Joy House Berkeley

Do we life our lives with routine or with the leading of the Holy Spirit? How does the Holy Spirit lead your life? (Acts 1)

Pastor Sophia speaks on 1 Corinthians 9 and the freedom and beauty of being generous - free from the grips of idols in this world.

1 Corinthians 8

In the world, knowledge is highly valued and regarded. Paul in 1 Corinthians 8 reminds us that over knowledge, love is the most important. Michael shares on this with Joy House about how the endless wisdom of God beautifully brings us humility and compels us to act in love above all else.

In Romans 8:11, Paul writes: “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you.” Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we now have access to the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. As a result, we have the opportunity to live a life that is profoundly influenced by the power of God.

Jesus humbly rode in on a Donkey. Do you ask for more in your life or are you humble like Jesus and life you life with what God has given you? (Matthew 21:1-17)

In 1 Cor. 7:32, Paul writes, “I want you to be free from anxieties.” There are many areas of our lives where we really want things to be just right, and for good reason. But Holy Spirit can bring God’s peace in any situation, no matter how uncertain or difficult it is. Even if your circumstances haven’t changed, you can receive peace from God today.

Paul talks about marriage and what God says about marriage . (1 Corinthians 7)

In 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 Paul offers a list of do’s and don’ts. We can’t ignore these rules just because we are under grace but we also shouldn’t obey in order to earn something from God. Obedience is inspired by our love of Jesus and earnest desire to do what pleases him

When we accept Jesus and are saved, our identity is immediately one of holiness and righteousness. However, we also have a responsibility to choose to live a holy life, so that we can foster the presence of God and share his love with the world. Our goal is to be like Paul, who confronted the Corinthian church very directly about sin in order to help them avoid anything that could prevent them from experiencing the fullness of God's presence in their lives.

Paul talks to the Corinthians to follow his example.

In 1 Cor. 3, Paul speaks very strongly against favoritism in the church. He was confronting a church culture where those who have the greatest gifting or anointing are elevated, while others are judged or overlooked. Paul teaches us that those who minister should be like humble servants, and we as a church should love everyone equally, because everything that we have comes only from the fact that we are found in Jesus.

We live in a world that is natural and spiritual but do you believe in the power of the things unseen? (1 Corinthians 2:1-13)

In 1 Corinthians 1:30, Paul writes that Jesus “became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Nothing we know or say or do can qualify us for great things in the kingdom of God. Rather, in God’s eyes, Jesus himself counts as our wisdom and our righteousness. We don’t need to be ashamed of what we don’t know, or what we’ve done wrong; we just need to embrace Jesus, and we’ll find everything we need in him.

Paul and Ananias followed the prompting and calling of the Lord. What is the Lord calling you into in this season? (1 Corinthians 1:26-29, Acts 9:1-19)

In 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Paul explains how the cross of Christ sets up a completely different paradigm from worldly wisdom and activity. We may know the right thing, and we may know how to do the right thing, but God also desires sincere hearts behind our actions. Our job is not to change our own hearts but rather to be honest with ourselves, with God, and with those around us, so that the Holy Spirit can produce sincerity of heart in every area of our lives.

In 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, Paul starts his letter by correcting factionalism and division in the church. In our culture as in ancient Corinth, it is easy to let our opinions and views keep us from unity with other Christians. Paul reminds us that it is our faith in Jesus, not our theological knowledge, that keeps us unified in the body of Christ.

Do you accept where God has placed you in your life with humility? (Luke 2:8-20)

It took Mary extreme faith when being told she would give birth to Jesus. Do you have faith like Mary? (Luke 1:26-38)

When we go through challenging seasons, it can be difficult to remember and truly believe that God is good. In those seasons, our goal is to be like Abraham, who was even willing to give up his son Isaac, because he knew that God was good. When we learn to trust God and be faithful to him in hard seasons, God raises us up and gives us greater access to his abundant life.

Challenges are a natural part of a faith-filled life. When we face difficult seasons, we can look to the example set by Daniel, who remained faithful to God in Babylon and influenced kings in the process. When we walk through hard times with God, he is at work in us to prepare us for greater things to come.

Our church was founded almost 20 years ago by a group of college students who felt called to seek the presence of God together. Today, we continue their legacy of believing that, if God chooses to show his glory in our lives, we can be radically changed by his presence, and so can everyone around us. Our goal is to persevere in seeking God and to look forward with hope to what he will do in us and through us.

Are you the seed that has fallen in the thorns? Are you letting the thorns of the world taking your peace? (Matthew 13:18, John 14:27)

Are you drinking of the living water daily and being refreshed of the living water daily?

In Hebrews 4:14-16, we read that Jesus is our great high priest. He stands before the Father on our behalf, and because of his sacrifice, we are counted worthy to approach the throne of grace. When we pray, we can sit before God, receive from him, and even hear his voice, all because of what Jesus has done.

In the Old Testament, God commanded the Jewish people to hold a feast every year to commemorate their 40 years in the wilderness. Those 40 years of waiting for the Promised Land were difficult for the Israelites; even so, God was faithful in the waiting. For us today, it is also essential to celebrate and be grateful for who God is in the hard seasons of our lives.

When Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his disciples it was better for him to go, because he would send the Holy Spirit. When we choose to follow God, we also can receive the Holy Spirit and enter into a life where he leads us to grow in our relationship with God. Following the lead of the Holy Spirit is a central part of receiving the fullness of what God has in mind for our lives.

God calls us to steadfastness in our work instead of idleness. What is the value of work in your life? (2 Thessalonians)

Are you living your life focused towards your achievements and goals, or are you living your life focused on God? (Micah 6:8)

Just like getting to know a spouse or a friend, a big part of getting to know God is spending time with him and experiencing who he is personally. The Bible says that God is loving and faithful, that he’s always compassionate, and when we cry out to him, he is pleased to move in power on our behalf. If we invite God to show his character to us, we won’t just know these facts about God intellectually, but we’ll also get to see and experience him at work in our lives.

Holiness and repentance can sometimes feel like heavy words. But in God’s eyes, holiness isn’t scary or heavy; rather, it’s an invitation to draw closer to him and to live a fuller and more beautiful life. This is a season to repent and lean more into the life that God is leading us into, so that we can experience deeper relationship and intimacy with him.

Moses had this tent of meeting and found the presence of the Lord in the wilderness. Are you setting your time apart to find the presence of the Lord? What is your meeting tent? What is your wilderness.

No matter where we are in our lives and in our walk with God, there is always more of Jesus available to us. We don’t earn more of God’s presence in our lives. Instead, as we spend time with God and invite him into every area of our lives, he is faithful to meet us and to share more of his goodness with us.

How are you getting outside and and exploring different places outside of your normal routine like Jesus did? How are you blessing the people you meet in these places?

What is the Lord’s assignment for you in this season? Are you willing to sacrifice what you have for the Lord and go where he is calling you to go?

Obey and follow the promptings of God our father and his inheritance can be yours.

In moments of hardship, our first reaction is often to plead with God for help. However, we can instead choose a different path, where we worship God and declare his goodness even in the midst of trials. Worship is not only an act of faith, but it’s also a way to invite the kingdom of heaven into our situation. When we praise God, we are agreeing with Jesus’s words: “take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Worship is not just something we do on Sundays. It’s not just a matter of singing and dancing; it’s about honoring God with our whole being. As Jesus explained to the woman at the well (John 4:23-24), we must learn to worship God, not in any one specific place or way, but "in Spirit and in truth."

Moses spent time with the Lord and built deep relationship with Him, but through Jesus the veil has been torn away and we too can have deep relationship with the Lord. How are you spending time withe Lord like Moses did?

How are you setting your time apart for God to honor the Sabath that he has commanded you to honor?

Recognizing that you some times you need less of yourself and that you need more of the Lord.

Jesus dies for everyone and we are all qualified for his love .

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus opens by saying, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit.” One of the first and most critical lessons for us in engaging with the Spirit of God is learning to count ourselves as spiritually small and acknowledging that God is really big and really good. As we grow in humility, we learn to put the plans of God above our own plans, and we grow closer to God in the process.

We are blessed to serve a God who is so much bigger than we can fully understand. Whatever we may face in life, our walk with God doesn’t hinge on how much we understand or how much we produce, but on trusting in how big he is and exercising faith in relationship with him. In order to keep growing in both our calling and in the knowledge of God, we must learn to make Jesus preeminent in every area of our lives, especially the areas that feel big or difficult for us.

Is Jesus big or small to you? Do you believe that Jesus is working in your life even when you are in the wilderness? (Matthew 16:25)

There are times in life when the Lord convicts us or speaks very clearly to go in one direction or another. Even so, God doesn’t expect our lives to become a script, where we only carry out specific orders from him. Instead, God invites us into a relationship where we walk with him and make decisions with him, and he breathes life into us wherever we go.

As we follow Jesus, we will all encounter areas of life where we struggle to live in freedom and walk in alignment with what God says is good. We were designed to overcome these struggles with the help of the Holy Spirit who works in us. When we fail or have trouble overcoming, God is not disappointed in us, and he doesn’t want us to give up. Every difficulty or setback is an opportunity to learn how to keep trusting God and keep persevering, until one day the Lord leads us up the mountain and into a new level of freedom and intimacy with him.

What does life look like with the perspective of joy that Jesus has?

Serena shares a testimony of how her parents recently encountered Jesus. After decades of prayer, God was faithful to bring her family together and to bless them with new life.

In John 10, Jesus says that as the good shepherd, he comes to the defense of his sheep when they are in trouble. In all the highs and lows of life, our heart posture as his sheep should be to lean on God and trust him. His power and his blood are enough to lead us through anything that may come our way.