Lord’s Day Message: Seeing no one but Jesus
- Main burden: many Christians are attracted to the church life in some ways, yet there are also Christians who stumble and leave the church life. So how can we go further to follow the Lord in a more stable way?
28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. (Mat.16:28-17:8)
- The context in this passage
- It happened
a. After the Lord Jesus revealed his coming death and resurrection
b. After the Lord Jesus asked His disciples to bear the cross and to follow Him
2. Transfiguration:
a. The expression of God’s glory which the disciples never saw before
b. The expression of the kingdom of God
3. Moses and Elijah
a. Moses who
1) led Israelites out of Egypt and led them to fight with their enemies
2) had fellowship face to face with God and received God’s commands
3) built the tent of meeting and taught the Israelites God’s commandments
b. Elijah: A great prophet who
1) Did great miracles through his prayer(1King 17)
2) Fought with the prophets of Baal (1King 18)
3) Directly taken to heaven (2King 2)
- While Peter wanted to make three tents, God’s answer draws their attention back to Jesus
a. This is My beloved Son whom I am well pleased
b. Listen to Him
5. No one can be compared to Jesus
a. Moses is a faithful servant, but Jesus is the Son of God (Heb.3:5)
b. Elijah is only a pioneer for the Lord (Mat.17:11-13)
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1Cor.3:6-7)
- The application In our church life
- Today, who (what) are Moses and Elijah to us? What is our moment of “it is good that we are here”?
- Do we see the splendor of Jesus which is far beyond our “Moses” and “Elijah”?
- Do we know what God’s desire is and the differences between His and ours?
- The secret for us to follow the Lord – seeing only the Lord Jesus
- We do need the Lord’s servants to help us and some great moments to revive our spirit, yet Christ is always our focus and center
Message Next Week: Basic Lessons for Christians (15) – preaching the gospel and serving in the church
Church Meetings/Time/Place
Home Meeting: 5/9 Mon., 7:30pm, (7:00 dinner)
Richard & Flora’s
Pursuing of Uni Students: 6/9 Tue. 7:30pm, Yulin’s
Sisters Meeting: 7/9 Wed. 10:00am, Anne’s
Prayer Meeting: 7/9 Wed. 7:30pm, Meeting Hall
Pursuing of Words: 9/9 Fri., 8:00pm, David’s
Young People Meeting/Home meeting for Adults：
10/9 Sat. 7:30pm, Olsen & Likun’s
Announcements:
- We welcome all the new ones who are joining us today and hope that you can leave your information for us to contact you in the future. After meeting please stay for lunch and enjoy the love feast together with us.
- The church will have a Spring Conference from October 1 to 3 (Sat. to Mon.) and will invite Brother Titus Chu to share the messages. Please remember this in our prayer. For practical serving, Brother Patrick Li will be the coordinator.
After lunch on 18/9 Lord’s Day we will have the annual clean up of the hall. We hope many brothers and sisters can participate. For the assignment of cleaning work, please register and fellowship with Brother Richard Cui and Sam Li.
- The church would like to encourage the young people (with their parents too) to attend the conference in Cleveland in the end of this year. If you are interested to go, please contact Brother Yulin Wang or Thomas Wu.
<Reminder>
- Brothers and sisters, please come on time and bring your own bible to the meeting.
- During the meeting, please turn off your mobile phone or put the volume on silence and not to walk around or to wonder/talk too laud in the kitchen.
- When you prepare the love feast for Lord’s Day lunch, please do not prepare any food containing nuts as someone may have food allergy.
Please refrain from bringing uncooked food for the love feast so we may lighten the work for the serving ones in the kitchen.
Intercession:
- May the Lord bless the gospel friends among us that they can know how precious the Lord is and are willing to believe in Him.
- Pray for the new believers (David Hu, Gerald Huang, Bangde Liu, Peter Zhang and Michael Qiu, 5 brothers and Li Li, Mandy Zhou, Leonie, Berry Fei, and Jessica Li, 5 sisters) May the Lord establish them in the church life and bless their growth in life.
- Pray for the coming spring conference that the Lord can speak to us and give us His abundant grace to revive our spirit and our church life.
- Pray for the brothers and sisters or their relatives who are weak in body or spirit. May the Lord care for them and give them sufficient grace. Pray especially for the health of Brothers Shanwon Chow and Sister AhSeng Chow.
- Pray for those year 12 students among us. May the Lord give them wisdom to meet the needs of the exam and help them to know His presence as their encouragement and timely help.
Serving This Week: (Sep. 4)
- Message: Yulin Wang
- Breaking the Bread: Raymond Young & Thomas Wu
- Serving Bread and Cup: Richard Cui, Sean Dong, Patrick Li & Chuan Ma
- Cleaning: Brett & Linda Family, Sean Dong & Wei Qiong Family, Lisa Tao Family, Bill & Christine Family
- Kitchen: Baoling & Lydia
- Children: Supervisor – Jessie, Singing – Sarah/Vasya, Teachers – Elsa/Lian
Serving Next Week: (Sep. 11)
- Message: Patrick Li & Yulin Wang
- Breaking the Bread: Shanwon Chow & Chuan Ma
- Serving Bread and Cup: Sam Li, Jason Wang, Richard Cui & Chuan Ma
- Cleaning: Raymond & Lucy Family, Thomas & Lena, Joyce & Chris, Michael & Mandy Family, Margret Yang
- Kitchen: Susan & Anne
- Children: Supervisor – Flora, Singing – Combined, Teachers – Betty/Berry
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