The Gathering Sermons

Series: The Birth of the Church (Acts)Preacher: Ps. Gabriel WongDate: 15th March 2026Passage: Acts 21:17-22:22

Series: The Birth of the Church (Acts)Preacher: Ps. James TangDate: 8th March 2026Passage: Acts 21:1-16Sermon Summary:What does it cost you to follow Christ? Constrained as he was by the Holy Spirit to visit Jerusalem (Acts 20:22), Paul knew very well that imprisonment and afflictions awaited him there. He was told by the Spirit that suffering awaited him in every city he visited. In Acts 21, the prophet Agabus even comes down from Judea to visit him at the house of Philip the evangelist. (v.10) Agabus takes Paul’s belt and binds his own hands and feet with it as a gesture of what the Holy Spirit has told him, that Paul would be thusly bound by the Jews at Jerusalem and delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. (v.11) Still, Paul perseveres. Though Paul suffers, he is also blessed with great friendships in Christ—the elders of the Ephesian church pray and weep with him as he departs from them. (Acts 20:36-37) They embraced and kissed him, and were sorrowful because they knew they would not meet face-to-face again. (v.37-38) In Acts 21, the disciples in Tyre persuade him through the Spirit not to go, as they know the fate that awaits him there. (v.4) At Caesarea, not only the people there but Paul’s own travelling companions urge him to refrain from heading towards Jerusalem, because of their great love for him (v.12)—and Paul says to them, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?” (v.13a) He knows and is blessed by their great love for him, but he is ready and determined to do the will of the Lord. (v.13b)We are blessed to be in a city so sheltered that we can forget or be ignorant of what goes on outside it. So much so that we forget the brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who are undergoing intense persecution and suffering for Christ’s sake. As the world is increasingly drawn into conflict, will you count the cost and stand with them?

Series: The Birth of the Church (Acts)Preacher: Ps. James TangDate: 1st March 2026Passage: Acts 20:1-38Sermon Summary:

Series: The Birth of the Church (Acts)Preacher: Ps. James TangDate: 22nd February 2026Passage: Acts 19:1-41Sermon Summary:We’ve been tracing as a church the movement of the gospel and the Holy Spirit through the book of Acts. We witnessed their movement through Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria—in some ways, they even reached the (then-known) ends of the earth! If your memory of what we’ve gone through is a little hazy, no worries. Acts 19 will be the perfect refresher for you.Apart from the movement of the gospel and the Holy Spirit, one of the key themes in the book of Acts is God’s power exemplified through His Spirit. We see examples of this in how Paul lays hands on some disciples in Ephesus to receive the gift of the Spirit. (v.6) God also does extraordinary miracles through Paul, so much so that people were taking away handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin to heal the sick and to free the demon-oppressed. (v.11-12)There may be some reason why God chose to perform such extraordinary miracles in the city of Ephesus, which was a spiritual stronghold where supernatural practices were exceedingly common. However, we must remember that as far-fetched or far-removed from our current context in Hong Kong these examples sound, there are parts of the world where similar practices remain common and ongoing today.Even if it isn’t the supernatural fight between good and evil, can we honestly admit that we have never made gods or idols for ourselves with our own hands? Have we never turned to other things instead of God, or used God to get what we want? For Demetrius the silversmith, it was the silver shrines of Artemis that he made (v.24)—and perhaps it was the unseen idols of wealth and reputation as well. (v.25, 27) For the seven sons of Sceva (v.13-14), it could have been success in their work and livelihood. What is it for you, and are you willing to search your heart, confess these things, and repent and turn to God?

Series: Chinese New Year ServicePreacher: Ps. Gabriel WongDate: 15th February 2026Passage: Acts 17:22-34Sermon Summary:What would the apostle Paul say to us today if he were at the dinner table with us? What would he make of our customs, such as dressing in red, passing out lai see, or our Chinese New Year’s blessings? How might he respond to the anxiety felt at big family gatherings when someone asks an insensitive question or comments negatively on our appearance?Remember that in Acts 17, Paul was in Athens only because he was waiting for Silas and Timothy. Yet he became so provoked by the idols in the city that he chose to dialogue with people from different faith backgrounds while he was there. If Paul were here in Hong Kong today, he might do the same!Let’s remember that these fears might not be altogetherirrational. Beneath the Chinese obsession with wealth might be a desire to provide for one’s family, especially when people were unsure where their next meal would come from. To this, Paul reminds us that God is the One who made the world and everything in it. (v.24) He alone gives to all mankind life and breath, and He will provide for us what we need. (v.25) To those feeling anxious about meeting with family and what they might say, Paul reminds us that God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth. (v.26) God’s intention was and is for every one of us to seek and to find Him. (v.27) Instead of being preoccupied about what others might say, why not take the opportunity to point back to the one God who is Father of all?As for those who cling on to superstitions and remain bound by fear—if you repent and turn to the Lord Almighty, there will be nothing you need fear. God has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness (v.31), but He alone is mighty to save.

Series: The ChurchPreacher: Ps. James TangDate: 8th February 2026Passage: 1 Peter 2:1-12Sermon Summary:We commonly assume that God’s priesthood is reserved for those called to full-time or vocational ministry. Like the Levites before them, God must have set these people aside for a special calling. This couldn’t be further from the truth: the call for all of God’s people to be part of His holy priesthood has remained the same over the ages. The heart of the priesthood is to create and maintain a space for people to encounter God. We see this in Genesis, where God called the first man and the first woman to rule over and subdue the earth, to have dominion over every living thing on it. (Gen. 1:28) We see this in the Israelites after they were brought out of Egypt, where they were asked to obey God and to keep His covenant. (Exod. 19:5-6) The apostle Peter tells us in the New Testament to put away all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. No longer do we need to offer up animal sacrifices to God like the Levites did, since Christ’s sacrifice did this once for all when He offered up Himself. (Heb. 7:27) But Peter tells us to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God (1 Pet. 1:1-5), and the apostle Paul tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. (Rom. 12:1)We might not associate the call to God’s priesthood with the command to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28L16-20), but the two are shockingly similar—in both, there is the command to observe everything Jesus taught us. We are to dedicate God’s people to Him by baptizing them in the name of the triune God. Because we are people ransomed by Him, we are to live holy, set-apart lives, lives that are different from those around us. Will you obey the command of the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations? Will you heed the included call to become part of God’s priesthood?

Series: The ChurchPreacher: Ps. James TangDate: 1st February 2026Passage: Ephesians 2:18-19Sermon Summary:Before the apostle Paul talks about the household of God in verse 19, he tells the early church that because of Christ’s sacrifice, they now have access through His Spirit to God the Father. (Eph. 2:18) That is why the church is now the household of God, no longer strangers and aliens but adopted into His family to become fellow citizens with the saints, members of the household of God. (Eph. 2:19; Rom. 8:15-17) That’s good news for us who were exiled from God’s presence, but what does it mean to be a member of the household of God?First we must determine where we are: are we a guest, a friend, or a full-fledged member of God’s family? The church must be a family that warmly welcomes guests, like Christ before us. Some guests might stop by for various reasons, while others want to know more about Him. Eventually as those guests stick around longer so that they are known by the community, they become friends whom we get to know and spend time with. But still—as Paul shows us, the pre-requisite for becoming part of the family is adoption by God through Christ and His Spirit. That entails knowing not just His people, but also God Himself by abiding in His Word (Jn. 8:31-32) and becoming His follower, His disciple. And what about the household of God? Now that we are family, how do we commit to one another and uphold our responsibilities to each other? We can begin by loving one another with the same sacrificial love that Christ showed us. (Jn. 15:12-14) Moreover, we must be just as committed to human flourishing as the head of our household is. We can display that commitment by keeping Jesus’ commandments to us (v.10), and by seeking to bear His good fruit. (v.8)

Series: The ChurchPreacher: Ps. James TangDate: 25th January 2026Passage: 1 Peter 2:1-12Sermon Summary:“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” (Rev. 21:22)We were always meant to have full communion with God. From the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, there was no temple: the Lord God walked with man, and the fullness of His presence was with them. But because of sin—because we chose ourselves, chose control over His providence and paradise—we were chased out of the Garden. Chased out of His presence, because sin cannot exist in the presence of a holy God. There have been multiple iterations of the temple ever since: the tabernacle which traveled with the Israelites through the wilderness. The temple which David yearned to build, that Solomon brought to fruition. The smaller version of the temple that Zerubabbel rebuilt after it was torn down. The same system of elaborate offerings and sacrifices that God devised was used in each one, but it could only do so much to atone for our sin, to allow for God’s nearness and presence—that is, until Jesus. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2 that we are now like living stones being built up as a temple. (v.5) Because of Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross, we can now take on the tasks and responsibilities that Adam and Eve were given: to be stewards of His creation, to help fill the earth with His presence. To proclaim His excellencies (v.9), and to glorify Him especially on the day when He returns for good. (v.12)John tells us in the book of Revelation that there will be a day when the temple exists no more. Just like the Garden of Eden before it, this new garden-city of the new Heaven and Earth will have no temple, because its temple is the Lord God the Almighty. What are you doing, church, to prepare for that day? What can you do to point others towards that reality?

Series: The Church Preacher: Ps. Gabriel with Jae Won KimDate: 18th January 2026Passage: Colossians 3:16-17

Series: The Church Preacher: Ps. James TangDate: 11th January 2026Passage: Hebrews 10:24-25Sermon Summary:It is hard to love. We know this. Loving and looking beyond oneself is so antithetical to who we are, to what the world calls us to be, that we cannot hope to do it on our own. And yet, Scripture tells us we cannot flourish without human community. The Greatest Commandment compels us to love God with all our heart, soul and mind... Yet equally as important is the call to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matt. 22:36-40)This week’s passage of Hebrews 10:24-25 gives us encouragement for how we can do this, and why we should be doing this. Though the Mosaic law provided the Israelites with a system of sacrifices and offerings to atone for their sin, it would never be enough. (Heb. 10:11) Even the offerings themselves would serve as a reminder of the people’s sin that could never be fully wiped away. (v.3-4) But Christ, in His death upon the cross, acted as the perfect sacrifice to offer whole and complete forgiveness for all sin. (v.12-18) It is through His death for us and His gift of His Holy Spirit to us that we are fully reconciled to God, no longer slaves to sin but able to walk according to the ways and standards He has called us to. We know that sin only leads to death (Rom. 6:23; Jas. 1:13-15) and separation between man and God. We serve and follow a holy God who cannot tolerate sin, which is why the author of Hebrews urges the early church to consider how they can keep the habit of meeting continually, how they can stir each other up to love and good works. (Heb. 10:24-25) The day is drawing near, where each will be judged according to his deeds. (2 Cor. 5:10) As we gather, let us consider how we can encourage, edify, and exhort each other, knowing that we are called to love God, His Church, and His world.

Series: The ChurchPreacher: Ps. James TangDate: 4th January 2026Passage: Acts 2:42-47

Series: / (End of Year Service)Preacher: Ps. James TangDate: 28th December 2025Passage: Lk. 24:13-35Sermon Summary:As you look back at 2025, what is it that you approach the end of the year with? Are you relieved that it’s over, or are you recovering from all that happened? Do you grieve not just our city, but the world with its injustices, crises, and natural disasters?It can be tempting to ask God where He is in the midst of all this. The two strangers in this week’s passage of Luke 24:13-35 certainly did. There are hints to tell us that they were part of Jesus’ disciples: they heard from the women who had visited Jesus’ tomb that His body had vanished. (v.22) They knew where the eleven were, even though they were probably in hiding at this point. (v.33b) Yet Jesus still approaches them as a stranger, with gentleness and curiosity. He meets there where they are (v.17, 19), and takes the time to explain how all of Scripture points ultimately to Himself. (v.27) Though He leaves them just as suddenly as He joins them (v.31), their hearts and minds are changed. Not only do they recognize Him for who He is, but they also get up and go straight back to Jerusalem. Rather than leaving and walking away with heavy hearts of doubt, they manage to find the eleven and witness to them what they had seen, heard, and experienced. (v.34-35)Church, when we meet Jesus—truly encounter Him, we are changed. Once we realize that Jesus is who He says He is—that He is the Son of God, sent down to die for our sins; that His death and resurrection changed everything—we become people changed. Even in the midst of the grief, we can have hope, peace, and joy because He is always with us. Church, as you look back at and reflect on 2025, would you allow Jesus to join you? Would you do so with the lens of His death and resurrection? Would you invite Him in to change you?

Series: Advent & ChristmasPreacher: Ps. James TangDate: 21st December 2025Passage: Isaiah 7

Series: Advent & ChristmasPreacher: Ps. Gabriel WongDate: 14th December 2025Passage: John 18:28-40Sermon Summary:We learned in the past two weeks that Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Lk. 19:10), and to give life—life to the full. (Jn. 10:10) He tells us this week that He came to bear witness to the truth (Jn. 18:37), yet Scripture gives us an example of how the world behaves when it is confronted by the truth. Of how we can behave when we are confronted by the truth. John 18:28-40 shows us three examples through the Pharisees, Pilate, and the Jews who chose to save Barabbas. Although Jesus had borne witness again and again to His identity as the Son of God, the Pharisees chose to assume their own truth. They believed instead that He was doing evil (v.30), and that by proclaiming His identity, He was blaspheming against God. (Matt. 26:65) How can the truth be blasphemous unless we choose to assume otherwise?When Pilate had the chance to converse with Jesus, He had the rare opportunity to ask Jesus who He truly was. He does, in fact, ask Jesus if He is the King of the Jews, but this is said with the same dismissive attitude with which he asks Jesus, “What is truth?” Do we make the same mistake in today’s relativistic society, where truth is no longer absolute? Instead of pursuing truth and wrestling with all the discomfort it brings, have we grown comfortable and complacent with our own versions of the truth?Lastly, the Jews who chose to save Barabbas instead of Jesus show us that we don’t just assume our own truths or ignore truth. We actively despise the truth. They would rather save Barabbas, a known criminal and murderer, the instigator of a rebellion, over the actual Son of God. But don’t we do the same every time we sin? Every time we choose the pleasures but the dangers of sin over what is good, holy, pure, and true?

Series: Advent & ChristmasPreacher: Ps. James TangDate: 7th December 2025Passage: John 10:10Sermon Summary:One of the titles commonly attributed to Jesus is “Immanuel”, God with us. We heard last week that He came to seek and to save the lost. (Lk 19:10) This week, Jesus tells us that He came so that we might have life, and have it abundantly. (Jn. 10:10) Truly, Jesus came to give us abundant life. But He prefaces His statement with a thief who comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. While His words are directed towards the Pharisees who have missed the point completely, He refers also to Satan, the enemy, the adversary. 1 Peter 5:8 describes the devil as a roaring lion, who prowls around seeking people to devour. He steals our identities, makes us forget that we are beloved children of God. He steals our love as he tricks us into focusing on ourselves instead of others. He came to steal, kill, and destroy our peace, joy, and hope—leaving even the followers of Christ bare and destitute, wondering at this so-called abundant life that we were given. But not all hope is lost. We have Jesus, who is at once the Good Shepherd (v.11) and the Door by which His sheep enter. (v.7) The Good Shepherd would lay His life down for His sheep (v.11b), and the sheep who belong to the Good Shepherd know His voice. (v.4) Anyone who enters in by Jesus will be saved, and they will go in and find pasture. (v.9)Church, do you know the Good Shepherd? Are you sheep who know Him? Who recognize His voice, who trust Him and follow Him to green pastures? He is the only One through which we can have life, and life abundant. He is the only One who will lead us there. Trust not in your work, your studies, your achievements, your health, your wealth, your family and friends—not anything. For He alone came to give us life, that we might have it to the full. 

Series: Advent & ChristmasPreacher: Ps. James TangDate: 30th November 2025Passage: Luke 19:10Sermon Summary:Do we know why Jesus came? As we step into the month of December and prepare our hearts for His first coming—do we know why He came, the fullness of God in helpless babe? Luke 19:10 tells us that He came to seek and save the lost, and Zacchaeus’ story reflects this so beautifully. As a rich chief tax collector, Zacchaeus no doubt helped himself to some of the funds that he overcharged and collected for the Roman Empire. He was not a man of morals, and would have been scorned and despised by his fellow countrymen. Yet we see Jesus’ enthusiasm towards Zacchaeus’ curiosity: as Zacchaeus tried to get a better view of Him, Jesus declares that He must stay at Zacchaeus’ house today!We see the effects of this received grace on Zacchaeus: immediately he chooses to give half of his goods to the poor,and to restore fourfold of what he has defrauded. (v.8) This goes far beyond the additional one-fifth that is demanded ofhim in the Law. (Lev. 6:5) Curiosity comes first, then grace, and finally repentance that leads to life transformation.While it can be easy for us to dismiss Zacchaeus’ story, the truth is that all of us, in some form or another, are Zacchaeus. All of us have turned aside; not one of us seeks God. (Rom. 3:10-17) We are lost, and we need Jesus who came to seek and to save.That is why He needed to come down to earth, to find and to pursue us. If He hadn’t, no one would have.Now, then—what will you do, church? Knowing that if left to our own devices, not one of us would seek God? Will you answer God’s call on your life, or will you remain silent and indifferent? Will you remain where you are, comfortable and complacent, or will you partner with God to share His good news with all who so desperately need it?

Series: The Birth of the Church (Acts)Preacher: Ps. James TangDate: 23rd November 2025Passage: Acts 18:1-28

Series: The Birth of the Church (Acts)Preacher: Ps. James TangDate: 16th November 2025Passage: Acts 17:1-34

Series: The Birth of the Church (Acts)Preacher: Ps. Gabriel WongDate: 9th November 2025Passage: Acts 16:1-40Sermon Summary:Though the book of Acts tells the story of the early Church fulfilling the mandate of the risen Lord Jesus (Acts 1:8), it also shows how God’s Holy Spirit works through His faithful. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in Acts 16, where we see numerous examples of Spirit-led detours: the Spirit’s guidance to Paul as He forbade them to speak the word in Asia (v.6) and a similar instruction to refrain from passing into Bithynia. (v.7) The Macedonian Call, a vision that Paul received of a man from Macedonia pleading with him to go and help (v.9-10); His softening and opening of Lydia’s heart to pay attention to the gospel. (v.14) The power of God prevailing over the slave girl as the Spirit cast out the spirit of divination inside her (v.18), and the supernatural peace and joy that God gave to Paul and Silas as they were worshipping Him from prison. (v.25) The same God that they worshipped set them free (v.26) and moved them to care for the jailer in both word and deed, causing him and his household to come to Christ. (v.27-34)Before Jesus commanded His disciples to go to the end of the earth, He first told them that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. (Acts 1:8) He told them to stay in Jerusalem and to wait for the promise of the Spirit, to be “clothed with power from on high.” (Lk. 24:49) Jesus knew that without the help of His Spirit, we would be powerless. And indeed, it is only because of the empowerment of the Spirit that the Church was able to be so effective for God.Do you lean on your own strength, church? Or do you surrender to Him daily and wait for His Spirit’s guidance? Learning to discern for the Holy Spirit may not come naturally, but it will point us to Jesus and bring life.

Series: The Birth of the Church (Acts)Preacher: Ps. James TangDate: 2nd November, 2025Passage: Acts 15:1-41Sermon Summary:“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)Verses 2:8-9 from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians speaks wonderfully to Acts 15. As the early Church engaged in a fervent discussion about the role of circumcision in salvation, Paul reminds us that our salvation comes only through grace, by faith. Not by our own doing or as a result of works, but through the death of Christ Jesus alone.As Peter addresses the believers who are anxious about the purity of the faith (v.5), he speaks with truth and candour when he reminds them of the weight of the Law. Neither they nor their fathers were able to keep and obey the Law in its entirety, and the reason that Jesus died was to fulfill the Law, to make His people clean and set them free. Why, then, would the Church require its new believers, whether Gentile or Jew, to do what they could not? Why would they invite God’s judgment on themselves for such a thing? (v.7-11)As they argue for the full inclusion of Gentiles into the church with a completely new way of living, Peter appeals to his experience of direct guidance and intervention from God. Barnabas and Paul appeal to their experience of God’s confirmation of their work through signs and wonders. But James appeals directly to Scripture, believing that the words of the prophets agree with what has happened. (v.15-17)While Acts 15 can act as a beautiful guiding example for church politics and debate, our focus is on the heart of their discussion. Can we remember to live as children of God, who are saved by grace through faith? Can we also accept the Holy Spirit’s call for us to be higher, as He works and enables us to live transformed lives for Him?