Houston Chinese Church - English

Our mission is to build God's kingdom on earth. God has created us to worship and to work. It is not only on Sunday that we worship the Lord. Every day can be meaningful for us to worship God. Often we do not associate our faith with work. However, we need to see work as an opportunity to worship. For us, work is worship. However, we should not worship work.

The creation scene is set and God’s about to rest. As we near the end of the creation narrative, we hear one final assessment of God’s work and He declares it to be, “very good.” This is so because man has been given his responsibility to bring the rule and reign of God to the ends of the earth. But we don’t go at it alone, but we go in the blessings of God. God has blessed us to be fruitful, mult...

As we paused last week in Genesis 1 to reflect of the significance of the imago dei in relation to race and racism, today we want to draw out further implications as it relates to life and abortion. Forty-nine years ago, the Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion-on-demand. It is arguably one of the greatest affronts to human dignity and an egregious violation of human rights. Persuasive arg...

On this MLK Jr. holiday weekend, we want to pause in Genesis 1 to reflect on the beauty of the imago dei and the ugliness of racism. We should be thankful that, in our day, the vast majority would wholeheartedly support Dr. King's dream to be judged by the content of his character rather than the color of his skin. But does the vast majority understand the theological underpinning f...

Our treatment of people reveals how much we value them. We shout at the representative of our internet service provider when the internet goes down for longer than we expect. We treat co-workers as tools to get the job done rather than value them as people. We disregard the opinions of young people because we believe they lack life experience. Yet God is gracious to people regardless of background...

The book of Genesis is a book of beginnings. It’s mainly focused on the beginning of a story about a covenant family that grows into a covenant community spanning the globe. But chapters 1-11 stretch even further back to tell the story about the beginning of our world and the universe itself. Genesis 1 presents five fundamental truths about creation and its relationship to God.

As we stand on the cusp a new year, it is high time for self-evaluation and a reconsideration of our priorities in life.

Since Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament, the people of God endured 400 years of spiritual darkness. 400 years of divine silence. But Malachi himself prophesied in hope that one day the sun of righteousness shall rise and God would visit his people again. 400 years later, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, recognized, in the birth of his son, a glimmer of light before the messi...

The Magnificat refers to the song Mary sings after visiting Elizabeth, who herself is miraculously with child. Magnificat is the Latin word for magnify, as in "My soul magnifies the Lord." In this song, the Lord's grace and power are magnified through a Great Inversion where things that are down will be lifted up and up things will be knocked down. All because of this baby...

In Christian tradition, the Annunciation refers to that event where the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would miraculously conceive and give birth to the long-expected Messiah. Now Christmas Day typically receives greater attention, but one could make a case for Annunciation Day being a more important holiday. Since the Incarnation of the Son of God actually took place then – nine months...

We occasionally experience seasons of disappointments in our lives. We go out on dates regularly, but we have a hard time finding someone who is girlfriend or boyfriend material. We keep trying to conceive, but every pregnancy test results in disappointment. We keep inviting a non-believing friend to church, but they keep finding reasons not to attend. We keep experiencing a reoccurring health iss...

In a final meal with Jesus, his disciples experience a rollercoaster of emotions. Fear and confusion are replaced by joy and worship after a surprise encounter with the Risen Lord. Similarly, a transformative encounter can be experienced by us today if we share their eyes of faith and see the following gospel realities.  

Because of the Emmaus' disciples' incomplete understanding about the coming Messiah, their hope was shattered when they saw Jesus being crucified.  Their hope was rekindled when Jesus used Scripture to show them that the coming Messiah must suffer before being glorified.

The sacred meal that Jesus ate with his disciples on the eve of his arrest is traditionally known as the Last Supper. It was the last time he would eat the Passover meal with them before he died. But this occasion was also the first time Jesus would celebrate Holy Communion, aka the Lord's Supper. So this Last Supper was really a first supper in a new tradition that continues to be observed by chu...

Sometimes, we wonder if we have true faith that saves our souls. We wonder: do we truly have a relationship with God? Yes. We believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. We believe that he ascended into heaven. Yet when we look at our lives, we find little change. We find little love for God. We find bible reading stale. Our prayers seem rote. Our love for others has...

In the Gospel of Luke, meals with Jesus serve as occasions for the Lord to clarify his mission to heal the sick and seek the lost. Shared meals are also opportunities to reveal his heart. In today's text, we see the joyful heart of God. Anytime the lost are found – anytime a sinner repents – God rejoices and celebrates with all the host of heaven.  

Even though Christianity is still the predominant faith in America; why is our influence for Christ in the world fading and so weak? One reason is that we have presented Christianity and discipleship as all benefits with no cost. Costless Christianity leads to imbalanced discipleship, cheap grace, and cultural Christians. In today's text, we learn that while becoming a disciple of Jesus costs us n...

When we find ourselves spending time with people, we naturally fellowship with people like us. When we do, we become members of a clique. We become insiders in our social groups. We enjoy people within our social groups because they reciprocate conversation. They reciprocate hospitality. One week, we invite them to lunch. Next week, they invite us to lunch. Such relational dynamics are so natural...

In Luke 14, Jesus accepts an invitation to dine with a prominent Pharisee but finds himself under watchful eyes. His opponents hope to expose his faults. But Jesus turns the table and uses a healing and a parable to expose their selfishness and self-conceit. Lord-willing, this meal with Jesus will produce a similar effect in us – that being a merciful and meek heart.

In another episode involving another meal with Jesus, we see how a desire to practice hospitality can quickly sour into feelings of resentment and self-pity. This occurs when the busyness of serving for Jesus distracts us from Jesus. Don't read this story as a rebuke of Martha for serving too much, but do read it as a warning if serving is done at the expense of listening to the words of Christ.

  An impossible situation gives Jesus an opportunity to show His compassion and power as the Messiah, who meets both the physical and spiritual needs of man. 

The recent disruption of our normal rhythms of life – both personally and congregationally – has either prompted or exasperated a spiritual apathy in the hearts of many. We may still believe in God and give the bare minimum that devotion requires, but our love has grown cold. Here, in another meal with sinners, the Great Physician helps us to diagnosis an apathetic heart, to discove...

In the Gospel of Luke, meals with Jesus function as a plot device for character development. Each occasion reveals more of Jesus's heart and demonstrates the kind of person he is willing to befriend. As we study these occasions in our new sermon series, we pray that you will hear Christ's call, reflect his heart, and continue his mission.

The story of Daniel and the lions' den is another scriptural reminder that, while the nations rage and plot in vain, the LORD remains faithful to his own. Like Daniel, you could very well face a situation where you must choose between your allegiance to God or another. So like Daniel, if you press on and refuse to break faith with the living God, you too will witness his great faithfulness.

Once again, the people of God are staring in the face of death. This is not the first time and it won't be the last. What we can see from the story of Esther is the providential care of God, not only in the face of death, but also in our everyday lives. Like every other story in our series, the hero in this story, Esther, points us to the greater hero and who God sent to save us from the death tha...