Song “I will offer up my life”
Song “Just be held”
Song “Bow down”
Song “East and West”
Song “Praise you in this storm”
Opening Responses
The world belongs to God
The earth and all its people
How good and lovely it is
To live together in unity
Love and faith come together
Justice and peace join hands
Song “Christ be in my waking”
Let us in silence remember our faults and failings
Christ have mercy on us, and deliver us from our sins and may we amend our lives
Amen. The Lords Prayer in our own language
Song “The Lords my shepherd”
Reading Matthew 18v15-20
15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Song “Come thou fount”
Reflection
Matthew draws together sayings on humility and greatness and the seriousness of causing little ones to sin. He has gathered together Jesus' teachings on membership in the kingdom of God - life under God's authority. It ends with "when Jesus had finished saying these things". When the gospels were written, the sayings and acts of Jesus would have been known off by heart.
Membership of the kingdom of God belongs to those who are dependent on God's grace for their salvation, not their reputation, or their wonderful deeds. It is a godly responsibility not to lead people away from God.
The Beatitudes remind us that the humble are those who inherit the earth, they are the ones who recognize their poverty before God, mourn for their loss of divine standing, thirst for righteousness, and in their yearning are blessed with Gods grace. They bear the fruit of faith, mercy, purity of heart, peacemakers, but are persecuted. On the other hand there are those who think they are God's gift to humankind and exalt themselves. Humility is not modesty, but relying on God.
Matthew here has put together didactic sayings of Jesus. The sayings are about church discipline.
The first saying is often treated as a method for dealing with a sister or brother who has hurt us - sinned against us. This is commonly used in Christian fellowships. Sometimes badly! Someone has wavered in their faith, and their standing before Christ needs to be restored. We must bring them face to face with what is right again.
"If a member of the church sins against you"-the sin is undefined, but given the instructions it must be serious. The context it is the consequence of skandalizw, of having a stumbling block placed before a person. The skandalwn is the cause of the stumbling or entrapment. The outcome for those who are the causes of the stumbling is dire. In our world stumbling blocks are inevitable, but this does not mean that a person has to promote or create them; woe to the person who does.
Back to our person who has been the object of stumbling blocks! Bring the problem to light, do it privately rather than publicly. Have it out with them. If they listen to you have won them over. If s/he doesn’t listen, take a few others, (as witnesses Deuteronomy 19:15 establishing the point that a person cannot be convicted on the evidence of just one person), to confront the problem, emphasizes the need to exhaust every possibility in the effort to win back the person. If this fails shake the dust off your feet and walk away. This however does not mean treat him with contempt or cruelty.
In seeking to restore the brother or sister who has strayed from the faith, the Christian community seeks them out to restore them. Here the authority is given to the Christian community. We are given the authority to arbitrate on matters of God's will. We can condemn or forgiveness. Whatever you loose, abolish upon the earth, will have been loosed.
The second saying is on the authority of the church. The saying can be understood in a number of ways. So, for example, the saying may give the idea that when two or more Christians believe in something in prayer, it will happen. But what about unanswered prayers? The saying probably means that when two or three meet in Jesus' name, God will be present, revealing God's will to them.
Jesus promises that he will be with his people, even when there are just two or three present, to the very end of the age, for ever!
Forgiveness depends on the theology that we all fail! I think it is probably the supreme mark of a Christian that we believe in forgiveness. There but for the grace of God go you or I. Unfortunately, our society does not believe in forgiveness.
But as Christians we cant refuse to forgive someone if they are sorry because they have failed!
The Forgiveness Project shows in a remarkable way how forgiveness changes lives. http://theforgivenessproject.com/
Song “Who am I”
We pray for people and situations we are concerned about including people having to go back to work, school and those still in lockdown, the desperate people crossing the sea in dinghies, continuing deaths from Covid 19, the ongoing unrest in Belarus, Hong Kong and Syria and other places, the rise of fascism, the government, the Rohinga Muslims, Muslims being persecuted in China, protection for key workers and adequate PPE, protection for Black and Asian people, for people on low or no incomes, for those with underlying health conditions and those over 60, care for those who are alone and those suffering with depression, protection for asylum seekers and refugees and ensuring that food is reaching the vulnerable and global warming.
May we not fail you. Amen
Song “Every Praise”
The blessing of God be upon you
On those you love and those you meet
This day and forevermore. Amen
With thanks to the ©Iona Community adapted
五旬節14 2020
歌曲“我會獻出我的生命”
https://youtu.be/RWXWHdgapjI
歌曲“ Just be hold”
https://youtu.be/tIZitK6_IMQ
歌曲“ Bow down”
https://youtu.be/ksR5FHI0i3c
歌曲“東西方”
https://youtu.be/TnkkZLdjf9Y
歌曲“在這場風暴中讚美你”
https://youtu.be/0YUGwUgBvTU
開幕回應
世界屬於上帝
地球及其所有人
多麼可愛
團結在一起
愛與信仰融為一體
正義與和平攜手
歌曲“基督在我醒來”
https://youtu.be/0DNNNmzptYU
讓我們默默地記住我們的缺點和失敗
基督憐憫我們，拯救我們脫離罪孽，願我們改變自己的生命
阿們
上議院的禱告用我們自己的語言
歌曲“上議院我的牧者”
https://youtu.be/-eIQQayhpak
閱讀馬太福音18v15-20
15“如果你的兄弟姐妹犯了罪，就去指出他們的錯，就在你們兩個之間。如果他們聽您的話，您就贏得了他們。16但是，如果他們不聽，那就帶上一兩個人，以便“每件事都可以由兩個或三個證人的證詞來確定。” 17如果他們仍然拒絕聽，那就告訴教會；如果他們甚至拒絕聽教堂的話，請像對待異教徒或收稅員一樣對待他們。
18“我實在告訴你，你在地上束縛的任何東西，都會在天堂被束縛；你在地上束縛的任何東西，都會在天堂裡束縛。
19“再一次，我真的告訴你，如果你們中的兩個人同意他們所要求的一切，那將由我的天父為他們完成。 20在我名下聚集的兩三個人，就是我與他們同在。
歌曲“來吧”
https://youtu.be/EYrTqBioaZ4
馬太福音18：15-20
導致人們絆倒，束縛和放鬆
馬修匯集了關于謙卑和偉大以及使小孩子犯罪的嚴重性的俗語。他收集了耶穌關於神國度的教導-在神的權柄下生活。以“耶穌說完這些話之後”結束。當寫福音時，耶穌的話語和行為本該被人知道。
上帝國度的成員屬於那些依靠上帝的恩典獲得救贖，而不是其聲譽或美好事蹟的人。不帶領人們遠離上帝是一種敬虔的責任。
八福提醒我們，謙卑是那些繼承大地的人，是那些在上帝面前認識到自己的貧窮，為失去神聖地位而哀悼，為正義而渴慕的人，並在嚮往時得到了上帝的恩典。他們結出了信仰，仁慈，內心的純潔和建立和平者的果實，但遭到迫害。另一方面，有些人認為這是上帝給人類的禮物，並高舉自我。謙卑不是謙虛，而是依靠上帝。
馬太在這裡整理了耶穌的教導性話語。俗語是關於教會紀律的。
第一句話經常被當作與傷害我們的姊妹或兄弟打交道的一種方法，這是對我們的罪惡。這通常在基督徒團契中使用。有時很糟糕！有人動搖了他們的信仰，他們在基督面前的地位需要恢復。我們必須讓他們再次面對正確的事情。
“如果教會的一個成員對你犯了罪”-罪的定義是不確定的，但是在指示下，它必須是嚴肅的。在上下文中，這是skandalizw的結果，即在人前放置絆腳石。 skandalwn是絆腳或被夾住的原因。對於那些絆腳石的人來說，結果是可怕的。在我們這個世界上，絆腳石是不可避免的，但這並不意味著一個人必須提拔或創造它們。給做事的人帶來災難。
回到我們一直是絆腳石的對象的人！揭露問題所在，私下而不是公開進行。與他們一起出去。如果他們聽你的話，他們就贏了。如果他/她不聽話，那就多講幾句話（如見證人申命記19:15確立了一個人不能僅憑一個人的證據就被定罪的觀點），面對這個問題，他強調需要用盡一切努力贏得人的可能性。如果失敗，請甩掉腳上的灰塵，然後走開。但是，這並不意味著輕蔑或殘忍對待他。
在尋求恢復偏離信仰的兄弟姐妹的過程中，基督教徒社區尋求他們的恢復。在這裡，權力被賦予了基督教社區。我們有權根據上帝的旨意進行仲裁。我們可以譴責或原諒。無論您在地球上廢除的是什麼，都將被釋放。
第二句話是教會的權威。這句話可以通過多種方式來理解。因此，舉例來說，俗話說的意思是，當兩個或兩個以上的基督徒在禱告中相信某事時，便會發生。但是，沒有答案的禱告呢？這句話可能意味著當兩三個人以耶穌的名義相遇時，
