Renewal Church

On today's sermon we learn about Paul's discussion of spiritual gifts. We learn about how God blesses people with gifts from wisdom to healing to speaking in tongues in order to further His Kingdom. We also learn about the two different camps of thought regarding spiritual gifts, the Cessationists and the Charismatics. Ultimately, although we may have different gifts and beliefs regarding these gifts, as followers of Christ, we all have the gift of the Holy Spirit in us.

What does it mean to show genuine brotherly and sisterly love in our community? This Sunday our guest speaker Pastor Soosang Park preaches on the importance of having real "Philadelphia" love between one another and how to invest earnestly in our relationships.

On Easter Sunday, Pastor Ulysses teaches about the parallels between the Athenians and us today. We are all seeking after new things and have a desire to fill something that is missing in our hearts. By studying Acts 17:16-34, we learn that true fulfillment is not found in WHAT we fill our hearts with, but WHO we look to for fulfillment.

On Palm Sunday Pastor Ulysses teaches us from the account of Jesus' truimphal entrance into Jerusalem. As he comes on a colt Jesus asserts his Kingship and Lordship. We often read this passage and rightly understand that the religious leaders misunderstood Him. But Pastor Ulysses makes the point that the crowd also misunderstood him. Which is why they rejected him a few days later in front of Pilate. So what did they get wrong about Jesus that made them reject him? And can that happen to us?

This Sunday Pastor Ulysses teaches from what is probably a very hard passage to read and get to the heart of in this day and age. How do we apply what Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16? Does it instruct us on the specifics of what to wear to church? Does it tell women to cover their heads while engaging in public worship? Or are we to go deeper and see the fundamental principles from which Paul speaks regarding the divine design for men and women?

On this Sunday's teaching, we continue to learn from Paul about how to conduct ourselves as Christians. Even though the Old Testament law been fulfilled by Christ, that doesn't mean we are free to do whatever we want. The law of love never changes. We are still to love God with all our heart and love our neighbors as we do ourselves. In the spirit of doing so we should conduct ourselves in a manner that would not trouble the conscience of our fellow brothers and sisters.

This Sunday we continue our series on Corinthians with a sermon on protecting ourselves from the influence of demons and the importance of communion. Pastor Ulysses teaches us how dangerously easy it was for some Corinthians to partake in devilry by sharing food sacrificed to idols. In today's world, although we do not face the same environment as the Corinthians, we must still pray and fast with the power of the Holy Spirit to guard against demonic influences. We also need to try and partake in communion whenever the opportunity arises because this is something that blesses and nourishes our souls.

Despite the miracles the Israelites experienced from God, it did not exclude them from the evils and temptation that they were ultimately punished for. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-14, Paul uses the Israelites as an example of not ignoring our sins hiding beneath our outwardly righteous acts and how we can properly address them in our life.

If we are entitled to reap rewards for our service, does that mean we should gladly take it? In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul thinks otherwise. In this chapter he makes an argument to forego rights to our reward in order to show genuine belief and faith in what he preaches. In this sermon we dive into how we can be more like Paul, acting out of duty and discipline, and becoming a living example of the Gospel.

In Christian Life what is preeminent - Knowledge or Love? Paul in 1 Corinthians 8 addresses this issue as he takes on the matter of eating food that is offered to idols. And just like in that matter 2,000 years ago - Christian life is replete with occasions when our knowledge of what is allowed competes with how we should operate in love towards our brothers and sisters. Paul in addressing this issue teaches us to live life in a manner where our knowledge is tempered by love. For knowledge puffs but love builds up. Knowledge informs us of our rights but love leads us to lay them down in order to not stumble our brothers and sisters. Does our walk with Christ builds up those around us or tear them down?