英文查經班的事奉－劉家煜（英文版）

     On June 21st of 1994, a group of Christians in this Church asked me to start a Bible Study Group, with two-fold purposes: one is to learn more about the Bible, the other is to practice their English. With certain degree of reluctance, I agreed to give it a try.

     It has been six years since our first English Bible study meeting and now the total number of attendance has been accumulated to 213 persons. Of course, people come and go entirely on their own free will, but God has been so gracious to us in maintaining our study group, regardless of the size of class. Some of the group members are so faithful in showing up, almost without any single absence. Just thinking of the fact of their continually coming to the class for the past 312 weeks is fantastically encouraging!

     The Christian faith is centered around a person named Jesus Christ who, the Bible says, is the son of God. He revealed the truth of God's love and the way God wants all human beings to return to the blessed state of God's original plan. Jesus Christ is the full representative of God. The Bible assertively confirms this truth. It says, “No one has ever seen God; the only Son who is in the bosom of the Father he has made him known.” (John, 1:18, RSV)

     In this chaotic world of all kinds of sins and crimes, man desperately needs salvation through the merciful Jesus who, in order to save precious souls, was willing to die on the cross suffering the cruelest punishment man has ever devised. By repenting of yourself of the sins and accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, according to the Bible, your soul is saved. Because your sins were washed away by Jesus' blood, a new life was implanted into your body. Then, you are eligible to be children of God. This process is entirely free from your own merit, instead, it is done totally by God's grace; that is, a free gift from God. In the field of theology, Christianity is called a "revealed religion" to differ from man-made religions. The so-called revealed religion means God coming down from glorious Heaven to invite you and me to be his beloved children and to live a life of eternal blessedness. While in the man-made religions generally there is a man striving by his own "good deeds" trying to reach the state of Nirvana （涅槃即佛教的極樂世界）, and he often finds it hard to know how good enough to be qualified to reach this status of blessing.

     In the present competitive society, the majority of people are living under stress. Materially speaking, they may live quite well, but spiritually, they are poor because they lack the inner tranquility. Men are searching for the meaning of life but they do not know where to find it. Jesus Christ says, in the Gospel of Mathew, Chapter 11, Verses 28-30, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (NIV) A life without meaning is unbearable. For me, the meaning of life is definitely residing in the person Jesus Christ, my Lord God!

     Dear friends and fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord, God has opened this door of English Bible Study Group in this Church. I firmly believe that he will be pleased to see its flourish and fruition. Let us encourage each other to finish the work God has started. I sincerely hope that, with the help of God, not only the number of our Group members will continually to grow, but also the quality of our group will become superior as well.

     Finally, with great enthusiasm, I would like to extend our most sincere welcome to all friends and fellow believers to come to our English Bible Study Group, regardless of your English speaking ability. The crucial question is: "Are you interested in learning English?"  If you really can't speak English, please don't hesitate to speak Chinese. Perhaps a special mention should be made, that is, through months and years of associations in our Bible Study Group, we have become good friends. We pray for each other, share lives with each other, and even laugh at each other not to mention the pleasant time of refreshments. Such is the atmosphere that has attracted so many people to come to befriend with others.

    May our gracious Lord be with you and bless you in every aspect of your life!