Today’s Devotion by Pastor Sun Kim

Why do we sing praises to the Lord? Why should we sing so exuberantly? Why should I lift my hands up in praise? We find out why David sang with such passion and expressiveness. Why?! Because he couldn’t hold it in as he contemplated and experienced God’s power and love. David will probably question how we can sit so quietly if we beheld God’s glory. The point is not about how loud or how expressive we are; the main point is that God desires us to have such encounter with Him so that our praise is a mere reaction to seeing who He is. Grab a guitar, play the piano, turn on the radio and SING PRAISES, Lift up your hands and praise His name!

“I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭63:2-4‬ ‭NIV‬‬ ... See more

Today’s Devotion by Pastor Sun Kim

I know the ‘GIVING’ is not the most popular topic in the church. Read today’s passage and you’ll realize how ‘GIVING” to God is closely tied to your understanding of God’s sovereignty over your life. It is the test to see whether you truly believe that God is the source of all your blessings and that all that you have must be at God’s disposal for His use. We cannot hoard God’s resources for our own self interest and say we trust God with our lives. Giving is where your faith in God is first validated. Giving is also an antidote from developing greed and selfishness. As Abel did, we must give God the best from the first, NOT if we have enough.

“Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities. Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?” Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron. Anyone who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite. The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly. David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious nam ... See more

Tonight’s Devotion by Pastor Sun Kim

God often chooses us at our weakest to accomplish His good works. Number 1 reason is so that we never confuse who is doing the actual work. God of course. Secondly, it is designed to curtail our propensity toward pride and vain conceit. So next time you ask God to remove difficulties in your life, don’t be surprised if the answer is the following...

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭12:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬ ... See more

Today’s Devotion by Pastor Sun Kim

To reach excellence in anything, therefore fulfillment, one and only true requirement is self-denial. To be the best NBA player, you have to be committed to a life of denying all kinds of pleasure and personal choices; but in doing so, you get to experience a kind of fulfillment and joy no one can experience because that is what you were created to do. God doesn’t expect self-denial as a form of punishment or making life difficult for us; rather self-denial is the only true way that we can find our ultimate purpose as God’s children who are entrusted with the greatest task of expanding the kingdom of God on earth. You can’t finish the race without knowing what you are running for and without throwing off all your encumbrances that may weigh you down from running.

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭20:24‬ ‭NIV‬‬ ... See more

Today’s Devotion by Pastor Sun Kim

There is one sure way to know whether you are truly a child of God or not. It is the way one views or deals with sin. In today’s passage, John says if one continues to sin, he cannot be a child of God. He says a person cannot be in Christ and yet willfully and continually break God’s law. What does it really mean? I continually sin and break God’s command. In fact I don’t know a single person who doesn’t. The distinction John is making is about a person who desires to sin without having a repentant heart. One who continually without any attempt to stop or turn from his ways. The effectiveness of cross begins with the recognition of our destituteness in sin and therefore our sincere desire to turn from it. Without such heart and attitude, the cross becomes meaningless.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭3:1-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬ ... See more

Here is the passage for today’s service at 1:30PM.

'What's your story? (Part 2)'
Acts 26:1-32

Thank you everyone!

Today’s Devotion by Pastor Sun kim

The promise Paul is talking about today is our right be His Sons and daughters. Often times we think that it’s is automatic that we become His children because Jesus died on the cross for our sins. No, the cross has to do with atonement of our offense against God but God didn’t have to adopt us as His children. It’s like a judge declaring a murderer ‘not guilty’ then saying ‘come home with me, I want to adopt you as my child’. Wow what a privilege we have in Jesus. Therefore our call to holiness isn’t out of some religious obligation rather deep awareness of who our heavenly Father is and the true desire to be more like Him.

“Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭7:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬ ... See more