ANNOUNCEMENT
- Online Election: We will have an online deacon and deaconess election on November 12 & 13. Please read the guide and watch the how-to video.
ORDER OF WORSHIP
Call To Worship
Psalm 118 : 24
The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.
詩篇 118 : 24
這是耶和華所定的日子，我們在其中要高興歡喜。
Worship Through Songs
Good day beloved flock of our Lord—held, embraced, and cared for by our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
On the night of his betrayal, after their last meal together, Jesus reminded his disciples that love—especially their love for one another—is the foremost distinguishing mark of those who follow him. Jesus defined and elevated the essence of this love by directly connecting it with his own love for them… ‘A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’ This is after, as John recounted in John chapter 13, Jesus took on the role of a humble servant and washed his disciple’s feet, as part of his ‘loving them to the end’. How is this love that Jesus spoke of different from what we naturally encounter in the world at large?
Addressing a question similar to this, Donald Whitney in his book, ‘Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health’ wrote, “In normal circumstances, parents love their children, family members love each other, and people love their friends. This is true for Christians and non-Christians alike. God made us in such a way that, even in a fallen world, we naturally love certain people, thus the term natural affection … What’s different for the Christian is that he also acts as he does because he believes what he’s doing is the will of God. His love is more than self-sacrifice, for it contains a vertical Godward dimension as well as a horizontal one. The awareness that you are doing something pleasing to God adds a quality and depth to love, as well as a satisfaction in the exercise of it, that the natural affection of the world cannot reproduce.”
He continues, “…Christian love begins with God. We love because He first loved us. Then the more satisfaction and delight we find in His love, the more we delight in loving others … God is the Source of the love that flames in the Christian heart. We must bask in His love before we can expect it to consistently blaze forth from us toward others.”
Christian love at its core is different from the world’s because of its fundamental distinctive—the love of God displayed in Christ. We are only able to truly love because we have first been utterly loved by God. And the highest expression of this relentless, self-sacrificing love is the cross of Calvary where God gave, for our atonement, his beloved Son—in whom He is well-pleased—and allowed him to bear all the wickedness, ugliness, and filth of our sin. Purchasing for us life, freedom, and reconciliation with God. A peculiar mark, therefore, of a person who truly understands this indescribable grace is the possession of a humble and grateful heart that is gradually growing in graciousness and love. Yes, love not only for God, our family, and our brethren in Christ, but love even for the undeserving—as we remember in humility that we too are undeserving. In light of this, most of us still have a long way to go. We have a lot of growing to do.
‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.’*
For your Name’s sake. Amen. *[St. Francis of Assisi]
Anthem
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee with Cry Of My Heart
Scripture Reading
James 3 : 13 – 18
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
雅各書 3 : 13 – 18
13 你 們 中 間 誰 是 有 智 慧 有 見 識 的 呢 ？ 他 就 當 在 智 慧 的 溫 柔 上 顯 出 他 的 善 行 來 。
14 你 們 心 裡 若 懷 著 苦 毒 的 嫉 妒 和 分 爭 ， 就 不 可 自 誇 ， 也 不 可 說 謊 話 抵 擋 真 道 。
15 這 樣 的 智 慧 不 是 從 上 頭 來 的 ， 乃 是 屬 地 的 ， 屬 情 慾 的 ， 屬 鬼 魔 的 。
16 在 何 處 有 嫉 妒 、 分 爭 ， 就 在 何 處 有 擾 亂 和 各 樣 的 壞 事 。
17 惟 獨 從 上 頭 來 的 智 慧 ， 先 是 清 潔 ， 後 是 和 平 ， 溫 良 柔 順 ， 滿 有 憐 憫 ， 多 結 善 果 ， 沒 有 偏 見 ， 沒 有 假 冒 。
18 並 且 使 人 和 平 的 ， 是 用 和 平 所 栽 種 的 義 果 。
Sermon
Rev. Vicente Sia
謝國智牧師
Communion
Song of Reflection
English:
中文:
Tithes And Offering
If you are led by the Lord to give for the purpose He has placed in your heart as a way of sharing your blessings or giving thanks to the Lord,
Kindly click here for more information.
Benediction Song
