‘What does it mean to be human?’ may be a question we seek to answer from time-to-time. This question affects our ways of living and how we may come to find our purpose one earth. When we read into the creation story of mankind, we arrive at the pinnacle of God’s creation story. Humanity is made in the image of God. The use of “likeness” or “reflection” alludes to humanity’s purpose of mirroring God into the world. 

Sometimes, we may subconsciously answer questions with a certain frame of mind the asker is not curious about. When we think about Genesis 1 and the story of creation, we may answer questions rooted in frames of reference touching on ideas of evolution, scientific evidence, astronomical principles, etc. Even after multiple attempts to explain this chapter, Genesis 1 remains heavily debated and struggles in being accepted wholly and satisfactorily under one interpretation.

We dive into a new sermon series titled ‘The Image of God’. We will be starting in Genesis in hopes to re-alter and renew our perspective of developing a worldview anchored unto the unchanging truth of God. Our worldview can heavily impact how we live our lives. We’ll be using Pastor Darrell Johnson’s approach to dividing the Bible topically: Genesis 1 to 11 and then everything else. These 11 chapters in Genesis help set the stage for the rest of the biblical narrative: knowing God, purpose of this created world, human sin, judgment, and the redemptive grace of God.

The ministry of Jesus often revolved around food. Jesus’ desire for those He loved was to feed them.

• Jesus’ first miracle was the turning of water into wine. (John 2:1-11)

• Jesus’ miracle of feeding the five thousand with bread and fish is mentioned in all four of the Gospels. (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14)

• Jesus’ last remembrance was through The Last Supper had with His disciples on the eve before His death. (Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-20; John 13:1-30).

In today’s passage, John writes about the important breakfast made by Jesus Himself. Jesus’ provision through this meal is filled with grace and love.

Today on Easter Sunday, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We believe Jesus died on the cross not only to take away our sins but also that He has resurrected from the dead. The reality of the resurrection is where our energy, time, and effort within our faith through prayer, meditation on Scripture, attending church, offering up our service, etc. - to praise the living and risen King.

Hebrews 11 is often regarded as the chapter of faith. Prior to this chapter, we’ve been constantly reminded that Jesus is better. We know though, as we continue on this walk with God - faith is absolutely needed. The previous references (High Priest, Tabernacle) were only the pointers to the door, but faith is the hinge of the actual door we want opened to allow us to approach Jesus.

As we continue through the Book of Hebrews, we see more clearly how Jesus is the culmination of the greatest to come. In comparison to the angels, to Moses, the prophets, the temple, the priests, and the sacrificial system - Jesus is better and higher. The writer of Hebrews points to the importance of connection and to our church community for it is ultimately better to be joined to others in the presence of Jesus than to be alone.

The Bible shows two different aspects of blood: the senseless blood of war and the redemptive blood of sacrifice. There are many stories of the former caused by our sin, but we should remember that the later blood sacrifices come with a very loving purpose, especially the blood sacrifice and redemptive work of Jesus on the cross.

In today’s sermon, we’ll look at the old forms of worship and how the blood of Jesus established a new form of worship from the new covenant.

We are now at the midpoint in the Book of Hebrews, both figuratively and literally. Today’s passage points to the culmination behind the description of Jesus as the High Priest of a New Covenant.

The passage for today is one that has been met with quite some controversy. It focuses on a core theological issue (“salvation”) that has been debated heavily.

In today’s sermon, we will see how the writer of Hebrews argues how Jesus is the better high priest and how we should continue to move forward towards Jesus and not look back on our old ways.

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.

As we are focusing on the theme of Running the Race together in this year of 2022, we've been going over the Book of Hebrews to rekindle our spirits to go all the way with Jesus. The theme for the next two weeks is this: Learning to rest in Jesus gives us the strength to run the face faithfully.

Elder Yong Kim shares some of the origins of New Hope Fellowship downtown as well as his personal testimony to faith.

With the new year and a new vision for our church, we venture into the Book of Hebrews. It has been highly debated but still no one knows who the author of Hebrews is.

With the new year and a new vision for our church, we venture into the Book of Hebrews. It has been highly debated but still no one knows who the author of Hebrews is.

For the first Sunday of 2022, we will be tuning into our home church’s home church to listen to the vision message for this 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.

In the 1940’s, business leaders employed “mystery shoppers” as individuals hired to assess how the shop was doing, while under disguise. The jobs of these “mystery shoppers” were to evaluate employee performance while the boss was not around.