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罗马书 第15章 — 在基督里合而为一意味着什么?

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保罗向来直言不讳,从不掩饰他被召去传讲的信息。他在回应神恩典时的果敢和勇气,源于他几乎完全放下了自我,将自己全然投入到那向着生命与公义冠冕的天路历程中。他每日坚定不移地效法基督,内心最深的盼望就是他人也能从他身上学到榜样,进而成为彰显神大能的见证人。

在这里,我们值得学习和反思的一点,是教会作为基督身体,在事奉,敬拜和团契中应当有的专一心志。在他的书信中,保罗有意识地反复使用第一人称的所属代名词,例如 “我们”,“我们大家”,“我们的”,同时也常以第二人称单数称呼教会的成员,即 “你”,以此强调作为一个身体共同成长的重要性。

尽管保罗的劝勉令人振奋、激励人心,但真正将他的教导付诸实践,有时几乎是不可能的。只要这个世界还在,教会内牢不可破的合一就始终是一种持续不断的追求。

保罗深知前方挑战重重,因此在信的结尾,他特意提到祷告与圣灵的大能,提醒教会的肢体,唯有靠着神的旨意,祂托付给我们的使命才能得以完成。一个彼此真诚代祷,以他人益处为念的教会,就是一个同心合意,持守到底的教会。

愿神借着祂的圣灵,不断地在我们里面充满,使我们积极投身祂的工,拓展祂国度的疆界;也愿我们行事为人对得起所蒙的呼召,凡事谦虚,温柔,忍耐,用爱心互相宽容,用和平彼此联络,竭力保守圣灵所赐合而为一的心。


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我是否可以到任何教会去?

我是否可以到任何教会去?

今天,基督教界中有众多教派,而这些教会也与使徒时代当时所设立的教会大为不同。各教派对于圣经的解释各有其说。对于大部分基督徒而言,这些分歧并不重要。这是因为他们认为所有的教会,都是基督身体的一份子。因此,他们相信只要成为了基督徒,就可以得救。曾经有一回,我邀请了一位基督徒朋友到教会来。他不解地跟我说,“但是。。。我。。我已有去教会,你怎么不去邀请其他非基督徒呢?” 真的说我们一旦成为基督徒,无论到哪一个教会去都能够得救吗? 所有的教会真的都是基督身体的一份子吗?一些基督徒就持有这种观点。因此他们认为无论到哪个教会去都无妨。 “又 将 万 有 服 在 他 的 脚 下 , 使 他 为 教 会 作 万 有 之 首 。教 会 是 他 的 身 体 , 是 那 充 满 万 有 者 所 充 满 的 。” 弗一22-23 “他 也 是 教 会 全 体 之 首 。 他 是 元 始 , 是 从 死 里 首 先 复 生 的 , 使 他 可 以 在 凡 事 上 居 首 位 。” 歌一18 教会是基督的身体,而基督为教会的元首 - 这是圣经中教导的概念。圣经也进一步记载到: “身 体 只 有 一 个 , 圣 灵 只 有 一 个 , 正 如 你 们 蒙 召 同 有 一 个 指 望 。一 主 , 一 信 , 一 洗 ,一 神 , 就 是 众 人 的 父 , 超 乎 众 人 之 上 , 贯 乎 众 人 之 中 , 也 住 在 众 人 之 内 。” 弗四4-6 这些章节清楚记载只有一体、一主、一信、一洗、一神。但这是否是今天所有基督教所相信的呢? 我们是否能够说我们今天只有一个洗礼?不同的教会对于洗礼的教导各有其说。一些教会赞成婴儿洗礼,一些却反对。而每个教会对于进行洗礼的方式,还有洗礼是否与得救有关,看法也有所分歧。这是否还可被称为在基督身体里的“一洗”? 这就让我们来到圣灵的议题。在五旬节那天,神藉着圣灵的能力设立了教会(使二)。在使徒行传,我们也清楚看到圣灵如何带领使徒们(使十六6)。主耶稣曾说,圣灵就是真理的灵: “只等真理的圣灵来了,他要引导你们明白一切的真理,因为他不是凭自己说的,乃是把他所听见的都说出来,并要把将来的事告诉你们。” 约十六13 若所有的教会都是由同一个圣灵所带领并设立,那又怎么会有那么多不同版本的“真理”? 就如之前所提,不同的教会对洗礼有不同的见解。其他不同之处包括对说方言的解释。一些教会说方言,一些教会不说方言。不说方言的教会声称如今已没有说方言之事。一些教会在安息日聚会,并把该日守为圣日。而大部分的教会则在星期日聚会,并声称在安息日崇拜并不重要。这些相互矛盾的讯息难道都是来自同一个圣灵,来自真理的灵吗? 这就让我们来到下一点:一信。若我们在教义上有那么多不同之处,我们是否还可以说我们是一信的呢? 一些基督徒争辩说我们确实是一信的。因为我们相信同一位赏赐救恩给我们的主耶稣。所以,这些在教义上的差异并不重要。而很多人都引用这为理由,认为既然如此,那自己到哪一个教会去崇拜都无所谓。他们也常引用以下的章节为依据: “神爱世人,甚至将他的独生子赐给他们,叫一切信他的不致灭亡,反得永生。” 约三16 没错,圣经确实有记载信耶稣可以得救。但我们是否因此就否认圣经中其他的记载?难道圣经对于得救之事,就只有这个记载吗?耶稣在马可福音十六16不也说了,人必须受洗才可得救吗?难道就因为双方都信耶稣基督,即使一方相信得救必须受洗,另一方相信得救不需要受洗,我们都认为双方是出于一信的吗? 当加拉太人被迫要遵守犹太律法,包括行割礼,保罗特别警告他们要持守纯正的话语。从此,我们就可以看出保罗多看重福音的独一性。 我稀奇你们这么快离开那借着基督之恩召你们的,去从别的福音。 那并不是福音,不过有些人搅扰你们,要把基督的福音更改了。 但无论是我们,是天上来的使者,若传福音给你们,与我们所传给你们的不同,他就应当被咒诅。 我们已经说了,现在又说:若有人传福音给你们,与你们所领受的不同,他就应当被咒诅! 加一6-9 我们来看看主耶稣曾说过的话。这也许会让一些人觉得很震惊: 凡称呼我‘主啊,主啊’的人不能都进天国,唯独遵行我天父旨意的人才能进去。 当那日,必有许多人对我说:‘主啊,主啊,我们不是奉你的名传道,奉你的名赶鬼,奉你的名行许多异能吗?’ 我就明明地告诉他们说:‘我从来不认识你们。你们这些作恶的人,离开我去吧!’ 太七21-23 我们从这里可以看到虽然有些人已信主,但主耶稣却不拯救他们!若我们真相信耶稣在此所说的,我们就能清楚意识到,一个人并非相信耶稣、承认耶稣,就可以得救。 若我们说我们信耶稣,却不信祂所说的,比如,祂对于洗礼得救的教导,那我们是否真正相信了祂? 这就让我们来到最后一点:一体。若所有的教会都是圣灵所设立,那就不会有那么多不同版本的教义。这些不同的信仰,不可能都被视为一信,被统称为“相信耶稣基督”。如保罗所说,只有一个福音。只有一个完整的真理让人得救。若耶稣在圣经中只教导了我们一个有关得救的讯息,这个讯息岂不应该是由圣灵所启示,而不是按人意来解释吗? 而教会所扮演的角色则是要持守这个真理!如保罗所说写到: “ 假如我来迟了,你也可以知道在 神的家里应该怎样行。这家就是永活 神的教会、真理的柱石和根基。” 提前三15 教会是真理的柱石和根基。换句话说,教会是有责任持守真理的。若这些教会根本没有真理,那他们又怎么能被称为圣经中神的教会,基督的身体? 如以弗所书四章所记载,只有一信和一体。这意味着只有一个教会具有全备、拯救人的真理。若你到一个没有全备、让人得救真理的教会,一个不真正属基督身体的教会,你认为自己可以得救吗? 今天,真耶稣教会相信我们是神的独一真教会。我们所传的是全备的真理,是使徒们在圣经中所传讲的真理。真耶稣教会相信洗礼、洗脚礼和圣餐礼都是要得救,必行的圣礼。我们也守安息日,并相信领受圣灵即说方言,是得救的必备条件。而这些教义的相关章节,都记载在圣经中。而且也是圣经中,使徒们所信奉的同样的信仰。我们将不会在此文章中,详细阐述说这些教义。但您若有兴趣了解得救的真理,敬请与我们联系。

哥林多前书第十一章 — 万事合一的团契

哥林多前书第十一章 — 万事合一的团契

我从小在教会长大,圣餐中领受饼与杯,是我生命中为数不多的深刻恒常之一。从擘开无酵饼,到倒葡萄汁,再到唱诗歌,以及领受饼与杯的片段,这圣礼的一切,总是以不同方式触动着我。 然而,一个人愿意被感动是一种非常具有意识的决定,是一种警醒的行为。否则,我们很容易就把这看作普通、重复性的仪式。正如所有圣礼一样,它们的属灵意义远超我们眼睛与四肢所能察觉,接触的外在形式。 最核心的理解是,在领受圣餐时,我们是为了记念神对我们的爱。 耶稣从始至终完全顺服神的旨意,正因祂的牺牲,教会才能建立。我们每一个人都是因着耶稣而被赎回、被带入、被接纳,也因祂而被称为配得、被称义。 如果我们明白,要成就基督的身体(即教会)需要我们每一个人,那为何我们还要彼此分门别类?为何我们仍然执意追求自己定下的方向,把基督的旨意抛诸脑后? 藉着这一章指出教会中属灵与属肉体分裂的例子,我们被清楚地提醒,要谦卑地省察自己的内心。同时也因着基督之死所成就的合一之恩,我们应当祷告、努力尊重他人胜于自己,使我们能彼此同住同工,彼此益处,也归荣耀于神。

Back To Basics

Back To Basics

Anyone starting university will immediately appreciate the increase in autonomy and independence. For any university student, it may be tempting to join in hall activities and university societies, to pursue even greater academic heights like joining competitions, or to start building up a portfolio for our careers. If throughout our academic journeys we have always felt overshadowed, university may seem like the time to finally shine and show our worth. Moreover, a common feature of the “university experience” is being able to live alone away from home, regardless of whether you study abroad or locally in Singapore. The newfound independence and freedom can be both intimidating and exciting. If we are serious about our faith, we must consider how to ensure our time in university is something beneficial to our faith. Too many youths have lost their faith whilst in university. As Christians, we have a higher purpose and calling in this life. We have been empowered to transcend all the frenzy and chaos our peers may find themselves in. With a larger portion of your time under your control, the question is, how should we best use it? As we continue to further our education, many classes often start with a "Back to Basics" introduction, going through and reviewing some of the key concepts that one needs to know to be able to understand the subsequent lessons fully. Likewise, in our faith, it's often helpful to return to the basics and grow in these things. With the increased independence and freedom, many are caught up with the allures of university life and drift away in their faith. And quite a key deciding factor on whether we grow or drift is our daily cultivation routine. How much time do we spend each day in prayer? Practical tip number 1: Even amidst the busy university term, you must fight the temptation of setting a limit on your cultivation time. Don't just pray for 15 minutes because that is your habit. When your alarm rings, if you feel like you are having a good conversation with God, keep going! If you realise you've been distracted the whole prayer, quieten your heart, resolve to focus, and try again. And if you've been praying for 15 minutes for the past year, why not make it 20 minutes? And if 20 minutes is your current routine, why not work towards 30 minutes? Just as we go through university hoping to grow in knowledge and skills, as Christians we must also strive to grow in our prayers. The independence and flexibility of university life greatly aid and enable us to grow in our daily cultivation. (And if you aren't already using a timer to ensure you pray for a minimum amount of time, I highly recommend using one) Practical number 2: To set your prayer life in order, you must set the rest of your life in order. If we are often out late having supper, if we always return home late, we will struggle to find time to pray before we sleep. If we are doom scrolling on social media past midnight, when it’s time to pray, we will be tired and just say a short and quick prayer. And because we sleep late, we wake up late in the morning and say a hurried prayer (if any) before rushing to start our day. It’s called “life of prayer” for a reason - if we are serious about our prayer life, we must be willing to adjust the rest of our life around our cultivation habits. We must esteem our daily cultivation time and do our best to protect it. Practical tip number 3: On top of our routine prayers, make spontaneous and unscheduled prayers. Don't limit yourself to a fixed routine of "X minutes in the morning" and "X minutes before bed". Bow the knee whenever you're stressed with deadlines. Call out to God whenever you're feeling stuck with your work. Pray while you prepare for church work. God is faithful, and if we put in the effort to seek after Him each day, we will surely find Him. A sister from the UK testified how she would pray for a total of two hours through the day whilst living alone during her difficult university days. It got to a point where prayers were the highlight and joy of her day. And though those days were decades ago, her encounters with God back then still play an important part in her journey of faith even today. She actively serves in church and still runs around actively attending various church events despite no longer being so "young". A brother from the US did something similar, and he shared how each day when he returned to his college dormitory, it was as though God was waiting for him there because he had spent much quality alone time with God on his knees in his room. His relationship with God was something so real and living. He could clearly feel the presence of God in his life. University life isn't easy. Living alone, whilst liberating, can also be lonely and sobering. You will face new challenges that you may have never faced before. You will face even greater lows in your academic journey. But it is precisely these times when we learn to turn to God and pour out our hearts to Him in prayer. When we are alone in the dormitory, when it feels like no one around us understands or has time for us, God allows us to gain a slightly deeper understanding of what Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." (You see, many of the teachings we've learnt from RE since young, about God being our refuge, about praying and entrusting to God, about God's love towards us... these are lessons we continue to learn for the rest of our lives. Time and time again, God teaches us these same lessons, but each time, we have a slightly deeper appreciation for His precious words. This precisely is what it means to grow as a Christian, to grow in our relationship with God and His words.) Unlike everything else from university that will end one day, your relationship with God is eternal . And all your encounters with God during your university days will become your own personal testimony and experience which no one can take away from you. We see this in Job chapter 2. Everything can be taken away from you, but no one can ever take God away from you. Most of the above can also be said of our Bible reading. How much time do we spend on the Word of God? You will have to do a lot of reading in university, be it papers or textbooks. We probably have experienced times where we dedicate hours trying to read and understand something, but still glean nothing out of it. The Bible is different. Unlike all other books, Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word of God is living. The Bible is the only text in the whole world that is living. What does it mean for it to be "living"? Imagine each time we read the Bible, God is before us, feeding us with His teachings! After all, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord, and His words truly are spirit and life. Essentially, this means that whenever we quiet our hearts and put in the effort to read the Bible, we will always gain something and be edified. And this is even more so for those of us who have the Spirit of truth dwelling in us! This assurance that no time spent reading the Bible will ever be spent in vain (unlike that extra hour you might try to spend on your assignment) should naturally motivate us to spend more time reading His word. Practical tip number 1: Don't stop reading until you are edified. Just like for prayer, it's helpful to train ourselves not to set a "limit" on our daily Bible reading (e.g. one chapter or 15 minutes) but rather to read until we are edified. Perhaps initially, we are a little distracted, but we need to muster up that resolve and determination to read through the passage and meditate on His words slowly. And just like how when we are full we will naturally know to stop eating, when we are edified from the word of God and have received our daily spiritual bread, we will know when we have read enough for the day. It's a hard feeling to explain, but a very spiritually satisfying one. And as shared above, all of us can experience this spiritual satisfaction each day. Practical tip number 2: Do not treat church work (e.g., preparing RE) as a substitute for your daily Bible reading. As university youths, chances are we are taking on more church work, be it as an RE teacher or in leading fellowships. However, church work is not an excuse to slack in our Bible reading. In fact, being diligent in our daily Bible reading is often what makes it easier to prepare for our church duties. By storing up the word of God in our hearts and actively meditating on His words, we have more to draw from when preparing for fellowships or lessons. On top of reading His words (emphasis: "on top of"), listening to sermons is worthy of our pursuit. One of the biggest blessings from the pandemic is the plethora of sermons on YouTube that we can listen to. Many of our peers in church do actively listen to sermons as part of their daily routine, and they can all testify of how much it has benefitted their spiritual lives. Living alone greatly enables this. While we head out to buy groceries, cook in the kitchen, eat our meals, do the laundry, why not listen to a sermon? The flexibility that comes with university life makes it the best time to grow in our service and fellowship attendance. By God's grace, the church provides us with many services and fellowships for us to attend. While attending all of them may seem like a tall order, we should be constantly pursuing to attend more. And as we become more present in the church, naturally, there'll be more church works for us to begin serving in. While studying in university, many youths grow to be actively involved in church. Practical tip number 1: It takes faith to make time to do church stuff Some may quote Luke 14:25-33 to say that we should carefully plan our time and say "no" to church services or church work if needed. And yes, that is true, but often, the problem is that we are too quick to turn down. For the record, the start and end of that passage in Luke 14 talk about the necessity of bearing our cross and forsaking all that we have to become Jesus' disciples! We must remember that we walk by faith and not by sight. If we only agree to church works when they can clearly fit into our schedule, then perhaps we will only be walking by sight. Walking by faith means saying "yes" to church work even if we do not know how our schedule will work out, but we still say "yes" because we know that serving God is the purpose of our lives. And by faith, we know that somehow, God will provide. By faith, we know God will give us the gifts we need to do His work. By faith, we know that God will guide us to finish all our deadlines on time and to get the grades we need for whatever path He wants to lead us on. Yes, there will be times when we feel overloaded and overwhelmed, but these are all good opportunities for us to once again pray to God and reflect on our purpose and direction in our lives, to once again remember the great love and grace of Jesus towards us, shown to us by His death for us on the cross. Remember, God will never shortchange you for the time that you offer up to Him. And more often than not, what we need to sacrifice to make time for church activities and church work is not the time for our studies, but our leisure time. Is it really the case that we have no time to take on additional church things, if we spend hours doom scrolling on social media each night? Practical tip number 2: Use our hobbies and interests to serve God. If you like writing, why not write articles and devotionals for the church? If you enjoy filming and video editing, the internet ministry welcomes you with open arms. If music is your thing, you can consider writing hymns (especially hymns for children, hymns based on Bible passages, hymns based on our basic beliefs, etc.). If planning activities give you satisfaction, why not help to plan activities for the RE students? If you have an eye for design, the church greatly needs you. Our gifts and talents all come from God, and the most satisfying way to use our gifts is to use them to serve and benefit the house of God. As we navigate university and are exposed to more allures of the world, it is always good to return to the basics. Though we always hear these things while growing up in church, each time we transition into a new phase in our lives, our resolve to hold fast to these "basics" are challenged. Yet, each transition into a new phase is also an opportunity to renew our conviction and grow in these fundamental aspects of our faith. In particular, university life gives you much more freedom and independence, possibly more than ever. Many end up getting really involved in campus life, taking on many extracurricular activities, building up a portfolio, and crafting their dream lives. And with whatever time we have left, we often would want to have time for ourselves, to have "alone time", time to unwind and relax. To be clear, I don't want to present a false choice here: you still can do all those aforementioned things. But as you pursue those things, there will be times when you experience the vanity that's described in Ecclesiastes. In these moments, readjust and realign yourself. We can lead a more meaningful life beyond just chasing after things in this world. And our leisure time, alone time, self-care time, etc., does not need to be mutually exclusive from faith time, church time, and God time. Make God a bigger part of your life. Pray more, read the Bible more, be more present and active in church. God wants to give you a life where you can experience His true joy and peace. You'll find that, indeed, there's none but Christ that can completely satisfy.

关于本会

我们是真耶稣教会,一间建立在耶稣与使徒们的教导上的全球性非宗派教会。藉由圣灵创立,我们的使命是把全备的救恩真理传向地极/世界尽头。

关于本会

We have four places of worship, and we gather for Sabbath and night worship services. We welcome you to join us for any of our in-person services!

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