Renewal Church

Why should we do missions? Pastor Ulysses shares that while it is certainly true that there are tons of local opportunities to share the love of God with our immediate community, God is so great that our awe and wonder of His magnificence and love cannot remain in one place. The message of Jesus must be shared globally.

We live in a time where we're constantly told to strive for whatever our hearts desire, an almost inescapable cycle of worldly gratification that ultimately stems from the idea that "We don't need God" to live our lives. Yet even with all of our past transgressions in choosing to gratify the flesh over choosing the Spirit, God opened a way for us to have eternal life through faith. Today, Pastor Ulysses preaches from the book of Ephesians on the importance of God's grace in enabling our salvation, and on how critical it is for us to use this most special opportunity to do His good works in the world around us.

Elijah does many incredible things during his lifetime, one most notably being how he summons heavenly fire to set a bull ablaze in order to disprove the prophets of Baal. Yet even with all of this power at his disposal, when Queen Jezebel threatens to come after and kill him, Elijah flees! After all Elijah has seen and done in the name of the Lord, it doesn’t seem to make sense for him to fear Jezebel - so why does he? Today, Pastor Ulysses explains how this story from the book of 1 Kings, illustrates how we can overcome the problems in our own lives by showing humility to our God who is greater and bigger than all things that may come our way.

Diet fads come and go, but nothing beats a long-term commitment to eating right. Spiritually, things are no different. There's no shortcut to spiritual growth. Anyone who wants to deepen in his relationship with God in a meaningful way must have a steady intake of God's word. After all, we don't live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. This first message of the new year and new decade is a reminder of what it takes to experience lasting change.

After 70 years of exile, faithful Israelites returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Yet when they faced opposition, they stopped and delayed for 15 long years. They were knocked off track, distracted, and began rebuilding their own lives in Jerusalem. So often we fall into the same trap! Have we become preoccupied with other burdens and concerns, and now busy building our own house instead of building God's house? In today's sermon, we look at how God challenges us through the prophet Haggai to consider whether our own ways—perhaps building our career, family, security—have brought the joy and fullness of life that can only be found in walking with the Lord and building His kingdom.

As Christians, we often find ourselves living in our own Christian bubbles. How can we open our hearts and share the joy and love of Christ with others? Pastor Sergio Gomes from Radiance Church challenges us to ponder more deeply about the reason for the season, and to share those reasons with the people around us.

In part 1 of our Advent series, we examine Jesus’s coming. Because Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit, and not by man, he did not inherit the sin which characterizes all of humanity descended from Adam and Eve. In today’s sermon we look into why this is so important and how Jesus restores our relationship with God and with others. As we see friends and family this holiday season, what relationships do we need to ask Jesus to be a part of?

Many Christians fear evangelism because they don't feel equipped with answers to difficult questions, or they don't feel eloquent enough to effectively communicate their faith. How can we have the courage to evangelize? Today, Pastor Ulysses teaches that the spiritual birth of salvation is entirely a work of God that the flesh cannot achieve. We can be free from fear when sharing the Gospel because we confidently rest upon God working through us and not on our own ability to change hearts. This is the fifth sermon in the series, "Come, Holy Spirit, Come."

Why is Thanksgiving important? It is a time to celebrate and respond to God's abundant goodness. Today, Pastor Ulysses shares how our thanksgiving can have an encouraging impact on those around us. In Acts 27, Paul displays a radical attitude while in the middle of a tempestuous storm. Today's sermon dives into the question: as Christians, how can we give thanks in ALL circumstances?

Upon seeing Jesus resurrected from the dead, the apostles were eager to rush out and spread the good news. Surprisingly, however, Jesus told them to "wait for the gift my Father promised" (Acts 1:4) before doing so. Why does Jesus tell the apostles to wait for the Holy Spirit before spreading the gospel? And what does this mean for us in our everyday lives? Today, Pastor Ulysses teaches from the Book of Acts about how we as Christians can lean into the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish things that we cannot do on solely our own ability. This is the fourth sermon in the series, "Come, Holy Spirit, Come."