1      Church and Campfire

         It’s hard to imagine that we have been in the COVID-19 pandemic for over a year now! The lockdown (and no church in-person gatherings) started in March, 2020.

         It hasn’t been easy for many of you – life has become a lot busier for some, or isolated for others. A couple of important questions are:

         1)      Have you been supported by your church community as you are going through this?                 2)      Are you overwhelmed by all that is happening, and have been disengaged from the faith community?

         Perhaps you wonder if and why engaging in the faith family is important. It is  because church is essential for our faith vitality!

         A church is like a campfire. If you have ever built a camp fire, you know that it’s easy to snuff out a piece of burning firewood. You only need to take the lighted piece out of the burning stack, and leave it on the side, away from the others. It’ll keep lit for a little while, but soon it’ll go out.

         And if you want to put out the whole campfire, you would first disperse them, and they will die off slowly one by one!

         What are some Signs of a Disengaged Believer:

         One has not been attending any small group or fellowship gathering for a while (and not motivated to go)

         One has been slipping in worshipping our Lord online (worship viewing  keeps getting postponed, and sometimes even skipped. Even while worshipping, one is generally distracted, or focus on “channel flipping” - looking for the most “helpful worship”)

         When in-person church actually resumes one day, wondering whether you would still be going.

          Scripture reminds us that:

“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
(Hebrews 10:24-25)

         Being engaged in the church is essential for your faith. A Christian is never a loner, we need one another, so do you.    

1  教會與營火

       很難想像我們已經進入新冠肺炎大流行一年多了！ 二零二零年三月開始實施封鎖措施（教堂實體聚會取消多月）直到現在。

       對很多人而言，這並非易事 - 有些人的生活變得更忙碌，而另一些人則變得極孤獨，與人隔離。 一個重要的問題是：

當你正在經歷這個困難的時間，你有從教會大家庭得到支援嗎？

還是你已經為周遭所發生的事感到招架不來，而漸漸疏離了你的信仰群體呢？

      也許你問：在此刻信仰群體對我真的這麼重要嗎？

      無可置疑「是的」，因為教會對於我們在信仰上的生命力尤為重要！

      教會就像一團營火。如果你曾經弄過營火，你就會知道要弄熄一塊燃燒着的柴火是很容易的；你只需要將這塊點燃着的柴火從火堆中取出來放在一旁，遠離火堆，它只會再燃燒着一會，很快就會熄滅。

      如果你想撲滅整團營火，你會先撥開分散它們，它們就會慢慢地逐一熄滅！

      疏離教會的信徒有什麼跡象呢？

·        已一段時間沒有參加任何小組或團契聚會（並且沒有動力去參加）

·        對敬拜我們的主（網上）時顯得越來越鬆懈（敬拜不斷推遲，有時甚至沒有敬拜。而且即使在敬拜也是不能專注，或者忙於「轉台」尋索「最得幫助的敬拜」）

·        想到教會重開的一天，思想自己是否仍會繼續參加 …（或只是保持這種「自由自在」的形式）　　

聖經提醒我們：

      「又要彼此相顧，激發愛心，勉勵行善。你們不可停止聚會，好像那些停止慣了的人，倒要彼此勸勉；既知道那日子臨近，就更當如此。」（希伯來書10：24-25）

         參與教會對於你的信仰歷程十分重要。基督徒從來都不是一個人，每一個都是互為需要的，你也不例外.

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