社群是… 如同云彩的见证人
Sandie记得，在她成长的日子，她父亲每天都读一本灵修指引上面的话，当她有自己的孩子时，她父亲会让她的孩子坐在他的膝上、把这份灵修系列所说的话读给他们听，他们还保留着孩子们与外公一起阅读那些灵修册子的相片呢。现在，尽管她的家离开父母的住处很远，但知道父亲每天仍然在读那份一直在出版的灵修系列，她也感到很欣慰。
然而，Sandie引以为慰的，不单是那份灵修系列，她感到欣慰的，是全家人对神坚定的信心把她和她在远方的亲人连系起来。数年前当她的女儿离家上大学时，她也有同样的感受；朋友和家人都告诉她的女儿，她们会为她祷告，而她的女儿也想念多年来她与这个社群建立起的连系。在上面的两件事中，因着超越时间空间的信心，社群中的连系就得到增长了。
希伯来书的作者用了整整一章的篇幅（希伯来书11章），来讲述昔日那些凭信心生活的人们的故事；对今天那些仍然忠心为耶稣而活的信徒，他所说的带给他们极大的鼓舞。
基督徒的社群，远比那些在地域上与我们接近的人广阔得多，它包括全国各地和世界各地、历世历代的信徒。这些像云彩围着我们的见证人，把我们连系起来，成为一个广大的社群！
父啊，感谢你，因为你让来自世界各地和历世历代的忠心见证人围着我们。阿们。
希伯来书 12:1-3
1我们既有这许多的见证人，如同云彩围着我们，就当放下各样的重担，脱去容易缠累我们的罪，存心忍耐，奔那摆在我们前头的路程，
2仰望为我们信心创始成终的耶稣。他因那摆在前面的喜乐，就轻看羞辱，忍受了十字架的苦难，便坐在神宝座的右边。
3那忍受罪人这样顶撞的，你们要思想，免得疲倦灰心。
Community Is . . . A Cloud Of Witnesses
"Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses . . ." - Hebrews 12:1
Sandie remembers her dad reading from a monthly devotional guide every day while she was growing up. When she had children, her dad would sit her kids on his lap and read to them also from that devotional series. They have pictures of her kids with their grandpa reading those devotions. Now that she lives far away from her parents, she appreciates knowing that her dad is still reading from the same ongoing devotional series every day.
It’s not just the devotional series, though. Sandie takes comfort in the strong faith in God that connects her with her family members far away. She felt the same way when her daughter left for college a few years ago. Friends and family told her daughter they were praying for her, and she felt and missed the community connections she had developed over the years. In both situations, community was strengthened by a faith connection that crossed time and distance.
The writer of Hebrews spends a whole chapter (Hebrews 11) talking about people from the past who lived by faith. And that provides encouragement to believers to keep living faithfully for Jesus each day.
Christian community is so much bigger than the people who are geographically close to us. It is also about believers across the country and the world, and from earlier generations. The cloud of witnesses connects us together in one, great community!
Father, thank you for surrounding us with faithful witnesses around the world and throughout the centuries. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
编辑进度:
发布时间:
繁體版:
Line:
栏目:
机构:
作者: