2015.6.7 礼拝

June 7, 2015 – Colossians 3:16
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
We were blessed with a choir service by the team from California Baptist University. It gives us joy and happiness when we listen to the beautiful harmony and watching the members working together in unison to make the lovely sound. God has designed us to feel and appreciate harmony. In other words, God himself appreciates harmony; as it is written in the Bible that God made us in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26).
We shall be learning more from Colossians chapter 3 this week and the next. Meanwhile, what is mentioned in this verse is the image of a church – to have unity in Christ just like a beautiful harmony with the gift of each member brought together by helping one another. Harmony cannot be a product of one person. Similarly, a group of first class solo singers do not guarantee best harmony. Therefore, even if we were to live a faithful life alone, we are unable to produce the harmony to please God.
Furthermore, a group of experienced pastors and theologians may not necessarily see unity. While each person may have his own style and insist on having his opinion realized, it may be necessary to restrain or even change a part of his insistence in order to see unity in church.
A choir or a church is not a gathering where each person should realize his own ideal, but where each member’s gift is well used to produce the beautiful harmony.