Sermon

A sermon on Philippians 1:1-9 — Paul, facing execution under the Roman empire, writes with joy because of the companionship of the Philippian church. We are not meant to walk alone; companionship transforms pain into grace. Examples drawn from inclusive LGBTQ+ church-planting communities under persecution illustrate how shared vision sustains faith.

Lead pastor on Philippians 1:1-9. Paul wrote with joy from prison because the Philippian believers walked with him. Companions are not accidental — they require active seeking and intentional building. BMCC is a platform where LGBTQ+ Christians can find and form the mutual-support relationships that sustain faith.

Shirley Lam (Chung Chi College of Theology graduate) on Ephesians 4:16: the church as Christ’s body — members joined in love, each working their share, growing together. May we learn to build community on the foundation of love, supporting one another into shared life.

Lead pastor on Ephesians 4:25-32. In Christ, the believer puts off the old self and puts on the new — speaking truth, not letting anger linger till sundown, refusing dishonesty and corrupt speech, learning to forgive as God in Christ has forgiven us.

Lead pastor on Ephesians 4. The church as the body of Christ is members in love, each joining and bearing the rest in their differences, gradually maturing together. Fellowship is more than gathering — it is the learning of mutual support and the building of one unified life.

Lead pastor on Matthew 10:16. Jesus sends his disciples ‘as sheep among wolves’ — to be ‘wise as serpents and innocent as doves.’ In an age of hostility, the Christian can neither be naive nor become cruel; only with wisdom and innocence together can witness be lived out.

Rev. Joseph Chang on Genesis 28:10-22 (Jacob’s ladder). The fugitive Jacob dreams of a ladder — God’s grace meets the unworthy. Heaven is not only an afterlife — when God’s presence enters our journey, our dreams, our trouble, that moment is heaven opened.

Jason Ho on Mark 5:34 — ‘Daughter, your faith has saved you.’ Faith is not a transaction with God; it is the courage to bring our lives truthfully before the Lord. Even in fear and beneath labels of impurity, reaching out to touch the hem of his garment is itself an act of faith.

Jason Ho on Mark 5:1-20 — the Gerasene demoniac. Caged by many demons, the man dwells among the tombs, self-harming — defined by society’s stigma and his own. Jesus breaks the stigma, clothes him, sends him home to witness. What ‘demons’ live in our own hearts? Jesus can release us.

Lead pastor on Matthew 28:19-20 — the Great Commission. To be a Christian is not only to receive the faith but to learn to become a disciple, and to train others. BMCC’s 101–301 discipleship courses are a direct response to Jesus’s command to ‘make disciples of all nations.’