A Shanghai church held a meditation service to commemorate the passion of the Lord on April 2, Good Friday.
In the sanctuary of Gospel Church in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, a wooden cross stood on the altar with a crown of thorns and a black gauze. Before the service, the host stated that this was a common worship both on and off the stage, which required the congregation to prepare the body and mind to participate in it.
The liturgical service lasted for more than one and a half hours, including lectionary, recitations, hymns, sermons and prayers.
Before the sermon, the congregation read John 18:1-19:42 in a dialogue manner to relive the process of Jesus' arrest, trial, and final crucifixion. The staff workers of the church played the roles of narrator, Jesus, guard, priest and Pilate, while the congregation read the words of the Jews.
After a moment of silence, Pastor Tian Feng shared on the topic of "Precious Cross" in a sermon. She began by saying that the grace of God flowed from the cross which showed His love and complete salvation. "He will save His people from their sins", was God's promise to mankind when He gave His one and only Son.
She mentioned that due to the coronavirus pandemic, last year's Good Friday was held online in which believers lacked in-person fellowship. At that time, people were cautious over this invisible new corona virus which could spread from person to person. Today, from Eve to Adam to all mankind, we cannot overcome sins which are like viruses in our minds, falling into sins without realizing them.
"In a way, the cross is like a vaccine for sins. We were so eager for the vaccine to appear during the pandemic, but now that it has appeared, we are cautiously waiting and watching," she said.
She continued, "Do you still wait and watch out for Jesus today? Although we will still be corroded by sin, we are not afraid because the Lord is in us after we confess our transgressions, similarly to being vaccinated. What we believe is that Jesus was crucified for us and was resurrected on the third day, so we will no longer be bound by sin."
The pastor pointed out that the "vaccine" for Christians was to take up their cross and to follow the Lord.
She went on to declare that God had sent the Holy Spirit to us after the resurrection of Jesus.
She claimed, "Why are we still waiting and watching? There are many reasons, but the wonderful God does not force us but just waits patiently with love. The cross makes us reflect on ourselves and analyze our sins. The cross is also a complete manifestation of God's love. "
"If there is no love, who can be close to the truth?"
She reminded the congregation to examine how much they had grown in faith and whether they had a closer relationship with the Lord by thinking about the love of the cross.
Afterwards, under the leadership of the host, the congregation prayed for the holy church of God, all the holy items and the unity of Christians, as well as for all the believers, public officials, those to be baptized, those who had not believed in Jesus, and those who were suffering.
(The original article is published by Gospel Times)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
2021年4月2日，受难日，上海浦东新区基督教福音堂举行了“宝贵十架”救主受难日默想崇拜。
走进会场，挂着荆棘冠冕、披着黑纱的木制十架树立台上。崇拜未开始前，主领人就指出，今天的默想崇拜是台上台下共同的崇拜，需要会众预备身心，一起参与。
整个礼仪崇拜持续余一个半小时，礼仪包括经课，诵读、圣诗、证道、祷告等。
礼仪中还有一个环节是大家以对话方式读约翰福音18：1-19：42，教会同工分别扮演旁述、耶稣、警卫、祭司、彼拉多等角色，而会众和犹大人由全体会众同读，再现了耶稣被捕、被审，最后钉十字架的经过。
静默片刻后，田峰牧师以《宝贵十架》为题证道，她提到，十字架彰显的是上帝的大爱，神的恩典从十字架上流出来。我们要坚定的确信十字架是完全的救赎，“将世人从罪恶中救出来”，这是上帝在赐下耶稣时，向着人类的承诺。
她提到，这一年多来，受疫情影响，大家的信仰生活也一直很波动，去年的受难周是线上度过的，缺乏一种礼仪的相交。当时新冠病毒可以人传人，面对这个肉眼看不见的病毒，大家都很谨慎。而今天，罪也像病毒一样，从夏娃到亚当，到全人类，我们思想上是无法胜过罪，毫无意识就陷入到了罪当中。而十字架从某种程度来说，就像罪恶的疫苗，我们当时多么渴望疫苗的出现，但是疫苗出现了，我们又在观望。
“今天大家还要观望耶稣吗？这个‘疫苗’打下去，是要让我们承认我们的过犯，虽然我们还会遭到罪的侵蚀，但我们不害怕，因为有主在我们里面。我们的信心，就是耶稣为我们钉在十字架上，并且第三天复活，不再受罪恶的捆绑。”田牧师继续指出，基督徒的“疫苗”是什么？就是背起你的十字架跟从主。
她继续讲到，基督已经复活，差遣圣灵来到我们当中，我们为何还在观望，理由很多，但是神很奇妙，他不强迫，只是用爱来不断的忍耐等候。十字架让我们一是自省，自己省察自己的罪，二是剖析罪恶。十字架也是神的爱的完全的彰显，“若没有爱，谁能靠近真理呢？”
她提醒会众，今天透过思念这份十字架的爱，要自省自己在信仰上有多大的长进，和主的关系是否更加亲密。
之后会众在主礼人的带领下，分别为上帝的圣教会、所有圣品及全体会众、为将要领洗的信徒、为基督徒合一、为未信奉福音的人、为不接受上帝的人、为公职人员、为遭受苦难的人祷告。
http://www.gospeltimes.cn/portal/article/index/id/55901
上海浦东新区福音堂举行2021年救主受难纪念 一起默想“宝贵十架”
A Shanghai church held a meditation service to commemorate the passion of the Lord on April 2, Good Friday.
In the sanctuary of Gospel Church in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, a wooden cross stood on the altar with a crown of thorns and a black gauze. Before the service, the host stated that this was a common worship both on and off the stage, which required the congregation to prepare the body and mind to participate in it.
The liturgical service lasted for more than one and a half hours, including lectionary, recitations, hymns, sermons and prayers.
Before the sermon, the congregation read John 18:1-19:42 in a dialogue manner to relive the process of Jesus' arrest, trial, and final crucifixion. The staff workers of the church played the roles of narrator, Jesus, guard, priest and Pilate, while the congregation read the words of the Jews.
After a moment of silence, Pastor Tian Feng shared on the topic of "Precious Cross" in a sermon. She began by saying that the grace of God flowed from the cross which showed His love and complete salvation. "He will save His people from their sins", was God's promise to mankind when He gave His one and only Son.
She mentioned that due to the coronavirus pandemic, last year's Good Friday was held online in which believers lacked in-person fellowship. At that time, people were cautious over this invisible new corona virus which could spread from person to person. Today, from Eve to Adam to all mankind, we cannot overcome sins which are like viruses in our minds, falling into sins without realizing them.
"In a way, the cross is like a vaccine for sins. We were so eager for the vaccine to appear during the pandemic, but now that it has appeared, we are cautiously waiting and watching," she said.
She continued, "Do you still wait and watch out for Jesus today? Although we will still be corroded by sin, we are not afraid because the Lord is in us after we confess our transgressions, similarly to being vaccinated. What we believe is that Jesus was crucified for us and was resurrected on the third day, so we will no longer be bound by sin."
The pastor pointed out that the "vaccine" for Christians was to take up their cross and to follow the Lord.
She went on to declare that God had sent the Holy Spirit to us after the resurrection of Jesus.
She claimed, "Why are we still waiting and watching? There are many reasons, but the wonderful God does not force us but just waits patiently with love. The cross makes us reflect on ourselves and analyze our sins. The cross is also a complete manifestation of God's love. "
"If there is no love, who can be close to the truth?"
She reminded the congregation to examine how much they had grown in faith and whether they had a closer relationship with the Lord by thinking about the love of the cross.
Afterwards, under the leadership of the host, the congregation prayed for the holy church of God, all the holy items and the unity of Christians, as well as for all the believers, public officials, those to be baptized, those who had not believed in Jesus, and those who were suffering.
(The original article is published by Gospel Times)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Shanghai Church Marks Jesus’ Passion on Good Friday
