Claim OwnershipIsland ECC Podcast
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© 2025 Island Evangelical Community Church Limited
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Weekly audio messages on the world-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ and the life-changing love of God from Island ECC in Hong Kong. For more resources and to get connected with us, visit our website at www.islandecc.hk
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We begin a new series focused on the sticky stuff within our relationships. Every relationship will go through difficult times. An unresolved fight. A broken boundary. Growing apart because of busyness. These are some of the circumstances that cause relationships to fall apart, but is there something we can do about it? We kick off this series by looking broadly at what it takes to repair our relationships.
We often embrace the concept of following a guiding star, but what happens when it leads us into opposition and uncertainty? At times, following God may feel like traversing a path that leads us away from our expectations. In those moments, how can we remain steadfast despite our doubts? In the final sermon of our Advent series, we will explore the responses of the wise men and King Herod as they confronted opposition and navigate divergent paths.
The Christmas season is a time when we pause and reflect on the year. A time of peace, and celebration. But for many of us, we’re just tired. We’re weary because this year was hard, and right now, there’s a chance we’re not ready to rejoice. But what if God wants us to choose hope in the chaos? To sing through the struggle? How do we do this when we don’t feel like it? What if joy isn’t the absence of struggle, but the presence of God in the struggle?
If understood fully, disruptions in our lives are actually gifts to us. They remind us that we are actually not in control after all. But how can we actually learn to rejoice in the midst of life’s unexpected turns?
Advent, which begins on this Sunday, is the season to prepare and wait for Christmas. This is the first of four messages to dive into the words of O Holy Night – “the weary world rejoices”. The message offers a perspective on how you can genuinely rejoice during times when you are waiting for what is longed for… as well as an interesting take on Mary and Joseph’s preparation for the first Christmas.
We often experience righteous anger when we face injustice in the world. However, sometimes this righteous anger can get the better of us and leave us bitter and resentful like Jonah. In this sermon, we look at the final chapter of Jonah’s story to uncover the warning signs of when our anger strays from its righteous roots.
How does failure impact you? For most, personal failure has a devastating effect. It brings shame, regret, self-loathing, and a desire to distance ourselves from others. But God comes to us in our failures, and allows us to experience mercy in a way that heals our deepest wounds.
Jonah was desperate. He was drowning. He hit rock bottom in the most literal way possible. But then in a miraculous act of grace, God sent a fish to swallow him. A strange salvation, but one began to change Jonah. In desperation while inside of the fish, he prays. He remembered God, and that simple act opened the door for grace to begin to change him. When we are overwhelmed, we can do the same, because God listens to desperate prayers.
We all have a little bit of Jonah in us, desiring at times to live independent from God. At our core, we prefer telling God what we’d like, rather than allowing him to tell us what to do. So what can we learn from the hard-hearted prophet?
Just as a caterpillar is not meant to remain a caterpillar, we are not meant to stay where we are today. When we are willing to die to ourselves, we will be transformed into the kind of being who truly understands God and delights in His ways.
Being generous is often associated with greater overall health and life satisfaction. People who share their wealth tend to be happier, more fulfilled, and enjoy better relationships. In contrast, those who hold back may experience increased stress, anxiety, and a sense of isolation from genuine community. So, why is being generous so challenging? In this sermon, we explore Jesus’ teachings on money to better understand the barriers that make it difficult for us to give.
Usually when our spiritual lives begin to stagnate, the first warning signs can be seen in our habit of prayer. They start becoming mechanical and routine, lacking any sort of passion or conviction. But is there a prayer that has the power to revitalise our prayer lives? In today’s sermon we examine the most powerful prayer ever prayed and how we can pray it as well.
Our days are often full of worry. We fall into a routine of trying to control everything, our schedules, our work, our relationships, doing our best to hold it all together. And it’s exhausting. We need a Fresh Start. We need a way to step out of the cycle, loosen our grip, and trust God more deeply with our lives. Today, we’re going to explore practical ways to grow in faith and experience the peace God promises, even in the midst of life’s chaos.
Throughout Jesus’s life, even for His closest followers, it was common for people who saw Jesus not to really see Him. In this message, we’ll explore what we know about truly seeing and loving people around us, and how that honest approach can help up so love and see God clearer.
Over and over in scripture, we are told to be “awake”. The tendency is for us to be spiritually drowsy, missing out on an adventure and “sleeping through” the reason we are on this planet.
There is plenty to be mad about in our world today. It seems that there is rage everywhere. What angers you? And more importantly, how do you handle it?
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. From all nations people came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.
Strongholds are subtle. Built over time, and strengthened without our intention, often we are unaware of the strongholds that the enemy has in our life. But rather than just coping, or swatting them away, how about destroying them? That is precisely what we are told to do.
The popular reality show, Survivor, had a tagline of “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast”. This would be a fitting tagline for our lives as followers of Christ. To be aware of the enemy, and to be determined to outwit him. Do you have a strategy?
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