ORDER OF WORSHIP
ANNOUNCEMENT
- Online Election: We will have an online deacon and deaconess election this coming November. Please read the guide and watch the how to video.
Call To Worship
Psalm 48 : 1 – 6
1 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights above. 2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts. 3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. 4 Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. 5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created, 6 and he established them for ever and ever—he issued a decree that will never pass away.
詩篇 48 : 1 – 6
1 你們要讚美耶和華！從天上讚美耶和華，在高處讚美他！2 他的眾使者都要讚美他，他的諸軍都要讚美他！3 日頭月亮，你們要讚美他！放光的星宿，你們都要讚美他！4 天上的天和天上的水，你們都要讚美他！5 願這些都讚美耶和華的名，因他一吩咐便都造成。6 他將這些立定，直到永永遠遠；他定了命，不能廢去。
Worship Through Songs
Good day dear brothers and sisters in Christ. May this day find you delighting in the joy of our salvation; and being delighted over by our great God and Savior himself Jesus Christ.
The spoken word is one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind. It enables us to reason, understand, and apprehend truth. It allows us to communicate and relate with others. It is one of our most notable distinctions as God’s image bearers over the rest of creation and is one of the few acts of God which we can mimic, albeit on a creaturely scale: as God can speak, so can we.
On the entry about Speech and the Spoken Word, the IVP New Dictionary of Ethics and Pastoral Theology reads, “In several striking metaphors and similes, the Bible highlights the immense power of the spoken word. Words are weapons – spears, swords and arrows (Pss. 57:4; 64:3; Je. 9:8). The tongue is like a bit in the horse’s mouth, a rudder at the stern of a ship, or a small spark that sets a forest ablaze; its influence is out of all proportion to its size (Jas. 3:2-12).
It is in the world of ideas that the tongue is at its most influential. The book of Proverbs brings that out with particular force. Words shape convictions and change attitudes (Pr. 10:21; 18:8). Indeed, this is the sphere of human experience in which God’s Word is especially active, as it penetrates to the level of thoughts and intentions (Heb. 4:12). Modern Christians need no persuading of the power of propaganda and the influence of the media. Like any other source of power, the faculty of speech may be used positively or abused disastrously.” James 1:9 poignantly describes the potency of this double-edged sword: how at times ‘with the same tongue we can bless our Lord and Father, then afterwards curse people who are made in the likeness of God.’
Yet as potent and portentous the ‘tongue’ may be, in actual fact it is but an ‘exhaust pipe’ for the heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. Our speech is but the output device for the processes of our hearts—which in biblical terms encompasses the core of our inner life. The real issue then is ‘what fills each of our hearts?’. For whatever fills it will find its way out through our deeds and our words. If pride, anger and selfishness are at the core, the outflow will be angry, bitter and degrading. On the other hand, a heart filled with truth will overflow in truthful speech; a heart filled with grace, in gracious words; a heart filled with Christ, in Christ-honoring talk.
As followers of Christ—forgiven, saved and renewed—we thus seek to embody the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 3, ‘that according to the riches of his glory God may grant us to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in our inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith—that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fullness of God’, so that our hearts—and consequently our words and our deeds—may exude the goodness and beauty of Jesus our Lord.
‘Blessed be Your name, Lord God, for ever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to You.
You change the times and the seasons;
You raise up kings and depose them.
You give wisdom to the wise
And knowledge to those who have understanding.
You reveal deep and hidden things;
You know what is in the darkness,
And light dwells with You.
I will arise and bless You, Lord my God;
You are from everlasting to everlasting.
Blessed be Your glorious name,
Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
I will trust in You, O Lord,
And lean not on my own understanding;
In all my ways I will acknowledge You,
And You will make my paths straight.
I will not be wise in my own eyes,
But fear You and depart from evil.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be pleasing in Your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.’*
In Jesus’ name, amen. * [Kenneth Boa, based on various Scripture]
Anthem
聽我心聲
Scripture Reading
For Rev. Rival’s message
James 3 : 1 – 12
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
雅 各 書 3 : 1 – 12
1 我 的 弟 兄 們 ， 不 要 多 人 作 師 傅 ， 因 為 曉 得 我 們 要 受 更 重 的 判 斷 。
2 原 來 我 們 在 許 多 事 上 都 有 過 失 ； 若 有 人 在 話 語 上 沒 有 過 失 ， 他 就 是 完 全 人 ， 也 能 勒 住 自 己 的 全 身 。
3 我 們 若 把 嚼 環 放 在 馬 嘴 裡 ， 叫 牠 順 服 ， 就 能 調 動 牠 的 全 身 。
4 看 哪 ， 船 隻 雖 然 甚 大 ， 又 被 大 風 催 逼 ， 只 用 小 小 的 舵 ， 就 隨 著 掌 舵 的 意 思 轉 動 。
5 這 樣 ， 舌 頭 在 百 體 裡 也 是 最 小 的 ， 卻 能 說 大 話 。 看 哪 ， 最 小 的 火 能 點 著 最 大 的 樹 林 。
6 舌 頭 就 是 火 ， 在 我 們 百 體 中 ， 舌 頭 是 個 罪 惡 的 世 界 ， 能 污 穢 全 身 ， 也 能 把 生 命 的 輪 子 點 起 來 ， 並 且 是 從 地 獄 裡 點 著 的 。
7 各 類 的 走 獸 、 飛 禽 、 昆 蟲 ， 水 族 ， 本 來 都 可 以 制 伏 ， 也 已 經 被 人 制 伏 了 ；
8 惟 獨 舌 頭 沒 有 人 能 制 伏 ， 是 不 止 息 的 惡 物 ， 滿 了 害 死 人 的 毒 氣 。
9 我 們 用 舌 頭 頌 讚 那 為 主 、 為 父 的 ， 又 用 舌 頭 咒 詛 那 照 著 神 形 像 被 造 的 人 。
10 頌 讚 和 咒 詛 從 一 個 口 裡 出 來 ！ 我 的 弟 兄 們 ， 這 是 不 應 當 的 ！
11 泉 源 從 一 個 眼 裡 能 發 出 甜 苦 兩 樣 的 水 麼 ？
12 我 的 弟 兄 們 ， 無 花 果 樹 能 生 橄 欖 麼 ？ 葡 萄 樹 能 結 無 花 果 麼 ？ 鹹 水 裡 也 不 能 發 出 甜 水 來 。
For Pastor Po’s message
Mark 10 : 20 – 24, 28 – 31
20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God!
28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
馬 可 福 音 10 : 20 – 24, 28 – 31
20 他 對 耶 穌 說 ： 夫 子 ， 這 一 切 我 從 小 都 遵 守 了 。
21 耶 穌 看 著 他 ， 就 愛 他 ， 對 他 說 ： 你 還 缺 少 一 件 ： 去 變 賣 你 所 有 的 ， 分 給 窮 人 ， 就 必 有 財 寶 在 天 上 ； 你 還 要 來 跟 從 我 。
22 他 聽 見 這 話 ， 臉 上 就 變 了 色 ， 憂 憂 愁 愁 的 走 了 ， 因 為 他 的 產 業 很 多 。
23 耶 穌 周 圍 一 看 ， 對 門 徒 說 ： 有 錢 財 的 人 進 神 的 國 是 何 等 的 難 哪 !
24 門 徒 希 奇 他 的 話 。 耶 穌 又 對 他 們 說 ： 小 子 ， 倚 靠 錢 財 的 人 進 神 的 國 是 何 等 的 難 哪 ！
28 彼 得 就 對 他 說 ： 看 哪 ， 我 們 已 經 撇 下 所 有 的 跟 從 你 了 。
29 耶 穌 說 ： 我 實 在 告 訴 你 們 ， 人 為 我 和 福 音 撇 下 房 屋 ， 或 是 弟 兄 、 姐 妹 、 父 母 、 兒 女 、 田 地 ，
30 沒 有 不 在 今 世 得 百 倍 的 ， 就 是 房 屋 、 弟 兄 、 姐 妹 、 母 親 、 兒 女 、 田 地 ， 並 且 要 受 逼 迫 ， 在 來 世 必 得 永 生 。
31 然 而 ， 有 許 多 在 前 的 ， 將 要 在 後 ， 在 後 的 ， 將 要 在 前 。
Sermon
Rev. Alvin Rival
Pastor Dereik Po
中文翻譯
Tithes And Offering
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