Series: Chinese New Year Service

Preacher: Ps. Gabriel Wong

Date: 15th February 2026

Passage: Acts 17:22-34

Sermon Summary:

What would the apostle Paul say to us today if he were at the dinner table with us? What would he make of our customs, such as dressing in red, passing out lai see, or our Chinese New Year’s blessings? How might he respond to the anxiety felt at big family gatherings when someone asks an insensitive question or comments negatively on our appearance?

Remember that in Acts 17, Paul was in Athens only because he was waiting for Silas and Timothy. Yet he became so provoked by the idols in the city that he chose to dialogue with people from different faith backgrounds while he was there. If Paul were here in Hong Kong today, he might do the same!

Let’s remember that these fears might not be altogether

irrational. Beneath the Chinese obsession with wealth might be a desire to provide for one’s family, especially when people were unsure where their next meal would come from. To this, Paul reminds us that God is the One who made the world and everything in it. (v.24) He alone gives to all mankind life and breath, and He will provide for us what we need. (v.25)

To those feeling anxious about meeting with family and what they might say, Paul reminds us that God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth. (v.26) God’s intention was and is for every one of us to seek and to find Him. (v.27) Instead of being preoccupied about what others might say, why not take the opportunity to point back to the one God who is Father of all?

As for those who cling on to superstitions and remain bound by fear—if you repent and turn to the Lord Almighty, there will be nothing you need fear. God has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness (v.31), but He alone is mighty to save.