At the Sunday service of Silicon Valley Christian Assembly, Pastor Yu Hongjie preached on 1 Samuel 13:5-7 and 14:6-14 to encourage Christians to “rely on God, in unity, to break through their crises and difficult situations”.
In his sermon, the American Chinese megachurch pastor Yu on October 3 talked about how difficult situations could be opportunities to experience God. How someone reacts to the inevitable difficulties in the journey of faith both reflects their faith in God and determines how the crisis will end. Instead of suffering attacks helplessly, some put their faith in God and receive mercy from Him – that is, "the righteous will live by their faith".
To start with how Christians broke through the plight they faced by relying on God, Pastor Yu explained that difficulties and attacks from the enemy, with God’s permission, could be opportunities to experience Him. With troubles being inevitable in our lives, he encouraged people not to hope or desire to live a trouble-free life. Along with praising God and attending church services, the enemy’s attacks could also contribute to Christian growth.
In 1 Samuel 13, it was described that the soldiers of the Philistines were “as numerous as the sand on the seashore”, yet on Israel’s side, Saul had only about 600 followers.
“Verse 6-7 showed us that some Israelites hid and some ran away. That’s because God wasn’t with them and consequently, they handled the crisis in their own way.” He commented that often failures took place not just on the battlefield, but even before the battle.
Pastor Yu continued, “Does your faith enable you to battle? Many people come to church expecting to be blessed, but few are able to fight for God. Today, many of our experiences – marriage problems, job changes, spiritual weakness – are no more than an outward demonstration of a failure that has rooted inside of us.”
Then, Pastor Yu emphasized that the Lord saves, whether by many or by few.
In 1 Samuel 14, Jonathan’s armor-bearer said “I am with your heart and soul” and they “killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.” Jonathan and the armor-bearer were not resigned to be passive in such a pressing situation. With a simple faith and absolute submission to God, they gripped hold of God’s promise that “nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few”.
In the same way, he exhorted Christians to turn their faith into action like Jonathan and the armor-bearer. In a difficult situation, we should turn away from feeling helpless, firstly by becoming unwilling to give up, then eventually rise up and face the situation. By doing that, we would see that the circumstances work for our good and enable us to grow.
Faith and unity could turn a situation around, he added.
Based on 1 Samuel 14:15, he described that just as those who had been weak and helplessly spectating then gathered on the battlefield, and as those who had been hiding and escaping rose up to fight against the enemy, so also the power which had been against us, and the power to help us which had been lost or hidden, could also now exert its influence to our benefit.
At the end of his sermon, Pastor Yu encouraged the congregation that God’s love never changes in this changing world, and not to fix our gaze on our difficulties, but to become like Jonathan and his armor-bearer, two men that could be used to fight for God and see opportunities amid hard plights.
- Translated by Grace Song
在近期硅谷基督徒聚会的主日敬拜上，于宏洁弟兄根据【撒上13:5-7/14:6-14】的经文，以‘艰难的处境中，同心靠神突破困境 ’为题向会众分享神的话语：
于弟兄在证道中分享说，艰难处境会提供给我们经历神的机会。如何面对信心之旅中必然遇见的艰难处境，既反映出人对神的信心，也决定了环境的结局。 有人无奈地受制于仇敌或难处的威胁与攻击，有人信靠神而蒙大恩--义人必因信得生。
首先，我们如何靠着神，突破目前的困境呢？
当难处临到，当神允许仇敌来攻击，这是一个经历神的机会。人生的路上，不可能不碰到难处，不要盼望或羡慕做一个不会碰到难处的人。敬拜、聚会和仇敌，都能让基督徒成长。
撒母耳记上13章中，腓利士人的步兵像海边的沙那样多，而跟随扫罗的只有600人，这个杖如何打呢？“13章6-7节让我们看到，神的百姓有的躲藏，有的逃跑。这是因为神不在他们中间，他们便用自己的方法和手段面对困境。”所以其实很多的失败不是发生在战场上，而是在征战开始前，我们就开始失败了。
于弟兄继续说道：“你的信仰是否有征战的能力？来到教会希望被神祝福的人很多，但是能够去为神征战的人越来越少。在今日你我的遭遇里面，不管是新冠肺炎、夫妻感情、工作调换、灵性软弱，这些都是一种外在的显明而已，失败的原因和种子早就存在了。”
第二，于弟兄强调说，耶和华使人得胜不在乎人多人少
【撒上 14：7、14】二人「同一心灵，同一脚踪」「随你的心意行吧... 我必跟随你，与你同心。」 不住扩展的影响力。起头所杀的约有二十人，都在一亩地的半犁沟之内。
约拿单与拿兵器的少年人不甘心处于消极、被动、受压的光景中，他们有着单纯的信心与绝对的顺服 ，他们紧紧抓住了神的应许：“ 耶和华使人得胜不在乎人多人少”.
于弟兄呼吁会众说，要像约拿单和拿兵器的少年人一样，信心要被激活成为行动。在受压的处境中，我们要从无可奈何，到不甘心，到起来面对。这样，我们会发现环境为我们效力，环境会成为我们成长的原因。
于弟兄分享的最后一点是，信心和同心带来局面的扭转。
【撒上 14：15】于是在营中、在田野、在众民内都有战兢，防兵和掠兵也都战兢，地也震动，战兢之势甚大。腓利士人用刀互相击杀，大大惶乱。
于弟兄举例说，原本那些软弱、无奈观望者都聚集来到战场上；原本妥协、敌对的力量，如今转为正面的帮助；那些曾经躲藏、逃避争战者都出来紧紧追杀仇敌——原本隐藏、失去的力量，如今都得以显出其功用。
于弟兄最后勉励会众，万事万物都在改变，但是神的爱没有改变，让我们的眼睛不要只是定睛在难处，让我们成为那两个人，那两个可以被神使用去征战的人，为困境带来转机。
于宏洁弟兄：艰难的处境中，同心靠神突破困境
At the Sunday service of Silicon Valley Christian Assembly, Pastor Yu Hongjie preached on 1 Samuel 13:5-7 and 14:6-14 to encourage Christians to “rely on God, in unity, to break through their crises and difficult situations”.
In his sermon, the American Chinese megachurch pastor Yu on October 3 talked about how difficult situations could be opportunities to experience God. How someone reacts to the inevitable difficulties in the journey of faith both reflects their faith in God and determines how the crisis will end. Instead of suffering attacks helplessly, some put their faith in God and receive mercy from Him – that is, "the righteous will live by their faith".
To start with how Christians broke through the plight they faced by relying on God, Pastor Yu explained that difficulties and attacks from the enemy, with God’s permission, could be opportunities to experience Him. With troubles being inevitable in our lives, he encouraged people not to hope or desire to live a trouble-free life. Along with praising God and attending church services, the enemy’s attacks could also contribute to Christian growth.
In 1 Samuel 13, it was described that the soldiers of the Philistines were “as numerous as the sand on the seashore”, yet on Israel’s side, Saul had only about 600 followers.
“Verse 6-7 showed us that some Israelites hid and some ran away. That’s because God wasn’t with them and consequently, they handled the crisis in their own way.” He commented that often failures took place not just on the battlefield, but even before the battle.
Pastor Yu continued, “Does your faith enable you to battle? Many people come to church expecting to be blessed, but few are able to fight for God. Today, many of our experiences – marriage problems, job changes, spiritual weakness – are no more than an outward demonstration of a failure that has rooted inside of us.”
Then, Pastor Yu emphasized that the Lord saves, whether by many or by few.
In 1 Samuel 14, Jonathan’s armor-bearer said “I am with your heart and soul” and they “killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.” Jonathan and the armor-bearer were not resigned to be passive in such a pressing situation. With a simple faith and absolute submission to God, they gripped hold of God’s promise that “nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few”.
In the same way, he exhorted Christians to turn their faith into action like Jonathan and the armor-bearer. In a difficult situation, we should turn away from feeling helpless, firstly by becoming unwilling to give up, then eventually rise up and face the situation. By doing that, we would see that the circumstances work for our good and enable us to grow.
Faith and unity could turn a situation around, he added.
Based on 1 Samuel 14:15, he described that just as those who had been weak and helplessly spectating then gathered on the battlefield, and as those who had been hiding and escaping rose up to fight against the enemy, so also the power which had been against us, and the power to help us which had been lost or hidden, could also now exert its influence to our benefit.
At the end of his sermon, Pastor Yu encouraged the congregation that God’s love never changes in this changing world, and not to fix our gaze on our difficulties, but to become like Jonathan and his armor-bearer, two men that could be used to fight for God and see opportunities amid hard plights.
- Translated by Grace Song
American Chinese Megachurch Pastor Yu Hongjie: 'Relying on God to Break Through Crises'
