How Jon Tyson Preaches: Diagnose the Problem, Then Coin the Line That Turns It

Jon Tyson has pastored in New York City for more than 20 years and preaches to the post-Christian global city. We studied seven of his sermons, from about 2019 to 2025. Under every one sits the same two-half argument: diagnose the problem with evidence, turn to the remedy with one coined line he keeps repeating, and end by asking people to do something with their bodies.

Who Jon Tyson is

Tyson grew up in Adelaide, Australia, started working in a butcher shop at 14, came to faith through a Pentecostal youth group and moved to the United States on a Bible college scholarship. At 28 he started a church in his Manhattan apartment.

He pastored first through Trinity Grace Church’s network of neighborhood congregations and now leads Church of the City New York, which a Premier Christianity profile put at about 1,500 members. He took part in Tim Keller’s mentoring program from 2006. His books include Sacred Roots, The Burden Is Light, Beautiful Resistance (2020) and The Intentional Father, and he preaches as a guest at churches such as KXC in London.

The shape of a Tyson sermon

Often the whole passage is read aloud before Tyson speaks, sometimes by a church member. Then he opens his own talk with a story, a painting or a word history. In one Easter sermon it is a botched fresco restoration. In another, “holiday” turns out to mean “holy day.”

Before his first point he brings evidence about the culture: trust surveys, research on rejection, a New York Times column. Then comes the diagnosis, a numbered list of symptoms tied to Bible scenes. He numbers his points out loud and quotes outside thinkers by name, from Lewis to Becker.

Somewhere between a quarter and just past half of the sermon, he turns to the remedy. He coins one line for that turn and keeps repeating it: “God comes where he’s wanted,” or “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” His own stories serve as proof, especially ones where he looks foolish.

Every sermon we studied ends with a physical response. People kneel, come forward, stand, take communion or turn their hands face down and then face up.

What made his preaching different

What others said

“He writes and preaches with a uniquely compelling conviction.”

— Bryan Loritts

“His preaching is peppered with quotes and cultural references…”

— Profile of Jon Tyson, Premier Christianity

What to take into your own pulpit

Those are the ideas. The guide turns them into ten steps you can follow this week, plus the sermons we studied and a fill-in outline in his shape.

Common questions