Omc: Family Chapel

We are launching into our new series through the first 6 chapters of Daniel. This Sunday, we looked at Daniel 1:1-21. Here, we are introduced to the difficult situation the people of God find themselves in - exile in Babylon. In this foreign land, there is great pressure to compromise in order to achieve success. But here in chapter 1, we see that in our pursuit of success in the world, we must not compromise holiness before God. In fact, success in the world begins with surrender before God.

This Sunday, we looked at what wisdom looks like in how we use our words. We are to use our words wisely because words are powerful - they either bring life or they bring death. To use our words wisely, we need to use our words carefully, truthfully, and constructively. And at the end of the day, if we want to have life-giving words come out of our mouths, we need to have the Living Word come and transform our hearts.

We'll be continuing our journey of applying wisdom to different topics of life, and this week's topic is Friendship. We will see that friendship is a gift which has been given by God to be a blessing to others. The fool sees friendship as a means of gain and is driven by selfish desire in their relationships. The wise sees friendship as an opportunity to give, and is driven by a desire to bless those around them. We are all foolish in different ways, and we must look to our greatest Friend, Jesus, for wisdom.

We'll be looking at what wisdom looks like in how we use our time. We are to use time wisely by receiving it as a gift that has been entrusted to us to fulfill God’s purposes.

Life is full of choices where the answer is unclear, with multiple decisions that all seem morally acceptable. How do we make sense of these moments in our lives and make decisions that not only honor God but lead to fruitfulness? The Proverbs show us that what we need is wisdom. We will see what wisdom is, why we need it, and how to get it, which is ultimately starts with the fear of the LORD.

There are moments in the Christian life where our faith is shaken. There are times we wonder, “Is following after God really worth it?”, especially when it seems that those who do not follow after God are enjoying life so much more. How do we stand firm in these moments? The psalmist shows us that the solution is to draw near to God, for only in the presence of God do we find the ability to view the world, ourselves, and God rightly. The call to the struggling believer is to draw near to God, especially in the context of the church.

We are continuing our summer series through Psalms & Proverbs and will be looking at Psalm 146 this Sunday. This Psalm is part of the collection know as the "Hallel Psalms" because they all start with the phrase "Hallelujah", which means "praise the Lord". We'll see that we are called to praise the Lord in our lives. Instead of looking to other things, we are to look to God as the object of our worship. Why? Because God is faithful, compassionate, just, and the King. We praise the Lord who is worthy of our praise!

We have a panel on Discipleship with some of our amazing FC members: Ha Rim Matsubara, Andrew 'Peewee' Sung, and Michelle Kang. Hear how we can walk with Jesus and help others walk with Jesus in our everyday lives.

In this passage, we see how our Shepherd leads us through both green pastures as well as through dark valleys. He guides us until we safely reach Home. And ultimately, our Shepherd is Jesus Christ!

We are kicking off 8 weeks of going through some Psalms and some topics in Proverbs during this Summer. And we'll be starting with Psalm 1. Here we see the blessed life, and it involves turning away from sin and following after God's Word. God seeks to bring us maximal joy by living the blessed life. And ultimately, this blessed life is given to us in Jesus Christ.

We'll be looking at #SocialMedia - how it impacts our lives as well as how we can use it wisely for God's Kingdom.

We are wrapping up our series through the book of 1 Timothy! In this passage, Paul issues a final call for perseverance. As we have been entrusted with the Gospel, we must persevere in godliness! Perseverance looks like fleeing from sin, following after God, fighting for faith, and fastening unto eternal life. And we are to persevere because we stand before God in the present, because we will stand before Jesus once the mission is accomplished, and because there is always the danger of falling.

How does the Christian faith affect how we approach our earthly profession? How does being a Christian shape how we live in the workplace? We will be hearing the answer to questions like these from three of our very own FC members: Jennifer Kim (Law), John Kim (Education), Sarah Sung (Real Estate).

Here in our passage, Paul addresses how Christians are to navigate a world of discontentment. Discontentment ultimately comes from a disconnection with the Gospel and ultimately leads to destruction. Rather than give into greedy discontentment which leads to great destruction, Christians are to live out godly contentment which leads to great gain.

Here in our passage, Paul addresses how Christians are to carry out their work. Christians are to work with excellence so that God’s name and Gospel will not be blasphemed and so that they can serve others well with their work. All work that is done well brings glory to God and love to our neighbors.

As Paul continues to address the church on how to relate to others in godliness, Paul moves on to speak on how we ought to treat elders in the church. Paul shows the importance of keeping elders accountable in living lives of godliness, for they are responsible for equipping the church to pursue godliness as well. The church is urged to honor good elders, and to discipline those whose lives are marked by unrepentant sin.

Here in our passage, Paul addresses how the local church is to help widows, those who are hurting. The local church, in partnership with the family, should support its hurting members by assessing real needs and godly character, in order to avoid hurting others while trying to help. When we try to help others in the wrong way, we hurt them by enabling ungodly behavior and unfulfilled potential.