新視域的力量
在教會改變觀點

經文
路加福音二十四28-35
28將近他們所去的村子,耶穌好像還要往前行,
29他們卻強留他,說:時候晚了,日頭已經平西了,請你同我們住下吧!耶穌就進去,要同他們住下。
30到了坐席的時候,耶穌拿起餅來,祝謝了,擘開,遞給他們。
31他們的眼睛明亮了,這才認出他來。忽然耶穌不見了。
32他們彼此說:在路上,他和我們說話,給我們講解聖經的時候,我們的心豈不是火熱的嗎?
33他們就立時起身,回耶路撒冷去,正遇見十一個使徒和他們的同人聚集在一處,
34說:主果然復活,已經現給西門看了。
35兩個人就把路上所遇見,和擘餅的時候怎麼被他們認出來的事,都述說了一遍。
信息分享
當我們到神的家去的時候,另一個能夠令我們改變自己的看法的原因,就是閱讀以及領悟聖經的教導。我這麼說是基於你的教會有對聖經做清楚的解釋,很可惜今天很多教會都沒有這麼做。詩人的時代並沒有我們今天所認識的聖經,但他們卻很樂於背誦和默想僅有的神的話語。
你曾經多少次是帶著對神的疑惑到教會去的?不過當你一打開聖經,你對神以及對生命的看法就都得到了改變,然後是帶著煥然一新及重新得力的感覺離開教會。加爾文(Calvin)說:「年長的人或者視力欠佳的人不能夠看清楚書本上的字,但在眼鏡的幫助下閱讀的問題就迎刃而解;同樣地,聖經使我們對上帝的觀念,從本來的混亂變為清晰,因為它驅走了黑暗,讓我們清楚看到了神。」
你在家的時候當然應該閱讀聖經,只是在教會聆聽聖經的講解有著特別不同的意義,因為有時聽到別人朗讀一段熟悉的經文,或強調一個我們可能不曾留意的詞句,都足以給我們帶來嶄新的啟發。此刻的你,對神以及對生命是否感到不滿呢?讓我邀請你星期天到一間篤信聖經的教會去吧,神要透過祂自己的話語來對你說話,因為最高的權威者讓我相信祂肯定會對你說話的。
「聖經使我們對上帝的觀念變為清晰」
進深研究
路四16-31;賽十一2,六十一1;太三16
1. 耶穌在會堂做甚麼?
2. 甚麼東西降在祂身上?
祈禱
天父,求您赦免我把您話語的啟示視為理所當然的事。從現在開始每當聖經「向我說話」的時候,求您都幫助我留神注意,並懷著感恩的心來接受。阿們。
The Power of a New Perspective
Changed perspectives in church

Bible reading:
Luke 24:28-35
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther.
29 But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.
31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.
32 They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together
34 and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon."
35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Message
Another thing that brings about a changed perspective when we make our way to the house of God is the reading and exposition of the Scriptures. I make this statement on the assumption that the Scriptures are expounded in your church, for, sadly, in some congregations this is not so. In the days of the psalmist, of course, they did not have the Bible as we know it today, but the portions of the Word of God that they did have they recited and meditated upon.
How many times have you gone to church feeling confused about God's dealing with you, only to find that as the Scriptures are opened your view of God and life changes, causing you to leave refreshed and reinvigorated? Calvin put it like this: "As the elderly, or those with poor sight can hardly make out the words in a book, but with the help of glasses can read clearly, so Scripture crystallises ideas about God which had been very confused, scatters the darkness and shows us the true God clearly."
You could, and should, read the Scriptures at home, but there is something special about hearing the Word of God expounded in church. Merely to hear a well-known text spoken by someone who emphasises a word which we might not emphasise, can strike us in a way that adds new meaning to it. Do you have a jaundiced view of God and life at this very moment? Go to church on Sunday, to a Bible-believing church, and expect God to speak to you from His Word. I have it on the highest authority that He will.
"Scripture crystallises ideas about God"
Prayer
Father, forgive me for taking for granted the revelation that flows from Your Word - whether it comes privately or in church. From now on, whenever I am "talked to" by the Scriptures, help me to recognise it and to receive it with gratitude. Amen.
Further study
Luke 4:16-31
Isaiah 11:2; 61:1
Matthew 3:16
1. What did Jesus do in the synagogue?
2. What rested upon Him?
本文英文版權屬 CWR 所有,承蒙允准刊載。
背景音樂版權屬 讚美之泉音樂事工 所有,承蒙允准使用。

