Refuge Church

Against the heavy racial tensions of his day, Paul described the church like this: "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility" Ephesians 2:14. For him, the church Jews and Gentiles were able to sit at the same table, share the same meal, and call each other brother and sister. As we start our new series: How To Be Church, we are gonna see how Paul's ancient definition of church is so relevant today!

In our last episode of the Exodus series, we explore one of the biggest themes in the whole Bible: Heaven on Earth.

We are almost done with the book of Exodus. But before we conclude it, we need to remember the kind of God is introduced to us in this book.

Right before the 10th plague hit, the Lord gave the most sacred holiday to the Jews: Passover. This time we discuss the full significance of the first Passover, and the best Passover that came a few hundred years later.

We finish the plagues of Egypt trying to answer this question: how is it fair that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh?

We look at the first 4 plagues that the Lord sent to Egypt. And so many questions come to our mind: Did they really happen? Weren't they just recurrent phenomena in the region? How can a loving God send them? And finally, in the context of a pandemic ravaging the world - Did God send Covid-19, as he sent the plagues to Egypt?

Pastor Fernando Chavez is our guest speaker for this week, and he presents Exodus 6 for us.

We meet the last main character of the story: Pharaoh. As we study about this mighty king, we get to understand the evil of slavery and oppression, as well as the response of God to them.

God introduces himself to Moses in the most dramatic fashion. He comes and not only gives him the task to release his people, he also discloses his name for the first time in the history of the world. As we learn his name, we learn so much about the one true God.

We start examining the life of Moses. We get to know his passions and skills, and how his actions contrasts with God's. As we do, we'll understand why God's methods are far better than ours.

We launch our new series exploring current, sensitive topics from a Biblical perspective. We study what does God think of racism, abortion, and women.

We continue with our series on health. Elder Kathy discusses practical yet profound tips in how to manage our emotional wholeness.

Althought religion is useful in times of crisis, one can be religious and also be unhealthy. How can one keep a healthy religion in this turbulents times? What are the most common traps into an unhealthy religion, and how can we avoid them?

We start the series on health and wellness. Pastor Ron tackles wellness and mental health in the context of the death of George Floyd, racism, and protests.

Elder Katherine unfolds before us the cosmic war that the entinre Universe is experiencing, and how can we survive it.

Anxiety is one of the most common mental illness, affecting 40 million adults in the US alone [before covid-19]. With a pandemic roaming around, those numbers have skyrocketed to unprecedented heights. Is there anything we can do about it? On this sermon we discuss how incredibly useful the Bible can be for people struggling with anxiety.

Peter focuses his attention on elders. He reminds them both of their general responsabilities and their specific tasks in the middle of trial. His message is useful for pastors, elders, leaders of the church, and every Christian who aspires to maturity.

We dive deep on the topic on suffering from 1 Peter. How do we deal with it? Where do we find hope? How can be surpass it? This message is especially relevant for anyone who is suffering directly or indirectly from covid-19.

We cover a single verse in our study from 1 Peter. We focus on the crazy idea that Jesus will break into history once again. We examine why Christians firmly believe on that idea, and why it's so compelling for non Christians as well.

This weekend we celebrated Easter - the victory of Jesus over death. And we'll see in 1 Peter 4, how the experience of Jesus announces what every human being can also experience: suffering, dead, and resurrection.