DATE: 2009/5/17
本周默想分享
朋友您有没有感觉孤独的时候？在圣经里雅各有过这种经历。创世记32章24节说"只剩下雅各一人"。当剩下一个人的时候，会感到孤单，凄凉，寂寞，然而也正是孤单的时候，才能使人想到神。亲人离开，朋友疏远，人都显得不可靠，抓不住的时候，才能促使寻找神。似乎甚麽都空了的时候，你的神，祂仍在那里。你可能忘记，离弃祂，祂仍不改变，依然对你忠诚，爱你到底。
只剩下一个人不是一件坏事，它常是我们生命的转折点。当没有人同在的时候，我们容易听见神的声音，看见神的面容，感到他的慈爱，伟大，能力，神在我们身上有他的美意和目的。祂初来的时候，可能我们并不认识，还以为是来与我们为敌，作对的。我们竭力争论，奋斗，不甘屈服，并想要得胜对方，使自己的意愿得成，直到神给我们极重的打击，叫我们再也站不住了，失去了依靠和力量，只有屈服投降了。
这时只有求神祝福，不能再凭自己挣扎，奋斗。神若不怜悯，甚麽都完了，也正在这时，是人有了彻底的改变。从一个善用心计，设法取巧，靠自己聪明，凭肉体奋斗的人，变为无计可施，无力可用，完全投靠神，只有求神祝福，否则就活不下去的人。失去了自己，得着了全能的主，雅各变成以色列，这一个转机不止关系他自己，也关系到整个以色列民族，以及对新约信徒也给以极大的教训。剩下一人不是一件坏事，是一个遇见主的机会，一见到主的面，甚麽都改变了。
Spiritual Thought for the Week
Have you ever felt lonesome? Jacob had had that experience before. We are told in Genesis 32:24, “So Jacob was left alone...” Being left alone makes us feel desolate, solitude and lonely. But it is in such time we think of God. When family members, friends and love ones have left, and we find no one we can turn to for help. It is time to turn to God. When things seem void and empty, God is there. We may forget God. We leave God. But God never forgets us or leaves us. He does not change. He is always faithful and He loves us to the end.
Being left alone may not be a bad time. Often it is the critical time in our life. When no one is there with us, it makes it easier for us to hear God’s voice, see His face and feel His mighty loving power. He has good will and nice plan for us. When He first came, we might not know it was Him. We thought He was our foe. We did our best to go against Him. We did not want to surrender. We wrestled with Him and wanted to win over Him so as to have things our way. But God gave us a big blow that quieted us down and we could do nothing but to yield under His power.
At this time we can not help but beseech Him for His blessing. We won’t insist on our way any more. Without God’s mercy everything will be finished. It is in moment like this that changes a man completely. From a man with cunning and selfish deceit Jacob changed to a man who no longer rely on the strength of his flesh but totally on God’s grace and blessing. Jacob lost himself but in return he found God. Jacob became Israel. This is a turning point not only for the well being of an individual but also for the beautiful future for the whole tribe of Israel. Today we the new Israelites of the new covenant are also blessed because of this faith. Being left alone is not a bad thing. It is an opportunity for us to see God. Once we see His face, everything will not be the same again.
--End—
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Sermon Date: 2009/5/10
DATE: 2009/5/10
SCRIPTURE READING: John 19: 25-27
SERMON: Behold Thy Mother
講道題目: 看！你的母親
John 19:26-27 recorded one of the seven words of Jesus from the Cross. At the moment of his greatest agony, Jesus looked down and saw the sorrowful face of his mother. He was on the mission to bear the pain of the world. But he still could not look lightly on the responsibility of being a son to his mother. He knew he can not provide for his mother any more. The only thing he can do is to entrust his mom to the care of John his beloved disciple. He said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Today is Mother’s Day. It is the day to remember the love of our mother. Taking Jesus example we should look at our mother with a grateful heart and look at our children with a sense of mission and service.
While the white carnation has been taken as the symbol of motherhood, the cross is also a mother’s emblem. The carnation may express her purity and beauty, but the cross speaks her unselfish love. If we look at motherhood from the standpoint of the cross we discover the nearest natural expression of its thought. The secret of the cross is Divine Love; the secret of mothers care and self-denial is Love. As mother is the center of the home, so Christ is the center of the Church.
Today’s text suggests two wonderful themes: The Cross from the standpoint of a mother, and, Motherhood from the standpoint of the cross. The mother of Jesus standing before the cross saw more than a tragedy, she saw what love would do. She beheld a reflection of her own mother-love. And Jesus looking down upon his own mother, heart-broken at his suffering, beheld more than a weeping woman. He saw an imperishable type of Divine love.
Let us look at two of the parallels of the Cross and Motherhood.
I. First parallel: “Mother” suggests personal righteousness. One of the sayings of the old Jewish rabbis was: “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” I think their thought was that God was omnipresent in mothers. Even where God is unknown, and theology little understood, the voice of the Creator is speaking through mother-love. The relation of motherhood antedates that of the atonement and asserted itself in the very midst of the catastrophe of the crucifixion. “Behold thy mother” were almost the last words of the Son of God. A boy knows motherhood before he has a thought of Deity. In the thought of childhood, next to the omniscient God, should be the almost omniscient mother. One is meant to lead up to the other. “A little lower than the angels” is a good starting point for a child’s conception of his mother’s personality. Every true mother wants her child to be good. Mothers see evils that fathers sometimes overlook. She has an instinct for moral dangers. Her influence for righteousness is stronger than all the laws, all the education, and all the preachers. Of course, there are the wicked mothers, like Jezebel of old. There are the unnatural mothers, who sell their children into sin, there are the harlots, the depraved, the drunken; but these are the perversions that shame the name of motherhood. The number of women without the true mother-instinct is small. Even sinful women have numberless influences for good. It is this innate sense of right and wrong that makes women most susceptible to the preaching of righteousness. There are more women like the godly Hannah who lent her son Samuel to the Lord from his birth. The Christian mother leads all other forces in power for personal righteousness. “All that I am or hope to be,” said Lincoln, “I owe to my angel mother.”
II. Second parallel: “Mother” suggests Christian service. The unselfish devotion of motherhood to children is the truest illustration of the Christian ideal of service. Women of to-day feminist advocates tell of what they would do in the great world. But no achievement is greater than the simple, inconspicuous ministries of motherhood. How bravely mothers have borne the heavy burdens laid upon them! How courageously they have met every deprivation and pain! They are the types of Christian ministers and martyrs. To think of mother is to recall her unselfish devotion, her limitless, unfaltering love through good and evil report, never wavering, but growing stronger and stronger with the years; and to remember that she asks nothing in return for herself; she asks of us and for us that we be good citizens of the society. If we fail she does not love us less, but more. Wonderful, constant, miraculous mother’s love! It is up to us whether we make the life of our mothers worth while. She lives in vain if after pouring out her love and life to make us achieve, we grovel in the mire of sloth and sin. Let us honor her, both by kindness toward her and by deeds done in her name.
Conclusion: Jesus wants John to behold his mother. In actual fact Mary is not John’s mother. Jesus also wants his mother to behold her son. In actual fact John is not her son. But under the cross, human relationship is readjusted. That’s why in Christ we love not only our mother but other’s mothers too. We love not only our own children but other’s children also. That’s why Jesus said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:34-35)
Amen
Synopsis
Hanging on the Cross the only thing Jesus can do is to entrust his mom to the care of John his beloved disciple. He said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” While the white carnation has been taken as the symbol of mother’s love, the cross is also a mother’s emblem.
I. First parallel: “Mother” suggests personal righteousness.
II. Second parallel: “Mother” suggests Christian service.
Conclusion: Jesus wants John to behold his mother. In actual fact Mary is not John’s mother. Jesus also wants his mother to behold her son. In actual fact John is not her son. But under the cross, human relationship is readjusted. That’s why in Christ we love not only our mother but other’s mothers too. We love not only our own children but other’s children also.
讲道大纲
在十字架上耶稣只有把他的母亲托付他亲爱的门徒约翰。他对母亲说："母亲，看你的儿子。"又对那门徒说："看你的母亲。" 白色的康乃謦可以代表母亲节，十字架也可以代表母亲。
甲． 因为母亲代表了人应怎样行公义。
乙． 因为母亲代表了基督徒应怎样服侍别人。
在十字架下，人的关系是重新调整了。所以在主里，老吾老，以及人之老；幼吾幼，以及人之幼。耶稣说："看哪，我的母亲，我的弟兄。凡遵行神旨意的人，就是我的弟兄姐妹和母亲了。"
Pastoral Prayer:
Father God, on this Mother’s Day Sunday we pray for the home and Christian family. O Lord, you set the solidarity in families, we lift before you the dear and sacred interests of our homes. Make our families radiant centers of joy and schools of character. Grant unto those who wed true love and loyalty; grant unto parents, for their children’s sake, the persuasiveness of good and faithful lives; grant unto youth the gladness that has no bitter fruit and integrity that need not be ashamed. We rejoice in memories of the dear and holy dead who live unto you in your house of many mansions; by their love, cherished in our hearts, may your love grow more real, and by their death may heaven become more homelike to our imagining. Make their remembered presence a hallowed shrine for our thought and their unfailing love a sacrament where we hold dear with you. O God, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, save us from betrayal of the great love wherewith our homefolk have loved us. For the nation’s sake, whose foundations are in the family, we pray for the homes of our people. From marriage vows lightly planned, carelessly plighted, and trivially broken, deliver us Lord. O Christ, you have called God Father and all men brethren, give us your spirit of goodwill and fidelity that we may build homes with the shadow of the Almighty for their covering defense; within their shelter may tranquility abide and joy abound; may Christian faith and fruitful character find there congenial soil; may the world’s vulgarity and selfishness cease at their peaceful door; and from them may the zeal of youth and the strength of maturity go forth to make at last the whole earth a home and all mankind one family.
We pray for the health and well beings of our parishioners. Lord keep us free from contracting disease especially during this time of swine flu epidemic widespread. We pray for people who are traveling and will be traveling. We thank you for Winson and Mary who are flying out of town this weekend to join with their children and enjoy the holidays. We thank you for Sun Jia Fu and Lin Li Ru who will be flying to California next week to live with their daughter and look after the grand children.
Almighty God, you have given us this good land as our heritage. Help us always to remember your generosity and constantly do your will. Bless our land with honest industry, sound learning, and an honorable way of life. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties and give those whom we have entrusted with the authority of government the spirit of wisdom, that there might be justice and peace in our land. When times are prosperous , let our hearts be thankful; in troubled times, do not let our trust in you fail.
Now teach us to pray like the way you taught your disciples…
Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: John 19: 25-27
SERMON: Behold Thy Mother
講道題目: 看！你的母親
John 19:26-27 recorded one of the seven words of Jesus from the Cross. At the moment of his greatest agony, Jesus looked down and saw the sorrowful face of his mother. He was on the mission to bear the pain of the world. But he still could not look lightly on the responsibility of being a son to his mother. He knew he can not provide for his mother any more. The only thing he can do is to entrust his mom to the care of John his beloved disciple. He said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Today is Mother’s Day. It is the day to remember the love of our mother. Taking Jesus example we should look at our mother with a grateful heart and look at our children with a sense of mission and service.
While the white carnation has been taken as the symbol of motherhood, the cross is also a mother’s emblem. The carnation may express her purity and beauty, but the cross speaks her unselfish love. If we look at motherhood from the standpoint of the cross we discover the nearest natural expression of its thought. The secret of the cross is Divine Love; the secret of mothers care and self-denial is Love. As mother is the center of the home, so Christ is the center of the Church.
Today’s text suggests two wonderful themes: The Cross from the standpoint of a mother, and, Motherhood from the standpoint of the cross. The mother of Jesus standing before the cross saw more than a tragedy, she saw what love would do. She beheld a reflection of her own mother-love. And Jesus looking down upon his own mother, heart-broken at his suffering, beheld more than a weeping woman. He saw an imperishable type of Divine love.
Let us look at two of the parallels of the Cross and Motherhood.
I. First parallel: “Mother” suggests personal righteousness. One of the sayings of the old Jewish rabbis was: “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” I think their thought was that God was omnipresent in mothers. Even where God is unknown, and theology little understood, the voice of the Creator is speaking through mother-love. The relation of motherhood antedates that of the atonement and asserted itself in the very midst of the catastrophe of the crucifixion. “Behold thy mother” were almost the last words of the Son of God. A boy knows motherhood before he has a thought of Deity. In the thought of childhood, next to the omniscient God, should be the almost omniscient mother. One is meant to lead up to the other. “A little lower than the angels” is a good starting point for a child’s conception of his mother’s personality. Every true mother wants her child to be good. Mothers see evils that fathers sometimes overlook. She has an instinct for moral dangers. Her influence for righteousness is stronger than all the laws, all the education, and all the preachers. Of course, there are the wicked mothers, like Jezebel of old. There are the unnatural mothers, who sell their children into sin, there are the harlots, the depraved, the drunken; but these are the perversions that shame the name of motherhood. The number of women without the true mother-instinct is small. Even sinful women have numberless influences for good. It is this innate sense of right and wrong that makes women most susceptible to the preaching of righteousness. There are more women like the godly Hannah who lent her son Samuel to the Lord from his birth. The Christian mother leads all other forces in power for personal righteousness. “All that I am or hope to be,” said Lincoln, “I owe to my angel mother.”
II. Second parallel: “Mother” suggests Christian service. The unselfish devotion of motherhood to children is the truest illustration of the Christian ideal of service. Women of to-day feminist advocates tell of what they would do in the great world. But no achievement is greater than the simple, inconspicuous ministries of motherhood. How bravely mothers have borne the heavy burdens laid upon them! How courageously they have met every deprivation and pain! They are the types of Christian ministers and martyrs. To think of mother is to recall her unselfish devotion, her limitless, unfaltering love through good and evil report, never wavering, but growing stronger and stronger with the years; and to remember that she asks nothing in return for herself; she asks of us and for us that we be good citizens of the society. If we fail she does not love us less, but more. Wonderful, constant, miraculous mother’s love! It is up to us whether we make the life of our mothers worth while. She lives in vain if after pouring out her love and life to make us achieve, we grovel in the mire of sloth and sin. Let us honor her, both by kindness toward her and by deeds done in her name.
Conclusion: Jesus wants John to behold his mother. In actual fact Mary is not John’s mother. Jesus also wants his mother to behold her son. In actual fact John is not her son. But under the cross, human relationship is readjusted. That’s why in Christ we love not only our mother but other’s mothers too. We love not only our own children but other’s children also. That’s why Jesus said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:34-35)
Amen
Synopsis
Hanging on the Cross the only thing Jesus can do is to entrust his mom to the care of John his beloved disciple. He said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” While the white carnation has been taken as the symbol of mother’s love, the cross is also a mother’s emblem.
I. First parallel: “Mother” suggests personal righteousness.
II. Second parallel: “Mother” suggests Christian service.
Conclusion: Jesus wants John to behold his mother. In actual fact Mary is not John’s mother. Jesus also wants his mother to behold her son. In actual fact John is not her son. But under the cross, human relationship is readjusted. That’s why in Christ we love not only our mother but other’s mothers too. We love not only our own children but other’s children also.
讲道大纲
在十字架上耶稣只有把他的母亲托付他亲爱的门徒约翰。他对母亲说："母亲，看你的儿子。"又对那门徒说："看你的母亲。" 白色的康乃謦可以代表母亲节，十字架也可以代表母亲。
甲． 因为母亲代表了人应怎样行公义。
乙． 因为母亲代表了基督徒应怎样服侍别人。
在十字架下，人的关系是重新调整了。所以在主里，老吾老，以及人之老；幼吾幼，以及人之幼。耶稣说："看哪，我的母亲，我的弟兄。凡遵行神旨意的人，就是我的弟兄姐妹和母亲了。"
Pastoral Prayer:
Father God, on this Mother’s Day Sunday we pray for the home and Christian family. O Lord, you set the solidarity in families, we lift before you the dear and sacred interests of our homes. Make our families radiant centers of joy and schools of character. Grant unto those who wed true love and loyalty; grant unto parents, for their children’s sake, the persuasiveness of good and faithful lives; grant unto youth the gladness that has no bitter fruit and integrity that need not be ashamed. We rejoice in memories of the dear and holy dead who live unto you in your house of many mansions; by their love, cherished in our hearts, may your love grow more real, and by their death may heaven become more homelike to our imagining. Make their remembered presence a hallowed shrine for our thought and their unfailing love a sacrament where we hold dear with you. O God, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, save us from betrayal of the great love wherewith our homefolk have loved us. For the nation’s sake, whose foundations are in the family, we pray for the homes of our people. From marriage vows lightly planned, carelessly plighted, and trivially broken, deliver us Lord. O Christ, you have called God Father and all men brethren, give us your spirit of goodwill and fidelity that we may build homes with the shadow of the Almighty for their covering defense; within their shelter may tranquility abide and joy abound; may Christian faith and fruitful character find there congenial soil; may the world’s vulgarity and selfishness cease at their peaceful door; and from them may the zeal of youth and the strength of maturity go forth to make at last the whole earth a home and all mankind one family.
We pray for the health and well beings of our parishioners. Lord keep us free from contracting disease especially during this time of swine flu epidemic widespread. We pray for people who are traveling and will be traveling. We thank you for Winson and Mary who are flying out of town this weekend to join with their children and enjoy the holidays. We thank you for Sun Jia Fu and Lin Li Ru who will be flying to California next week to live with their daughter and look after the grand children.
Almighty God, you have given us this good land as our heritage. Help us always to remember your generosity and constantly do your will. Bless our land with honest industry, sound learning, and an honorable way of life. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties and give those whom we have entrusted with the authority of government the spirit of wisdom, that there might be justice and peace in our land. When times are prosperous , let our hearts be thankful; in troubled times, do not let our trust in you fail.
Now teach us to pray like the way you taught your disciples…
Amen.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Sermon Date: 2009/5/3
DATE: 2009/5/3
SCRIPTURE READING: II Sam. 11:1-5
SERMON: Moral Competency
講道題目: 誠實無偽的品格
At the very height of his career, at the moment of success, when power and riches are in his possession, David demonstrates a moral incompetence and falls flat on his face. He was a good shepherd; he was a skilled musician; he proved himself to be a good organizer; he was a brave soldier. But when power and wealth came to him, he showed stark incompetence and irresponsibility. The severest test of character is not on the fields of struggle, work, or danger. The real test comes when men are past the stage of battle and have in their possession power and riches.
How directly this principle speaks to our present age! It has been almost three thousand years since the time of David. The progress of these years has put power and wealth into our hands. The most serious question for our time is this: Do we have moral competency sufficient to use the power and wealth at this age to the glory of God and the good of man?
How can wee achieve a moral competency for the living of our days?
I. To be morally competent one must attain a unified personality with a clear vision of what is right. -- Jesus was never confused or oppressed with a sense of uncertainty. He was never found hesitant between two opinions. But he had achieved a state of mind in which his will was identified with the will of his heavenly Father. Acquiring this state of mind cost him dearly. He was conscious of the will of God for his life involving complete loyalty to the moral right and suffering and eventual death on the Cross. There were no tensions within his soul. He was a unified personality. A person with integrity. Becoming a unified person is always costly. Few people are willing to pay the price today for such a state of mind. Before one can have a self that is morally adequate to our time, one must pass through a soul struggle that will identify the self with the will of God.
II. To be morally competent one must have an informed and disciplined mind.-- In the temptations of Jesus it is clear that he was never caught off guard. It is significant that he met each temptation with a relevant Scripture verse. The childhood and youth of Jesus had been concerned with the learning of the Old Testament. Jesus was mindful of the great truths set forth in the law and the prophets. Moreover, he had anticipated the temptations and was ready to meet them with his own moral armor and spiritual skill. Jesus could be said to be educated for life. He had studied the great moral and spiritual experiences of the past set forth in the prophets. He had disciplined and prepared himself for all that life had to offer.
III. To be morally competent one must understand that God is the source and basis of moral right.-- Modern man has been told that it is expedient to do right, that honesty is the best policy, that one must be good to be socially approved, and that one should be righteous in life for health’s sake. These are all valid reasons, but they are not adequate. The one good and sufficient reason is that this is God’s world and we are God’s people and if we are to be at home in this world and fulfill our destiny and purpose in life, we must share the righteousness of God and fulfill his expectations. Morality is not custom or conventionality or taboo. It is the rule and way of God for us. The roots of morality are set in eternal reality.
IV. Conclusion. At the moment of greatest privilege and power, David proved himself morally incompetent; but the strong Son of God stands firm in the will of the heavenly Father and counters all that evil can beat against him because he understood the moral problems of life. His mind was made up to do the will of God. He knew that his peace and the fulfillment of his life were in the will of God.
Amen
Synopsis
At the very height of his career, at the moment of success, when power and riches are in his possession, David demonstrates a moral incompetence and falls flat on his face. How can we achieve a moral competency for the living of our days?
I. To be morally competent one must attain a unified personality with a clear vision of what is right.-- Jesus was never confused or oppressed with a sense of uncertainty. He was a unified personality, a person with integrity.
II. To be morally competent one must have an informed and disciplined mind.-- The childhood and youth of Jesus had been concerned with the learning of the Old Testament. Jesus was mindful of the great truths set forth in the law and the prophets.
III. To be morally competent one must understand that God is the source and basis of moral right.-- The one good and sufficient reason to do right is that this is God’s world and we are God’s people and if we are to be at home in this world and fulfill our destiny and purpose in life, we must share the righteousness of God and fulfill his expectations.
IV. Conclusion. Jesus achieved moral competency because he understood the moral problems of life. His mind was made up to do the will of God. He knew that his peace and the fulfillment of his life were in the will of God.
讲道大纲
当大卫事业最成功的时候，他在品格修养中却是个很无耻的人。现今的时代里，我们处於富庶的境况中，我们可以怎样保持诚实无伪的品德呢？
甲． 诚实无伪的人，是个异象清析，人格完整的人。-- 耶稣常常都是一个有诚信，言行一致的人。
乙． 诚实无伪的人，是个有修养有学问的人。-- 耶稣从少就熟读圣经，明白律法和先知的道理。
丙． 诚实无伪的人，了解上帝的旨意是道德行为的源头和依据。 -- 我们有好的道德行为，唯一的原因是，因为这是上帝的世界，我们若要得生命的意义，就只有做公义的神所要求我们做的事。
丁． 结论：耶稣能做我们诚实无伪的榜样，因为他知道我们在生命上道德的失败。他心无二志。他一心以完成上帝的旨意为目标。
Pastoral Prayer:
Gracious God, the heavens declare your glory. The whole earth proclaims your praise. Yet only man—of all your creation—is capable of discordance, prone to evil, and slothful in good. Hear our prayer of confession which springs to our hearts out of the tragedy and confusion which engulf us all. Our sins are ever before us , and we do not seem to discard them as we live our days before you..
The sin of hatred and prejudice is intensified by the fact that we have different colors of skin, and is unrestrained, even though we know that you have made of one blood all the races of men to dwell upon the face of the earth as brethren. The sin of idolatry is everywhere in evidence because we think more of possessing than of giving, more of security than of challenge, and more of power than of character.
We implore your forgiveness. We seek your promise that the burden of transgression will no longer be a hindrance to our progress to the city of God. We pray that you will enliven us with prophetic vision, that the days ahead of us may reveal a new Canada to the world: one that practices what it preaches, one whose citizens are men and women of integrity, and one which citizens are proud to be Asian Canadians. Let this Asian Heritage Month of May begin a journey of openness—in our senses, heart and soul, spirit and body—so that the colors already present in our lives are lifted and celebrated. Let this month begin a continual remembrance of our troubled roots and a celebration of the liberties we enjoy.
We pray for our parishioners’ concern. Give those who are eagerly seeking jobs, good opportunity and favor from the employer who interview them. May they find good industry that appreciates their skill. We pray for people who experience death in their family. Grant them peace and hope at the bereavement of losing their departed loved ones. We pray for people who are applying for visas to the US to visit their family members. Make their process smooth and effective. We pray for people who are bothered by the epidemic H1N1 flu that began in Mexico. We ask that the spread of the virus be stopped and that people can go on with their normal life again. We pray this in Jesus name
Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: II Sam. 11:1-5
SERMON: Moral Competency
講道題目: 誠實無偽的品格
At the very height of his career, at the moment of success, when power and riches are in his possession, David demonstrates a moral incompetence and falls flat on his face. He was a good shepherd; he was a skilled musician; he proved himself to be a good organizer; he was a brave soldier. But when power and wealth came to him, he showed stark incompetence and irresponsibility. The severest test of character is not on the fields of struggle, work, or danger. The real test comes when men are past the stage of battle and have in their possession power and riches.
How directly this principle speaks to our present age! It has been almost three thousand years since the time of David. The progress of these years has put power and wealth into our hands. The most serious question for our time is this: Do we have moral competency sufficient to use the power and wealth at this age to the glory of God and the good of man?
How can wee achieve a moral competency for the living of our days?
I. To be morally competent one must attain a unified personality with a clear vision of what is right. -- Jesus was never confused or oppressed with a sense of uncertainty. He was never found hesitant between two opinions. But he had achieved a state of mind in which his will was identified with the will of his heavenly Father. Acquiring this state of mind cost him dearly. He was conscious of the will of God for his life involving complete loyalty to the moral right and suffering and eventual death on the Cross. There were no tensions within his soul. He was a unified personality. A person with integrity. Becoming a unified person is always costly. Few people are willing to pay the price today for such a state of mind. Before one can have a self that is morally adequate to our time, one must pass through a soul struggle that will identify the self with the will of God.
II. To be morally competent one must have an informed and disciplined mind.-- In the temptations of Jesus it is clear that he was never caught off guard. It is significant that he met each temptation with a relevant Scripture verse. The childhood and youth of Jesus had been concerned with the learning of the Old Testament. Jesus was mindful of the great truths set forth in the law and the prophets. Moreover, he had anticipated the temptations and was ready to meet them with his own moral armor and spiritual skill. Jesus could be said to be educated for life. He had studied the great moral and spiritual experiences of the past set forth in the prophets. He had disciplined and prepared himself for all that life had to offer.
III. To be morally competent one must understand that God is the source and basis of moral right.-- Modern man has been told that it is expedient to do right, that honesty is the best policy, that one must be good to be socially approved, and that one should be righteous in life for health’s sake. These are all valid reasons, but they are not adequate. The one good and sufficient reason is that this is God’s world and we are God’s people and if we are to be at home in this world and fulfill our destiny and purpose in life, we must share the righteousness of God and fulfill his expectations. Morality is not custom or conventionality or taboo. It is the rule and way of God for us. The roots of morality are set in eternal reality.
IV. Conclusion. At the moment of greatest privilege and power, David proved himself morally incompetent; but the strong Son of God stands firm in the will of the heavenly Father and counters all that evil can beat against him because he understood the moral problems of life. His mind was made up to do the will of God. He knew that his peace and the fulfillment of his life were in the will of God.
Amen
Synopsis
At the very height of his career, at the moment of success, when power and riches are in his possession, David demonstrates a moral incompetence and falls flat on his face. How can we achieve a moral competency for the living of our days?
I. To be morally competent one must attain a unified personality with a clear vision of what is right.-- Jesus was never confused or oppressed with a sense of uncertainty. He was a unified personality, a person with integrity.
II. To be morally competent one must have an informed and disciplined mind.-- The childhood and youth of Jesus had been concerned with the learning of the Old Testament. Jesus was mindful of the great truths set forth in the law and the prophets.
III. To be morally competent one must understand that God is the source and basis of moral right.-- The one good and sufficient reason to do right is that this is God’s world and we are God’s people and if we are to be at home in this world and fulfill our destiny and purpose in life, we must share the righteousness of God and fulfill his expectations.
IV. Conclusion. Jesus achieved moral competency because he understood the moral problems of life. His mind was made up to do the will of God. He knew that his peace and the fulfillment of his life were in the will of God.
讲道大纲
当大卫事业最成功的时候，他在品格修养中却是个很无耻的人。现今的时代里，我们处於富庶的境况中，我们可以怎样保持诚实无伪的品德呢？
甲． 诚实无伪的人，是个异象清析，人格完整的人。-- 耶稣常常都是一个有诚信，言行一致的人。
乙． 诚实无伪的人，是个有修养有学问的人。-- 耶稣从少就熟读圣经，明白律法和先知的道理。
丙． 诚实无伪的人，了解上帝的旨意是道德行为的源头和依据。 -- 我们有好的道德行为，唯一的原因是，因为这是上帝的世界，我们若要得生命的意义，就只有做公义的神所要求我们做的事。
丁． 结论：耶稣能做我们诚实无伪的榜样，因为他知道我们在生命上道德的失败。他心无二志。他一心以完成上帝的旨意为目标。
Pastoral Prayer:
Gracious God, the heavens declare your glory. The whole earth proclaims your praise. Yet only man—of all your creation—is capable of discordance, prone to evil, and slothful in good. Hear our prayer of confession which springs to our hearts out of the tragedy and confusion which engulf us all. Our sins are ever before us , and we do not seem to discard them as we live our days before you..
The sin of hatred and prejudice is intensified by the fact that we have different colors of skin, and is unrestrained, even though we know that you have made of one blood all the races of men to dwell upon the face of the earth as brethren. The sin of idolatry is everywhere in evidence because we think more of possessing than of giving, more of security than of challenge, and more of power than of character.
We implore your forgiveness. We seek your promise that the burden of transgression will no longer be a hindrance to our progress to the city of God. We pray that you will enliven us with prophetic vision, that the days ahead of us may reveal a new Canada to the world: one that practices what it preaches, one whose citizens are men and women of integrity, and one which citizens are proud to be Asian Canadians. Let this Asian Heritage Month of May begin a journey of openness—in our senses, heart and soul, spirit and body—so that the colors already present in our lives are lifted and celebrated. Let this month begin a continual remembrance of our troubled roots and a celebration of the liberties we enjoy.
We pray for our parishioners’ concern. Give those who are eagerly seeking jobs, good opportunity and favor from the employer who interview them. May they find good industry that appreciates their skill. We pray for people who experience death in their family. Grant them peace and hope at the bereavement of losing their departed loved ones. We pray for people who are applying for visas to the US to visit their family members. Make their process smooth and effective. We pray for people who are bothered by the epidemic H1N1 flu that began in Mexico. We ask that the spread of the virus be stopped and that people can go on with their normal life again. We pray this in Jesus name
Amen.
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