An alternate way to worship and serve the One
True God in the
Lord Jesus Christ and have fellowship with other believers.
Everyone
is welcome
Time of Meeting
Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
Our
Hillendahl Library
Please write or call to confirm the time and place of actual meetings
New
Testament Fellowship
The English word “fellowship”
in the New Testament is translated from the Greek word ‘koinonia’ - 
that means sharing in common. It
is translated “communion” in 1 Corinthians 10:16. The first time the word “fellowship” is used in the New Testament is in connection with
the activities of the Disciples of Christ after the formation of the Church.
“And
they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42)
Difference
between the Church and the Fellowship
The Church refers to the whole
Body of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who have been baptized and saved
(Acts 2:41, 47; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Mk. 16:16).
Fellowship refers to the relationship amongst believers who
have companionship and communication with one another (2 Cor. 6:14).
Difference
between ARK Fellowship and other Congregations
One of the differences
between the ARK Fellowship and any other church (congregation) is that we are open
to all Christians and Messianic Jews who accept Jesus (Yahshua)
as their Lord and Savior. We do not restrict movement. A Christian is free to come and go as he or
she pleases. Our Lord Jesus Christ said,
“I am the door.
If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and
will go in and out and find pasture.” (Jn. 10:9) We do not require Christians to leave the
church or congregation that they have been accustomed to worship in order to
attend our meetings regularly. We are inclusive and not exclusive in our outlook towards other Christians.
The time of our meeting
on Saturday afternoon makes it possible for other Christians to attend Sabbath
services in their church in the morning and then come to our meeting whenever
they are free to do so. They can walk in
any time, but it is much better if they can come in early and attend the whole
service.
Although this is a
Sabbath day fellowship we open our arms to welcome Christians that also
regularly attend church services on Sundays.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said. “The Sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” (Mk. 2:27-28)
In attending our meetings they not only worship the Lord Jesus Christ on
His Holy Day in which He is the Lord, but they have an opportunity to keep the
Fourth Commandment (Ex. 20:8-11) and also receive the blessings of the Sabbath
(Isa. 56:1-7; 58:13-14).
The ARK Fellowship does
not own any real estate property and therefore have no financial burdens and we
are completely free from debts.
Regardless of their
sizes most churches (congregations) in
Many churches and
congregations follow a very rigid pattern of liturgy. ARK Fellowship meetings will be centered on
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit
leads and guides the meetings. We
worship God by prayer and hymns of praise.
Sermons will be edifying (1 Cor.
Due to the time constraints
we will have only a limited number of speakers during one meeting.
Because of the believers from different backgrounds attending our
meetings we strongly disapprove of sermons and messages that promote or attack any church or
denomination. We also discourage
touching on controversial doctrines and subjects that are divisive and
disruptive to the meetings. The Sabbath
day is the day to glorify the One True God in our Lord Jesus Christ therefore
there must be love, joy and peace in our meetings.
The
First Apostolic Church was united and in one accord
When the Church was first
established on the Day of Pentecost there was complete unity amongst the
Disciples of Christ. “These all continued with one accord in prayer and
supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His
brothers.” (Acts 1:14) “Now when the
Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”
(Acts 2:1) “So continuing daily with
one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate
their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor
with all the people. And the Lord added
to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47) “Now the multitude of those who believed
were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things
he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave
witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
And great grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4:32-33)
The Church is divided into hundreds of denominations
Not
too long after the gospel has been preached abroad by the apostles and
evangelists the Church became divided.
The apostle Paul had urged the Corinthian Church to regain unity amongst
its members. (1 Cor. 1:10). History
informs us there was a Great Church Schism in the Eleventh Century. Then in the Sixteenth Century the
Reformation further divided the Western Church. Now in the Twenty First Century the Church is divided into
hundreds of denominations.
Our Lord prayed for truth and unity for the Fellowship
Our Lord Jesus Christ
knew what was going to happen to the Church in the future therefore He prayed
for two things. First, Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (Jn. 17:17) Much of the truth have been restored to God’s people
at the beginning of the Twentieth Century after the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit in America and later to other parts of the world. Second, our Lord
prayed “that they all may be one,
as You, Father are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, the
world may believe that You sent Me.” (Jn. 17:21) There is now a worldwide
movement in which Apostolic Christians are now coming together to have
fellowship with one another.
ARK
Fellowship has early beginnings in Bakersfield, California
At the beginning after our
family moved from Santa Monica to Bakersfield in 1973 we drove to Los Angeles
every Saturday for Sabbath services.
Later our American friends and neighbors came to our home for Sabbath
services and a House of Prayer was formed.
Many American Christians worshipped with us and we also joined our
neighborhood Bible Study groups. Our
Christian Fellowship grew and it consisted of believers from various Christian
denominations that included Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Disciples of
Christ, Catholics, Messianic Jews and others.
During our worship services many of them were filled with the Holy
Spirit and spoke with tongues. When we prayed in the Spirit in unison God answered our prayers with miracles and healings.
Here is the indication our heavenly Father is very well pleased when Christians from various denominations forgo their differences and gather in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in one accord and worship Him on the Seventh Day Sabbath that He rested, blessed and sanctified.
Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, HalleluYah!
ARK
Fellowship in Houston, Texas met in various places
Our family moved from
Bakersfield, California to Houston, Texas in July 1980 and I spent the first three
years building our local congregation spiritually through pastoring and also in architecture. Immediately after the National Church Conference and Church Building
Dedication during the Thanksgiving week in November 1983 the first non-denominational Church Bible Conference was conducted in our
chapel . Elder John
Wu from our church in New York invited several of his American Christian friends.
We were encouraged that
leaders from the Apostolic World Christian Fellowship that included Bishop
Worthy Rowe, Bishop Samuel Smith, Bishop G.D. Peters, and
others were in attendance. From this Bible Conference the concept of the ARK Fellowship was developed in Houston, Texas and has spread to other parts of America and the world. It became the forerunner of the ARK Forum which has now become international and non-denominational.
After our chapel was
dedicated in November 1983 I joined Wylie Vale’s Luncheon Club, which is a
regular prayer fellowship, held in a Houston Chinese restaurant. Rusty Clark is now coordinating this
luncheon club.
ARK Fellowship has
conducted several meetings on Saturday afternoons in various restaurants such
as the International House of Pancakes (IHOP), Shoney’s and others. Fellowship Meetings are held on
Saturday afternoons starting from 3:00 p.m. at the Hillendahl Library Meeting Room on 2436 Gessner Drive, Houston, Texas 77080.
Please call or write to Paul Wong for confirmation of the next meeting because we sometimes meet in different places and at different times. 
May God bless you
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Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International. |
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