A logo is a symbol.  Every symbol communicates something.  What is Redeemer Temple's logo intended to communicate?

Obviously, it is a cross that identifies us as a Christian church.  It connects us with a long church tradition, and particularly our Presbyterian heritage.  Yet, it is also a tree sprouting new life which symbolizes that with roots in history, there is ongoing life for today and the future.

Theologically, the tree and the cross go together.  The Tree of Life introduced in Genesis 2:9 is what we were made for.  Adam and Eve and their descendants were made to eat from this tree.  After their rebellion against God, they were cut off from this Tree of Life (Genesis 3:22-24).

Ever since then, we long to get back to that tree.  It is really what the Bible is about - God's people being restored to the Tree of Life with all that it represents.

But God placed the cherubim and a flaming sword in the garden of Eden to guard the way to the Tree of Life.

The only way back to the Tree of Life is to go through the sword.  And we are unable to do this.

But Jesus went through the sword for His people when He died to pay for our sin and secure our redemption.  The only way to the Tree of Life is through the cross of Jesus Christ, the only Redeemer.  So the cross and the tree are integrally related.

The Christian hope for the future is that Jesus will establish the new heavens and the new earth.  In Revelation 22:1-5 we are told that at the end of the story God's people will once again have access to the Tree of Life with its leaves which are "for the healing of the nations."  This is a picture of perfect redemption and restored communion with God . . . and it is only possible because of the cross of Christ.