Chinese Southern Baptist Church

Chinese Southern Baptist Church Grace & Truth Baptist Church We are the English Speaking Ministry of Chinese Southern Baptist Church. Our mission is to spread the gospel to all nations.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life; further, we affirm that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world and only through believing and surrendering to Him can a person receive salvation. We strive to submit to the authority of the Bible in all our ministries. Our primary goal is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who are passionate for His glory.

There is no ceiling on our sanctification, only completion. Satan wants us to believe there is a ceiling; God tells us t...
11/09/2023

There is no ceiling on our sanctification, only completion. Satan wants us to believe there is a ceiling; God tells us there is completion. What is the difference between a ceiling and completion? A ceiling implies this is the highest I am going to achieve. Completion implies there is a goal that God has promised to meet. The danger of a ceiling is that we believe the lie that we can't get any better. "I'm at my patience's limit." "I can't even." "This is as far as I can go." "I have hit a breaking point." But God is not limited by the glass ceilings we create for ourselves. God's word tells us that He will bring our sanctification to completion (Phil. 1:6). So if a trial has maxed out your patience, fear not, God has not maxed out.

There are no ceilings with God, only completion.

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 11.8.2023

Putting Christmas aside, this Sunday begins my least favorite season--the deep plunge of cold, wet, darkness. There is s...
11/02/2023

Putting Christmas aside, this Sunday begins my least favorite season--the deep plunge of cold, wet, darkness. There is such a contrast in the weather in Seattle. Summers are warm (not too hot), dry, and sunny. Winters are cold (thankfully not freezing), constantly drizzling, and dark.

The same is true of environment. The other day we were driving in downtown Bellevue and downtown Kirkland and it was such a contrast to Seattle. Seattle has become overrun with garbage, graffiti, encampments, drugs, crime, etc. All you have to do is travel 8 miles across the water, and it's as Aladdin says, "A Whole New World."

I cannot imagine the contrast Jesus felt when He left heaven and came to this earth. How do you go from walking on streets of gold, to paths of dirt? How do you go from hearing angel's praises, to man's taunts? Jesus left perfection, to come and dwell with sinners. I am reminded of this reality every time I see and feel the contrasts of this life.

Unlike Aladdin, we don't need to seek to become princes and princesses in this life. We already are sons and daughters of the King. The King and His Kingdom awaits us.

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 11.1.2023

"You are the God who sees me" (Gen. 16:13). There are two ways to take this verse: 1. Fear--God sees my every sin, inclu...
10/26/2023

"You are the God who sees me" (Gen. 16:13).

There are two ways to take this verse: 1. Fear--God sees my every sin, including every thought. 2. Comfort--God sees all my pain; God sees all my obedience. Of course both are needed. But I wonder which gets emphasized in your life? For those of us who stay in fear, we might turn God into a disappointed curmudgeon. Nothing we do is ever good enough. For those who stay in comfort, we might turn God into a Golden Retriever. Nothing we do is ever bad enough.

But perhaps all this thinking places far too much focus on ourselves. What is the purpose of God seeing us? Is it not so that we would see Him? I think it is helpful, every now and then, to pause and consider--how does God see me? But I think it is far more beneficial to meditate on--How do I see God?

You are the God who sees me.
I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.

Only one of those statements will take center stage.

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 10.26.2023

I have been fasting from the news for almost a year now, but over the past few days I have been checking, in light of th...
10/12/2023

I have been fasting from the news for almost a year now, but over the past few days I have been checking, in light of the recent horrific killings in Israel. It seems surreal to see Russia/Ukraine at war, and now Hamas/Israel at war...and who knows whether China will instigate conflict with Taiwan, in light of these wars. This is also on the heels of a recent earthquake in Afghanistan that killed 2000+. All of this has made me think about Jesus' words: "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains." (Matt. 24:6-8)

"See that you are not alarmed." What a statement by Jesus. Why should we not be alarmed? Because just as birth pains are normal before a baby comes, so wars, famines, and earthquakes are normal before Jesus comes. Death and destruction remind us that we are awaiting our King who will restore all world order.

One day there will be peace in the Middle East.

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 10.11.2023

When the Shunammite’s son died, Elisha gave instructions to Gehazi: "Lay my staff on the face of the child." But the sta...
10/05/2023

When the Shunammite’s son died, Elisha gave instructions to Gehazi: "Lay my staff on the face of the child." But the staff did not raise the boy from the dead. It was only when Elisha arrived and prayed to the Lord that the boy was raised from the dead. Perhaps Elisha thought his staff would work like Moses' staff. Perhaps God was teaching Elisha, much like Jesus taught his disciples, "This kind only gets raised by prayer."

Just because something worked in the past, doesn't mean God is obligated, or even willing, to work in the same way in the future. God delights to remind us that it is not our "staff" that works miracles, but God. The only method that God never gets tired of working miracles through, is prayer.

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 10.4.2023

God could choose to use grandiose means to accomplish His miracles, but often He uses insignificant ones.It was a handfu...
09/28/2023

God could choose to use grandiose means to accomplish His miracles, but often He uses insignificant ones.

It was a handful of flour and a little oil that fed the widow and her son for many days.
It was five loaves that fed five thousand.
It was birds that fed Elijah in the wilderness.
It was the dirty Jordan River that healed Naaman's leprosy.
It was a bronze serpent that healed snake bites.
It was the cloud the size of man's hand that brought rain to Israel's drought.

We so often think God needs banquets of food, or the rivers of Abana and Pharpar, or antidotes, or cumulonimbus clouds. But God needs only faith the size of a mustard seed.

If your gifting, your talent, your intellect, your skill, your knowledge feels insignificant...take heart. God delights to use insignificant means.

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 9.27.2023

"Focus on what you can control." While that is good counsel, it is incomplete counsel. For two reasons: 1. It implies th...
09/20/2023

"Focus on what you can control." While that is good counsel, it is incomplete counsel. For two reasons:

1. It implies that we actually can control some things. But ultimately we can't control anything.
2. It implies that we shouldn't focus on what we can't control. But as Christians we are called to trust God with what we can't control (which is essentially everything).

"Focus on what you can control" can therefore breed self-sufficiency and apathy. Self-sufficiency--if I need to focus on what I can control, then I should increase the number of things within my control. Apathy--I'm not going to worry or think about the things out of my control. The former leaves God out. The latter leaves God out.

A better motto is "Trust God with what He can control." Which is everything.

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 9.20.2023

It is better to offer one burnt offering at the temple, than 1000 at the high place (1 Kings 3:3-4). I sometimes wonder,...
09/14/2023

It is better to offer one burnt offering at the temple, than 1000 at the high place (1 Kings 3:3-4).

I sometimes wonder, what will my life amount to at the judgment? What if I get there and my conversions are single digits, my time in prayer is single digit percentage, my mission experience is zero, and my persecutions suffered are insignificant?

God doesn't measure spiritual success based on numbers, but based on obedience. He is more pleased with one burnt offering (my life) than He is with thousands of statistics.

God does not require 1000 x, y, z. He simply asks for 1 heart.

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 9.13.2023

"that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” (Jer. 42:3)I know that many ...
09/14/2023

"that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” (Jer. 42:3)

I know that many of you are in a season where you are, or will be, discerning the "way you should go, and the thing you should do." Sometimes it can feel like God is being enigmatic on purpose. And perhaps He is 🙂 But even if it is on purpose, we can be sure it is not without purpose. God's ultimate desire is to reveal His will, not conceal it. Which means if His will feels concealed, the concealment has a purpose.

Don't lose heart. Pray and ask others to pray, as Johanan asks Jeremiah to pray. In due time, "your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it." (Isa. 30:21).

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 9.6.2023

Growing up, and even into my early Christian years, I used to think of David as this superstar man of God. He killed Gol...
09/14/2023

Growing up, and even into my early Christian years, I used to think of David as this superstar man of God. He killed Goliath, he wrote most of the Psalms, he is generally considered Israel's greatest King, he is the second most mentioned name in the Bible. But in reading 1-2 Samuel, I realize that David is far from a superstar. We all know about the story of Bathsheba, but consider these other shortcomings:
* He puts the ark on a cart with animals (against the Torah), eventually leading to Uzzah's death.
* He takes a census, against counsel, leading to 70,000 deaths of his people.
* He doesn't discipline his children (2 Sam. 13:21 NRSV; 1 Kings 1:6)
* He plans to murder Nabal and his household, only averted by Abigail.
* He took multiple wives and concubines

And yet despite all these shortcomings, God still refers to David as a man after His own heart. What makes David--David--is not that he had this tremendous heart, but that He sought after God's heart.

The measure of a man or woman is not the measure of their heart, but the measure of the heart unto which they seek.

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 8.31.2023

The Good News: I got our new projector in the mail.The Bad News: It was missing the power cord (and the remote).What goo...
09/14/2023

The Good News: I got our new projector in the mail.
The Bad News: It was missing the power cord (and the remote).

What good is a projector with no power? It doesn't matter what features, what specs, how bright the bulb, how sharp the colors...no power, no projection.

What good is a Christian with no power? It doesn't matter what knowledge, what experience, what talent, what resources...no power, no efficacy.

The Bad News: We have no power.
The Good News: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." (Acts 1:8)

There is no such thing as a power-less Christian. All in Christ are power-full.

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 8.23.2023

The theme of our 2023 Church Retreat is "Fellowship." As I was preparing this week, I came across a quote which I have p...
08/10/2023

The theme of our 2023 Church Retreat is "Fellowship." As I was preparing this week, I came across a quote which I have personally found to be true:

"Some Christians try to go to heaven alone, in solitude. But believers are not compared to bears or lions or other animals that wander alone. Those who belong to Christ are sheep in this respect, that they love to get together. Sheep go in flocks, and so do God's people." (C.H. Spurgeon)

I am thankful to be your shepherd, but I am more thankful to be your fellow sheep, led by the Good Shepherd. I'm thankful that when one of us starts to hibernate, someone is there to remind us, we are sheep, not bears. I'm thankful that when one of us becomes territorial, someone is there to remind us, we are sheep, not tigers.

Thank you for being a faithful sheep in my life and letting me be one in yours.

Midweek Encouragement by Pastor Matt Zwitt 8.9.2023

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515 10th Avenue S
Seattle, WA
98104

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Sunday 9am - 2pm

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