We all know that the church is the living, breathing, embodiment of Christ. Christ is to be our Head….when we allow Him to be. Yet, in today’s society, the church is also seen as a “grouping of people.” We are not to allow confusion for the church being seen as a mere building but our “grouping” is a legitimate manifestation of who we are.
So, what is the difference between us an any other group that meets regularly? There are Garden Clubs, Home Village Clubs, Hiking Clubs, Cycling Clubs, Environmental Organizations, Neighbourhood Associations, Health Organizations, etc. To the untrained eye, the church is easily misunderstood as “just another alternative” for meeting one’s own private spiritual needs.
FCBC is currently one church among many. We provide our services and activities for our people but we must ask ourselves if this is enough to have the Father look at us and say, “well done my faithful servants.” Maybe we need to move beyond discussions on “relevant ministries” to the point of serving and acting in a relevant way? Dream about something that you love to do and let us see if that can become an area of outreach ministry for our church! Get a group of friends together and then push out to the lost who might enjoy this as well. Look up different organizations and see what we can start as a new ministry of FCBC! People come to know Christ through relationships of caring. We must choose how we will use our time…on ourselves only or in reaching others. Luke 5:32: “I came not to call the righteous but the lost…” We choose our service!
教會是俱樂部、服務機構還是…？
我們都知道，教會是有基督存在、有祂生命氣息的實體。 基督是我們的頭…要是我們真的讓祂有這主權的話。 然而，在今天的社會中，教會也被視為一個「群體」。 我們不應讓教會被混淆地視為只是一座建築物，其實我們是一個能彰顯我們實際是誰的「群體」。
那麼，我們和那些定期聚會的群體有什麼區別呢？ 這裏有園藝會、鄉村俱樂部，爬山會、單車會、環保組織、社區協會、醫療機構等。 對那些沒有深入認識的人，教會很容易被誤解「只是另一種選擇」， 用以滿足私人靈性需求 的組織。
目前，第一华人浸信会只是眾多教會中的其中之一。 我們為自己的弟兄姐妹提供服事和活動，但我們必須問自己，這是否能讓天父看著我們說：「良善的僕人，做得好。」？ 或許我們需要不只是討論「合宜事工」的有關服事及相關的辦法？ 夢想一下你最愛做的事情，看看是否可以成為我們教會外展的新事工！ 先找一群相同意念的朋友在一起，然後推展到其他有同樣愛好的未信朋友。 查查不同的機構組織，看看我們可以在第一华人浸信会開始些什麼新的事工！ 人都是透過關懷關係來認識基督。 我們必須選擇如何運用我們的時間….只是用在自己身上還是與别人相交？ 路加福音5:32「 我來本不是召義人， 乃是召罪(失喪的)人…..」。 我們要選擇我們的服事！