Times Square Church - Sermons

Episode: Who Says You Have to Leave Church Happy
Host: Pastor Tim Dilena
Date: September 28, 2025

Episode Overview

In this passionate and thought-provoking message, Pastor Tim Dilena challenges the prevailing expectation that attending church should always leave us feeling happy. Instead, he proposes that true encounters with God often result in deep personal transformation, sometimes accompanied by discomfort or even sadness, as God "interferes" with the areas of our lives that need change. Drawing from biblical narratives, personal stories, and humorous asides, Pastor Tim urges listeners to embrace God’s interference, value truth over mere affirmation, and recognize that joyful strength comes as a result of God’s truthful intervention in our lives.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Global Welcome and Church Vision

• Pastor Tim warmly greets attendees in New York and viewers worldwide, emphasizing the church's vision to create a "24-hour witness" in Times Square and to reach people in 77 nations with initiatives like "Child Cry" ([00:00 – 06:57]).
• Launch of the new German-language ministry channel, with a prayer for revival in Germany led by Thomas ([06:57]).

2. The Sermon’s Central Question

• Pastor Tim introduces the message’s central theme: "Who says you have to leave church happy every Sunday?" He challenges the notion that church should always be affirming or comfortable.
• Quote:

  “Who says you have to leave church happy every Sunday? Not when Jesus and you are on a collision course.” — Pastor Tim ([09:07])

3. When God "Interferes" with Our Lives

• Drawing from the story of the woman at the well (John 4) and the rich young ruler (Mark 10), Pastor Tim demonstrates how encounters with Jesus are often disruptive before they are redemptive.
• Jesus’ approach was not to affirm people’s current way of living, but to “interfere” for the sake of truth leading to freedom and joy.
• Quote:

  “Truth sets free, freedom brings joy, and joy gives strength. I don’t need to be happy. I need joy. But that doesn’t come unless truth comes first.” — Pastor Tim ([12:09])

4. Truth Over Happiness

• The pursuit of happiness is not the primary purpose of church or Christian life; instead, the aim is truth, which leads to genuine, abiding joy and strength.
• Pastor Tim underscores that mistaken expectations of happiness can leave people unprepared for the way God confronts and transforms them.

5. The Rich Young Ruler: A Scriptural Example

• The rich young ruler is used as an example of someone who desired affirmation but recoiled when Jesus offered truth that challenged his attachments.
• Jesus’ words left him “saddened” and “grieving” ([14:55]), illustrating, according to Pastor Tim, that Jesus is not obligated to make us happy but to offer the truth that sets us free.

6. Personal and Leadership Reflections

• Pastor Tim shares about pastoring through challenge, spiritual battles, and the changes he has experienced during decades of ministry.
• He encourages perseverance, stating that though battles with truth and obedience can be hard, they are ultimately worth it ([29:45 – 34:25]).

7. Discipleship and the "Interfering" Jesus

• Pastor Tim highlights John (“the disciple Jesus loved”) as someone who was initially angry, self-seeking, prejudiced, and narrow-minded but was transformed by walking closely with Jesus.
• Quote:

  “Discipleship or disciple means you are growing and welcoming the interference of God.” — Pastor Tim ([27:30])

8. Transformation: From Conflict to Compassion

• The story of John, who initially wanted to “call fire down from heaven” on Samaritans (Luke 9), but later prays for them to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8), demonstrates the transforming effect of God’s persistent interference ([46:50]).

9. Judging Others and Theological Foundation

• Pastor Tim cautions against judging fellow Christians who are still in process, citing the diverse and at-first unqualified group that Jesus chose as his disciples.
• He distinguishes between solid theology (belief in Christ, the Bible, sin, salvation, the Holy Spirit, and the return of Jesus) and the need for worldview alignment, trusting that God’s interference works over time.
• Quote:

  “We seem to remember what a mess we were before we came to Christ. But we forget what a mess we are after we came to Jesus.” — Pastor Tim ([42:38])

10. Real-life Illustrations

• Stories illustrating God’s interference:
  • A woman struggling to surrender her Broadway career to God.
  • A new believer from a Hindu background whose journey to “find God” led her to the church.
  • A humorous account of meeting a man with profane speech who is feeling drawn to church and faith.
• Quote:

  “I would rather hang out with the blankety blank man than somebody sucking their thumb for 20 years in the church.” — Pastor Tim ([57:56])

11. A Call for Personal Surrender

• The altar call challenges listeners to ask God to interfere with every area of their lives—no matter how uncomfortable or resistant they might feel ([59:11 - 65:20]).
• Pastor Tim prays for truth, freedom, joy, and strength to follow God’s interference, emphasizing that no area is off-limits.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On God’s Interference:

  “Some days I feel like He’s picking on me. I said, there’s so many other people that are worse than me...Go after them—go after Ricardo, but not me.” — Pastor Tim ([18:57])

• On the Role of Truth:

  “Truth will interfere with your politics…your traditions…your preconceived ideas…your ethnicity…your upbringing. When you meet Jesus, He will interfere in every single area of our lives.” — Pastor Tim ([19:33])

• CS Lewis on Comfort:

  “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I knew a bottle of wine could do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I don’t recommend Christianity.” — Pastor Tim quoting C.S. Lewis ([29:33])

• On the Transformation of John:

  “The people [John] wanted to die are now the people he’s praying for. Because Jesus has interfered with his life... He just got which fire wrong. He thought he was going to send fire to kill them. It was a fire to fill them.” — Pastor Tim ([47:09])

• On Growth and Maturity:

  “You are young only once, but you can be immature a long time.” — Pastor Tim ([20:59])

• On Judgment and Patience:

  “Don’t judge before you want to judge somebody and go like, oh, look at that. Stop. God’s working with them.” — Pastor Tim ([47:48])

• On the Call to Surrender:

  “How many are willing to at least say that? Interfere with every part. Every part.” — Pastor Tim ([62:43])

Important Timestamps

• 00:00–06:57 – Global greetings, church vision, "Child Cry", new German channel, prayer for Germany.
• 09:07 – Introduction of sermon’s core question: why expect to leave church happy?
• 12:09 – Sequence: truth → freedom → joy → strength.
• 14:55–17:49 – Story of the rich young ruler; Jesus’ interference grieves him.
• 25:40–27:30 – Discussion on John’s character flaws and his ongoing discipleship.
• 29:33 – CS Lewis quote on comfort and Christianity.
• 34:25 – Pastor Tim reflects on 35 years of ministry and battles for people’s spiritual growth.
• 42:38 – “We forget what a mess we are after we came to Jesus.”
• 46:50 – John’s transformation shown through his ministry to Samaritans.
• 57:56 – Prefers authentic seekers to complacent long-time Christians.
• 59:11 – Altar call: “Interfere with me, God.”
• 62:43–65:46 – Prayer and surrender at the close of the message.

Conclusion: Embracing the Interference

Pastor Tim’s message challenges Christians to rethink their expectations of church and spiritual growth. Rather than pursuing perpetual affirmation and happiness, believers are called to welcome the sometimes uncomfortable interference of God’s truth, trusting that this process leads to authentic freedom, joy, and strength. The transformation of biblical figures like John and contemporary stories from Pastor Tim’s own life offer hope that God’s work in us, though sometimes painful, is always purposeful and loving. The call is clear: surrender fully and let God’s interference do its deep work.

For more sermons and information about Times Square Church, visit tsc.nyc.