After preaching my inaugural Sermon at CPC and meeting so many new people for the first time I was reminded of how wonderful the gift of Fellowship truly is.
What an extraordinary blessing it is to walk into a local church where the fellowship of Believers can be experienced by anyone.
Many today are crying out for some sense of belonging and genuine relationship with people, that moves beyond the virtual world technological society that mankind has created. Since the pandemic many have started to reassess their lives and prioritise the most important things which truly matter in life. For some this is health and wellbeing, for others it is deeper relationships.
God created and designed us to be in relationships which are real and not artificial or distant. Acts 2:42-47 captures the wonderful picture of God’s people being devoted to Scripture, having everything in common, generously giving to those among them in need, and meeting in the Temple to break bread together. This picture was one of them praising God together collectively as they did life together.
Now, it was wonderful for our first week at CPC to experience the same Gospel picture we see in Acts. The welcome we received was exceptional because it made us feel truly loved. So, my encouragement for each of us is to remain steadfast and faithful in extending the same to each other and to new people. Interesting to note from Acts 2:47 that under the Lord’s providence they saw numerical growth while they continued sharing life together under God’s Word, sacraments and prayer.
Sometimes the danger for us as Christians is to think we need the latest and greatest things to achieve Church growth! But if we notice the order of priorities was firstly, intimate relationship with God through his Word, breaking of bread and prayer (Acts 2:42), secondly, unity and personal relationship with each other as a group (Acts 2:43-47), and finally, God’s extended blessing of calling others to join his family. Those who were called into new relationship with God, when they entered Church gatherings saw the fellowship that was taking place and were welcomed as if they were Christ himself (Romans 15:1-7). So, let’s continue in 2024 to spur one another on towards love and good deeds, and continue to grow in our relationship with our Heavenly Father and also deepen our relationships as the family of God.
想起我在雪梨華人長老會就職後的第一次講道並與很多新面孔相遇，提醒了我團契是多麼美好的禮物。
走進一個地方教會，讓人切切感受到信徒間真正的交往是何等非凡的福氣。
今天，許多人渴望找到一種歸屬感和與人真摯的關係，超越了科技社會創造的虛擬世界所能帶給我們的。自疫情爆發以來，許多人開始重新檢視他們的生活，並優先考慮生命中真正重要的事物。對一些人來說，是健康和幸福；對另一些人來說，是更深層次的人際關係。
上帝創造並計劃我們去建立真實、而非虛假或疏離的關係。使徒行傳2章42-47節描繪了一幅美好的圖畫：門徒恆心遵守使徒的教訓，凡物公用，照各人所需要的分給各人，同心合意在殿裡，且在家中擘餅。這是聖經中其中一個展現了門徒一同讚美上帝，共同過生活的畫面。
現在，我們在雪梨華人長老會的第一周便經歷了使徒行傳中所看到的福音畫面。我們受到非比尋常的熱烈歡迎，這讓我們感到真正的被愛。所以，我對我們每個人的鼓勵是：我們都要堅定不移、忠實地向彼此和新朋友傳遞同樣的愛。從使徒行傳2章47節中可以看到，在主的話語、同領聖餐和禱告下，信徒們在彼此分享生活的同時，主也將得救的人，天天加給他們。
有時，作為基督徒很大的陷阱是認為我們需要藉著最新、最好的東西來實現教會的增長！但當我們留意優先順序，其中最首要的，是通過神的話語建立與神的親密關係、擘餅和禱告（使徒行傳2章42節），其次是我們在團契中的團結和彼此的關係（使徒行傳2章43-47節），最後是上帝呼召其他的人加入神家得到祝福。那些蒙召與上帝建立新關係的人，在參加教會聚會時，可以受到效法基督耶穌、彼此同心門徒的歡迎和接納（羅馬書15章1-7節）。因此，讓我們在2024年繼續彼此激勵，朝著愛和善行前進，並繼續在與天父親密關係中成長，也在神家中加深彼此的關係。
