Join us in person or here on Sunday at 10:00AM for the English Sunday message. The Chinese message starts at 11:00AM . You can also join us on our Youtube Channel or Facebook Live .

(11/02/2025) Dio Yang

The Testimony of the Church

After Nehemiah shared his vision of the mission with the people of Jerusalem, and in spite of the ridicules of their enemies, the people were inspired and the rebuilding work was ready to begin…

1. The spiritual significance of the Wall, Gates and Towers:

• Wall: Testimony | Protection |  Separation
• Gate: Entrance and Exit | Examination

2. The Spiritual significance of the 10 Gates

• The Sheep Gate: Jesus is the Gate for the sheep (John 1:29, 10:7)
• The Fish Gate: Christ the Sanctifier — separation of the clean and unclean (Matt 13:47-48)
• The Old Gate: Established by the Ancient of days / fore-ordained to be in Christ (Eph 1:3-10, Heb 1:1-4)
• The Valley Gate: The humility of Jesus — the descending way of the cross (Phil 2:3, 6-8, Luke 9:23)
• The Dung Gate: Christ the Mortifier of the flesh (Rm 8:12-13| 2 Cor 7:1)
• The Fountain Gate: Christ the Sender of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 4:14, John 7:38-39)
• The Water Gate: Christ the cleansing Word of Life (John 15:3, John 17:17, Eph 5:25-26)
• The Horse Gate: Victory in Christ in spiritual warfare (2 Tim 2:3)
• The East Gate: Christ will return in glory — Christ in us, the hope of glory (Acts 1:11 Col 1:27)
• The Inspection Gate: Christ is the Judge of His church now
  • Christ will judge us all at His return (2 Cor 5:10)

3. The Christian’s Personal Testimony

Stage | Gate | Personal Application
1 | Sheep Gate | Salvation in Christ
2 | Fish Gate | Children of God in Christ
3 | Old Gate | Faithfulness to Truth
4 | Valley Gate | Humility through Trials
5 | Dung Gate | Cleansing from Sins
6 | Fountain Gate | Spirit-filled Life
7 | Water Gate | Strength from the Word
8 | Horse Gate | Prepared for Spiritual Battle
9 | East Gate | Hope of Christ’s Return
10 | Inspection Gate | Accountability before God

4. Rise Up and Build Together

1. We are the body of Christ
2. Each of our testimony is the testimony of the Church
3. Our duty is also our glory

Speaker: Dio Yang

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. Winter Conference 2026: 2026 Winter Conference wil be held on Friday and Saturday, January 2–3, at our church. The theme of this year’s conference is “Christ Is Our Life” (Colossians 3:4). There will be a total of four messages: Friday: one in the morning and two in the afternoon; Saturday: one in the morning. Our speakers will be Richer Shaw, Timothy Siu, and Paul Lin. All messages will be translated, so that everyone may be encouraged and edified together. We especially encourage youths and parents with younger children to join. This conference is designed to help believers learn to live out the life of Christ and face today’s challenging world with His life. For more information and registration, please visit: www.hocla.us/wc.
2. 2026 Calendars: The 2026 Fine Chinese Scripture Wall Calendars and “Footprints of Jesus” Desk Calendars Have Arrived!
   Prices remain the same as last year — $9 each or 3 for $25 (tax included). You may mix and match wall and desk calendars. Quantities are limited, so those who wish to purchase, please visit the book table after the meeting.
3. Parking: We continue to reserve our church parking spaces on Sunday for the elderly, those with children and those with special needs. We are grateful to the Lord that our brothers have secured permission from Dr. Howard Chen’s Orthodontics clinic for the use of his parking lot at 318 N Garfield Ave., which is conveniently located on the same side as our church and adjacent to Dim Sum Express. Please click here for reference. The lot offers 30 parking spaces, and we encourage all congregants to fully utilize these spaces. Please ensure that you park within the designated lines, lock your doors and windows, refrain from leaving valuables in your vehicles, and maintain cleanliness in the parking area. This arrangement is available every Sunday from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
4. In-Person Meetings: Welcome back! English group, Chinese group and children Sunday School is back to in person meetings. Our meeting schedule has changed, Sunday morning starts 9:15AM with Breaking of Bread followed by worship and message at 10:00AM. Please refer to the schedule for details.
5. Prayer Meeting: Prayer Meetings are Tuesdays from 8:00 to 9:15PM, joining via Webex for the combined session of the meeting (Meeting number: 6 2 7 5 6 4 2 7 4 Password: 4 0 0 0). We are using Zoom for the English group session, please reach out to Richer for login information.
6. Feature Pages: Checkout our worship YouTube channel for our latest music productions. Also checkout the two new webpages on the Chinese site featuring hymns and the sharing of our brothers and sisters.
7. Howto: There are several ways to watch the HOC Sunday Sermon. Here are two methods</a
8. Bible Reading Plan: For the 2025 Bible-in-a-year reading, we will follow “Listening To The Word” and will read through the Bible in a year. With a reading plan, we can keep one another accountable in our Bible reading. For more details or to join the plan, click here.

See our sermons page for past sermons.