CCIC-SJ Sermons

This message addresses the things that provoked Paul.  Being provoked does not mean only to be offended, but also to be affected, motivated, and driven.  Paul was provoked by:

idolatry, false religion, and rejection of the gospel as all this compelled him to preach the good news of salvation in Christ

the promise of God as it encouraged him to persist in teaching and evangelism

his own vow to God as motivation to fulfill his commitment to the Lord.

The message challenges us to examine what provokes us and reflect on whether those things matter to God and provoke Him.  If not, then we must change our hearts to care deeply about the things that provoke and matter to God.

Guest speaker, Pastor Fred Mok delivers an inspiring reminder from the book of Hebrews.  As followers of Christ, we are not citizens of any earthly country but we have a Heavenly citizenship. God made us strangers, exiles and foreigners to be associated with Him as His people. We are designed to bear reproach, humiliation and suffering while extending hospitality to strangers, just as Jesus did for us.

Christians are guilty of discriminating and erecting barriers for people of other culture or ethnic groups to be accepted as equals in the family of Christ.  As Asian American Christians, we should learn from the mistakes of early church leaders including Peter and Paul. Our special guest speaker is Rev. Dr. Tim Tseng, who is the Pacific Area Director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Graduate and Faculty Ministries (GFM). He shares personal testimonies and preaches from Galatians 5:1-6; 13-18.

We all have wishes and dreams. How do we align our thoughts, desires, and actions withwhat God wants? In this episode, guest speaker, Steve Kim, shares his experiences and challenges each of us to serve the Great Commission. He speaks from 1 Timothy 2.

Christians turned their world upside down in the 1st century. Their faith in Jesus Christ and their way of life disrupted everything around them. In this text, we see that the Gospel turned the world upside down by reaching the unlikely and unexpected people, breaking down false idols, and forming diverse people into God's family through Christ. As followers of Christ, by our faith, words, and life-in-Spirit, we continue to participate in the great redemptive movement of turning an "upside down" world “right side up".

Three area that we wrestle with throughout our lives are relationships, effectiveness, and direction.   In Acts 15:36-16:10, Paul faced all three in rapid succession.  Let’s learn how he Holy Spirit enabled Paul to discern what to do in each situation.  The same Holy Spirit and those principles can still guide us today.

As the church grows and encounters new situations, it sometimes has to figure out how to address them and live faithfully in accordance with the Bible. This has happened over the past 1.5 years as churches have considered whether and how to gather in-person in relation to pandemic circumstances, local regulations, congregational preferences, logistical issues, and biblical teaching. Churches have discussed the theological and practical issues of “online communion” and why in-person gathering is important for churches. In Acts 15, the issue that the church is facing is the increase of Gentiles (non-Jews) becoming Christians. This has already been going on for some time, but in Acts 15, a theological controversy that has major cultural and missiological implications breaks out but is resolved by a special council in Jerusalem.

Why do we experience suffering and hardship?  Where is God in the midst of our

deepest despair and trials? Guest speaker, Jonas Chang, preaches from James 11:17-37

to remind us that God loves us and will never forsake us. The more pain we experience the more we need to seek "Jesus in Our Hardships."

As we look into Paul and Barnabas’ missionary journey to bring the light of the Gospel to the Gentiles, we notice the tremendous challenges that they faced. How did they respond “when the going got tough?” For many of us during these past 18 months, we wondered the same thing. “When the going gets tough…,” how should we respond? Instead of taking the options that the world offers, followers of Christ can respond to a tough road ahead differently. Listen in and find out how.

Why does God allow thorns to come into the lives of faithful Christians? Why does he not always remove them? How should we respond? Instead of asking "why," the question we should be asking is "what." Preaching from 2 Corinthians 12, Pastor Hans Wilhelm shares four reasons for the Ministry of Thorns.