Downtown Pastoral Library

Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin

“Entering into God’s rest (Pt. 2)”

Last week we looked at the idea of rest for God’s people by entering into God’s rest. However, the people of Israel were unable to enter into God’s rest because of their hardened hearts. The key to entering God’s rest is genuine faith, a faith that Jesus provides for us. This week we will continue to look into what this rest looks like.

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Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin

“Preparing for a Successful Year”

With one week left in 2021, we should take a moment to prepare our hearts for the upcoming year. Not only should we await positive changes in our resolution, but we should also prepare for unanticipated storms waiting around the corner. But we know that when we encounter these storms, when we choose to devote a firm faith in our God, He will bring back our calm and peace.

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Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin

“Who He Is, Why He came”

As we near Christmas, we remember the celebration surrounding the birth of Christ. The birth of Christ is symbolic for it is the beginning of when the work of Jesus began on earth. In remembrance, today’s sermon will speak on the person of Jesus Christ: what He is and what He has done.

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Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin

“Continuing on the Spiritual Legacy”

In today’s text, we are introduced to the character Elisha who God calls to be the next prophet after Elijah. Elisha is essentially receiving the spiritual baton from Elijah to become his successor. For us, how do we prepare to pass the spiritual baton to the next generation? How do we prepare to receive this baton as the next generation?

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Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin

“Recovering from spiritual depression (Pt. 2)”

Last week we saw how God provided rest and nourishment for Elijah when he was going through spiritual depression. In the article “7 Things to never say to a depressed Christian” by C. Michael Patton, Patton lists several statements of “advice” that when spoken to depressed people, can inadvertently cause more harm than help. We may not always recognize the complications of spiritual depression, but in today’s story we can see how God lovingly restored Elijah.

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Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin Pastor John Son, Sermon Gigi Lin

“Recovering from spiritual depression (Pt. 1)”

Spiritual depression can come upon anyone in any way. Last week, we witnessed a climatic point in Elijah’s life and ministry: he won a mighty battle in the Name of the Lord against the false prophets at Mount Carmel, courageously declaring the power of God. In rain and fire, God had answered Elijah’s prayer. Though Elijah had personally experienced the sovereign might of God, he is quickly brought very low in the next few verses. Does this drop from a spiritual high sound familiar to you?

No one is immune to going through lows no matter how on fire they are spiritually. Today, we’ll be looking at some of the causes of spiritual depression, symptoms, and our response as God recovers and restores us.

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Pastor John Son, Sermon New Hope Fellowship - Downtown . Pastor John Son, Sermon New Hope Fellowship - Downtown .

“An Encounter with the Healer” - Luke 5:12-26

In today’s passage, we read about the encounters of two individuals who desperately needed Jesus’ help. One of them was a man with leprosy who was an outcast because of his condition. The other, a paralyzed man who had no physical way of making his way before Jesus. Yet in both stories, we see that it is not what we offer nor who we are that Jesus is looking at, for Jesus looks at our heart and desires to heal and restore us. 

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Pastor John Son, Sermon New Hope Fellowship - Downtown . Pastor John Son, Sermon New Hope Fellowship - Downtown .

“Overcoming Temptation” - Luke 4:1-12

Do you remember the last time you struggled to withhold yourself from something you knew was bad for you?  That’s temptation, and that’s something we as humans dearly struggle with.

The Bible is full of stories of failures and consequences when dealing with temptation.  Jesus was also faced with temptation, and today we’ll look at 3 different temptations Jesus faced to understand some characteristics of temptation and how to overcome it as followers of Christ.

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Pastor John Son, Sermon New Hope Fellowship - Downtown . Pastor John Son, Sermon New Hope Fellowship - Downtown .

“When He Comes (Part 2/2)” - Luke 3:15-22

Jesus brought about a counter-cultural way to live life, with God’s Kingdom as the aim of it. We see how God’s plan to redeem His people started from the very beginning: from creation, into the fall with Adam and Eve, to them being banished from Eden, to God’s covenant with Abraham to bring about restoration for His people – all culminating with the Word as found in Luke. 

“Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.” (Luke 3:4) 

With the coming of the Lord, all will be turned upside down. Those who are prideful, powerful, and comfortable will be brought low. Those who are poor, weak, hungry, and humble will be lifted up. 

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Pastor John Son, Sermon New Hope Fellowship - Downtown . Pastor John Son, Sermon New Hope Fellowship - Downtown .

“When He Comes (Part 1/2)” - Luke 3:1-20

Job interview results, college acceptance letters, promotion results, the waiting game is hard for many of us.  Even in the Bible, Israel had to wait 2000 years since God’s promise to Abraham to enter the promised land.  They had to wait 1000 years since God made a promise to King David that his descendent would secure the throne and His kingdom would reign forever.

We as Christians are also in a waiting period: Is God really going to come again?  When is it going to happen?  When is he going to work in my life?  Today we go over what happens when God comes and how do we prepare for it.

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Pastor John Son, Sermon New Hope Fellowship - Downtown . Pastor John Son, Sermon New Hope Fellowship - Downtown .

“The Wisdom for Marriage” - Proverbs 2:16-17

In today’s culture, marriage is commonly viewed as an old social custom centered around happiness and fulfillment.  This newer view of marriage has also consequentially made divorce more common practice and acceptable.

However, in the Bible, God designed marriage for the ultimate purpose of glorifying Himself.  Marriage is a holy act between two partners and in today’s sermon we’ll look at 2 essential attributes that constitute this sacred practice. 

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