Title Let's work together
Contents
Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise early and lie down late and eat the bread of toil. Therefore the LORD gives sleep to those he loves. Purple. Children are the inheritance of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. The children of a young man are like arrows in the hand of a merchant; blessed is the man whose quiver is full. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gates. / Some say, I am of Paul, and others say, I am of Apollos. Are you not carnal? Then what is Apollos and what is Paul? They are the ministers who made you believe, as the Lord has given each of you. I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow; therefore neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his labor. We are God's co-workers; you are God's field and God's house. (Psalm 127:1-5, 1 Corinthians 3:4-9)
On New Year's Eve in 1976, our church decided to "Work Together" as the motto. Our church has just passed the age of 30 and said that from the new year, let's highlight the image of a working church. Our church has a very heavy missionary task, and it is this year that we have passed the preparation stage and entered a full-fledged missionary movement. In recent years, theological studies on the mode of existence of the church have been conducted, and the biblical church should be a functional church, that is, it should be a working church. Therefore, the church is defined as a missionary community. And the church is not an institution where one or two people work, but a community where everyone works together.
First, as revealed in this Bible, we are to work together with God as God's co-workers. The church is the body of Christ, and since Christ is the head of the church, everything in the church is an institution working together with Christ, that is, with God. In the past, we thought that God was on high and received only worship, but in reality, according to the testimony of Jesus, God is a working man and he is working even now. Jesus said, "The Father is still working, and I must work." Therefore, the mission of the church is to participate in and work with God. God's work is the work of creation, providence, and salvation. He created all things in the universe, created man, protects it, rules it, and directs the destiny of man and history. Since God's creation includes not only quantitative creation, but also internal, qualitative, and spiritual creation, He is constantly working to deliver human beings from sin and create new ones. Here, Christians are called to be co-workers with God and become workers with God.
The definition of a worker is also different from the old days. Until the Reformation, workers who do God's work only knew that it was God's work for priests to perform the priesthood, but Luther and Calvin knew that not only the work of the priests, but also all the work of everyday life in this world was ultimately God's work. said it would Farming, moving factories, producing products, educating, creating art, running a household, raising children, that is, everything we do for the welfare, safety and prosperity of mankind is God. said to be the work of Since God is working to make human beings live peacefully, freely and equally as His people, and to give glory and praise to God, our participation in His work means that there is no distinction between the holy and the holy. Therefore, we must do our work with the attitude of working together with God even if we work in the kitchen, and as workers who work together with God even if we study.
As God's co-workers, the ultimate work is the fulfillment of salvation on the cross of Jesus Christ. Therefore, God's co-workers bear the cross with Christ. Our church thought of 30 years as the 30 years of Christ. Therefore, from now on, we must begin to work together with Christ as in Christ's public life. Sometimes, we have to go through hunger, nakedness, trials, hardships, and persecution with Christ. We must strive to teach, exhort, heal, feed, and teach with Christ. Like Christ, we must be betrayed, insulted, and rejected. Those who work for truth, justice, love and peace cannot be called servants of Christ unless they are sacrificed in this generation. All of these must come forward as workers who bear the cross with Christ.
Our church is an organization that has been working together since its inception. Church is a place to work together. Christ did not call one, but twelve; he did not send one by one, but two by two. In the church, the concept of us, not 'I', has evolved. The church is a community. In his letter to Corinth, the Apostle Paul emphasized that the church is the body of Christ and that believers are each an organic body. In the new year, our church should develop a movement to work together rather than work alone in all sectors.