【双语灵修】许多的人A Great Multitude

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“见有许多的人，没有人能数过来，是从各国、各族、各民、各方来的，站在宝座和羔羊面前…。” - 启 7:9

我们的校园事工每个星期四下午5时30分会聚集敬拜、查经和祈祷。我们也会有擘饼和团契生活。有一次我们的聚会有16人参加，而他们是来自9个不同的国家和地区，包括非洲、亚洲、欧洲、加勒比海、北美洲和南美洲。有些人会说，基督教是一个“西方”宗教，但事实上神国是由世界各地的人组成的！

很可惜，在欧洲和北美洲，教会已停滞不前。在加拿大、美国和西欧有无数教会已关闭了。其他很多的教会还在勉强支撑生存下去，每星期的崇拜出席人数不断下降。不过，从其他地方来的新人，正为我们的敬拜群体注入了新生命。

虽然这些新人来到“西方”时缺乏经济资源，但他们却充满一种令人惊奇和能感染人对耶稣基督的热情。我们应欢迎和融合这些在基督里的弟兄姐妹，一起去建立恢复活力的敬拜群体。这会让我们瞥见约翰在启示录7章所描述的景象。能够和世上每个国家的人一起敬拜，是最美好不过的事。

祷告

主啊，感谢你藉着从各国来的新人把新生命注入我们的教会。我们奉耶稣的名求你继续叫你的国度增长。阿们。

启示录 7:9-17

9此后我观看，见有许多的人，没有人能数过来，是从各国、各族、各民、各方来的，站在宝座和羔羊面前，身穿白衣，手拿棕树枝，
10大声喊着说：“愿救恩归于坐在宝座上我们的神，也归于羔羊！”
11众天使都站在宝座和众长老并四活物的周围，在宝座前面伏于地，敬拜神，
12说：“阿们！颂赞、荣耀、智慧、感谢、尊贵、权柄、大力都归于我们的神，直到永永远远！阿们。”
13长老中有一位问我说：“这些穿白衣的是谁？是从哪里来的？”
14我对他说：“我主，你知道。”他向我说：“这些人是从大患难中出来的，曾用羔羊的血把衣裳洗白净了。
15所以，他们在神宝座前，昼夜在他殿中侍奉他；坐宝座的要用帐幕覆庇他们。
16他们不再饥、不再渴，日头和炎热也必不伤害他们，
17因为宝座中的羔羊必牧养他们，领他们到生命水的泉源；神也必擦去他们一切的眼泪。”

A Great Multitude

"There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb." - Revelation 7:9

In our campus ministry we gather at 5:30 on Thursday afternoons for a time of worship, Bible study, and prayer. We also break bread and enjoy fellowship together. On one occasion, we had 16 people gathered from nine different countries. They were from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, and North and South America. Sometimes people say that Christianity is a "Western" religion, but God's kingdom is made up of people from all over the world!

Sadly, in Europe and North America, the church is growing stale. Countless congregations across Canada, the United States, and Western Europe have closed. Many others are struggling to remain open. Weekly attendance at worship services has been decreasing. Yet newcomers from other lands are breathing new life into our worshiping communities.

Though many newcomers arrive in the "West" lacking financial resources, they often come with an amazing, infectious passion for Jesus Christ. We do well to embrace and enfold our brothers and sisters in Christ, seeking together to build revitalized worshiping communities. This helps us to glimpse what John describes in Revelation 7. It is hard to find anything more beautiful than worshiping together with people of every nation.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for breathing new life into our churches through newcomers from all nations. Keep growing your kingdom, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.

诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳