CCIC-SJ Sermons

Our church family has entered a season of leadership change.  This naturally leads us to the question:  what does God have in store for us in the future?   Where will the new leaders come from?   In this message on Acts 12:25-13:52, we will discover three ways that God shapes leaders.

The early church in Acts faced many trials and also experienced many triumphs. But through it all, they maintained their trust in God. In this message on Acts 12:1-19, we learn from the example of the early church to see how we can build our trust in God's character through the ups and downs of life.

In the midst of the adversity, persecuted followers of Christ continued to share the gospel in Antioch. Subsequently, the church grew dramatically spiritually and numerically to become the center in which the gospel was taught locally and from which it was spread globally.  What are the lessons from the empowerment of the church of Antioch and how can we apply these in our church today? Elder Patric Chang shares a message from Acts 11:19-30.

God's intent all along was for the gospel of salvation to go to the Gentiles.  He commands and arranges for Peter to preach the gospel to Cornelius and his household.  God overcomes the prejudices, tribalism, and elitist mentality of Jewish believers and uses the most unlikely messengers to preach the gospel to the most unthinkable hearers.  For example, Cornelius was a Roman Centurion, and the Romans were despised as the oppressors and occupiers of Israel.  From this passage, we learn that The Great Commission is for all of us who believe in Christ.  There are no excuses that we are not adequate because we receive power from the Holy Spirit to be Christ's witnesses.  The gospel is for us to share with all, even those who are outside of our usual comfortable zone.

In the days of the early church, God's power was shown through some great miracles.  Can God still do such things today?  If He can, why don't we see them, or are we not looking in the right places?  In this message on Acts 9:32-43, let's see what God's Word says about this.

The book of Acts is chiefly about the spread of the Good News of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. But we must also notice another important point that the author Luke wanted us to notice.  Bearing witness for Jesus is costly. It was for the early church, and it is still for us today. In Acts 9:1-31, we’ll look at the story of Saul from different angles to notice the cost and grace of bearing witness. What are the costs that God might be asking you to count and what are the graces you can experience as you follow Jesus Christ in your daily life?

This week we continue in our series on the book of Acts and see how the gospel spread beyond Jerusalem in Acts 8, as Jesus predicted in Acts 1:8. We hear about how God uses both circumstances and people to accomplish his work. We too are encouraged to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in faith and in obedience, just as the early church did.

In Acts 5:17-42, persecution of the apostles intensifies, led again by the Sadducees. But with Almighty God leading the way and accomplishing his will (Acts 1:8), the church and their witness to Christ cannot be stopped. Whether working through his angel or a respected unbeliever, God is unstoppable, and when we are led by his Spirit, so are we.

Jesus says in the Gospel of John, "by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." In Acts 4:32-5:16, we find this countercultural, powerful force of love begin to turn the world upside down. Filled by the Spirit, the disciples bore witness to Jesus by their love for one another and their oneness of one heart and mind. What specific characteristics can we find from such a community? What undermines this oneness of heart and mind? Listen in and find out.

In Acts 3, Peter and John healed a lame beggar at the temple, everyone was amazed, and Peter preached a message of salvation in Jesus Christ. However, we see in Acts 4 that not everyone was pleased and they faced opposition from the rulers and elders in Jerusalem. But instead of being afraid and backing down, they shared the gospel with boldness and did not back down, even under threats. In this sermon, we hear how we can be bold and bear witness for Jesus in the face of adversity, just as Peter and John did.