PJames Lee
Church versus Parachurch 1. Theological importance of the universal church
Don’t let involvement in AACF become a practical replacement for local church. Are you doing church just because you have to? Are you actually PRESENT??? You are there, but are you really THERE???
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PNathaniel Kwak
Introduction to the Holy Spirit Matthew 28:19-20 Father AND Son AND Holy Spirit
Gal 1:1 - God the Father John 20:28 - Jesus as God Acts 5:3 - The Holy Spirit (as a part of God) 3 persons, 1 in essence/substance Holy Spirit not a force, not a mystical entity. HE is a PERSON. Not an IT. Acts 10:19 - The Holy Spirit speaks to Peter What does the Holy Spirit do?
The Spirit is the great Teacher. Inspires the writers. The Spirit illuminates text and hearts and opens them to God. Take note of which aspect of the trinity does what! Use that in your prayer. Ephesians 1: Different aspects of the Holy Trinity are highlighted Fullnes of an understanding of the Holy Spirit so that we don’t OVER or UNDER emphasize each part of the trinity. Pay attention to your personal practices and theology: don’t raise aspects of the trinity on a pedestal, nor ignore any. Biggest problem of humanity: Broken relationship with God - Out of this, all other problems arise. The Church needs to address these and speak out. God is so completely holy that any sin that comes near is disintegrated. His separation from us is His grace, because we would die. Slow work towards repairing our relationship with God. God trying to reconcile His people so that we have life again. Jesus: Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus is God’s Word turned flesh, and He dwelt with us (John 1) God is dwelling with us now, and we are not being obliterated because of Christ. Christ leaves, but He sends a helper: the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the mystery of the gospel, expounded. The Holy Spirit now dwells in us!!! We are the temple for God. John 14:26 If we are a believer of God, why would we desecrate the temple? Joel 2:28 God will pour out His spirit on all Works can only be produced by the Spirit How the Holy Spirit works: Brings unity to His people (1 Cor 12:13) - All can be in the presence of God Cannot live the Christian life alone. All are drawn near to God Unity in WORSHIP AND PRAISE. Why we come together. Corporate worship. The Spirit fills us Ephesians 5:18 Holy Spirit is passively and continuously filling us. Holy Spirit DRIVES and MOTIVATES us Holy Spirit PERMEATES us Holy Spirit DOMINATES us The Spirit generates fruit within us. Does your life radiate JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, FAITHFULNESS, SELFCONTROL The Spirit gives gifts Goal of gifts is to edify the body!!! How can I edify the body with these gifts? Walk and live in the Spirit constantly, so that you witness NATURALLY, oozing with who God is. Go and be Christian. God is always there with you. He promises to give you not what you want, but what you need. Satan does not care how holy or godly your intentions are, if you leave it for tomorrow. Be in God today. The Holy Spirit is crying TODAY, to not harden your hearts. Do not say TOMORROW. Pastor Ted Kau
Your Identity as a Witness God loves the lost (lost sheep, lost coin, lost son parables). When you love someone, you love what they love. Witnessing can feel scary because
When you have good news, you can’t help but share!!! But we have to believe it’s good news It’s not up to you to make people respond. It’s up to God to make them respond. Genesis 12:1-3 - Jewish identity - God’s redemptive plan through Jews
Identity and Contagious Christianity
God has placed us sovereignly where we are. Pastor Sunroot Liu
Our Future and Hope in Christ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Paul describing the church of the Corinthians, but also the hope that we have in Jesus... “We are a people that do not lose heart” Focus on the truth of Jesus and how that gives us hope “The outer self is wasting away”
Don’t lose heart cuz the task is difficult Don’t lose heart cuz hope itself is a testimony OUR RESPONSE to life’s pain struggles hardships: our hope points to something greater and is a witness to who Christ is! Pastor Sam Bay
The Crucifixion 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Intrinsically we want to remember who have passed away. Clear way to honor someone who has passed. Have you taken the time to remember the cross in your day to day? The cross is the center of the Christian life. What happened at the cross?
Pastor Ted Kau
The Humility of christ Philippians 2:5-11 *Just by beholding who Christ is, we become more like Him* It's imperative that as Christians, we hold Christ's mind. A lot of times we don't need to know more, we just need more conviction. If we’re serious about being a christ follower, we will seek Christ’s mind 1. Empty yourself. Christ didn’t count himself the same as God but emptied himself of his privileges. - John 10:30 - Tracey Bailey "I emptied myself of what I thought I deserved." All the things you think you deserve, you gladly give it up. Giving up the things you deserve is a demonstration of humility. Caveat: Humility does not mean letting injustice get away. "Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less" CS Lewis. 2. Be a servant Christ Be a servant means being other-centered. Lay down your entitlement. Example: serve those who you live with! 3. Obey until your death. Jesus suffered for us, yet we don’t deserve any of it. Day by day, be obedient!! Day by day, take the gift of life Be a doer of His word, not just a hearer Confess that you are proud. Ask that God will change you. Empty yourself of your wants and desires before God. Serve someone once a day and ask them "How may I help you?" Obey what God has commanded you to do. Pastor Preston Lee
John 6 How many times have you put time and effort into something, only for it to disappoint? We expect someting from stuff we put time and energy into? What happens when we have high hopes from something but it fails us? What happens when we put effort and time into Christ, and he disappoints We need to develop a proper expectation of who Christ is before we learn more about him. John 6 Huge crowd following Jesus (over five thousand) How are they going to feed them all? As the miracle happens, imagine the crowd as they realize who Jesus is. They realize they want to make Jesus king. The crowd seeks Jesus, but because he provided for them materially. The work of God is believing in Jesus Christ.* It was not Moses who provided the bread, but God. Jesus: the signs I have been doing reveal me, but you guys aren’t here for that A sign is only so powerful as what it points to! Imagine a stop sign. Only powerful, if we obey. Judges 6: God raised Gideon to deliver Israel from the Midianites. Gideon tests God, and the sign God gives him demonstrates God’s command. But the sign itself is not important. It’s what behind it. Jesus is trying to teach the crowds a deeper truth. The bread Jesus speaks of is not physical and perishes, but it’s one that lasts forever. Jesus reveals himself as the bread of life, having come down from heaven. Jesus makes a claim to deity! He is God! Jesus is drawing upon the “I am”. If you believe in Jesus, you will have eternal life. The crowds don’t buy it. They look at the sign, but not what is behind it. Jesus continuously points to something greater than the bread, but the people just look at the bread. The crowds came in fixated on a certain want. They are unable to move from the physical to the spiritual - they are unable to move from a daily need to an eternal one. Many leave because they realize Christ has a different mission than them. Many people place their certain expectations on Christ. Christ just wanted them to believe him. They wanted food. They were disappointed. Why couldn’t Christ meet them where they needed him? Simon Peter KNOWS Jesus is God - he knows Jesus holds eternal life. He sees Jesus for who he truly is. There is no other alternative to Jesus. Any expectation is surpassed because he knows who Jesus is. His expectations and faith can’t be shattered because he is in relationship with God himself. Before we become enamoured with what Jesus does, we need to first be witnesses of who He is. *There is a danger of creating a narrative of the Jesus we want him to be.* As we become biblically informed, we will slowly start to learn who Christ is! From the bible we develop our image of Christ. Watch out for your expectations getting in the way of seeing the true Jesus. The Jews want a king, a saviour, who will be their political leader and figure. HOWEVER, Christ came to earth for a different reason and for a greater reason. There are many modern groups that claim Jesus as their own. They take Jesus and make him their champion of their issue. Reflect on your own life: do you project your expectations onto Jesus? We want Jesus to do things for us before we even know who he is? Exhortation: First know who God is. Build a strong biblical foundation first. You will not walk away disappoined. Fun fact Can eat a slice of costco pizza in one bite Moved over 20 times in his life, movingthis saturday from irvine up to the valley loves country music Cuts his own hair Pastor at Community Christian Alliance Church in Northridge ————— PChris Japanese but English pastor of a Chinese Church Came to Christ during college at UCLA Became a pastor at 50 Three children at aacf Pastor of fcbcla for 12 years Pastor Chris Tomokiyo
The Lordship of Christ Luke 2: Christ introduced as the Lord Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Jesus is Lord, whether you believe it or not. Jesus is Lord of everything, of both believers and nonbelievers. What does it mean to have someone as our Lord? Whatever the Lord says, we do Romans 8: Confess = “agree with God”; agreeing with God that what you did what wrong Confess jesus as lord - “i agree jesus is the lord” How does Jesus define lordship? Luke 9:23: deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow him Why does Jesus keep repeating the struggle of following him? Jesus is Lord; he has a plan. He gifted us to do the job he wants us to do. If we don’t obey, we’re not using what God gave us the opportunity to do. The majority of people won’t be obedient to God’s will. Jesus always confronts pride and self-determination. The kingdom has one lord. What calling Christ as Lord means: Being willing to do whatever he says whatever the cost, and trusting in him You never experience the faithfulness of God until you trust in him completely Many christians jump into the 4 foot pool, when God can hold us up on the ocean. Application of calling Christ our Lord: Our questions are "what, where, who". God is talking "how" and "why". God is more interested in how and why you do something, rather than the what and where and with who you do the thing. God is more interested in the how you do it and the reason you do it. A prayer: “God help me to know why. Help me to know how.” Sermon on the mount (Matthew 7): “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock." The one who ACTS on the words will weather the storm. For winter quarter, our large group will be held in Humanities Hall 262, starting at 7:30PM on Wednesdays!
Pastor Mark Lim
God’s sovereignty 1 Timothy 6:13-16 Key words: Sovereignty, authority, power In every super hero super villain movie, there’s a striving for power. We want to be powerful ourselves. However, there is no power or authority or strength outside of God in this life. God is not only powerful, but SOVEREIGNLY powerful. He is the life-giving force. God’s sovereignty is more than just providence. Daniel 4:35 Psalm 115:3 God has supreme power over all that has been, what is happening, and all that will happen according to His good will. There’s nothing on this earth like God’s sovereignty. One sentence: When we think about sovereignty, we want to think about supreme power to rule and do as He pleases for His own end. Sovereingty of God is incredibly fearsome
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