【Letter】
亲爱的弟兄姐妹们：
主内平安！
华理克牧师提醒我们：“问题迫使我们仰望上帝，而不是依靠自己。保罗证实这一点：我们觉得我们注定要死，看到我们有多么无力帮助自己；但这很好，因为那时我们把一切都交给了上帝，只有上帝才能拯救我们——你永远不会知道上帝是你所需要的，直到上帝是你所拥有的一切。”（参林后1：8-9经文“我们从前在亚细亚遭遇苦难，被压太重，力不能胜， 甚至连活命的指望都绝了。自己心里也断定是必死的，叫我们不靠自己，只靠叫死人复活的神。他曾救我们脱离那极大的死亡，现在仍要救我们，并且我们指望他将来还要救我们。”）
贺永花牧师
Dear brothers and sisters,
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love. (2 John1:3 NIV)
“Problems force us to look to God and depend on him instead of ourselves. Paul testified t this benefit: ‘We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us.’ You’ll never know that God is all you need until God is all you’ve got.” (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For?, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2002,194)
Pastor Rachel
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Worship Songs
With Everything
Above All
At The Cross
Seek Ye First
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The steps to the place of abundance
To know God through History and Experience
Rebekah Bian
Psalm 66:5-6;10-12
5 Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf!
6 He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot-- come, let us rejoice in him.
10 For you, God, tested us; You refined us like silver.
11 You brought us into prison, and laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, But you brought us to a place of abundance.
Sermon:
Morning dear friends.
May the peace of our God be with all of you.
How time flies. We didn’t see each other and stay at home to worship God online for more than half a year, and the coronavirus is still living on, it’s almost one year. But anyway we can give thanks to our God, because there is something to be thankful for in any environment. we can see each other via WeChat, Zoom and Tencent meeting. It’s a great honor to be with you at the Lord’s Day to share some reflections. Now let’s bow down and pray together.
Prayer：
“Thank You, Lord, for everything.
Thank You dear Lord, for You are merciful, You are Love, You are Holy, and You are all our salvation, so You are the only one deserve all our worship.
Heavenly Father, now we come to worship You together, Even though some of us maybe in depression, some of us maybe in sadness, some of us are weak in Faith, now we really know it is Your time, it’s time we together to come to Your Holy Face and to praise You. Dear Lord, we pray that when we are worship You and Praise Your Name, You will strength us.
And now we especially pray in Jesus Almighty Name for those we may never saw them and know them. Pray for them to seek the only Truth and know You are the Only God will save people out of hopeless.
In particular now we pray in Jesus Name for those who have lost their loved ones in this epidemic. Please comfort their hearts and dry their tears, for You are the only Comforter; Now We especially pray in Jesus Name for the patients who are still in hospital, we asking You to relieve their physical pain and treat them for a recovery. Now We pray especially for those doctors who are on the front lines of the epidemic, and we ask You our dear Heavenly Father to protect them from the virus. We especially pray for those who are far away from their families, asking you to be with them and help them to learn to be alone and go back to their families as soon as possible; We pray especially for those whose journey has been blocked by the epidemic, we pray that You will open their path.
You are the Almighty One dry the Red sea , You are the strength One make a way in the wildness; You are the Miracle ONE opening rivers in the desert; You Bring the dead back to life; You are our Father , You always opening Your almighty and warm arms welcome the prodigal son back.
Thank You, Dear Jesus Christ, thank you for You died for us and rise again after three days. Because of Your salvation, we are free from the bondage of Sin. Because of Your salvation, we are free from the bondage of death. Today, although the pandemic makes people keep each other from a distance, we will say Thank You Jesus Christ, For You know everything and You have done for us and You will make a way when there is no way.
You are our Lord. You are love, You love us always, you are the Lord Almighty, you are the Lord who listens to our prayer.
Now We will listen and study Your words, please send your Holy Spirit among us, open our ears and our hearts, help us to know more about Your knowledge and love You in Your commands.
In Jesus Name we Pray.
1. Background
Do you find it hard to praise God all the time? I do! Even the nation of Israel found it difficult. That is why King David is calling the nation to praise God here in Psalm 66;
"Shout for joy to God, all the earth!" (verse 1).
"Sing the Glory of his Name; make His praise glorious." (verse 2)."
David was expressing his joy to God and calls on all the People of Israel to sing their joy to God for victory over disaster. The King who loved God invites the whole earth to praise the only God who can save them!
You can read all about the many ways God saved His people in the Old Testament, from Exodus to Kings. You will find there are many hardships and disasters in this nation.
And also today maybe there is a lot of time we have an experience and wonder:
Why do Christians go through a lot of hardships?
Now let’s move on to the answer. There are two subjects we will study next.
2. The steps of salvation 2.1 The first step of salvation: is to be free from sinDuring the quarantine the most impressed me is to keep washing hands always. I remember that when I will have an orange, from peeled it to ate, there were four times I washed my hands. Because there is a warning from Epidemic Prevention Expert and WHO and NHS broadcast everyday: stay at home, wash your hands, save life. It’s unusual unnormal. I couldn’t get used to it for a while, but I have to keep washing hands. there was a moment when I was washing my hands there is a sound came to my mind: “Hi Rebekah, do you have so cautious about your inside? ”It’s made me shocked, oh yes dear Christ, I am not , it is true that I didn’t protect my spiritual life as much as I paid attention to the virus.
When Israelites came out of the slave of Egypt God told Moses to build a Basin:
"Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the LORD by fire, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come." (Exodus 30:18-21)So, the first step to serve is to wash your hands. Wash hands means that self-cleaning. We cannot do it by ourself, but
“we can do everything through him who gives us strength.” (Philippans 4:13)
Psalmist wrote "He turned the sea into dry earth" (v. 6), we know in Exodus when God led the People of Israel through the Red Sea; "All the people crossed the Jordan on foot" (v. 6) when God led Israel across the Jordan. Just as God brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt into Canaan, so he will save us today from the power of the devil into the rest of Christ.
God's people must first praise God for His redeeming history. History bears witness to the work of God and the failure of man. A wise man should "observe what God has done" (v. 5) in history, and see that God has always been "observing and ruling" (V. 7). We also see the despair of men, and therefore "do not raise ourself up" (v. 7), but return to God.
2.2 The second step of salvation is to experience the CrossGod promised David a King would sit on his throne forever, but in the early life of David, we know that the lesson of psalmist David’s is ups and downs and numerous battles in his life. In the early days, he was hunted and persecuted by Saul, and gradually he gathered the Israelites by the presence of God. He began to have the strength to fight against the surrounding invaders, and later the nation of Israel became a great power in the Middle East.
Unfortunately, he was weak in comfort, took Usia’s wife and anger God. then he was betrayed by his beloved son Absalom. I believe it is the greatest misfortune for a father betrayed by son.
Every time when I read this chapter of David’s experience (2 Samuel 13), my heart is so ache, and heavy. I am a mother, I know David was painful. He was facing a life-and-death war. This is a war without winning, but losing. So we can imagine David’s heart was hurt throughly. And here we can learn that God is justice and Holy, in Romans and Psalms, there are many times in the Bible said: “God ‘will repay each person according to what they have done’” (Romans2:6) This character of God makes me nervous, and I believe the most of us have the same feeling.
Because I am a sinner, we are all :the sin was inherited from the very beginning Adam and Eva, everyone was bound by the sin, nobody is rightness, even the father of Faith Abraham , because his wife is beautiful, he denied their relationship in front of the Egyption; so does his son Issac made the same mistake. And also the disciple Peter of Jesus, denied Jesus in front of others three times “I don’t know him”.
We are all sinners, from past until now. From disciples to congregation. So there is a big problem to people, the result of all earth is to death. Because
“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrew 9:22)
So from past until now, everyone deserves to shed blood, to death. But God is love, disciple John who followed Jesus and lived with Jesus for three years on earth, he said:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
So “but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (Hebrew 9:12-15)
Jesus the only son of God, through His clean blood, He accomplished our eternal salvation by dying for our sins on the cross and rising from the dead to live forever!....He raises us up from despair!... Jesus is that forever King of life! He leads us from the prison of eternal judgment! He is the Good Shepherd who leads us to that place of abundance!” Psalm 66:10-12 :
10 For you, God, tested us; You refined us like silver.
11 You brought us into prison, and laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water,
But you brought us to a place of abundance.
Keywords:“refine "&“ride on our heads”
1)The text of “refine " is “smelting”, which uses the process of smelting metal to describe the difficulties experienced by God’s people. From the text we know that Silver must be “tested” by fire to remove impurities, and people must be dealt with by the cross in order to reveal the flesh, so crucify the old, and remove the adulteration of faith, so that our faith may be tested.
2) “ride on our heads” (v12) is a metaphor for the victory of the enemy. When we encounter “snares, burdens, chariots fire and water”(vv11-12), don’t be surprised ,because all these encounters are arranged or allowed by God, and it is the only way for God to “bring us to the land of abundance”(v.12). So that the Lord has prepared a “merciful and compassion” ending (James 5:11). For if the life of old Adam had not been dealt with by “snares, burdens, chariots, fire and water”, there would be no way to enter the “land of abundance” and “in Christ you have been brought to fullness (Colossians 2:9-10).
Just like disciple said “ In all this you greatly rejoice , though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials, These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith----of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire----may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1Peter 1:6-7
The “snares, burdens, fire and water” that God has given us are all designed to make us up, not to corrupt us. Therefore, God puts us in a snare, and he will lead us out. God puts us in snare, and he will lead us out. God puts a “burden ”on us, and he will give us the strength to bear it. So “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”(2 Corinthians 4:17). And “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18).
For “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”(Hebrews 12:11)
God told the Israelites, He know the situation they are going through, He know their sorrow by the reason of the task master and HE will come down into their situation.
Also today, right now, God knows our financial situation, He knows our marital situation, He knows you are unemployed, He knows the situation about your health, He saw your outcry concerning your children, but not withstanding, in that same situation, in that distress, He will not only hear you and answer you, but He will take you to a large place, a place of rest , a place of rejoicing. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear but in the midst of that situation He will make a way of escape.
Psalm 66:5-6 Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men. He turned the sea into dry land; The Israelites went through the river on foot. And also right now we will go through the darkness to light, we will rejoice in Him.
Reflections and conclusion:So Quit looking at where you are and start looking at where you are going! Quit looking at everything against you and begin looking at all the things that are for you! So Quit looking at where you are but Look to God! to Bible, to Promises, Looking Jesus and remember what He has done…
Yes, You are going through all that because you are going somewhere. Israel went through the fire and through the flood before they ever entered into the Promised Land Canon full of honey and milk. So Psalmist David said “…we went through fire and through water: but thou brought us out into a wealthy place.” (Psalms 66:12)
We may be in the fire. We may be in the flood, but we are on our way to a wealthy place, a place of abundance and overflow. Yes, you may be in fire or water, you are in troubles, but you are on your way to a wealthy place, a place of abundance and overflow. And just like Paul experienced:
“I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me.” (Philippians 4:13)
So
The fire is temporary, the flood is temporary. Our setbacks are positioning US for a come back. Our struggle will not last forever. Our pain is not permanent. We will not remain where we are forever. A change is coming!The promise of God is Emmanuel! He is with us, forever. We belong to Him, we are going to be with Him. Nothing will separate us from His love. Maybe our earthly situation is terrible right now, but remember You are a child of God, keep in touch with Him and He will lead your way, to a place of abundance.
Let us read Psalm 66 with a heart of pray.
1. Shout with joy to God, all the earth!
2. Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!
3. Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.
4. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name." Selah
5. Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf!
6. He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot-- come, let us rejoice in him.
7. He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations-- let not the rebellious rise up against him. Selah
8. Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard;
9. he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.
10. For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.
11. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.
12. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.
13. I will come to your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to you-
14. vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.
15. I will sacrifice fat animals to you and an offering of rams; I will offer bulls and goats. Selah
16. Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.
17. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.
18. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
19. but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.
20. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!
Amen. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Thank our God, may the words of God be the light of your feet.
And keep praying for the pandemic of the covid-19 together. May the Peace of our God be with all of our bros and sisters.
Let us Walk up to Our Savior Jesus Christ, to the place of abundance.
See you then.
Have a good week.
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Jesus Calling – August 23
Sarah Young
ENTRUSTYOUR LOVED ONES TO ME; release them into My protective care. They are much safer with Me than in your clinging hands. If you let a loved one become an idol in your heart, you endanger that one—as well as yourself. Remember the extreme measures I used with Abraham and Isaac. I took Isaac to the very point of death to free Abraham from son-worship. Both Abraham and Isaac suffered terribly because of the father’s undisciplined emotions. I detest idolatry, even in the form of parental love.
When you release loved ones to Me, you are free to cling to My hand. As you entrust others into My care, I am free to shower blessings on them. My Presence will go with them wherever they go, and I will give them rest. This same Presence stays with you, as you relax and place your trust in Me. Watch to see what I will do.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not
withheld from me your son, your only son.”
GENESIS 22 : 9 – 12
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. .. .
EPHESIANS 3 : 20
The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
EXODUS 33 : 14
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Lord's Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
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May our Lord bless you in this week. See you next Sunday!