As the storm of the coronavirus pandemic has not yet stopped, it has brought us so many chains and fetters: we cannot leave our mouth and nose exposed as we need to wear a mask every day; we need to show our health code everywhere we go; most Chinese stay put during Spring Festival and for the first time, they cannot experience New Year’s reunion... In the post-epidemic era, do you know how to deal with chains and fetters we are now facing and wonder what work God will do?
Liu Tong, senior pastor of River of Life Christian Church in Silicon Valley, the United States announced in his latest sermon that we had entered a new season of God's blessing. It had been a full year since last March 17, when California began to “escape the epidemic” at home.
The American Chinese pastor shared, “Our brothers and sisters are very excited to be able to worship in the sanctuary now. Although there is just a small group of brothers and sisters gathering, it is the beginning of a new season from God.”
Quoting Joel 2:23-25, he said, “The people of Zion means us. The autumn and spring rains represent the change of seasons. God's people should rejoice and be glad because God is bringing us into a new season. A new season is not the same as a new thing. Our God is the God who always makes something new. However, new things refer to what God does in each of us, and a new thing in you is different from that in me. But a new season means everything is going to change, it's a holistic change.”
Regarding what work God would do in this new season, Pastor Liu said, "When God works among us, he must first restore our spiritual hunger and thirst. Looking back on the past year, whether it was an assembly, prayer meeting, or gathering, it was all on the internet. We found it convenient, indeed it was, but the enemy also robbed us of the grace and blessing of God's glorious manifestation in our midst."
“God is with us all the time, but we need to understand that the presence of God in our personal lives is not the same as the presence manifested in the congregation. The Lord's manifestation in each of us is to make us personally experience his healing and guidance; but his presence in the congregation is to release his power and might to bring us healing and set us free,” he added.
He continued, "God's will is always to lead us forward into his promised land and promised grace. Although God has led us through many graces before, each new day we cannot rely on yesterday's grace. As the environment changes, God's leadership also changes. We have to follow God each day with faith and with a keen heart to follow the correction by the Holy Spirit so that we will see the work from the Holy Spirit."
“Favor is not a special favoritism from God. In fact, the Bible says that God is not partial," Liu emphasized.
He preached that Abraham was a man who won God's favor, and humanly speaking, he was not perfect. Twice he deceived people that his wife Sarah was his sister in order to protect his name. As a result, he almost had his wife taken away from him. But when God said He would give him the promised land, he obeyed God’s order before he knew where he was going.
“If we had been faced with such a situation, we would probably not have walked out even after thinking about it. Abraham was given favor not because of God's favoritism, but by following God with faith.”
Thinking back on these past 25 years about his church, he recalled that in the beginning there was nothing but simple faith, he believed that the river of life would flow from their midst to all nations and peoples. He said, “On the first day the church, we were singing ‘May your glory come here'. We have experienced many signs and wonders in these past 25 years and see God make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert. When I am asked: ‘You are doing such a good job in cross-cultural mission, do you have special methods or strategies?' Every time I get this question I am embarrassed to answer, in the beginning we had neither a method nor a strategy. All the strategies and methods I am talking about now are from personal experience. From the beginning, we simply relied on faith, just following biblical leadership."
“Over the past 25 years we have encountered storms but we always come through with our eyes fixed on God. Whenever we failed, we always remained obedient to God's leadership and became renewed by God again and again, even in the midst of setbacks. Now, in the face of the recovery from the epidemic which is a path we have not walked before, we need God to give us strategies and make a way for us. Moreover, we need God to restore our faith in following Him.”
“No matter how much grace and works from God we have experienced in the past, we must return to God once again and follow Him with our whole heart and whole mind before we can experience His works once again in this present age”.
“The most obvious sign when God will begin to restore His people is joy.” Pastor Liu Tong said, “When people experience God’s power, they naturally begin to praise, and joy is in their midst.
This was why people longed to come into the presence of God when He began to work, because there was a satisfying joy in His presence. This joy was not from favorable circumstances, but the unspeakable joy in the heart that was full of glory.
"Some may ask ‘How can we have such joy now during the epidemic?’ The solution is that God has given us a very special anointing - the anointing of a ‘breaker’."
According to Micah 2:13, Pastor Lau said, "God gives us the anointing of a ‘breaker’, which means that God comes among us as a breaker, manifesting his glorious presence".
"He can break all the heavy yokes in our lives, he can remove all the gloom in our lives and bring us back to freedom and liberty". "Although the epidemic is not yet over, we need to believe that we have entered God's new season. The anointing of God will come upon us in a holistic way so that we can break free from the chains and fetters of the past with our thirsty hearts and faith, and have the power to overcome all."
疫情的风波尚未停息。这场疫情给我们带来了太多的捆绑和束缚。不能以真正的面目示人，每天都需要带着口罩；走到哪里都需要出示你的健康码；就地过年，第一次没有感受到亲人团聚的新年……
在后疫情时代，面对这么多的捆绑和束缚，你是否不知道该如何面对？不知道神又会做怎样的工作？
矽谷生命河灵粮堂的刘彤牧师，在最近一次的证道中，宣布我们已经进入神新的季节。
从去年3月17号加州开始居家“避疫”，直到现在，已经整整一年了。刘彤牧师分享说：“如今可以来到圣殿敬拜，弟兄姐妹们都很兴奋。虽然只是从一小群的弟兄姐妹开始聚集，但是却是神新的季节的开始。”
引用珥2:23-25，刘彤牧师说：“锡安的民，指的就是我们。秋雨、春雨，就代表季节的转换。神的百姓应当欢喜快乐，因为神要带我们进入一个新的季节了。新的季节和新的事情是不一样的。我们的神是永远做新事的神。但是新的事情，是神在我们各人的身上做新事，你的新事和我的新事是不一样的。但是新的季节不一样，一切都要改变了，是整体性的改变。”
在新的季节，神会做什么工作呢？
刘彤牧师说：“当神在我们中间工作的时候，首先他一定要恢复我们属灵的饥渴。”
“回想过去的一年，无论是聚会也好，见面也好，小组祷告，聚餐也好等等，都是在网络上进行。我们觉得很方便，确实很方便，但是仇敌也夺取了神荣耀的彰显在我们中间的恩典与祝福。”刘彤牧师说：“神是一直与我们同在。但是我们要明白，神在我们个人生命的同在和在聚会中彰显的同在是不一样的。主在我们个人彰显他的同在是让我们经历他的医治和引导；但是在会众中的同在确实要释放他的权柄与能力带来医治和释放的大能。”
"神的心意永远是带领我们向前行。要带领我们进入他应许之地，应许的恩典。所以无论神之前带领我们经历他多少的恩典，今天我们都不能依靠昨天的恩典。因为大环境不同，神的带领也不同。我们每一天都要带着信心来跟随神，而且要存着敏锐的心来跟从圣灵的矫正，这样我们会看到圣灵的工作。"
我们常常期待神的恩宠的临到，但是刘牧师说：“恩宠并不是神特别的偏心。事实上，圣经上说神不偏待人。”
亚伯拉罕是神恩宠的人，而从人的角度讲，他不是完美的人。他两次为了保护自己的姓名，欺骗别人说他的妻子撒拉是自己的妹妹。结果，差点让自己的妻子被抢去。但当神说要给他应许之地的时候，他还不知道要往哪里去，就跟从的走了出去。
“换了我们，恐怕考虑再三也不会走出去。他得到恩宠，并不是因为神的偏待，而是用信心跟随神。”
刘彤牧师开始回想自己的教会这过去的25年。最开始什么都没有，只有一颗单纯的信心。相信生命河要从我们中间涌流到万国万民。
他说：“教会开始的第一天，我们就在唱：‘愿你荣耀降临此地’。这25年，我们经历多少神迹奇事，看见神在旷野为我们开道路，在沙漠为我们开江河。当有人问我：‘你们跨文化宣教做的这么好，你们有什么方法和策略吗？’每次遇到这样的问题我都会不好意思回答：‘很抱歉，最开始我们既无方法也没有策略。’我现在讲的策略和方法，都是走过来，整理之后在讲出来的。我们从一开始，就是很简单，凭着信心跟随圣经的领导。“
“25年来我们不是没有风浪，我们总是定睛在神的身上走过来。我们不是没有失败过，但是我们总是顺从神的带领，在挫折中一次一次被神更新。如今，面对疫情的恢复，这也是我们没有走过的道路。我们需要神给我们策略，需要神给我们开道路。我们更需要神恢复我们跟随神的信心。”
"无论过去我们经历多少神的恩典和作为，我们必须要再一次回到神的面前，同心合意来跟随，我们才可能在现今的时代再一次经历神的作为”。
“神要开始在他的百姓中间做恢复的工作的时候，最明显的记号就是喜乐。”刘彤牧师说，“因为当人们经历神的大能的时候，自然而然的就开始赞美，喜乐就在他们中间。这为什么当神开始工作是的时候，人们渴望来到神的面前，因为在神的面前人们有满足的喜乐。这个喜乐不是环境的顺利，而是心灵里面有说不出来满有荣光的喜乐。有人会问，现在在疫情期间，我们怎么可能会有这种喜乐？可是神已经赐给我们一个很特别的恩膏——突破者的恩膏。”
根据弥2:13，刘牧师分享：“神赐给我们突破者的恩膏，意思就是神以突破者的身份，降临在我们中间，彰显他荣耀的同在。”
“他能断开我们生命当中一切的沉重轭，他能够除去我们生命当中一切的阴霾，重新带我们释放和自由。”
“虽然现在疫情还没有结束，但是我们要相信已经进入了神新的季节。神的恩膏整体性地会降临在我们的身上，让我们能带着渴慕的心和信心，摆脱过去的束缚和捆绑，有能力胜过所有的一切。”
刘彤牧师：后疫情时代会进入神新的季节
As the storm of the coronavirus pandemic has not yet stopped, it has brought us so many chains and fetters: we cannot leave our mouth and nose exposed as we need to wear a mask every day; we need to show our health code everywhere we go; most Chinese stay put during Spring Festival and for the first time, they cannot experience New Year’s reunion... In the post-epidemic era, do you know how to deal with chains and fetters we are now facing and wonder what work God will do?
Liu Tong, senior pastor of River of Life Christian Church in Silicon Valley, the United States announced in his latest sermon that we had entered a new season of God's blessing. It had been a full year since last March 17, when California began to “escape the epidemic” at home.
The American Chinese pastor shared, “Our brothers and sisters are very excited to be able to worship in the sanctuary now. Although there is just a small group of brothers and sisters gathering, it is the beginning of a new season from God.”
Quoting Joel 2:23-25, he said, “The people of Zion means us. The autumn and spring rains represent the change of seasons. God's people should rejoice and be glad because God is bringing us into a new season. A new season is not the same as a new thing. Our God is the God who always makes something new. However, new things refer to what God does in each of us, and a new thing in you is different from that in me. But a new season means everything is going to change, it's a holistic change.”
Regarding what work God would do in this new season, Pastor Liu said, "When God works among us, he must first restore our spiritual hunger and thirst. Looking back on the past year, whether it was an assembly, prayer meeting, or gathering, it was all on the internet. We found it convenient, indeed it was, but the enemy also robbed us of the grace and blessing of God's glorious manifestation in our midst."
“God is with us all the time, but we need to understand that the presence of God in our personal lives is not the same as the presence manifested in the congregation. The Lord's manifestation in each of us is to make us personally experience his healing and guidance; but his presence in the congregation is to release his power and might to bring us healing and set us free,” he added.
He continued, "God's will is always to lead us forward into his promised land and promised grace. Although God has led us through many graces before, each new day we cannot rely on yesterday's grace. As the environment changes, God's leadership also changes. We have to follow God each day with faith and with a keen heart to follow the correction by the Holy Spirit so that we will see the work from the Holy Spirit."
“Favor is not a special favoritism from God. In fact, the Bible says that God is not partial," Liu emphasized.
He preached that Abraham was a man who won God's favor, and humanly speaking, he was not perfect. Twice he deceived people that his wife Sarah was his sister in order to protect his name. As a result, he almost had his wife taken away from him. But when God said He would give him the promised land, he obeyed God’s order before he knew where he was going.
“If we had been faced with such a situation, we would probably not have walked out even after thinking about it. Abraham was given favor not because of God's favoritism, but by following God with faith.”
Thinking back on these past 25 years about his church, he recalled that in the beginning there was nothing but simple faith, he believed that the river of life would flow from their midst to all nations and peoples. He said, “On the first day the church, we were singing ‘May your glory come here'. We have experienced many signs and wonders in these past 25 years and see God make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert. When I am asked: ‘You are doing such a good job in cross-cultural mission, do you have special methods or strategies?' Every time I get this question I am embarrassed to answer, in the beginning we had neither a method nor a strategy. All the strategies and methods I am talking about now are from personal experience. From the beginning, we simply relied on faith, just following biblical leadership."
“Over the past 25 years we have encountered storms but we always come through with our eyes fixed on God. Whenever we failed, we always remained obedient to God's leadership and became renewed by God again and again, even in the midst of setbacks. Now, in the face of the recovery from the epidemic which is a path we have not walked before, we need God to give us strategies and make a way for us. Moreover, we need God to restore our faith in following Him.”
“No matter how much grace and works from God we have experienced in the past, we must return to God once again and follow Him with our whole heart and whole mind before we can experience His works once again in this present age”.
“The most obvious sign when God will begin to restore His people is joy.” Pastor Liu Tong said, “When people experience God’s power, they naturally begin to praise, and joy is in their midst.
This was why people longed to come into the presence of God when He began to work, because there was a satisfying joy in His presence. This joy was not from favorable circumstances, but the unspeakable joy in the heart that was full of glory.
"Some may ask ‘How can we have such joy now during the epidemic?’ The solution is that God has given us a very special anointing - the anointing of a ‘breaker’."
According to Micah 2:13, Pastor Lau said, "God gives us the anointing of a ‘breaker’, which means that God comes among us as a breaker, manifesting his glorious presence".
"He can break all the heavy yokes in our lives, he can remove all the gloom in our lives and bring us back to freedom and liberty". "Although the epidemic is not yet over, we need to believe that we have entered God's new season. The anointing of God will come upon us in a holistic way so that we can break free from the chains and fetters of the past with our thirsty hearts and faith, and have the power to overcome all."
Pastor Liu Tong: A New Season of God in Post-epidemic Era
