【International Ministry / Sandy Tsai】How great it is to have January 1 on a Sunday! Even though some people stayed up late to count down to the new year with friends and family, we still prepared ourselves to worship God on the first morning of 2017. It was so refreshing to welcome a whole new year with God. The most exciting thing was that the English service had its very first Communion!
In the sermon, Dylan preached about the last supper Jesus had with his disciples. Even though the whole world is celebrating the new year and rushing to stores to take advantage of sales, we, as Christians, should take this opportunity to remember the day Jesus died for us. Isaiah 53 predicts how the Lord would suffer and sacrifice himself for human beings. In the New Testament, Jesus' suffering was exactly the same as it was described. Through his death, Jesus bore our sins and bought our freedom. Because of his blood, we have forgiveness. That's why we can stand here today, celebrating every new day and the glory of God.
Since the English serve started more than a year ago, we hadn't had our own Communion. Therefore, when the news was spread at the end of last year, all the members were so delighted and really looked forward to the occasion. With some new friends among us, both Dylan and Pastor Wu (Yu-ping), who led the Communion, carefully explained the meaning of receiving Communion. The Lord's Supper, written in 1 Corinthians 11, was read out by Pastor Wu and a special prayer was said by Elaine. Using a few minutes' silence, we prayed and reflected on what Pastor Yu-ping wanted us to think about: (1) Jesus Christ has died for you, (2) confess and repent, and (3) how do you respond to Jesus's sacrifice and love? We then ate the unleavened cracker and drank the cup of the Lord together, in remembrance of his unfailing love.
在英語崇拜成立一年多來，都是參與其他堂的聖餐禮。因此，當我們將在新年這天首次進行聖餐禮的消息傳來時，所有的同工會友都相當期待。因為還有其他新朋友參與崇拜，Dylan與玉萍牧師在講道及守聖餐前再次解釋其意義。聖餐禮中，玉萍牧師唸出哥林多前書十一章記載最後晚餐的經文，Elaine則負責第一部分的禱告。牧師也邀請會眾，利用幾分鐘的安靜時間，思想三件事：(1) 主耶穌為我們而死，(2) 認罪悔改，(3) 我們要如何回應耶穌基督的愛和犧牲。靜默後，眾人一同領受聖餐。
After saying “Happy New Year” and “Jesus loves you” to each other, the first service of the year was ended.
最後，在彼此祝賀「新年快樂」和「耶穌愛你」的問候聲中，結束新年的第一次崇拜。
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