City Harvest Church Weekend Sermons

In this follow-up to his first sermon on spiritual disciplines, Pastor Kong Hee explains that a believer has the free will to love God or reject Him. When a person is first saved, he experiences the “honeymoon period” where the grace of God abounds—all he needs to do is repent and believe in Jesus. But as he progresses in his faith, he has to choose for himself whether he will grow in the Lord or not. Growth comes by way of practising spiritual disciplines–if we draw near to God, our spiritual life will grow. A believer is spiritual to the degree that his life is influenced by God. Having knowledge along doesn’t mean one is spiritual, but bearing the fruit of the Spirit shows that one’s personality has been brought under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Listen to this important message and understand why and how we must exercise unto godliness.

Ekklesia means “called out ones coming together”. Pastor Lin Junxian teaches a powerful lesson on why coming to church and cell group is necessary, because the gathering of the saints ushers in the glory of the Lord. Jesus declared in Mt 16:18 that He would build His church, and He is still building it today. All through the Bible, believers are called to gather as a people for the glory of God: the Tabernacle (Exo 25:8-9) was a sanctuary for God to dwell with man: the children of Israel went wherever the presence of God went. The Temple of Jerusalem was built to fulfil God’s desire to live among the Israelites (1 Kings 6:11-14). In the New Testament, Jesus came and dwelt among men (John 1:1, 14), and now, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Christians are meant to be fitted together to form a holy temple (Eph 2:19-22). How can we experience the kind of revival like the Azusa Street Revival, where an encounter with God transformed so many lives? We must desire His glory, we must hunger for His presence and we must seek for His glory. When we gather each week, we become the Ekklesia, a place of hope for those who need Jesus.

For the last two years, Kong Hee has been teaching Christlikeness to the church. However, in practice, bearing the fruit of the Spirit seems impossible. In this sermon, Pastor Kong teaches the secret to growing to be more like Jesus: the body must be activated to practice spiritual disciplines like Jesus did, exercising oneself unto godliness (1 Tim 4:7). Such spiritual disciplines take effort and sacrifice; they include going to a quiet place to practice silence and solitude, fasting, worship, prayer, studying the Bible, showing up to church, gathering with other believers. Faith is not merely mental—Rom 12:1 calls us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, therefore our goal must be to change the way we live to be more and more like Christ. If you struggle to make time for God, listen to this sermon and exercise yourself toward godliness.

There is virtue in hard work: “All hard work brings a profit” (Prov 14:23). But God instituted the Sabbath as the fourth Commandment, which means that not keeping it is as grave a sin as stealing or adultery. In this powerful sermon, Pastor Wu Yuzhuang unpacks the Biblical concept of resting on the Sabbath through three points. One, the Sabbath is about obedience, hence to not keep the Sabbath is to willfully disobey God. Two, the Sabbath is about rest. God rested on the seventh day of creation, and we must do likewise. He knows the capacity of our human body; if we choose to disobey, we may have to endure forced rest when our bodies break down due to illness. Three, the Sabbath is about trusting God to provide for you supernaturally as you are resting. Listen to this message and let God restore that divine rhythm in your life.

There are seven wrong reasons to serve, and love is not one of them. Jesus Himself did not come to be served but to serve, and He calls us to take up His easy yoke and light burden. In the fourth part of this series, Kong Hee elaborates on the secret of serving, which is the love that comes from the Holy Spirit Who is promised to us by God. The Holy Spirit creates in us a new heart, and pours out God’s love into our hearts like a waterfall. This love creates in us a desire to serve, and as we serve Him, we enjoy His love more and more. Listen to this sermon and be encouraged: if you are tired of serving, don’t serve more, but love more.

Is it good enough to continue watching weekend services from the comfort of your couch at home? In this sermon, Aries Zulkarnain encourages Christians to gather in person for church services now that the worst of Covid is over. The main reason to do come back to the house of God is to ensure that believers do not replace community with self-directed religion, which makes one prone to self-deception. No man can grow spiritually in isolation. Pastor Aries cites how Jesus went to the temple and cleansed it (John 2:13, Matt 21:12). From that, he teaches two things: one, believers must make sure convenience does not replace their commitment. Romans 12:1 tells us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God—instead of animal sacrifices of old, all we need now is to bring ourselves to church. Two, we must make sure convenience does not diminish the value of worship. Jesus was angry with the traders in the temple because they had turned a place of worship into a place to profit from the poor and the pilgrims. The people had gone from pleasing God to pleasing themselves. Let this message encourage you not to neglect the gathering of the saints, but come back to church and give God your true and proper worship.

In his third installment on The Easy Yoke, Kong Hee teaches from 1 Cor 12:4 that believers are given different gifts, and these gifts are meant for serving others. Pastor Kong presents three important aspects of God-given gifts. One, the gifts bring unity among believers. We can only serve out of our gifts with the support and gifts of other believers. Two, the gifts develop Christlikeness. Some callings are difficult to handle, but every gift is designed to draw you closer to Him. Three, the gifts have eternal significance. God sees whatever good we do with the gifts we are given, and they have eternal value. Listen to this message and be reminded that, just as Jesus came as a servant king, our desire to serve must come out of our love for Him and others.

In life there will be times we find ourselves in the wilderness. In this empowering message, Pastor Bobby Chaw reminds listeners that Jesus returned from the wilderness in the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4) and even though the children of Israel traversed the desert for 40 years, that was the time they experienced the presence of God daily (Numbers 1). A wilderness experience evokes two things: an awareness of self, that makes change possible, and an awareness of God. Three things to hold on to during a wilderness experience are one: faith in Jesus, don’t stop believing and acting on the promises of God. Two: hope, because the Spirit of hope will come and fill you again with joy and peace. And three: love, and especially do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you. Let this message encourage you that your trial is neither fatal nor final, but if you open your heart like the desert is open, the Holy Spirit will come and fill you again.

To anoint is to rub with oil—oil is the symbol of the power of the Holy Spirit. When a believer is anointed, he is marked, authorised, appointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit of fulfil a purpose—he can operate beyond natural gifts and talents. One can be righteous and holy, and yet not be anointed. In this powerful message, Pastor Wu Yuzhuang delves into two key aspects of the anointing: first, there is one anointing, but many functions. The same anointing empowers believers to lead the unsaved to Christ, to heal, to perform miracles, and also to live daily lives, to work and to manage families. Rely on God’s anointing for every aspect of your life, not just ministry. Second, in every new season, there will be a new supply of the anointing. But the season of anointing may not be the season of appointing: sometimes you must be faithful to do the simple things before the big dream comes to pass, so use this season of waiting to develop the skills you will need for the next level. Listen to this message and be encouraged to ask God for a fresh anointing for today.

In this second part of his teaching on serving, Pastor Kong Hee unpacks what it means to be the Bride of Christ that Ephesians 5:21-23 speaks of, and the significance of that when it comes to serving God. Christians have not been saved and transformed by Jesus’ work on the cross so that they can serve God, but so that they can enjoy deep intimacy and union with Him. When Jesus returns, that is when the marriage feast of the Lamb takes place (Rev 19:8) and the Bride will wear fine linen, which symbolises the righteous acts of believers. We serve God with joy because it is out of our love for Him that we do so. He does not need us to serve Him, but He enjoys doing things with His children. If you are weary and overwhelmed by serving, let this message restore to you the joy of serving.