Renewal Church

The Jewish religious leaders during Jesus' time had tons of rules, especially on the Sabbath. These laws were derived from commands God has given to the Jewish people, but Jesus and his disciples often lived in ways which went against traditional teaching. Does this mean we are free to live however we want? Not quite - This week, Pastor Ulysses teaches that God's commands are meant to give us life, not meant to be oppressive or enslave us.

As Christians, we strive to follow and love Jesus the best we can. However, being the imperfect humans we are, we are bound to face setbacks in our mission to follow Him. Today, Pastor Ulysses shares a message of redemption from the book of John, focusing on the story of Peter's denial of Jesus. We are reminded that even with all the mistakes we make, God knows that we love Him. Our message today focuses on what this means, and how we can apply this to our lives as followers of Christ.

He is risen! Easter is a day of great hope as we remember Christ's resurrection. With the COVID-19 pandemic and racial tensions in our country, this has been a tough year. Pastor Ulysses reminds us this week of our hope found in Jesus Christ. Because of his death and resurrection, today, we can hope in the power of the Holy Spirit to transform and renew our sinful souls, and tomorrow we look forward to a restored creation - a world devoid of pain or suffering.

In this time of Lent, we often find ourselves focusing on Easter Sunday and the importance of what happened on that day. However, for Jesus, the journey towards the cross didn't begin on the day of his crucifixion, rather it began way back in Luke 9:51 when he "set his face to go to Jerusalem". Today, as we enter Passion Week, Pastor Ulysses reminds us that following God doesn't begin in some distant future date - it begins now, and we are encouraged to set our own sights towards Jersusalem as we walk with God in our daily lives.

God is a god who speaks, and we see in the Bible that he often speaks directly to his people. How can we hear his voice when we look for guidance? This week, Pastor Ulysses goes through some reasons we fail to hear God. Often, when we have already come to our own conclusions, it can be hard to accept what he says. Pastor Ulysses encourages us to surrender our plans as we seek to hear and follow His will.

It's now been a year since we as a church have gathered in person on Sundays, and in this time, we've all faced new and unexpected challenges in adapting to this new way of living. Through all the distractions, busyness, and hassles that come with this pandemic, it's easy to not only feel far from God but also to feel as though we are alone in our fight against the enemy. This week, Pastor Ulysses encourages us to be vulnerable with the Lord and how in doing so, we can lean on God to defend us in our struggles instead of relying solely on ourselves.

Are you on track? With the hustle and bustle in life and with daily temptations toward sin, sometimes we lose sight of God's plans for us. This week, Pastor Ulysses teaches that when Jesus needed to reorient himself with God's plans, he went to pray. This Lent season, let's spend time alone as Jesus did and pray to stay aligned with God's will for us.

Christians typically classify our world in two categories: things that are holy, and things that are sinful. But is being holy just merely not sinning? In today's sermon, Pastor Ulysses challenges us to recognize a third part to this spectrum of holy vs sinful, a common middle where the actions of Christians and non-believers are indistinguishable. By doing so, instead of viewing life as an effort to not cross the boundary of sin, we are encouraged to strive for the highest of callings, raising the bar for what God has in store for our lives.

Lent is a period of time leading up to Easter where the Church enters a period of time of prayer and fasting. While it can be difficult practice, Pastor Mark encourages us to take this time to reflect, deepen our dependence on Christ and renew our focus on God and his will. It's a time where we can remember and adore our God, and also rededicate ourselves to his purposes.

We all have things that we’re passionate about in life, and most likely, not all of those things are God-centered. More often than not, it’s easier to side with the world we live in than with what we’re told in the Bible. However, James 4 tells us that “to be a friend of the world makes [us] an enemy of God.” Today, Pastor Ulysses preaches on putting God before worldly passions, encouraging us all to prioritize not what the world wants of us, but what God so desires of this world.