Message From The Pastor for June 8

Message from the Pastor for Third Sunday after Trinity
“And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:32)
Because Peter denied his Lord three times, only he needed to turn back. Right? No, not right! We also need to turn back too! Have we denied our Lord in words and in deeds? Have we denied our Lord in ways that make people unable to see who we are as Jesus’ disciples? Even though a person never denies his Lord verbally and always admits he is a Christian, yet his behaviour which is contradictory to Jesus’ teaching will cause people to stumble and fall just as bad.
Because of the Lord’s abundant grace and love, Peter turned back. He went out and cried. He realized his unworthiness and recognized his weakness. He could not face his Lord. He knew he was utterly wrong. And the Lord forgave him and accepted him. This became the biggest turning point in his life. He turned back. Once he denied his Lord. He ran away from Him and betrayed Him. Now he turned back to the Lord. He followed Him and walked with Him again. It was only after he turned back that he could lead others to turn back and he strengthened them. There are many brothers and sisters out there who need to turn back. They have drifted away from the Lord and fell into the snare of the devil. Who will go out to rescue them? You and I are the ones to do the work. But you and I have to turn back first before we can go and strengthen others.
There are some brothers and sisters who after they fall become so discouraged they doubt if the Lord would take them back any more. They can not get back on their feet again. They feel so ashamed they do not want to turn back. This is a big misunderstanding to the Lord. The Lord never forsakes us. He loves us still. He wants to lift us up. He wants to make good use of us again and start from the beginning once more. Therefore whenever we feel weak we should turn back and be strengthened. The Lord is waiting for you and me!
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“你回頭以後，要堅固你的弟兄。”（路22：32）
彼得因為三次不認主，是需要回頭的。但我們就不需要回頭嗎？我們有沒有在人的面前不認主，或者在口頭上或者在行動上，我們有沒有否認主，叫人看不出我們是耶穌的門徒，即或有人外表是沒有否認主，別人也知道他是基督徒，然而在行為上卻不能見證是一個屬基督的人。因為他的行事為人不對，與耶穌的教訓不合，就不能叫別人認識基督反而叫人跌倒。
因為主豐盛的恩典和不變的大愛，彼得回頭了，他出去痛哭了，他深深感到自己的虧欠，軟弱和失敗，對不起主，他大錯特錯了。然而主沒有丟棄他，仍然收納他，這是他一生最大的轉機。他回頭了，從一個否認主，遠離主，背叛主的地位上回頭了，他轉向神，再親近主，跟隨主，重新走在主的路上。
他回頭了以後，能夠堅固弟兄，能帶領別人回頭。也只有當他自己回頭以後，才能帶領別人回頭，才能堅固弟兄。需要回頭的人很多，許多軟弱的弟兄否認主，遠離主，落到撒但的網羅中。有誰去拯救挽回他們？只有你，和我，自己先回頭才行，你，和我，自己回頭了，才能去堅固別的弟兄。
可是我們有些人，跌倒以後，灰心了，覺得被主丟棄了，再也爬不起來了，甚至慚愧不肯回頭，這是誤會了主。祂並沒有丟棄我們，忘記我們，仍然愛我們，要扶起我們，並要重新使用我們。所以甚麼時候軟弱，甚麼時候就要立刻回頭，主在等候你，和我呢！