Sunday preaching from a New Jersey pulpit, unedited.
Grace Church of Ridgewood posts its Sunday preaching each week, much of it a sustained walk through the book of Acts. Pastor Ben Spalink and Pastor Howie Van Dyk read long passages aloud, then circle back through everyday examples until the point lands.
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Grace Church of Ridgewood is a sermon feed from a congregation in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and it makes little effort to sound like anything else. The recordings start where the service starts. A mic check, a thank-you to the sound team, a reminder about the newcomer lunch at half past twelve. Pastor Ben Spalink serves as one of the pastors. Pastor Howie Van Dyk introduces himself as the part-time, temporary, interim preaching pastor, joking that the big hook could pull him offstage any Sunday. They share the preaching, and the difference in their manner is easy to hear. A long expository series in the book of Acts gives the feed its spine. Acts 16 covers the sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over whether Mark could be trusted on another missions trip. Acts 17 sets two cities against each other. Acts 18 turns on how God provides for people he calls, starting with the husband-and-wife pair Aquila and Priscilla and the expulsion of Christians from Rome under Claudius. The church calendar interrupts the series when it should. Palm Sunday brings the crowd on the parade route and the shout of Hosanna. Easter Sunday brings Peter and John running for the tomb and the strips of linen left behind. Both preachers read Scripture at length before explaining any of it, then keep restating the point with fresh illustrations until it sticks. The analogies come from ordinary life. Homesickness on a missions trip. Losing an hour to the time change. A worship chorus about ancient words. Even a few lines of a children's rhyme set against a passage in Acts. Doctrine rarely stays theoretical here; it gets attached to something a listener already knows. The tone is warm and pastoral rather than polished or performative, with room for both solemnity and open delight. Sermons close in prayer, spoken over the room, asking for courage for the discouraged and clarity for anyone still searching. Regulars, visitors, and people watching the stream all get addressed by name of category, which is part of why the feed feels like a place instead of a program. It is preaching for a specific congregation that happens to be listenable well outside it.
Made for: Listeners who want full-length expository preaching rather than a produced faith podcast, especially anyone following a sustained series through Acts. It suits members and former members of Grace Church, people who worship remotely, and Christians who like sermons that stay tied to a real congregation.
What sets it apart: The room stays in the recording, from announcements and worship-team shout-outs to a preacher's running commentary on his own allergies, so the sermons arrive as church rather than as content. Two pastors sharing the pulpit with distinct manners keep a single long series through Acts from settling into one register.
Grace Church of Ridgewood New Jersey's sermons, updated weekly.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Scripture, historical context and everyday examples meet in sermons that turn Christian doctrine into practical spiritual counsel.
Grace Church of Ridgewood turns biblical passages into pastoral arguments with a clear route from text to ordinary life. Pastors Ben Spalink and Howie Van Dyke teach from Acts, Nehemiah, John and the Gospel accounts of Palm Sunday, moving between historical context, close…
A golf clubhouse faux pas makes you ask what abiding in Christ looks like off the course.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A steady sermon on ministry sustained by the friends and provision God gives along the way.
Pastor Ben Spalink reads Acts 18 as a steady word for weary ministry: when God calls, he also equips. The sermon grounds that promise in Paul's meeting with Aquila and Priscilla, treating their friendship as God's provision for a servant who is isolated and in need of support.
A brief Easter sermon connects John 20, a plane-crash memory, and a direct call to trust the risen Christ.
Easter's central claim comes through clearly in this Grace Church sermon as Pastor Howie Van Dyk moves through John 20, follows Peter and the other disciple into the tomb, and returns to the promise that those who place faith and trust in Jesus can have eternal life.
A Palm Sunday sermon that holds public celebration, grief, and the call to salvation in one frame.
Palm Sunday is framed as a crowded public moment, with Jesus entering Jerusalem to palm branches, hosannas, and Passover pilgrims. Howie draws the sermon from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, tying the crowd's language to Psalm 118 and to the weight of naming Jesus King.
A candid Acts sermon on sharp disagreement, divided ministry teams, and the work that continues afterward.
The preacher reads Acts as a study in what ministry does after rupture. Beginning with the lost hour of Spring Ahead Sunday, the sermon moves to Paul's refusal to take Mark after Pamphylia, holding Paul's hard judgment beside Barnabas's steady advocacy.
A sermon on how grace can lose its joy when faith gets tangled with the pressure to earn.
This Grace Church sermon frames its warning around the danger of adding religious requirements to faith in Jesus. It starts with the remembered joy of conversion, when guilt and shame feel lifted, then moves through Pilgrim's Progress and the image of a heavy burden rolling away…
A steady sermon about impossible obstacles, active waiting, and courage formed through prayer and preparation.
This sermon reframes big obstacles as an invitation to slower faith: prayer, preparation, and patience with God's timing. It begins with a dream repeatedly meeting roadblocks, then moves to Nehemiah, who prays and prepares for months before taking action.
A sermon turns New Year's distraction into a call to abide in Christ through sustained attention to Jesus.
New Year's resolutions open onto a deeper question: what should sit at the center of a life pulled between health goals, reading plans, phone habits, binge-watching, and doomscrolling?
Two Bible translators unpack Scripture's hardest passages, from Revelation's 666 to the Witch of Endor.
Live sermons with Easter-shaped urgency.
Pastor John explores how to pursue God-given dreams despite obstacles, using Nehemiah's story from the Bible.
Pastor Ben Spalink explores the story of Naomi in Ruth 2, encouraging listeners to reflect on God's attitude towards them during the holiday season.
Pastor Ben Spalink preaches on Isaiah 25, emphasizing the importance of trusting in God's plan to deal with death and life's disappointments.
A sermon from Grace Church of Ridgewood challenges listeners to simplify their lives in 2025 by focusing on abiding in Christ rather than making typical New Year's resolutions.
Pastor Ben Spalink frames Acts 18:1-17 at Grace Church of Ridgewood around God's provision for ministry, from Aquila and Priscilla to Gallio's ruling.
Pastor Howie Van Dyk preaches from John chapter 20 about Mary Magdalene finding Jesus’ tomb open before dawn on Easter Sunday.
At Grace Church of Ridgewood, Pastor Howie Van Dyk says the Palm Sunday crowd's "Hosanna" means both praise and "save me now" as Jesus enters Jerusalem in Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, and John 12.
Pastor Howie Van Dyk introduces a sermon on Acts 17, emphasizing the timeless relevance of the Book of Acts and leading into a message titled 'A Tale of Two Cities.'
Pastor Howie Van Dyk introduces a sermon on Acts 16, discussing the upcoming Holy Week celebrations and encouraging prayer for the preaching.
Pastor Howie Van Dyke delivers a guest sermon at Grace Church of Ridgewood on Acts 16, centered on the conflict between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark before their second missionary journey.
Pastor Ben Spalink of Grace Church of Ridgewood preaches on Acts 15 — the Jerusalem Council — arguing that the council permanently settled salvation as grace alone through faith, rejecting any 'Jesus plus' works requirement.
Pastor Ben Spalink teaches from Acts 8:24-40 about how believers can cooperate with God to make a personal impact in the world through the church.
Pastor Ben Spalink discusses powerful examples of community from Jewish mourning traditions and 12-step recovery programs, leading into a sermon on Acts 2:42-47 about living together in Christian community.
Pastor Ben Spalink preaches on Isaiah 25, emphasizing the importance of trusting in God's plan to deal with death and life's disappointments.