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Ⅰ. Invocation and Adoration||Ⅰ. 禱告與敬拜
Invocation Prayer||開始禱告
"O God, we ask you not to lift us out of life, but to prove your power with it; not for tasks more suited for our strength, but for strength more suited to the tasks. Give us the vision that moves, the strength that endures, the grace of Jesus Christ, who wore our flesh like a monarch's robe, and walked our earthly life like a conqueror in triumph; we ask it for His sake." Amen. (William Orchard, 1877-1955)
「神阿，我們不求祢取回我們的生命，為要藉著生命來證明祢的大能；我們不求能力所及的責任，乃求責任所需的力量。求賜我們滿有動力的異象、堅忍的力量、及主耶穌的恩典。祂像披著皇袍的穿上我們的肉身、像征服者那樣得勝活在我們的地上。奉主耶穌基督名求。阿們。」(William Orchard 1877-1955)
Adoration through Psalm 104藉詩篇第104篇來敬拜
(We'll use this Psalm, not for today's Bible reading, but for the sake of focusing our thoughts on God.)
Read slowly this passage at least three times and each day gather one thought about this psalm that points to God's character and translate it into a prayer of adoration.
我們是用這詩篇作敬拜，並非用來研經。現在細讀這篇的一小段(1-4;5-13;14-18;19-23;24-30;31-35)三次，本週每日如是，但每天掌握詩中有關神的美善，屬性或作為之一作默想，然後化所得為讚美的禱告。
Ⅱ. Confession||Ⅱ. 認罪
Pause now and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you your sins and ask for forgiveness.
現在停下來，求聖靈光照你，讓你看見自己的罪，並求主饒恕。
Ⅲ. Thanksgiving||Ⅲ. 感恩
List, one by one, things for which you should give thanks.||逐一列出你當感恩的事項。
Ⅳ. Scriptural Reflection||Ⅳ. 經文默想
Luke||路加福音 vv.1:1-18
We shall start the study of the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament this week.
The Gospel of Luke
The author was Luke who was a medical doctor, a co-worker and close friend of the Apostle Paul (Phlm. 24) and who accompanied Paul from his second missionary journey onward until his death (2 Tim. 4:11).
He gave a very clear explanation about the reason for his writing (see 1:1-4) which I will leave to the readers to ponder, but it was clear that at the time of his writing, there were already other written documents about Jesus circulating, perhaps including those of Matthew and Mark. However, compared to these two, Luke's gospel account has the following features: It provides a more complete history of the life and ministry of Jesus, records many more miracles and parables, and it contains more teachings on prayer by Jesus and the occasions of His prayer.
The immediate recipient is likely a high-ranking official of the Roman Empire who is the same recipient of the Book of Acts which Luke also wrote later as a sequel to his gospel account.
While some like to see a special theme in the gospel, I leave it to the readers to form their own opinion as to what the true author, the Holy Spirit, might have had in mind in prompting Dr. Luke to write an accurate, thorough and chronological account of the life and ministry of Jesus.
- What was the stated purpose of the writing of this gospel account by Luke?
- How should such a purpose affect your reading of this gospel account?
- While the other gospels skip over or contain only a very brief version of the birth of Jesus, how does Luke's more detailed account of His birth contribute to our understanding of Jesus and His ministry?
- How old do you think Zechariah and Elizabeth might be, given the description in vv. 7, 18 and 36?
- Even if you are a man of faith, when might you give up praying for a child (in your 30's, 40's, 50's or…)?
- The angel's words were, "your prayer has been heard". What does this tell us about our prayers? (1:13)
- Can you blame Zechariah when he said, "How can I be sure of this?"? (1:18) Why or why not?
- With this account, Luke introduces us to the origin and calling of John the Baptist.
- Why was it important for John be born into Zechariah's family?
- What is the significance of having him born as a "miracle"? (To whom can we compare him?)
- According to the angel, in what way would John be making the people ready for the Lord Jesus? (See Mal. 4:5)
- What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
According to 2 Chronicles 24:7-18, there were 24 divisions of priests that served in the temple of God. According to William Barclay, there were about 20,000 priests during the time of Jesus. Therefore, each division would have been comprised of about 1,000 priests. Only at Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles did all the priests get to serve. These priests would all have to wait their turn to serve twice a year for a 7-day period.
按「五年靈修計劃」的讀經編排次序，今年我們以研讀路加福音作開始。
路加福音前言：
作者路加是一位醫生，他是使徒保羅的同工和好友；在保羅第二次的宣教旅程中，他半途加入，一路陪伴保羅直到保羅殉道(參門24和提後4:11)。
在這福音書的開始，他已非常清楚的道明寫書的原因；我就讓讀者自己去思考。不過，明顯地，在寫這福音書時，相信當時已有多本福音書面世，包括馬可福音，也可能包括馬太福音。路加福音與這兩本福音一起被稱為附類福音，但這書對耶穌基督的教訓與生平，有更詳盡的記載：包括祂所行的神蹟、所說的比喻、和對禱告的教導和榜樣。
當時路加的寫作對象是一位羅馬高官，也是路加及後再寫使徒行傳的對象。
解經家對路加所形述的耶穌有一定的見解，我則希望讀者在研讀這福音書後，有屬於自己的領會。
- 按路加所言，他寫這福音書的目的是什麼？
- 這目的應怎樣影響你研讀這福音書的態度？
- 路加福音比其他福音書在耶穌出生的歷史上，有那些更詳盡的記載？這些記載怎樣加深我們對耶穌基督和祂的使命的認識？
- 按1:7,18,36所言，撒迦利亞和以利沙伯的年紀大概有多大？
- 就算他們是很有信心的人，你以為他們在那個年歲或許會停止祈禱求子呢？三十、四十、五十或是……？
- 既是如此，天使所說：「因為你的祈禱已經被聽見了」，對你長久尚未蒙允的禱告有什麼提醒？
- 你能怪責撒迦利亞在1:18說：「我憑著什麼可知道這事呢」？
- 這段經文給我們知道施洗約翰的出身和呼召：
- 他生於撒迦利亞的家庭可有什麼重要性？
- 如此奇蹟般出生又有什麼重要性？(你可以想起聖經中類似情況出生的人嗎？他們可有什麼共通處？
- 按天使所言，約翰是怎樣為主預備道路的？(參瑪4:5)
- 今天你得到的主要提醒是什麼？你會怎樣應用在你的生命中？
註：按歷代志下24:7-18，一共是有24班祭司輪值在聖殿中供職。解經家William Barclay認為在耶穌的時代應有大概二萬個祭司輪班，故此每班有大概一千人——惟有在五旬節、住棚節和逾越節等節期時，所有祭司才可以一起供職。平日在殿中供職的機會就限於每年兩次，每次為期一週。至於能掣籤進殿燒香，則一生恐怕也沒有機會。
Ⅴ. Meditative Reflection: The Impact of John the Baptist||Ⅴ. 靈修默想小篇：施洗約翰的影響
"Many of the people of Israel will he (John the Baptist) bring back to the Lord their God…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Lk. 1:16-17)
The Four Gospels not only mention the ministry of John the Baptist, but they also point out that he and his ministry have already been foretold by the prophet Isaiah. In other words, his ministry was not to be taken lightly and he was to play an important part in the plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.
In the Four Gospels, we see the immediate impact of his ministry as he boldly pointed out the sins of the religious leaders and called them and the people to repentance. His ministry was greeted with great success, as even many of the religious leaders came to receive his baptism of repentance.
But his ministry was meant to be preparatory in that if these repenting Jews did not subsequently listen to his testimony about who Jesus is, their baptism of repentance would be totally meaningless.
As it happened, some of those who received his baptism of repentance did believe in his testimony and followed Jesus, and they included Peter and Andrew.
As Luke finished his Gospel account and continued to write the Book of Acts, we have come to realize that many of the Apostles stayed in Jerusalem and that many of John's disciples spread throughout Asia Minor and beyond, carrying the gospel with them. As a result, they played no small part in the spread of the gospel beyond Jerusalem. All these have been a result of the bold ministry of John the Baptist.
As much as we do understand that no one is indispensable when it comes to the ministry of the church, one has to wonder what if — what if John did not faithfully carry out his role as the one who prepared the way of the Lord?
「他要使許多以色列人回轉，歸於主─他們的神……又為主預備合用的百姓。」(路1:16-17)
四本福音書不但都提到施洗約翰的工作，更指出他的出現和事工早已在以賽亞書中預言。所以，他的工作實非偶然，更是對主耶穌基督救贖計劃甚有幫助。
在四福音中，我們看到他勇敢的呼喚當時的猶太人和宗教領袖悔改，帶來了立時的果效。群眾似乎是爭先恐後的要受他的悔改的洗禮。
在神的救恩計劃中，他的工作是屬於預備性的。若然這些受了悔改的洗的人拒絕相信耶穌的話，所受的悔改的洗禮也是徒然的。
不過，有不少接受他洗禮的，終於是相信並跟隨了主耶穌，包括彼得與安德烈在內。
當我們繼續看四福音之後的使徒行傳，就會讀到當使徒們仍留守耶路撒冷的時候，施洗約翰的門徒已分佈了小亞細亞，甚至更遠的地方，福音帶到這些地區。福音傳離猶太地，他們扮演了重要角色。那是施洗約翰勇敢傳道的果子。
當然，我們都知道，在神的事工上，沒有「不可缺少」的人。但誠然，一個神僕的忠心，是能叫神國度得到擴展、不少人得到屬天的福氣的。若然施洗約翰未能忠心完成他位份的使命，基督要完成祂的使命豈不是難上加難嗎？
Ⅵ. A Time for Silence||Ⅵ. 靜默時刻
You have meditated much with your intellectual faculty today. Now have a moment of silence (the length is up to you, 5 or even 30 minutes), and ask God quietly, "Lord, is there any important message from you today that I might have missed? Show me, your servant is listening?"||今天你用了不少智力技能來默想。現在，就用一點時間靜下來（長、短由你決定：5或30分鐘），安靜地求問神，「主阿，有甚麼我忽略了的重要信息對我說？請說，僕人敬聽。」
Ⅶ. Supplication||Ⅶ. 代求
| Your Family||家人 | |
| Other People||其他人 | |
| Church Ministries||教會事工 | |
| Other Ministries||其他機構 | |
| City & World||本市及普世 | |
| Others||其他 |
| Your Family||家人 | Other People||其他人 | Church Ministries||教會事工 | Other Ministries||其他機構 | City & World||本市及普世 | Others||其他 | |
| SUN||星期日 | ||||||
| MON||星期一 | ||||||
| TUE||星期二 | ||||||
| WED||星期三 | ||||||
| THU||星期四 | ||||||
| FRI||星期五 | ||||||
| SAT||星期六 |
Ⅷ. Benediction||Ⅷ. 祝福
"Bestow on me, O Lord, a genial spirit and unwearied forbearance; a mild, loving, patient heart; kindly looks, pleasant, cordial speech and manners in the exchanges of life; that I may give offence to none, but insofar as I can, may live in charity with everyone." In Jesus' name. Amen. (Johann Arndt, 1555-1621)
「神阿，願祢賜我真摯的靈，能多忍耐；有溫柔和忍耐的愛心，良善的目光，以歡樂和誠懇的言詞和態度，與人相交。好叫我不得罪任何人，而能愛人。」奉耶穌的名，阿們！(Johann Arndt,1555-1621)