Posts from January 2023

Many Christians question whether being part of a local church is a must for them. They say they have good Christian friends around them and that is enough for them. At first, it sounds plausible, as many Christian activities can happen in such settings. But a gathering of Christians and a local church is fundamentally different in three important ways: The preaching of God’s Word, the sacraments, and headship. First, what doesn’t happen among Christian friends is preaching of God’s…

There are two great preaching advices that I received, which I practice today. I think they are not only beneficial for communicators like myself, but also for listeners as well. It will help you understand better why I preach a certain way. The first advice is “Preach to persuade, not just to proclaim.” In seminary, we are taught that preaching is mainly “proclaiming” God’s Word to people. There is certainly a big element of proclamation in the work of preaching.…

The Holy Communion, also known as “Lord’s supper” or Eucharist, has been a main christian ritual accepted by almost all denominations throughout the church history. But few people know that the Lutheran and Reformed got divided into different denomination over the issue of Lord’s supper. It shows how important the Holy Communion was to early Reformers. The Lord’s supper was actually instituted by Jesus himself. On the night of Passover, right before he was arrested to be crucified, he broke…

Starting from next ministry term (starts in October this year), team leader qualification is changing to acting shepherds and spouses/ youth shepherds and former shepherds and spouses/youth shepherds. Pastor Rick Warren once said that one way to know a church is maturing is when leadership qualification is increasing. Team ministry is where our house church VIPs make first contact with church ministry and learn to grow in serving. Its primary role is to assist house church ministry, not just to…