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主日

2025-05-16 in , /by

诗篇118:22-24    

22 匠人所弃的石头，已成了房角的头块石头。23 这是耶和华所做的，在我们眼中看为稀奇。24 这是耶和华所定的日子，我们在其中要高兴欢喜。

使徒行传4:10-11 

你们众人和以色列百姓都当知道：站在你们面前的这人得痊愈，是因你们所钉十字架、神叫祂从死里复活的拿撒勒人耶稣基督的名。11 「祂是『你们匠人所弃的石头，已成了房角的头块石头』。

使徒行传 20:7  七日的第一日，我们聚会掰饼的时候，保罗因为要次日起行，就与他们讲论，直讲到半夜。

旧约时代，神赐下「安息日」的律例（十诫的第四诫，出埃及记20:8-11）；因为神用六天的工夫创造天地，第七天祂就安息了。当时的安息日是七日里的最后一天，为了叫人记念神的作为。

新约时代，耶稣在逾越节期间被钉十字架，星期五（受难日）下午三点左右断气，晚上被埋葬，三天后，星期天早上复活（约翰福音20:1-23）；自此以后，星期天（七日里的第一天）就成为圣日，基督徒聚集一起纪念耶稣（使徒行传20:7，哥林多前书16:2），就是现在的主日（启示录1:10）。

主日（Lord’s Day，拉丁语：dies dominica，源自通用希腊语：he kuriake hemera）即主的日子，这一天是纪念耶稣基督复活的日子。它使人想起神创造的第一日，神在这一天造了光，而基督徒的五旬节(Christian Pentecost)是逾越节后的第五十天，这日子纪念圣灵的降临，也是星期日（使徒行传2:1-4）。

The God of Revival

2025-05-15 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 23:1-20.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

2 Kings 23:1-2 (NIV)
1  Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
2  He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets–all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD.
 
On verses 1-2:  Keep in mind that King Josiah of Judah has just discovered the long lost Book of the Law (consisting of the first five books of the Old Testament, also known as the Pentateuch).  He realizes that he and his nation of Judah have not lived up to God’s commands contained inside that book. 

「听从」声音或让声音「空响」

2025-05-15 in , /by

帖撒罗尼迦前书5:19-22      19 不要消灭圣灵的感动， 20 不要藐视先知的讲论。 21 但要凡事察验，善美的要持守， 22 各样的恶事要禁戒不做。

那是个忙碌的周五上午，一早跟学生讨论研究进度、接着一场视讯会议、之后又有研究生固定的专题演讲…；中午吃完便当，正想休息片刻，却来了一通电话，提醒我下午的拜访行程。起身走向校园的另一个角落，天气热，身体有点累，心想拜访行程完后就打道回府，迎接周末，好好休息。

擦擦汗，坐在会议室等候拜访会议，滑手机看email，「老师！下午三点可以在哪里找到您?」讯息映入眼帘。喔！喔！找我？下周二要期中考了，问问题？不是跟大家约好，明天周六上午开放让同学问问题吗？今天下午三点！我累了，我不想回办公室，我要回家。正想要回讯息，会议开始了，我停下滑手机。

接近下午三点开完会，我再打开手机看，「老师！您传给我的讯息怎么空空的？」原来刚才犹豫不知如何回复，就送出空白讯息。此时心中声音涌现…，我挣扎着思考，回研究中心太远，回机械系馆还算可以，那就在系馆中庭好了，我不想上五楼办公室，太麻烦了。回了email，缓步走向系馆，呆坐中庭木椅，收到回复讯息「我从体育馆过来，十分钟，马上到」。

Have a Soft and Responsive Heart toward God’s Word

2025-05-14 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 22:1-20.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

2 Kings 22:1-20 (NIV)
1  Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.
2  He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
3  In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the LORD. He said:
4  “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.

On verses 1-20:  At just eight years old Josiah becomes king of Judah.  At age 26, Josiah leads a campaign to repair the temple of the Lord.  As the temple is being repaired, workers in the temple recover an old Book of the Law, which most likely contained the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Pentateuch. 

也许你会想知道圣经形成的简史

2025-05-14 in , /by

提摩太后书 3:14-17

但你所学习的、所确信的，要存在心里，因为你知道是跟谁学的， 15 并且知道你是从小明白圣经，这圣经能使你因信基督耶稣有得救的智慧。16 圣经都是神所默示的，于教训、督责、使人归正、教导人学义都是有益的， 17 叫属神的人得以完全，预备行各样的善事。

旧约（犹太人称为《希伯来圣经》）主要由摩西五经（律法书）、历史书、诗歌智慧书及先知书所组成。从西元前15世纪（摩西时代）到西元前4世纪陆续完成，主要用希伯来文写成，少部分（但以理书部分章节、以斯拉记）使用亚兰文。旧约定典在主前2世纪至主后1世纪逐渐被确定，犹太人在主后90年左右的「雅米尼亚会议」（有争议）普遍认定了旧约的范围。

新约由四福音书（马太、马可、路加、约翰）、使徒行传、保罗书信、普通书信及启示录所组成。大约在主后40年到100年间完成，主要以希腊文（通用希腊语Koine Greek）书写。最早的书信和福音书已在教会中广泛使用，直到西元4世纪，特别是主后397年的迦太基公会议正式确认新约27卷书目。

随着犹太人散居地中海四周，许多人不再通晓希伯来文。西元前3世纪在埃及，约70位学者将旧约翻译成希腊文，「七十士译本(Septuagint)」因而问世，对早期教会影响深远（新约作者常引用此译本），也使更多人能以通用语言接触到神的话语。

Even When You’ve Lost Everything, There Is Still Hope

2025-05-13 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 21:1-26.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

2 Kings 21:1-18 (NIV)
1  Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
2  He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
3  He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.

On verses 1-18:  Manasseh replaces his father Hezekiah as the king of Judah.  But rather than following the Lord like his father Hezekiah did, Manasseh goes headlong into worshiping idols, committing violent crimes and even sacrificing his own son in the fire as part of idol worship. 

赐生命的主

2025-05-13 in , /by

约翰福音3:15  叫一切信祂的都得永生。

约翰福音17:3   认识祢独一的真神，并且认识祢所差来的耶稣基督，这就是永生。

约翰福音14:6  耶稣说：我就是道路、真理、生命。若不借着我，没有人能到父那里去。

旧约中「永生」一词来自希伯来文 עוֹלָם (ʿolam)，意思是永远、长久、或时间的无限，因为没有生命的含意，词意并不直接等同于「永生」。

旧约常用的「永生神(El Olam)」是将永远和神两个字放一起，表明神在时间层面的属性，祂是自有永有的（出埃及记3:14），祂是从亘古到永远的神（诗篇90:2）。

神说：「我凭著永生起誓…」（申命记32:40），「惟耶和华是真神，是活神，是永远的王。」（耶利米书10:10），这两处经文的永生和永远，是同一个字ʿolam，指出神是永不改变的长远存在，并未呈现生命的含意。

旧约希伯来文中很少出现直接对应具「永生」含意的词，仅有一处，诗篇133:3「好比黑门的甘露降在锡安山，因为在那里有耶和华所命定的福，就是永远的生命。」此处，永远的生命(chayyei olam)是将永远和生命两个字放一起。

大卫王渴慕：「…引导我走永生的道路。」（诗篇139:24），所罗门王领悟：「神造万物，各按其时成为美好，又将永生安置在世人心里。然而神从始至终的作为，人不能参透。」（传道书3:11）他们同样在寻求永远及永恒，但并未诉及生命的意涵。

我有一个心愿

2025-05-12 in , /by

约翰福音14:27    我留下平安给你们，我将我的平安赐给你们。我所赐的不像世人所赐的，你们心里不要忧愁，也不要胆怯。

「同心圆」旗下的敬拜者使团2020年演唱《平安》，作者马启邦分享：我有一个心愿—为孩子们写经文诗歌，把神的应许都记下来。

这年代的人，很苦，很无力，我不敢想像下一代过的日子会是怎样。我希望有天当孩子们知道生命中的狂风暴雨和捆锁劫难是何等的磨人，直叫人对别人、对自己也失去信心时，也会记得神赐下的平安和盼望其实不曾离开，因主耶稣已经「亲自」为祂所爱的孩子把平安留下来。

祂的牺牲洗清了我们的过犯，祂的复活让我们盼待祂的再来与审判。祂赐下的盼望不会死，祂的安慰常在，在祂里面我们稳如磐石，因我们的主已胜过了世界。

在音乐会听到小孩子在唱《平安》时，异常的感动我。我心里暗暗的祝愿：「你要一直把这歌唱下去，好像我们唱给你们听一样。」近日特别多天灾人祸、逼迫和不公义，愿这歌也承载着我们，让我们注目于神。无论什么境况，愿平安与你常在。

When You’re Facing A Wall, Look Up To God

2025-05-12 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 20:1-21.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

2 Kings 20:1-3 (NIV) 
1  In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” 
2  Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 
3  “Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

On verses 1-3:  Hezekiah is suffering from a life-threatening illness.  Initially Isaiah brings a message to Hezekiah from the Lord saying that he must get ready to die.  Turning his face to the wall, Hezekiah prays, weeps, and pleads with God for mercy.

God Will Defend and Protect You

2025-05-11 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 19:20-37.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

2 Kings 19:20-21 (NIV)
20  Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.
21  This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: “‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.

On verses 20-21:  Here God responds to King Hezekiah’s plea for help against King Sennacherib of Assyria.  Through the prophet Isaiah, God sends a reassuring message to Hezekiah.  First, the Lord tells Hezekiah that He has heard Hezekiah’s prayer (v20).