘I’m glad that’s over,’… but ‘let me tell you what God has done for me.’” (17:30)

5. What to Do With Your Suffering (22:00–33:30)

• Emphasizes: True ministry begins only after God’s comfort is received in suffering.
  • References Hudson Taylor’s plaques “Ebenezer” (“thus far the Lord has helped us”) and “Jehovah Jireh” (“the Lord will provide”), teaching believers to both look back at God’s faithfulness and forward to God’s provision.
  • Warns against “aborting before the comfort has come”—i.e., quitting before experiencing God’s help, leaving only unresolved pain.
• Story: A Brazilian woman attends TSC, cannot understand the sermon due to technical issues, but receives a miraculous healing through the Holy Spirit and is later declared cancer-free. (21:30–24:30)
  • “She recalls praying in Portuguese: ‘God, I don’t understand a word this pastor is saying, but somehow I understand everything that’s being said. I believe you are healing me’... the doctor just simply said, ‘You are cancer free.’”

6. The Power of a Testimony (24:30–28:00)

• Pastor Tim shares a personal story: facing false accusation, he had to trust God instead of defending himself. He clung to Genesis 30:33: “My honesty will answer for me later.”
  • “The problem with that verse is the word later. I want it to be now.” (27:00)
• Emphasizes that carrying through suffering, receiving God’s comfort, equips us to help others—not just to have a “painful story without any help.”

7. Don't Escape—Let God Finish the Work (28:00–34:00)

• Cites Joseph in Genesis: had he engineered his early release from prison, he would have missed God’s plan to rise as prime minister—sometimes what we perceive as delay is preparation.
  • “Ask God for help… but don’t try to make your way out of that thing. God has something he’s wanting to do.”
• Warns: “Suffering without the God of all comfort is dangerous. It’s toxic.”

8. Prayer’s Reach: Comfort From Afar (34:00–37:30)

• Using Paul’s story (Acts 19, 2 Corinthians 1), Pastor Tim illustrates how a prayer meeting 300 miles away in Corinth provided the spiritual covering Paul needed to survive a deadly trial in Ephesus.
  • “Asia has a problem and Greece has a prayer meeting.” (34:50)
  • “There is no miles or gap between that when the people of God begin to pray.”

9. Application: Receive Comfort, Become a Comforter (37:30–44:00)

• God’s comfort is meant to be shared: “The end is just the beginning. When God gives you a scripture, a word, a brother, a sister, that is not the end going, ‘Wow, you got me through’… you are meant to get other people through it also.”
• “If the person who’s talking has not received something from God, you are going to hear a story with a bitter tone.”

10. Resistance, Resilience, and Church Legacy (44:00–49:00)

• Pastor Tim discusses the history of Gospel Tabernacle (now John’s Pizzeria): “How does Gospel Tabernacle turn into John’s Pizzeria?”
• Sober statistic: “Just this year, 15,000 churches in America have shut their door... in the coming years, this country will experience 100,000 churches in the next few years will shut their doors.” (47:30)
• “We are going to face battles… the goal is not for you to get out. The goal is for you to get out and then help others to get through.”

11. Illustration: The Emperor Moth (49:00–52:00)

• A scientist trying to “help” the moth by cutting its cocoon actually cripples it—its struggle is what gives it strength and color.
  • “If you’re in a battle right now, don't cut the hole bigger... The junk is coming off through the struggle.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On God’s Purpose in Our Trials:
  • “Fiery trials make golden Christians.” (14:30, quoting Charles Spurgeon)
• On the Value of Shared Suffering:
  • “If you’re looking for somebody who can give you wisdom, may I recommend… look for someone who’s been hurt deeply and whose faith has remained unshaken.” (16:55)
• On Receiving and Giving Comfort:
  • “The end is not simply to get you through—it's to get other people through that.” (46:45)
• On Resisting Premature Escape:
  • “I've operated so much in my life that the end is the end and it's not. He's just prepping you. He's getting you ready because we want to bolt.” (57:26)
  • “Don’t cut the cocoon hole bigger. The junk has to come off.” (55:35)
• On the Legacy of the Church:
  • “I am not interested in this place turning into a Broadway theater... They're going to walk by and see an LED wall, they're going to see a whole screen and go, ‘That church isn't going anywhere.’” (48:50)
• On Prayer’s Global Power:
  • “Thank God that no matter what you may be facing in Australia, in Israel, in Ukraine, there is a church here in New York City… because prayer bridges the gap.” (36:10)
• On Personal Vulnerability and Community:
  • “Some of you are going, ‘He can use me? And what I’m going through can use me in this?’ Yes, he can.” (53:22)
  • “Look at the person next to you and say, ‘The end is the beginning. God’s gotcha.’” (57:26)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 06:00–09:00 – Welcoming global viewers; prayer for tragedy victims
• 10:00–12:00 – “Big God” international connection story
• 13:30–15:00 – 17-pound gold nugget/“unused value” illustration
• 15:30–18:00 – 2 Corinthians 1: suffering & comfort
• 21:30–24:30 – Brazilian woman’s testimony of miraculous healing
• 26:30–28:30 – “My honesty will answer for me later” (Genesis 30:33) as personal comfort
• 30:00–32:30 – Joseph’s prison: don’t escape prematurely
• 34:00–37:30 – Paul’s crisis, Corinth’s prayers, power of intercession
• 44:00–47:45 – Gospel Tabernacle/John’s Pizzeria: church legacy and battle
• 49:00–52:00 – Emperor moth struggle illustration
• 57:26–58:00 – “Don’t bolt! The end is the beginning.”
• Final minutes (after 52:00) – Ministry time and call to receive God’s comfort; “gunky wings” metaphor

Conclusion: Applying the Message

Pastor Tim closes with a passionate altar call and moments of congregational worship, encouraging those in a struggle not to give up or seek an artificial exit, but to receive God’s comfort so they can, in turn, comfort others. The sermon leaves listeners with hope, purpose, and a charge to see every end as the beginning of a greater work—personally and within the broader church.

If you haven’t listened to this episode, you can expect encouragement for any season of suffering, reminders of God’s faithfulness, and a stirring call to turn personal battles into shared hope and ministry.

“The end is just the beginning. God did not bring you through to put you in a choir and a microphone. He brought you out... to say you can do it.” – Pastor Tim Dilena (52:00)