Our preaching series on the book of Acts has taken us on a journey with the early church. We see how Jesus’ followers bore witness to Him. We learnt from last week's sermon how Stephen witnessed to people in Jerusalem and today, we will hear about Philip's witness to the people of Samaria. And these disciples followed Jesus’ commands before he was taken into heaven, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8.
Within CPC, we also witness for Jesus not only to one ethnic group. This is evident from a funeral I attended earlier this year. The funeral was in memory of Mashell, a Caucasian who was from the English service. Mashell had been going to CPC for well over 10 years. She had physical and mental health issues that really came from a broken upbringing. Even though caring for her was challenging, our members as well as our church learnt to journey with her and to support her.
During the organisation of the funeral, a brother thought of Mashell’s children who had lost contact with Mashell for a long while. The only contact he had was a social worker from way back and he decided to give it a go. Amazingly, the social worker still kept in touch with the children. The children were grateful for the opportunity to say goodbye to their mother at her funeral. Their families were thankful to us - a church who are mostly Chinese and yet cared for a Caucasian woman.
Some among us witness to more than one ethnic group as Jesus commands. How about the rest of us? Are we sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s prompts as to whom we witness to?
Holy Spirit, please let us see and give us the power so we may witness for Jesus to others.
講道系列的使徒行傳展示早期教會的旅程。我們看到耶穌的跟隨者如何為衪作見證。上週的講道中，司提反向耶路撒冷的人作見證；今天我們將看到腓利向撒瑪利亞人作見證。那些門徒跟隨耶穌在升天之前的吩咐：「但聖靈降臨在你們身上，你們就必得著能力；並要在耶路撒冷、猶太全地和撒瑪利亞，直到地極，作我的見證。」（徒1:8）。
在雪梨華人長老會當中，我們不單向一個族群為耶穌作見證。從我今年年初參加的一個安息禮拜上就可以看到。禮拜是為記念來自英語崇拜的白人Mashell。Mashell在長老會聚會超過十年。因為破碎的成長經歷，她的身心健康有問題。儘管照顧她很困難，我們的會友和教會學習與她同行並支持她。
在組織安息禮拜的時候，一位弟兄想到Mashell的兒女，他們與母親長期失去了聯繫了。這位弟兄唯一的聯繫方式是很久以前接觸過的一名社工，他決定試一試。令人驚訝的是，這名社工仍然和Mashell的兒女保持聯繫。Mashell的兒女很感恩有機會在母親的安息禮拜上與她道別。他們的家人很感謝我們，作為一個以華人為主的教會，卻照顧著一位白人婦女。
就如耶穌的吩咐，我們當中有些人向其他族群作見證。其他人呢？我們留意到聖靈的提示而向誰作見證呢？
聖靈啊，請讓我們看見並賜給我們力量，這樣我們就可以向其他人為耶穌作見證。
