簡牧师的话: “Wineskins” ＂皮袋＂
There is a story about a young girl that wanted to learn how to make Banana Bread at home. When asking her mom about why she always cut off the end of the bread before she placed it in the oven, her mom simply replied that she prepared it that way because her mother had done it that way. The mother then encouraged the daughter tocall her grandmother and ask why she did this. Receiving the phone call, the grandmother laughed and said, “I cut off the end before placing it in the oven because I had a small oven and a cooking pan that was short!
有個小女孩想在家裏學做香蕉蛋糕。
她問媽媽為什麼她每次把香蕉蛋糕放進烤箱烘烤前總要把蛋糕兩端切掉？媽媽說因為她自己的媽媽是這麼做的。然後媽媽建議女兒打電話問外婆為什麼她要這麼做。外婆接了電話，笑著說：「在放進烤箱之前，我把蛋糕兩端切掉是因為我的烤箱很小，而且我的烤盤也很短！」
The obvious point is that we don’t always choose the best and most efficient approaches. We don’t even understand why we do many things or reevaluate what is true or useful. We function out of habit, custom, convenience, and other reasons. Yet, “cooking the banana bread” in the way it was cooked 40 years ago simply because that was their situational need should remind us that we do need to understand the needs of FCBC today and not be “outdated” in our ministries and outreach.
很 明顯的是我們都不常選擇最好和最有效的方法。我們甚至不明白自己為何做這些事情，或再次評估方法是否真確或有用。我們經常只靠習慣、傳統、方便或其他原因來處理事情。但是，四十年前烤香蕉蛋糕的方式是因為當時的局限；這正提醒了我們必須明白鳳凰城第一華人浸信會今天的需要，不要在我們的事工和傳福音上「過時」。
We need “new wine in new wineskins”…..for the sake of the lost (Lk 5:36-39). May our customs and traditions never restrain our hunger to be relevant and a learning congregation.
為了那些失喪的靈魂…我們需要把新酒放在新皮袋裏(路5:36-39). 願我們的習慣和傳統永遠也不會限制我們成為一個趕上歩伐、不斷學習的羣體.