A Ministry of Grace Community Church
Friday Night Devotional by David Chow, 2/26/16
Have you ever been on a boat hit by heavy waves, or in a car during a blizzard where the wind pushed the vehicle side to side? I have been in both situations and it is as if I had no control of my life whatsoever. One moment I was being pushed to the right and the next pulled to the left. During both situations I attempted to do whatever I could to be planted to the ground, to be stable and to not sway.
written by Jessica Lin
During winter break, I had the opportunity to visit Taiwan. From being squished on crowded subways to sitting in the bullet train, I was constantly whizzing by countless cities, buildings, and faces. And in moments of reflection, as I gazed at my surroundings, my heart sank. In a country with an estimated 4.5% Christian population, that means most of the people I pass by don’t know, and may never know, that God loved the world so much that He sent His Son to die in our place. I was driven to pray, but I struggled to figure out what to say; I had a flurry of thoughts and emotions I couldn’t articulate.
When Jesus’ disciples asked him how to pray, He answered, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…”
“Your kingdom come, your will be done…”
Continue reading “Let Your Kingdom Come”
Rachel is a first-year Design | Media Arts major who loves doodling, chasing sunrises & sunsets, doing morning workouts, journaling, meowing & watching corgi videos, having one-on-one convos, and delighting in God’s grace!
I’m your typical pew baby—I “said the sinner’s prayer” in elementary school at a VBS-sports camp and was baptized in sixth grade. At school I was labelled as the good Christian girl who never swore, partied, or cheated, who couldn’t hang out because she went to church, and who got to miss school to attend retreats. I had fun attending church, serving on music team, and being a staffer for the middle school ministry. I thought that by doing the “right” things, I’d be a good Christian. God blessed me with a functional home life, sheltered neighborhood, and supportive environment. Taking all of these factors into account, I never had a reason to doubt God’s existence or Jesus’ sacrifice for sinners, so I always assumed that I was going to heaven. However, although I went through the motions, I don’t think that I was truly saved. I believed in God, but I also was so numb to the greatness of God’s love. I did not attempt to grasp, for my own soul, the concept of the sufficiency of His grace or the urgency of the Gospel. It wasn’t until my first month of college when I realized that although I had a simple belief, this belief didn’t go much deeper than surface knowledge.
Friday Night Devotional by William Kwok, 2/19/2016
Although there are many narratives in the Bible, there is one central underlying story that ties all the different threads of Scripture together. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture reveals the story of God’s purpose and plan for redeeming mankind from sin.
The story begins with Creation and the Fall, as Scripture describes how God created the entire universe in six days. After creating everything, God observes His creation and He declares that it is good. However things soon change when Adam disobeys and sins against God. This results in all of creation being corrupted by sin.
However, God did not leave us without hope.
written by Emily Chois
For the longest time, I told myself to study hard for the glory of God. After all, He gave me this chance to study at a school I didn’t even think I was worthy of going to. I was going to improve my grades, my GPA and get into optometry school so that God can be glorified in how I stewarded my future. And that’s exactly what I did for the past year and a half. Serving on music team and being in small group, I studied heartily. However, my grades weren’t reflecting my effort, and I needed to try harder, because with more time, my grades would theoretically improve. I knew I had a limited brain capacity that God ordained, that may be more limited than others around me. But I thought I’d be able to counter that by increasing my time in school and improve my grades so I could simply pass my classes. Slowly, I began to drop things. I served less and less on music team, decided to be discipled by a staffer (and not join an undergrad small group), and chose to not lead small group this fall. Now, I had maximum time to study for His glory, and steward my primary responsibility as a student. Although the circumstances weren’t favorable because I wanted to serve more, studying so I didn’t get kicked out of my major was of utmost importance.
These things seemed good.
Michael is a sophomore at UCLA studying biochemistry. He likes playing soccer, blasting k-pop in his room, and pretending to be good at basketball. Michael enjoys rap and beat-boxing but can only do the latter.
My parents used to always tell me how auspicious it was that I was born under the light of the full moon. This was before they came to America, before they were saved. I was born in China, into a typical Chinese family that celebrated luck and superstition. However, God sovereignly drew my parents to the States where they would eventually become Christians. Once I moved to California at the age of five, I found out that my parents, who had already been living in the States for two years, had been going to church. Every Sunday my parents would take me to Church even though I really didn’t want to go. Because I didn’t grow up speaking English, making close friends was difficult. Being an only child back then did not help either. Church was merely a place where nicely dressed adults would read me picture books.
Friday Night Devotional by Daniel Stevens, 2/12/16
What is the happy life? It’s a question raised by philosophers and theologians, economists and politicians. And really, it’s a question that everyone tries to answer. The major you pick, the job you pursue, the relationships you form – all of it is an attempt to find the happy life. All of it is an attempt to find what the right combination of things in this world is so that you can be happy.
But what does Scripture say the happy life is? What, in the words of God, makes for a happy human life?
written by Davin Hau
In this post I’d like to examine this simple statement: God is worthy. The reason I chose to look into this truth because I firmly believe we can glorify God better when we see His immeasurable worth more clearly. We glorify God through the decisions we make, when our priority in making decisions is to honor God. All our decisions boil down to this very straightforward question: “Is this worth it?” We may not consciously ask ourselves this question, but our choices reflect what we deem to be worthy. A quick example would be my choice to sleep early on Saturday night so that I stay awake during sermons on Sunday morning. In this case, I am choosing to prepare my mental state so I can better focus on the preaching of the Word of God on Sunday morning, over studying or entertainment late Saturday night. However, it would be very difficult for me to choose God over something else if I simply don’t recognize His worth. So if we are to glorify God through the decisions we make, we must see his superior worth to everything else in order to choose that which would glorify him.
Jeremy is currently a first year at UCLA, studying Business Economics. His hobbies include drinking boba, playing acoustic guitar, and playing basketball. He also enjoys meeting new people and trying new things (like food).
Growing up in a Christian family was both a blessing and a stumbling block for me in my earlier years. The concept of God’s grace was an extremely foreign idea to me, and was something that I took for granted for the majority of my lifetime.
Friday Night Devotional by Kevin Nishinaga, 2/5/2016
Are you busy? Too busy to pray? You probably wouldn’t say that out loud, but what do your prayer habits demonstrate? Consider Christ’s example:
“But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” (Luke 5:16, NASB)
