During the online Global Chinese Mission Convention 2021, which took place in late December 2021, Reverend Liu Tong urged Chinese believers to imitate the mission of early churches under the pandemic.
Organized by the Ambassador For Christ, the conference was sponsored by the partner churches in Texas, the United States, aiming to become a catalyst for the completion of the Great Commission.
On the morning of December 29, 2021, Rev. Liu, senior pastor of the River of Life Christian Church in Silicon Valley, the United States, preached a sermon entitled "Imitate the Missionary Work of the Early Church".
The American Chinese pastor said, “The COVID-19 outbreak has brought our missionary work into a very difficult situation. However, the Bible tells us very clearly that we must preach the gospel in season and out of season. Facing an environment full of persecution and resistance, the early church was able to turn a generation around, becoming a missionary church. But how did they do it?"
Based on Acts 2:42-47, the pastor explored several aspects of missionary work.
Liu said, "The original meaning of 'Christian' is little Christ. Others thought that early church Christians spoke, acted, and even walked like Jesus. So they were just called 'little Christ'.
"In the early church, they lived such a good life. Seeing the testimony of their lives, other people were influenced by them."
"When is the power of the water in this dam released? It is when the gate of the sluice is opened, as the water rushing out of the sluice carries a huge amount of energy. Christ is powerful in our lives, but what is the floodgate of heaven? It is our obedience to God. We can see that obeying God’s words can release great power, which can change our lives,” he added.
As an evangelistic church, the main reason why the early church grew so fast was that laypeople spread the gospel wherever they went.
The senior pastor stated, "One of the most important things that churches need to do today is to promote the evangelism of the laity, who can use their expertise, profession, and preferences to spread the gospel to the end of the earth."
"It is not enough to rely on pastors to change the world, because there are seven mountains of societal influence, including government, business, arts & entertainment, media, education, family, and religion which is only one of them. We need people from all walks of life, who excel in their companies, to bring the Christian faith into the workplace to change the world.”
Rev. Liu mentioned that a short-term missionary team consisting of five IT engineers was sent to Cameroon in Africa to help a local missionary organization set up a wireless network, so the local missionaries no longer had to travel far to access Internet cafes. In Africa, they also conducted solar energy projects, using solar panels and batteries eliminated from cars to build a simple energy storage system. Every time they arrived at a village, they first gave the solar power system to the village chief, who used to have to go far to charge his mobile phone before, as the village had no electricity. Then when they asked him if they could preach the gospel there, he was very happy to let them build a church. And the second system was installed in the church, as villagers would flock to have a look at lights that were turned on in the church at night. So they took this opportunity to preach the gospel to them.
The early church was also the church of prayer. The pastor said, "Prayer is the secret to victory in our spiritual battle. Thinking ourselves as common folk, we don't know that God is pleased to hear the prayers of ordinary people."
The pastor shared that the gospel of Jesus Christ was definitely not just the salvation of the spirit, but the complete salvation of the body, soul, and spirit. In particular, Christians couldn’t just preach the gospel without caring about a person’s physical needs, albeit they may be hidden under the person. They needed to preach the full gospel to the whole person, achieving the whole-person healing, Liu said.
"The Great Commission is about every nation and people. The church in Jerusalem initially didn’t spread the gospel to other places, but they were forced to go out when the great persecution broke out. Reluctant to reach the Gentiles at first, the apostle Peter went to Cornelius' house to spread the gospel to him after Peter saw a vision. Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles when he was first called by the Lord. The early church showed us a demand of preaching the gospel to all nations and peoples,” the pastor concluded.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
美西时间12月28日晚上7点，2021全球华人差传大会拉开帷幕。此次全球华人差传大会是由基督使者协会承办，德克萨斯州的伙伴教会参加并赞助。全球华人差传大会致力与众华人教会和基督徒同行，成为完成大使命的催化剂。
29日上午，来自硅谷生命河灵粮堂的刘彤牧师在大会的专题讲座上分享了“效法初代教会的宣教行动”的信息。
刘牧师说到：这次新冠病毒的疫情，使我们的宣教事工面临很大的困境。可是，圣经很清楚的告诉我们说，无论得时不得时，都要传福音。初代的教会，他们所面对的是一个充满逼迫、抵挡的环境。但是他们却能够翻转世代，成为宣教的教会。那么到底他们是如何做到的呢？
在【徒2:42-47】这段经文当中，他提到了几个方面宣教的行动。
一．活出基督的生命
刘牧师分享道，“‘’基督徒‘’原来的、最初的意思其实就是小基督的意思。那些人他们怎么看都觉得，这些人他们讲话像耶稣，行为也像耶稣，甚至可能走起路来都像耶稣，所以干脆就叫他们小基督好了。”
“初代的教会，他们就是活出这样的一个见证，别人看见他们生命的见证，就被他们的生命所影响。”
”这个水坝的水的能力，是什么时候释放出来呢？就是当水闸的闸门被打开的时候，那个水从水闸中冲出来的时候，带着多么巨大的能量啊！那时候，我就明白过来——今天在我们的生命当中，基督在我们里面，是大有能力的。但是什么是我们属灵生命的水闸呢？这个属灵生命的水闸，就是我们对于神的话语的顺服。当我们遵行神的话语的时候，我们就能够看见遵行神的话语的本身，能够释放出来极大的能力，是能够改变我们生命的能力。”
二．遵行主的大使命
初代教会真的是一个传福音的教会。初代教会为什么会增长这么快呢？最主要的原因就是因为平信徒，他们走到哪里，就把福音传到那里。
牧者提到，“今天的教会最需要做的一件事情，就是要推动平信徒宣教，让平信徒用他们的专长，用他们的专业，用他们的喜好，来把福音传遍地极。”
那么怎么推动平信徒宣教呢？
1，推动职场事奉
“想要改变世界的话，光靠着牧师是远远不够的，因为影响世界的有七个很重要的山头，包括政府，经济，文化，媒体，教育，家庭，宗教。宗教信仰只不过是七个当中的一个而已。我们需要各行各业的人，在职场上有卓越的表现，能够把基督教的信仰潜移默化地带进职场，这样才能够改变世界。”
2，推动平信徒专业宣教
刘彤牧师提到，有一次组织了一个五个IT工程师组成的一个短宣队到了非洲喀麦隆，帮助当地的宣教机构建立好wifi网络，当地的传教士们不再需要走很远的路去网吧上网了。在非洲他们也做了建设太阳能板的事工，使用太阳能板和汽车淘汰下来的蓄电池来组建简单的发电储电系统。每到一个村子里面，把第一套发电系统先送给村长，村长有一台手机，可是想要充电的话必须走很远的路，因为村子里面完全没有电。我们把太阳能发电系统送给村长，他的手机就可以充电了，然后我们就问村长，能不能给我们一块地方，我们可以传福音？村长就很乐意，然后我们在那里建立教会，第二套太阳能发电系统就放在教会里面。到晚上的时候，教会里面一打开电灯，村民们就会涌过来，想要看看电是什么。我们就借着这样的机会给他们传福音。
三．恒切地祷告
初代教会是祷告的教会。牧者说：“祷告是我们属灵争战能够得胜的秘诀。我们常常认为自己非常平凡，但是却不知道，其实神最乐意听平凡人的祷告。”
四．推动慈善行动
牧者分享说 耶稣基督的福音绝对不仅仅只是灵魂的救恩而已，而是身心灵全倍的救恩。特别是在一些很落后的地方传福音的时候，不能够只传福音，却不顾念他们肉体上的需要。我们需要给全人传讲全倍的福音，让全人都得到医治和帮助。
五．走向万国万民
“大使命是关乎万国万民的。耶路撒冷的教会最初的时候不肯把福音往外传，后来当大逼迫临到的时候，他们才被逼着走出去。使徒彼得刚开始也不愿意接触外邦人，但是神给他看了异象，然后让她去到哥尼流家里给哥尼流传福音。而主一开始呼召保罗的时候，就让保罗成为外邦人的使徒。初代教会给我们展示的一个很重要的原则就是要走向万国万民。”牧师最后分享说
https://www.christiantimes.cn/news/36361/%E5%85%A8%E7%90%83%E5%8D%8E%E4%BA%BA%E5%B7%AE%E4%BC%A0%E5%A4%A7%E4%BC%9A%7C-%E5%88%98%E5%BD%A4%E7%89%A7%E5%B8%88%EF%BC%9A%E7%96%AB%E6%83%85%E6%8D%9F%E5%A4%B1%E4%B8%A5%E9%87%8D-%E8%89%B0%E9%9A%BE%E4%B8%AD%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E6%95%88%E6%B3%95%E5%88%9D%E4%BB%A3%E6%95%99%E4%BC%9A%E7%9A%84%E5%AE%A3%E6%95%99%EF%BC%9F
全球华人差传大会| 刘彤牧师：疫情损失严重 艰难中如何效法初代教会的宣教？
During the online Global Chinese Mission Convention 2021, which took place in late December 2021, Reverend Liu Tong urged Chinese believers to imitate the mission of early churches under the pandemic.
Organized by the Ambassador For Christ, the conference was sponsored by the partner churches in Texas, the United States, aiming to become a catalyst for the completion of the Great Commission.
On the morning of December 29, 2021, Rev. Liu, senior pastor of the River of Life Christian Church in Silicon Valley, the United States, preached a sermon entitled "Imitate the Missionary Work of the Early Church".
The American Chinese pastor said, “The COVID-19 outbreak has brought our missionary work into a very difficult situation. However, the Bible tells us very clearly that we must preach the gospel in season and out of season. Facing an environment full of persecution and resistance, the early church was able to turn a generation around, becoming a missionary church. But how did they do it?"
Based on Acts 2:42-47, the pastor explored several aspects of missionary work.
Liu said, "The original meaning of 'Christian' is little Christ. Others thought that early church Christians spoke, acted, and even walked like Jesus. So they were just called 'little Christ'.
"In the early church, they lived such a good life. Seeing the testimony of their lives, other people were influenced by them."
"When is the power of the water in this dam released? It is when the gate of the sluice is opened, as the water rushing out of the sluice carries a huge amount of energy. Christ is powerful in our lives, but what is the floodgate of heaven? It is our obedience to God. We can see that obeying God’s words can release great power, which can change our lives,” he added.
As an evangelistic church, the main reason why the early church grew so fast was that laypeople spread the gospel wherever they went.
The senior pastor stated, "One of the most important things that churches need to do today is to promote the evangelism of the laity, who can use their expertise, profession, and preferences to spread the gospel to the end of the earth."
"It is not enough to rely on pastors to change the world, because there are seven mountains of societal influence, including government, business, arts & entertainment, media, education, family, and religion which is only one of them. We need people from all walks of life, who excel in their companies, to bring the Christian faith into the workplace to change the world.”
Rev. Liu mentioned that a short-term missionary team consisting of five IT engineers was sent to Cameroon in Africa to help a local missionary organization set up a wireless network, so the local missionaries no longer had to travel far to access Internet cafes. In Africa, they also conducted solar energy projects, using solar panels and batteries eliminated from cars to build a simple energy storage system. Every time they arrived at a village, they first gave the solar power system to the village chief, who used to have to go far to charge his mobile phone before, as the village had no electricity. Then when they asked him if they could preach the gospel there, he was very happy to let them build a church. And the second system was installed in the church, as villagers would flock to have a look at lights that were turned on in the church at night. So they took this opportunity to preach the gospel to them.
The early church was also the church of prayer. The pastor said, "Prayer is the secret to victory in our spiritual battle. Thinking ourselves as common folk, we don't know that God is pleased to hear the prayers of ordinary people."
The pastor shared that the gospel of Jesus Christ was definitely not just the salvation of the spirit, but the complete salvation of the body, soul, and spirit. In particular, Christians couldn’t just preach the gospel without caring about a person’s physical needs, albeit they may be hidden under the person. They needed to preach the full gospel to the whole person, achieving the whole-person healing, Liu said.
"The Great Commission is about every nation and people. The church in Jerusalem initially didn’t spread the gospel to other places, but they were forced to go out when the great persecution broke out. Reluctant to reach the Gentiles at first, the apostle Peter went to Cornelius' house to spread the gospel to him after Peter saw a vision. Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles when he was first called by the Lord. The early church showed us a demand of preaching the gospel to all nations and peoples,” the pastor concluded.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Rev. Liu Tong: Learn From Missionary Work of Early Christians Amid COVID-19
