Houston Chinese Church - English

Naaman epitomizes what we all want to be a great man who is well respected and highly accomplished. But underneath it all lies a deep insecurity, a desperate sickness, and a distorted idea of how to get well. Elisha's encounter with Naaman offers four revealing facts about the great and accomplished in this world.

How long will you go limping between two different opinions? That was a question posed by a 9th-century B.C. prophet, but it could just as easily be asked of us today. We tend to waver in our commitment to the Lord. Our attention and allegiance can be so easily drawn away by lesser gods or what Scripture calls "baals". Like the Israelites in our story, we need to be confronted with the frailty and...

The familiar story of David and Goliath is often read as an underdog story exhorting readers to have courage like David in the face of whatever giants (i.e. obstacles) loom before us. But before we jump too quickly to apply this narrative on a personal level, it is important to set the story in its larger context. Otherwise, we might miss the main point and misidentify ourselves in the story. What...

Tragedy hits people at unexpected times. They may discover at a routine medical examination that they have a chronic illness like ALS. A student learns that their classmate died in a car accident over the weekend. A person may receive notice that they've been let go of their job. A wife shares with her husband that they lost a child due to a miscarriage. When people around us experience tragedy, h...

Samson took his gifts for granted. He saw his superhuman strength as an inalienable right. His enemies, on the other hand, saw it as a riddle to solve or a spell to break. But what they all failed to recognize is the grace of God and how his gifts can be freely given or taken away. God's grace pervades Samson's story, especially in the way it ends in a victorious defeat.

By trimming down Gideon's army to a measly three hundred, there was no doubt that salvation belongs to the Lord. This story is about how God leads his people against impossible odds. So that even if we get the victory, he still gets the glory.

The battle of Jericho is a story familiar to any child who grows up in a Christian home. But a closer look at the narrative reveals details that are more suited to a mature audience. We are told that, after the walls came down, every living thing in Jericho men and women, young and old, and all beasts were slaughtered. How can that be justified? Especially if the battle of Jericho is meant to be a...

The covenant keeping God demonstrated grace by saving His people and Rahab's family. In spite of Rahab's pagan background and imperfect past, she demonstrated courageous faith, confident faith, concerned faith, and covenant faith in the true God, who used unexpected individuals to carry out His will.

In our modern era of bridges, tunnels, and ferries, it is difficult to grasp the significance of a water crossing for those living in biblical times. Bodies of water functioned as natural barriers that divided peoples. Water even figuratively divided one era from the next, i.e. Noah passed through flood waters into a new world. So when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, that began a new epoch in...

Abraham's story is marked by sacrifice. In the beginning, he is asked to sacrifice everything comfortable and familiar, leaving behind home, family, and land. But at least every sacrifice God called him to make was balanced by a promise of blessing of a new home, new family, and new land. But in our passage, Abraham is asked to make a sacrifice unlike any before to sacrifice with nothing to gain....

The Old Testament in our English bibles aptly ends in Malachi with a word of judgment and warning about a coming day of the LORD. The reader is meant to feel despondent and desperate for salvation in the pages of the New Testament. There we learn that the Day will arrive in stages – before the fiery judgment, comes Elijah who prepares the way for the LORD to swoop down with salvation in his wings.

Malachi brings one last disputation against the people: They have spoken harshly against God. While the people believe that God has let them down, it is really the people who have turned their backs towards God. In their apathy towards righteousness, they no longer see God as worthy to be served by them. We'll see if there is anything in our hearts that may lead us towards or away from serving God...

Jesus once said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Where you direct your money corresponds with whatever has captured your heart. So when the Israelites withheld a full tithe, it demonstrated that God did not have their hearts. So the prophet called them to return – not just their stolen tithes to the temple – but their hardened hearts to the LORD. For a generous hand of...

We don't need to think very long before we can recall instances of injustices of this past year. We recall news of senseless killings in the news. Videos of racism play through our memory. We hear reports of families going hungry in our community. Injustice occurs all around us. It may make us wonder: Where is God? Where is his judgment? The absence of God's intervention might lead to spiritual ap...

Failure to honor the holiness and permanence of marriage is not merely a private affair. It has public consequences for the entire covenant community of God. This is why Malachi confronts the prevalence of mixed faith marriages and divorces in his day for how it damages and threatens the oneness of God's people.

Because the priests have become apathetic toward their ministry, God warns them that if they do not return to their Levite duties of teaching and modeling God's Word, then they will face dreadful consequences.

After a reminder of his electing love in the beginning of chapter one, the LORD challenges his people's lack of love. He confronts their polluted worship and how it reveals about what they think of God and feel towards him. And such a strong rebuke is justifiable, considering what polluted worship takes from God.

By Malachi's day, Israel was a mere shadow of its former self. Their depressed state led them to question God's love, and such doubts resulted in spiritual apathy the main concern of the book. But before the LORD confronts their apathy, he begins with an affirmation of his sovereign, electing love for them.  

For non-believers, skepticism of the Resurrection is what leads to doubts about regeneration. But for believers, it's often our skepticism of regeneration that has led to doubts about the Resurrection. Because of the lack of real change in our life, we begin to question everything about our faith. This Easter morning's passage reminds Christians how the reality of the Resurrection ought to result...

Our struggle with sin resembles a garden filled with weeds. If we examined the garden of our lives, then we would find various weeds of sin flourishing. It might be weeds of envy, weeds of anger, weeds of impatience, or weeds of lust. How do we remove these weeds of sin? Dealing with sin in our lives requires us to embrace the identity we have in Christ: dead to sin and alive to God.  &n...

The Apostle Paul concludes his first letter to the Thessalonians with a prayer for their sanctification. For each believer, he asks for God himself to wholly sanctify the whole person – a work that will only be completed at the second coming of Christ. As we examine this prayer, we will learn more about sanctification and the holy and blameless life to which we've been called.

While waiting for the Lord's return, God's people are to demonstrate love for their church leaders, for the church family, and for God. A flourishing church is identified by how its people relate to one another and to God.

Last week's text considered what will become of those who died in Christ when He returns. Today's text considers how we who are alive in Christ ought to live in light of His return. Simply put, we should always be prepared. Ready and waiting. Awake and sober. Christ's return may be unpredictable, but for the faithful in Christ, it should not be unexpected.