1/5/2025 | CALLED TO EXPANDING THE TENT

well it's really great to be back and uh

thank you all for the uh very gracious

welcome and uh we miss everyone and

we've been just been really so blessed

and happy New Year everybody uh I pray

that this new year will be a time where

we experiencing new Grace and new growth

in Christ I pray that in the New Year we

will continue to grow in increasing

likeness to the life of Jesus and that

we we will walk and live and love love

God and love people was a new passion as

we walk in the newness of life and so

it's really great to be back and uh

feeling refreshed and very blessed uh

jump right back into things um sabatico

you know it's a real Precious and a

generous uh gift from the Lord and for

our church uh so we got to do a little

bit of travel uh in in Asia Japan and

Korea visit a family in in Taiwan uh got

to attend a missions conference uh did a

family cruise with friends and uh um and

uh helped do some uh uh overdue uh uh

Family House repair and housework uh

decluttering my desk and office um

reconnected with some old friends I

haven't seen for quite some time uh also

I had some uh extended uh quiet time to

uh read a few really good books that

really uh loved and uh also uh got a

chance to join the uh the CMC uh

conference um in Baltimore with our kids

so so thankful so thankful for this gift

gift uh not possible without your love

and and your prayer and support grateful

for our church leadership and all of you

in this blessing uh thank you I thank

the leaders of our church and other

staff for covering for me uh in my

absence so it's it's really great to be

back thank you pray for me I just kind

of jump right back into the uh into

things and so we're beginning the new

year with a four-part series on on

Vision which we always do uh and we've

been doing this Vision set started last

year was all about expanding the tent

and so I call this series call to

expanding the tent uh we wanted to

really kind of review our vision frame

if you remember the vision frame which

includes the the parts of mission our

mission statement our core values our

our marks or discipleship and our

journey so we want to connecting the

four sides of the vision frame of how

they support how they uh connect with

the vision expanding the 10 and so today

I want to start us out by just kind of

connecting the mission statement with

our vision so that's what we're going to

do how we receive the mission and vision

together but to start I I just want us

to pray ask God for his uh for his

Blessing and uh and our time together as

he speak to us let's let's pray

together Lord we thank you and praise

you for your love for us thank you for

being so good to us thank you for a new

year a new beginning a fresh start and

so we pray Lord that may your spirit

does do a new work does a new work in

our hearts in our relationships in our

love for you thank you Lord for our

church thank you for each and every

person here and we ask Lord that that

your spirit speak deeply into our hearts

that we may receive this new Grace as we

walk in this new year together we love

you Lord in Jesus name we pray

amen we want to talk about receiving our

mission and vision and so first of all

just kind of differentiate and clarify

some things that some of you know this

well and some of you sometimes gets a

little confused using sounds about the

same we say vision is a gift from God

that presents us with a picture of the

future um for Abraham uh God gave him a

vision of becoming the the father of

Faith whose descendants the lord gave

him this picture what will be as

numerous as the stars in the sky or the

sands on the

seashore for Moses and Israel the Lord

gave them a vision of the promise land a

land a place a land of Freedom where

there will be a land of flowing with

milk and honey and so we see that vision

is is picture it's it's a it's a picture

that that we can't quite see with Naked

Eyes here of the future that that will

inspire us to follow into that

future in Proverbs 29 18 it says that

you know U without Vision the people

perish and so because we need Vision

like we need hope and direction in life

for is the picture of the future that

gives us and motivates us to move and

Aspire us so Vision really is a

compelling picture of the future

inspiring us to to

follow and we have said that this vision

for us this 10 year Vision or expanding

10 was grounded in Isaiah chapter 54 and

Isaiah 54 · chapter mention

in Isaiah chap 54 2:3 is enlarge the

place of your tent and let them stretch

out the curtains of your dwellings do

not spare lengthen your core and and

strengthen your Stakes for you shall

expand to the right and to the left and

your descendants will inherit the

Nations and make the desolate cities

inhabited and so this vision for us in

the next 10 years we're praying that we

would deepen our Christian formation gr

deeper in love with Christ as God's

family strengthening our kingdom

identity as a missional church that's

our mission with God and that to and

that we will together re bring the

gospel who reach out to the less reach

the UN underserved communities both

locally and

globally so that we may have see Kingdom

multiplications in the next 10 years by

if God allows we want to planting 10

churches uh overseas and locally it

sounds like a daunting vision and we

want to raise up not just any churches

we want to raise up faithful Bible Bible

teaching gospel preaching and

reproducing churches that will continue

to plant churches because we

believe that it requires all kinds of

churches to reach all kinds of people

and that and that we need for new

churches in new places to reach the next

Generations and and all the various

people and people groups so this is a

vision about mat

ation and

multiplication and and the journey that

we have already we believe that we have

started on since the very beginning of

this church in some sense um this church

was planted back in 1991 as a church

plan and I still remember when we didn't

have a building we were just in a rental

uh office uh office building across the

tollway and how we have always kind to

pray that one day we will get to plan

churches as well and over the years that

we have got a chance to plant the katd

church we I got a chance to plant the

access church we planted to the north

Houston church over in the woodlands and

even overseas in East Asia The Living

Water Church and and and we have we have

rejoiced in seeing what God is doing

when we get to multiply for him and so

this Vision we believe is represent a

continuation about how to deepen our

lives and how to continue to be fruitful

for

God over Christmas Eve our family came

back for Christmas Eve service here and

then right afterwards we kind of took

off right away because we rushed out to

uh to try to go to Katie to catch their

Christmas Eve service which started at

like at 7 so we left right away because

we went because uh not only because you

know we want to see that but also

because uh they were doing their first

uh uh Christmas Eve uh pageant and and

my friend Pastor way Limb and his whole

family were in there so I said oh wait

you know uh so we're not going to miss

that so we rushed out there and it was

so was so cool and it you know a lot of

work and some of you who have been here

a long time ago we used to have sometime

a used Orchestra here so they had a used

Orchestra and the whole works and I just

felt so

grateful so grateful to see that that

church has become a a vibrant strong

church and growing and I just felt like

wow that we got to be all of us we got

to be our giving our prayers our sending

we got to be part of that the expanding

of God's tent to reach

people and in fact um this morning uh in

our Chinese service we just commissioned

our our former Chinese Elder uh Jeffrey

B and and his wife uh Janet uh to uh go

back to Germany where um S one of our

our our our church members have been

going out there three months at a time

to help starting a new church in englad

Germany englad you in case you never

heard of it it's not a major city city

in Germany but it's uh uh but it's it's

also the where the headquarter of Audi

is and uh and and was just starting a

work there and trying to plant a new

church there and I was just rejoiced to

see our Elder leaving tomorrow their

family to go there for another three

months to support the the Believers

there and TR to reach out to the people

and and last night I was had a chance to

be uh joining uh our our small group our

um cypress tree small group in Cyprus

this is a small group that was birthed

in the pandemic and how um that group is

getting ready to uh to go into group

birth and uh as the beginning of a

future work that we hope to see in

Cypress

Texas and as I feel like God Is On The

Move already for us this dream will

continue to multiply in the kingdom of

God and I'm just just rejoice and be

grateful and so going back to this

Vision frame we talk about the frame the

frame the vision frame is is something

I've kind of learned as a staff dur

during the pandemic actually so the FR

of the four sides of the friend the

mission tells us that what are we going

to do the values tells us about what

motivates us the the marks shows what

our disciples will look like what will

be the marks of discipleship and our

journey how will we get there what will

be our journey like and so the in the

next of in the this this week this this

four-part series we're going to look at

each side of that of that frame and then

how that each side of the frame connect

to the picture in the frame which the

picture is the vision for the church is

expanding the 10 vision and so the first

I just want looking at how we were

deepening our walk toward maturity

because you know um of all the stories

in the Bible uh and there are many

stories that that really moves my heart

I don't know what would be one of the U

the scene or picture in in the in the

biblical stories that move your hearts

the

most and for me has always been uh in

the New Testament uh of course besides

the Jesus dying on the cross will be the

the the story of the prodigal son when

he came

home and for me um um I just felt like

it's it's just a such a

incredible gracious heart of the father

I was just thinking about you know if

that was happening to me you know would

I just kind of run now and and hug or

would I actually be kind of like you

know I want to see some apology

for all the all the wrong thing that was

done and some some repentance and for

but but the Father's Heart was just

motiv went not and ran after him and

Luke 15 so it says while he was still a

long way off the father saw him and felt

compassion and ran embraced and kissed

him and recently I came across Psalm 51

and I feel Psalm 5 connected this is

from the message it says and and you

welcome us with open arms when we Run

for Cover to you let the party last all

night stand guard over our celebration I

almost feel like this Psalm is kind of a

little bit kind of a description of the

of of that that welcome you know one of

the most incredible thing in the Bible

is is the is the is the Divine welcome

for

us so so today my three parts here is

going to just going to take the first

part of our mission steming welcome

soldier's home I'm going to take each

part each word welcome soldier's home

just looking at each one a little more

closely so this idea give a

welcome it's the most incredible

reception and welcome is unlike any

welcome in the world even though our

world knows how to throw a party our

world knows how to do welcome pretty

well but you know what's the difference

between the biblical Christian welcome

from the Lord that we can extend to each

other

also it is fundamentally

different it's this

the biblical welcome is extended even to

those who are

unworthy in fact it is extended very

much extended to the people who are

unworthy anybody can throw a party for

people who we love and welcome and good

friends but Jesus welcome is for the

strangers and

unworthy and and and that welcome it's

an incredible thing have you ever

received generous compassionate

unexpected

welcome um I I think I actually share

the story one time uh uh sh and I we

were our flights one coming back from

from East Coast uh got delayed so we

rerouted to Chicago we were weary and

tired we thought we're going to have a

direct flight to Houston but then we

ended up in Chicago and then we're still

waiting and then we were just really

tired and just really felt like having

some warm soup and so but but we

couldn't find any places that I had soup

and so so we found a a United Club there

and so we thought we go in there and pay

and we found out how much it cost to go

into United Club I had one pass and then

so so she to go in and so she refuses to

go in say unless we both go in so I said

I pay but then she refused for me to pay

so I just really frustrated and so we

there and and so uh and so talking and

then so we was just having this

conversation right in front of the the

the desk there and so the lady said said

oh find out our situation so then she

just said she said you

know why don't you just coming using

your has and your wife will be my

personal guest at the club I was like

whoa you know and so we just like man

how about unexpected welcome you know

and I just say in fact you know that

many uh we have another students here

many of our people our church as uh

immigrant students or International

students coming to this country you know

how they came to know Jesus is because

they received

gracious

unexpected Christian welcome and

received and see people's home receive

he said why would these people go to

Second M to pick us up to welcome us to

help us out to help us get a car help us

get settled in this welcome and

hospitality is is crucially important in

the gospel because ever since Adam and

Eve fell into sin and lost their ways

and lost their place in the Garden of

Eden one of the deepest places of human

human needs one of the deepest desire

and craving of the human heart is this

Longing To Be

received regardless of how successful or

how struggling that you may be even the

most successful person fearful of the

fact overnight maybe you would people no

longer receive us the the people who

follow me on the on the Instagram and

and Facebook

disappeared that the Longing To Be feel

received dve so many of

us but ultimately what we truly long for

is to be received by our maker Our God

and so as we we just taken our first

communion the new year you know every

communion every communion is a powerful

powerful reminder of the reception of

the gracious receiving of Christ for us

who are unworthy we who were actually at

odds and this and and rejected God was

graciously received and the at the cost

at the cost of his own son so every

communion is a gracious reception and

welcome for us coming home to

God so Romans 15 then tells us in Romans

Romans 15:7

15:7 said

therefore welcome one another as Christ

has welcomed you for the glory of God it

says that those who re received Christ's

welcome those who take this communion

those who know that our sins are

forgiven that we have become part we're

no longer just Wanderers and and and and

and homeless spiritually but that we've

been received in this family we too

now extends God's welcome we too are to

receive and welcome one another in NIV

it says accept one another and Ne says

receive and ESV uses the word welcome it

all embodied the full nuances of this

word and that's how we are to receive

one another just as we've been received

by Christ and welcomed by Christ and so

in this imagery and about how to do this

this is not an easy thing to do is it is

it easy to receive others and welcome

other as Christ received us no that's

actually a really challenging to grow

and I hope that's something that we all

continue to grow in the new year but but

one of the things I felt like this this

the the deeper we want to grow in this

area the more we need to work on this

and so so and so just as the Isaiah 54

passage talked about the extending of

this tent to provide coverage and

shelter for those around us and not just

look after

ourselves requires a lengthening of our

cords and a deepening of our stakes and

so because for the for the for the tent

to be able to open wider you need a

deeper tent so that this tent can

withhold it will stand against the wind

and so that deeper T represents a Deeper

Life and spiritual maturity that's

needed and there's very few things that

help us to do that better than to get

serious with the word of God in our

lives and that's what I want to talk a

little bit about this right now um you

know uh reading the scripture on a daily

basis is is a is something that I'm

grateful that God started in my life my

during my junior year in college that

goes all the way way back to uh

1986 my my first year of finishing

reading through the scripture I I was

deep convicted that that even though

being a Christian for most of my life

I've never even read through the New

Testament and so God convicted me I read

through the Bible that year uh was a lot

of mercy of God and and I felt that that

really actually uh if if you were there

at at the CMC and heard my message

sharing about I receiv my call I really

felt like the my ability to to hear that

call is connected to that prior to that

that whole year I was in the word of God

and God was continually speaking into my

heart and and so the the um and so and

that has since then become a pattern of

life for

me and I would just actually say that if

we really believe what the word of God

has to say when it you know scripture

talks about Jesus talks about uh the

word of God is as important as our fol

uh and if we truly believe that I would

say that the daily feeding in the word

of God is not a

bonus is not to get ahead it is is

essential for our

survival and I would dare say that many

Believers today lead

malnourish spiritual life because they

don't eat spiritually and take King

God's word and while we Rejoice people

come to church on Sunday and worship and

hear a

message that's just not

enough that's not enough the CH for the

challenge we face at school or at

workplace or we're relating with our

families and so that's why I want to

encourage you to do this don't wait you

can do this um you know they say you

know how much time it takes to read

through the New Testament they it takes

about 21 hours to read through the new

testament which comes down to about 3 to

5 minutes of reading a day and you know

how much time it takes to read the whole

entire

Bible Well they they estimate about 100

hours which come down to about 15 to 20

minutes a day and honest truth is I easy

easily just you know just looking at my

phone you know just kind of sitting

there just easily you know 30 minutes is

gone just from you know scrolling

through my phone and looking through

things and so and so I want to just

encourage us that uh I think we have

that slide we have a come up with a

great PL uh a great Bible reading plan

uh start a little bit it's it's like

it's like a fay plan I love the U verion

plan because I feel like first it's on

your phone so so you have a window to

read it if it didn't catch you in the

morning you can you can catch it five

minutes five to 10 minutes and read it

um and and the second thing is is I

found that reading it in community is

this is not just your personal uh uh

Endeavor read it with a group of belie

fellow Believers you know small group

with a couple friends and then

encouraging each other using the app by

uh by reading to in community praying it

after read I I encourage you as you read

it uh just you just need to catch one

verse that particularly speak into your

heart and turn it into a prayer for your

life and say Lord Jesus please help so

that this Words which touch my heart

today becomes a reality in my life help

me to obey this help me to live this out

help me to experience this today and

pray the word that you you read so read

it together praying it in your in your

heart and then share it with someone if

you share it with someone just even just

sharing that verse with another friend

or just post something in your read in

the you verion plan that you read that

it deepens the impacts the word in your

heart so it's such a powerful tool to do

this I really want to encourage you to

do this I also want to say one more

thing thing I've discovered is that most

a lot of people uh you know have tried

something like this before but kind of

Midway to you know just kind of you know

kind of faltered and and stop you don't

need to raise your hand because we are a

church of Grace you don't need to raise

your hand uh but but but the truth is we

all have struggled before but I would

say this one tip I have for you is this

if you're

reading and if you fell

behind three days or

more here's the

trick don't buy doing any makeup

readings just jump right to the current

day just let the other days go God's

grace will bring those words into to you

in another day but the the the whole

idea of trying to make up for lost

ground is what after a little while

you're behind like by three days you're

behind by five days you're behind by 10

days and I say I can't do it you know I

just stop so if you fall behind 3 days

just don't invite to do the makeup work

just kind of jump to the thir current

day and finish it so I'm praying for all

you to that I pray that a lot of our

people will step in so far in the

Chinese service I think we have like

over 150 people that's kind of signed

out for the two reading plan and I'm

encouraging to to you as as a a met

congregation even our

youth you will never you will not regret

investing your time in the word of God

you will not believe the power how the

word of God unleashes in changing and

transform our lives so I want to

encourage you to do that as we deepen

our our our uh Stakes we grow deep

deeper into God's welcoming and God's

heart so the next word I want to talk

about is Soldier ners caring for Soldier

ners that's around us um in and so uh um

in Isaiah 54 when it talk about this

increasing the size of the T enlarging

the tent it's really about it's idea

about enlarging family you know of they

they are they are people of the tents so

if the family gets larger they need more

tents so more tent to space to to

welcome others and so you know during

holiday times you know I was receive

this uh uh uh Christmas cards and family

pictures and here's a here's a great

picture I Reed from our former Elder

Andrew Moy and his family uh uh Elder

Elder Andrew Moy uh has left us for

quite some time now but we're still

close friends and um seven kids and one

son-in-law in this family picture uh

quite a family and I just always say

Andrew you're a blessed man who quiver

full of arrows you know in in Psalm 127

it described large family as arrows you

know a warrior was quiver full of arrows

so Andrew a very blessed man

no very few of us will have that kind of

blessing like Andre may get to have you

know that kind that size of family

however the extending the 10 Vision

expanding the 10 vision is not just

about physical descendants but it's

really about this Spirit expansion of

our spiritual family and the truth is

every one of us can have spiritual

Offspring through the way we care and

love and bring people inviting people

into the family of God Amen everyone in

fact my prayer for all of us is that

every one of us will have the joy of

seeing and leading people in our family

in our neighborhood in our friends in

our co-workers and leading and loving

them and caring them and bring them to

know to know Christ I still always

remember this one family that came to

know Christ the entire family got

baptized here in meta how how is started

with a member a one of our members uh

who staying late at work and and the uh

the the the cleaning lady that was

helping clean out the office looked uh

sad and so she asked me you know you

know you doing okay you look kind of sad

and and the cleaning lady opened up her

her heart and shared about what she was

struggling with and so this uh this

sister from our church U prayed for her

started caring for her led her to Christ

and later on welcome her her husband to

their family and then later on and led

the whole family to Christ that whole

family was baptized in this church and

so I was just always find that it all

started with just what was just caring

for somebody caring for somebody right

here that God has placed around us and

that's what about the the the heart for

the solders around us and so I pick up

the same from Rosario Butterfield's book

uh about a gospel comes with house key

is about how the our our heart and

passion is to turn strangers into

neighbors and Neighbors into the family

of God and and that's and that's what

God's calling for us to do and you know

u i a friend shared with me this the

saying from Dr Seuss you know actually

when I was growing I actually really

didn't read a whole lot of Dr Seuss but

I thought this Dr Seuss saying was

really kind of touched me and it says

something like this how many of you have

actually read a lot of Dr Su growing up

okay a lot of you read it says this he

says this he said to the world you may

be one person but to one person you may

be the world

and I just thought whoo you know that's

a really cool

saying because the honest troes a lot of

times sometimes we think you know I'm

just one person I'm not even very

outgoing you know I'm not the most uh

you know I can that the greatest person

I I make him friends and everybody but

you know something when we just are

willing to care for another person by

the love of God one person could be the

world to another person in leading that

person to to enter into the world of

Jesus Christ and received into the

family of God and so I want to just

encourage us that how we can care for

solders and then the next part the last

part here I'm losing control of Time

coming back haven't preached for so long

have no good control of time it's about

reordering our home for the sake of our

mission so welcoming soj home we were

talk about welcome we talk about so want

to talk about home there's a crucial

assumption

here and the assumption is

this that people actually want to come

home

that the home is actually a good place

for people to come

to and the truth is our world is a

pretty broken place today and I and I

saw this article last year in the in the

uh uh it's a New Yorker article it's

called why so many people are going no

contact with their

parents oh that's a sad heading I was

like man that's

sad you heard about the the cancel

culture well this is cancer culture

going to overdrive into like basically

including family members and even

parents and or kids where you know if if

you know we irritate each other we

frustrate each other you know just no

more contact forget it we just cut off

you may even know people or even could

God forbid have family member who who in

that who just don't want to commun

communication don't send me don't don't

contact me we don't want to we don't

want to hear from you you don't I'm not

going to contact you that's just such a

sad thing I was just say man the

terrible condition of painful painful

relationship in the famili causing

people when relationship becomes so

unbearable that people increasingly are

doing the

unthinkable canceling our

families that's why I think in this

mission to welcome Soul's home we not

only need to learn how to do the Divine

Christian welcome not only we need to

have a heart to care for the Souljers we

need to also think about what kind of

home do we do here what kind of home in

our own family what kind of home as a

church we do you know I know a number of

Global Partners or missionaries they say

that one of the most powerful thing that

they they that that impacting people

when they're out there in other culture

is when people see how their families

interact with each other when they saw

these Christian families and Global

Partners families and the way they

respect each other the way they love

each other not Perfect by seeing the way

how they come together they see they

just how do you do it we want to know

more about that they're interested

because our home life the way we do our

marriage the way we do our friendship

the way we love one another is one of

the most attractive most powerful thing

that that help others to say you know

how do you do it and we tell them it's

not some secret it's Jesus is changing

us a lot of times what we find out is

that we ourselves and we're not doing

families as well as would Li to and I

disc discover that for

myself you know

because life is

dynamic and family therefore is also

Dynamic it's being Dynamic meaning it is

is continually being renewed and growing

it cannot become Static once it become

Static just maintaining a certain form

then we become

dead and

um sometimes we we hold on to the past

and not realizing that we need to change

and grow sometimes we're blinded to the

fact we have our own quirks and our bad

habits and the way we treat each other

that is not god-honoring

like for instance for

me forgetting that I'm at home and

thinking that I'm still on the

pulpit and so continue my my monologue

of preaching at home when that's not

needed at

home

um a home that can welcome the next

Generations to come home requires

continual renewal of our roles and

relationship the renewing work of the

Holy Spirit to continue to change us and

grow us whether it be receiving our

children or even caring for our parents

in both of those ways we we need we need

to continue work of the spirit to renew

us and that's why I would say here that

may God give us the grace to renew our

home our home life and renew our church

our small groups so that we're not just

keep doing the same thing and thinking

well you know we're doing pretty well

but realize how can we become place so

that become the winon place that where

people can sense the love of Jesus

moving among us where the compassion of

God is

here I've caught

myself you a very difficult way finding

that I'm much more into

Corrections than

compassion and I find that that it's the

area that I need to

grow because I find I I tend to jump to

one to

correct inste I want be able to show

Christlike

compassion and so we all need that we

need God's word to renew our home so

that our home is the kind of place that

can welcome Soul Jor home it is the kind

of welcoming blessing place and so God

give us Grace and maybe you will be

convicted to see that what we in our

home life in our relationship that we

need that renewing work of God to

transform our home life and transform

our church

together so

welcoming how can we capture the gospel

welcome heart soul Jers how do we

remember that we all started solders and

how do we have just to care for the

solders god already placed right around

us and

home how do we do home life in this new

year with the grace of God so we can

become the home that could truly be

welcoming to the solders around

us may the God's love compel us as we

come together would you join me in

prayer

Lord we uh we need

you thank you for a new year thank you

for a new beginning thank you Lord for

for communion thank you Lord that for

your gospel

welcome you PID the ultimate price to

welcome us home to

you forgiving our

sins and and your blood become the cover

for our

sins Lord you know our Brokenness you

know our self-centeredness you know our

struggles but Lord but you have called

us as a church from the youngest to the

oldest to expand our

tent to welcome Souljers

home help us oh Lord help us so that we

all compelled by your love to become

Lord your hands and

feet as we continue come on ourselves

and welcoming the solders that you have

placed in our lives

we love you Lord thank you for being a

glorious and mighty

God we long for

you give us a Grace to deepen our Stakes

deeply so that your word Transforming

Our Hearts and the way we live life this

new year in Jesus name we pray amen