The Path to Intimacy with Jesus

2 Corinthians 3:1-18

Circumstances in life – the short days and long nights of winter in Prague, the daily challenges, the latest news, or meaningless distractions can rob us of our intimacy with Jesus. We can fill the void with more activities or noise or more distractions, but eventually we’re left empty and realize something is missing. This text shows us how the new covenant – which we will celebrate in communion this Sunday – shows us the way to intimacy with Jesus, enjoying him more, and becoming more like Him. 

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Walking in the Light (1John) - Everlasting Love

John 4:7 - 5:21

As we come to the end of 1 John, we are reminded once again of the same themes the Beloved Apostle has been emphasizing throughout his letter - What do we believe about Jesus? Do we obey him? Do we love each other? How we answer these questions are good indicators of whether or not we are walking in the light of God's truth. But we're also reminded that it is God's love that comes first, and that in his great love God claims us as his children and assures us of our eternal life in him.  

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Walking in the Light (1John) - The Testimony of the Spiri

1 John 3:23 - 4:6

In his letter, John seeks to assure believers of the salvation they have received in Jesus Christ. In this week's passage, John addresses the role of the Holy Spirit in this assurance. John reminds us that not everyone who claims to be a prophet actually speaks through God's Holy Spirit, and that we are to "test the spirits to see whether they are from God" (v. 4:1). But in the end we are to be encouraged because "the one who is in [us] is greater than the one who is in the world" (v. 4:4). It is God's Spirit who lives in us, and as we look to him he will guide us as we walk in the light.. 

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Walking in the Light (1John) - Love in the Family

1 John 3:11-24

In our last passage, John emphasized our identity as God's children, reminding us of our heavenly Father's great love that has been poured out on us in Christ. In this week's passage, John reminds us again that with the love God has given us we should also love our brothers and sisters in Christ - not just by what we say, but by what we do. 

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Walking in the Light (1John) - Who We Are

1 John 2:28-3:10

One of John's main purposes in this letter is to reassure his audience. He wants them to have certainty of the things they have learned about Jesus, sin, salvation and the life of discipleship. In this week's passage, John makes his strongest appeal yet, reminding us of God's great love for us, and that in Christ, we have been made God's children. 

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Psalms - The Blessedness of Forgiveness

Psalm 32

The psalmist David declares that the one who is forgiven is in a very happy place—an enviable position. But very often, in our culture we tend to think that it’s God’s job to forgive (“To err is human, to forgive, divine.”). David instructs us in the way to forgiveness and fulness of joy. It’s only when we clearly see the seriousness of sin and the great cost of forgiveness, that we can begin to experience the joy of being forgiven by a holy God. 

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Walking in the Light (1John) - Truth & Lies

1 John 2:15-27

One of John's main purposes for writing this letter is to refute the lies that some former members of their community had been spreading, seeking to lead people astray in what they believed. John writes to remind people of the truth that they already know, and to affirm it for them once again. In particular John is concerned about the truth of Jesus Christ, knowing that what we believe about him serves as the foundation for everything else in our faith. 

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Walking in the Light (1John) - A New Old Command

1 John 2:3-14

One of 1 John's main purposes is to encourage people to walk in the light, meaning to live according to God's truth. In this week's passage, John reflects on the relationship between our love of God and our obedience to him, reminding us that our love for God can't be isolated from our love (or lack of it) for other people.

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Walking in the Light (1John) - A New Series

1 John 1:1-2:2

This week we begin a new series looking at the first letter of John. Written in response to some false teachings that had come into the church, this letter emphasizes many of the basics of the Christian faith, reminding it's readers of the truth of the Gospel and how we should live in light of it. John writes particularly about love: God's love for us in Christ, and how we should love each other in return.

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Acts - Only Just Beginning

Acts 28:17-21

This week we conclude our series in the Book of Acts, with Paul having made his dramatic journey from Jerusalem to Rome, the capital of the Empire. We know from history that Paul's life ends there, but not before he continues to share the gospel with the people he met there. And while this brings us to the end of Luke's narrative, the Holy Spirit's work of drawing people to salvation in Jesus Christ continues on.

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Acts - On the Road with Paul

On the Road with Paul

Acts 17-18

Paul's missionary journeys took him to many of the major cities in the eastern Roman Empire, including Athens and Corinth. Paul was adept at presenting the gospel in response to the culture of each place he visited, yet the heart of the message was consistent - Jesus is God's Messiah. And in the face of growing opposition, God tells Paul "do not be afraid...for I am with you."

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Has God Saved You?

Trust the Story. This exhortation from our guest pastor Ian Martin, ICP's former youth pastor, was also the theme of last week's TCK (Third Culture Kids) Camp. From Genesis, throughout the Old Testament and culminating with Christ's death on the cross - there is a single narrative of the Bible: Jesus Saves.

Join us this week to hear how Moses' exclaimation "Yeshua is salvation" is equivalent to "Jesus Saves" nearly 1500 years before the birth of Christ - and how you can be confident in your own salvation.

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Acts - Believe in the Lord Jesus

Acts 16:6-10, 16-40

After being directed by the Holy Spirit to go and preach in Macedonia, Paul and his companions go to the city of Philippi. There they find both opposition and openness to the gospel, so that by the time they are asked to leave the city, they leave behind many people who have put their faith in the Lord Jesus.  

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Acts - Forgiveness and Freedom

Acts 13:16-42

We return to the book of Acts this week as the focus shifts to the Apostle Paul and his ministry. In today's passage we find Paul preaching a powerful sermon that walks through God's work in Israel's history, ending with Jesus Christ and the forgiveness and freedom that are found by believing in him..  

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Trusting God in Difficult Times

This text looks at two desperate lives; both find their answer in Jesus. No matter what we face, he is, indeed the answer.  

We are glad to welcome Chuck Lawless to the pulpit this Sunday, good friend of Preston Pearce. 

Dr. Chuck Lawless currently serves as Richard and Gina Headrick Senior Professor of Evangelism and Missions, Dean of Doctoral Studies, and Vice-President for Spiritual Formation and Ministry Centers at Southeastern Seminary, in addition to serving as Team Leader for Theological Education Strategists for the International Mission Board (IMB). He previously served as a Vice-President for Global Theological Advance for the IMB. Prior to that, he was dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also served as Vice President for Academic Programming and the Director of Professional Doctoral Studies. He received a B.S. degree from Cumberland College and M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Southern Seminary. He is the author or co-author of thirteen works, including Spiritual Warfare in the Storyline of Scripture and The Potential and Power of Prayer and has written numerous articles. He and his wife Pam have been married for 33 years and reside with their dog, Max, in Wake Forest, North Carolina, USA.

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Do You Do Well to be Angry?

We are glad to welcome Will Brooks to the pulpit this Sunday, good friend of ICP's own Preston Pearce. Will Brooks (Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, USA) lives in Southeast Asia with his wife and three children. (more about Will can be found at the end of the description).

Jonah 4

God is faithful and merciful, always fulfilling his promises. But what happens when God works in unexpected ways – or in ways that don’t align with the purposes or causes that we hold dear? Or what about when we are faithful and obedient to his word, but God desires to show favor to someone else? How do we respond to God in such situations?  

Will Brooks is the Provost and Director of the Doctor of Missiology and MA in Intercultural Studies programs at Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of Love Lost for the Cause of Christ (2018), Interpreting Scripture across Cultures (2022), and the co-editor of World Mission (2019). Will is an avid runner and has completed multiple ultra-marathons and endurance obstacle course events.

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Still Not Ashamed

We are glad to welcome Avi Snyder to the pulpit this Sunday, good friend of ICP's own Mastona Khalilova. Avi currently serves as the European Ambassador of Jews for Jesus. He came to faith in Jesus in 1977 with the help of a Jews for Jesus tract and the forthright witness of Christian friends. (more about Avi at the end of the description)

Romans 1:15-16

In his epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote, “So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:15-16).” In those two brief verses, Paul tells all of us who are sincere followers of Yeshua (Jesus) at least five crucial truths. He tells us what we must proclaim (the Gospel); he tells us how we must proclaim (without shame); he tells us why we must proclaim (because only the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation); he tells us to whom we must proclaim (to the Jew first and also to the Greek); and he tells us when we must proclaim –now (with eagerness).  

 After pioneering the work of Jews for Jesus in Ukraine and Russia, Avi and his wife Ruth launched the German and Hungarian works of the ministry as well. Avi received his theological training from Fuller Theological Seminary, the School of World Mission, and he’s written two books: Jews Don’t Need Jesus – and Other Misconceptions, and Never Ashamed – Stories of Sharing Faith with Scoffers and Skeptics. You can feel Avi's passion for Jewish evangelism in Central and Eastern Europe when he says, “For us Jews to proclaim God’s message of eternal life in the countries where so many of us died – that’s a redemption of history. That’s life from the dead” (Romans 11:15). For more information, click here.

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Acts - Visions of the Gospel

Acts 10

The visions of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10 are together a significant moment in the spread of the gospel. While there have been a few individual instances of gentiles (non-Jewish people) putting their faith in Jesus before this point, it is here that the door is opened wide for the gospel to be spread to all peoples of the earth. Again we see how the gospel breaks down barriers between people, as God tells Peter "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean" (Acts 10:15).  

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Acts - Thoroughly Converted

Acts 9:1-22

The story of Saul's (soon to be the Apostle Paul) conversion is Acts 9 is one of the better known stories in scripture. A zealous persecutor of the early church, Saul's life is completely turned around when he has an encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus. From that moment Saul's life is committed to the spread of the gospel so that others might come to know Jesus as he has. 

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