At the closing ceremony of the "2020 Global Chinese Mission Convention", Pastor Yu Hongjie shared how to help evangelists build the body of Christ in order to make Christian missions more solid and have long-term effects.
With the theme of "Live Out the Powerful Gospel," the closing ceremony of the 2020 Global Chinese Mission Convention was held online from the 28thto 30thDecember, hosted by Ambassadors for Christ and sponsored by many Chinese churches in North America.
In the seminar entitled "World Missions Aimed at Building the Body of Christ," the senior pastor of the Silicon Valley Christian Church in the U.S. stated that we must never forget that the center and content of the gospel must be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Referencing Mark 2: 1 and 1 Corinthians 2: 1, Yu said: “The gospel without Christ is not a gospel, and the gospel without the shedding of blood the cross, or the resurrection is human-oriented.”
According to Ephesians 5:17-18, he stated that one of the points there was the word of the Lord, through which we could know the will of the Lord. Being filled by the Holy Spirit was a continuous state of Christian faith where the whole person was possessed and filled by the Holy Spirit. What made Christianity a unique faith was that it was a life-oriented belief with the life of Christ as its foundation and center.
Pastor Yu mentioned that what happened in some churches was that young believers were given too much responsibility or those without a strong foundation in their faith were asked to serve in positions for whichy they did not have the proper experience.
"When they are not mature or stable enough, they are vulnerable to problems once challenges and temptations come. This will cause a loss to themselves and to the entire church as well…. One’s spiritual life must have a strong foundation of serving God. This is how believers express their spiritual life. We must learn to be the right person with a mature spiritual life first in order to serve others with a right attitude and bring glory to our God and bless others."
Pastor Yu also said that two things could not be ignored if any of our services was to be of eternal value. "It must be from the true worship of God" and "It must be in the Holy Spirit and in the life of Christ." Pastor Yu said: "All our lives and service must be the by-product rather than a substitute of our true worship of God. Loving God is not about what we do (e.g., to prove that we love Him), but about our genuine love to God that motivates us to do all other things to please Him. True service is not about doing anything for God, but about living out the Christ life. Evangelism is about living out the life of Christ Jesus, and Christian mission is about bringing Jesus to all places. Every Christian is a ‘recommendation letter’ of Jesus Christ, which is written by the Holy Spirit."
He shared that Chapter 4 of Ephesians had given us a blueprint for a healthy and growing church. Facing a common challenge in many churches, namely the lack of co-workers, he added: “The church is built not only by a few gifted and capable leaders, whose responsibility is to perfect the saints...the body of Christ is built by all church members, we have the same responsibility."
The pastor then shared three principles on how to build the body of Christ: through special vessels given by God, through all the saints who grew in Christ without ceasing, and through all members who joined and held together by every supporting ligament and built itself in love, as each part did its work.
Pastor Yu emphasized "priority" based on Matthew 6:33: "You must first seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God." He said: "God knows everything that we want. We need to pay attention to our priorities. The Lord cares more about whether we pay attention to him and the needs of other people first." Abraham was called for two purposes: to receive a blessing and to become a blessing. This was also the blessing and mission of faith-based people in the New Testament.
Lastly, he encouraged his listeners that they should be optimistic and never be discouraged. Chinese Christians all over the world should love the Lord with one body, build Christ-centered families and churches, do evangelical missions centered on Christ, and shine for Jesus.
- Translated by Xiaodan Zeng
“2020全球华人差传大会联合闭幕典礼”上，硅谷基督徒聚会的主任牧师于宏洁以“以建立基督身体为导向的普世宣教”为题，为大家分享了如何帮助传福音的对象建立基督身体，让宣教成为更加扎实、坚固、长远的宣教。
美西时间2020年12月28日，联合闭幕典礼在网络上举行。闭幕礼从12月28日到12月30日，持续3天，以“活出全备大能的福音”为题。大会是由美国华人基督教事工基督使者协会主办，北美多家华人教会赞助。
一、福音的中心与内容： 神的儿子耶稣基督。
于宏洁牧师在分享说：“我们永远不能忘记福音的中心和内容必须是 神的儿子耶稣基督。”于牧师列举了经文——马可福音2章1节和哥林多前书2章1节，来分享说：“没有基督的福音不叫福音，没有流血、没有十字架、没有复活的福音都是以人为本的。”
二、追求基督的生命，满有圣灵
于牧师借着经文以弗所书5章17节到18节分享了2点：一个是主的话，也就是借着圣经让我们知道主的旨意是什么；另一个是要被圣灵充满，指的是一个持续的状态，整个人都被圣灵占有、被圣灵充满。基督教之所以和其他的宗教不同，其中有一个很大的特点就是，它是一个讲生命的信仰，是“以基督的生命为根基与中心”。
于牧师提到在教会中常常出现的一个现象：提早使用或过度重用一些才刚刚得救，或者有心要服侍的人。于牧师分享说：“当他们的生命重量和不够成熟和扎实，碰到问题、挑战和试探，就很容易产生问题，对他本身和整个教会带来亏损。……生命是侍奉的根基，侍奉是生命的发表。要学习先成为对的人，有对的生命，才会存着对的态度，有对的侍奉，我们的侍奉会成为荣神益人的侍奉。”
于牧师同时也提到我们任何的侍奉，如果要能够有永恒的价值，有2件不可忽略的事：“必须是出自神真实的敬拜”和“必须是在圣灵里，在基督生命里的流露”。于牧师说：“所有的生活和侍奉必须是对神真实敬拜的副产品而不是替代品。不是我做了这个、那个我就爱主了，而是所有的一切都是因为爱主而出发的。……真实的侍奉不是为神做什么，乃是基督的活出。……我们传福音就是耶稣的活出，宣教就是把耶稣带到所有的地方去。每一个人都是耶稣基督的荐信，是借着永生的灵所写成的。”
三、成为圣徒，各尽其职
于牧师分享到以弗所书4章已经把健康成长的教会蓝图给了我们。面对教会普遍的瓶颈即缺少同工这一难题，于牧师说：“建造教会不是只是靠着少数有恩赐、有能力的领袖。他们的责任是成全圣徒。……建立基督的身体是靠着大家一起来的，是所有肢体共同的责任。”那么如何建立基督的身体呢？于牧师分享了3个原则：
1）借着 神所赐之特别器皿的成全
2）借着众圣徒凡事上在基督里不住地长进
3）借着百节各按各职，肢体彼此相助，在爱中相互的建立
四、培养国度的眼光和胸怀
于牧师分享了马太福音6章33节：“你们要先求神的国和 神的义。”这个讲的是优先顺序。于牧师分享说：“我们所有想要的神都知道，但是优先顺序要摆对。主在乎我们是不是关注他和万民的需要。”亚伯拉罕被呼召时有两个目的：承受祝福和成为祝福，这也是我们新约以信为本的人的祝福和使命。
最后，于牧师分享到希望大家一起加油，不要灰心。全世界各地的华人一定要好好爱主，让我们的家庭和教会都是以基督为中心，建立以基督身体为导向的宣教，一起发光！
2020全球华人差传大会 | 于宏洁牧师：以建立基督身体为导向的普世宣教
At the closing ceremony of the "2020 Global Chinese Mission Convention", Pastor Yu Hongjie shared how to help evangelists build the body of Christ in order to make Christian missions more solid and have long-term effects.
With the theme of "Live Out the Powerful Gospel," the closing ceremony of the 2020 Global Chinese Mission Convention was held online from the 28thto 30thDecember, hosted by Ambassadors for Christ and sponsored by many Chinese churches in North America.
In the seminar entitled "World Missions Aimed at Building the Body of Christ," the senior pastor of the Silicon Valley Christian Church in the U.S. stated that we must never forget that the center and content of the gospel must be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Referencing Mark 2: 1 and 1 Corinthians 2: 1, Yu said: “The gospel without Christ is not a gospel, and the gospel without the shedding of blood the cross, or the resurrection is human-oriented.”
According to Ephesians 5:17-18, he stated that one of the points there was the word of the Lord, through which we could know the will of the Lord. Being filled by the Holy Spirit was a continuous state of Christian faith where the whole person was possessed and filled by the Holy Spirit. What made Christianity a unique faith was that it was a life-oriented belief with the life of Christ as its foundation and center.
Pastor Yu mentioned that what happened in some churches was that young believers were given too much responsibility or those without a strong foundation in their faith were asked to serve in positions for whichy they did not have the proper experience.
"When they are not mature or stable enough, they are vulnerable to problems once challenges and temptations come. This will cause a loss to themselves and to the entire church as well…. One’s spiritual life must have a strong foundation of serving God. This is how believers express their spiritual life. We must learn to be the right person with a mature spiritual life first in order to serve others with a right attitude and bring glory to our God and bless others."
Pastor Yu also said that two things could not be ignored if any of our services was to be of eternal value. "It must be from the true worship of God" and "It must be in the Holy Spirit and in the life of Christ." Pastor Yu said: "All our lives and service must be the by-product rather than a substitute of our true worship of God. Loving God is not about what we do (e.g., to prove that we love Him), but about our genuine love to God that motivates us to do all other things to please Him. True service is not about doing anything for God, but about living out the Christ life. Evangelism is about living out the life of Christ Jesus, and Christian mission is about bringing Jesus to all places. Every Christian is a ‘recommendation letter’ of Jesus Christ, which is written by the Holy Spirit."
He shared that Chapter 4 of Ephesians had given us a blueprint for a healthy and growing church. Facing a common challenge in many churches, namely the lack of co-workers, he added: “The church is built not only by a few gifted and capable leaders, whose responsibility is to perfect the saints...the body of Christ is built by all church members, we have the same responsibility."
The pastor then shared three principles on how to build the body of Christ: through special vessels given by God, through all the saints who grew in Christ without ceasing, and through all members who joined and held together by every supporting ligament and built itself in love, as each part did its work.
Pastor Yu emphasized "priority" based on Matthew 6:33: "You must first seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God." He said: "God knows everything that we want. We need to pay attention to our priorities. The Lord cares more about whether we pay attention to him and the needs of other people first." Abraham was called for two purposes: to receive a blessing and to become a blessing. This was also the blessing and mission of faith-based people in the New Testament.
Lastly, he encouraged his listeners that they should be optimistic and never be discouraged. Chinese Christians all over the world should love the Lord with one body, build Christ-centered families and churches, do evangelical missions centered on Christ, and shine for Jesus.
- Translated by Xiaodan Zeng
Renowned American Chinese Pastor Yu Hongjie: World Missions Aimed to Build Body of Christ
