倍增
How many times have you heard someone say, “I can’t wait till things get back to normal?” I certainly get it. Even as a person who loves change, I am craving for normality and stability right now. Even early on in the pandemic people began talking about a new normal that we would find. But, nothing has been normal about the start of this year to even last year. The only thing that seems normal is disruption. Month after month of disruption.
你有多少次听到有人说，"我已经等不及一切恢复正常了"。我当然明白。即使作为一个喜欢变化的人，我现在也渴望着正常和稳定的状况。在疫情的早期，人们就开始谈论着我们的新常态生活。但是，从今年开始，甚至从去年开始，没有什么是常态的。唯一看起来常态的事情是混乱。月复一月的混乱。
Today is Vision Sunday. As we take some time to look forward to the future, there is a question we need to wrestle with: ‘what if God doesn’t want us to go back to the way it was?’ ’ It’s not that the past was bad. Pre pandemic, as a church, we were enjoying a season of growth, joy, and momentum. As a family, we were settled into our new home. Our kids were enjoying new schools. I had just been appointed the new leader for Auckland Church Leaders. What’s more - I knew what was on my calendar for the next day!
今天是异象主日。当我们花一些时间展望未来时，有一个问题需要我们去思考。‘如果上帝不希望我们回到过去的方式来生活怎么办？
这并不是说过去的情况不好。疫情之前，作为一个教会，我们正享受着成长、喜乐和充满活力的时刻。作为一个家庭，我们已经在我们的新家安顿好。我们的孩子享受着新学校。我刚刚被任命为奥克兰教会团体的新领袖。更重要的是，我能夠知道我第二天的日程表上有什么。
Everything seemed to be clicking together. But, the past two years have been full of disruption after disruption. We have to ask – ‘what if God wants to use disruption to do a new thing?’ ” We’re in this series reflecting on the first 15 chapters in the book of Acts. It’s an amazing story isn’t it? To see a group of 120 ordinary believers sparking a global movement in just 30 years.
一切似乎都在顺利中进行。但是，过去两年充满了一个又一个的混乱。我们不得不发问：“如果上帝想利用混乱来做一件新的事情呢？我们在这个讲道系列中查考使徒行传前十五章的内容，这是一个巧妙的故事，不是吗？看到一群 120 名普通信徒在短短 30 年间引发了一场全球运动。
We’re highlighting 9 seismic shifts that led to global movement. So, far we have honed in on two of these:
The first was the about our mission – the ‘what.’
Seismic Shift #1 Kingdom: The gospel is placed in the hands of ordinary people. Rather than get distracted bytimings, people, politics or challenges, simply point people to Jesus through what you say and what you do.
The second shift was the ‘how’:
Seismic Shift #2 Spirit: You have the Spirit dwelling in your life bringing the power and presence of Jesus to renew your work, home, and neighbourhood.
我们总结出九个引发全球运动的巨大转变。到目前为止，我们已经对其中的两个进行了深入探讨：
第一个是关于我们的使命：“我们的使命是什么？
” 巨大转变 #1 国度：福音的使命被交到普通人的手中。与其被时间、人物、政治或挑战所干扰，不如通过你所说的和所做的，将人们指向耶稣。第二个是关于“如何？”：我们如何完成大使命？
巨大转变 #2 圣灵：你有圣灵内住在你的生命中，带来耶稣的能力与同在，用来更新你的工作、家庭及社区。
At the end of Acts 2, we saw there was a 2500% growth rate as the church grew by 3000 people on day 1 of the church. We might get the idea that it was smooth sailing from there on in. But, we would be wrong, because there were huge challenges and disruptions that came their way. As you follow along the story in our devotions (which is a gentle reminder of our devotional guide), you will come across a number of these stories of disruption.
在使徒行传第二章的结尾，我们看到了 2500%的信徒增长率，教会在成立的第一天就增加了 3000人。我们可能会产生这样的想法：教会从此以后就一帆风顺了。但是，我们判断错了，因为有巨大的挑战和干扰前来。当你跟随着我们的灵修手册（提醒大家使用教会准备的灵修手册），你会看到许多这样的破坏性事件發生。
I want to hone in on one of the stories– here in Acts 8. For the first seven chapters of Acts, the stories all take place in Jerusalem. This became HQ for the early church and the focus of their activity. The problem was that Jesus had given a clear mission that was wider than Jerusalem. “And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere-in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”/ Words of Jesus from Acts 1:8
我想重点谈谈其中的一个故事。记载在使徒行传第八章。在使徒行传前七章中，故事都发生在耶路撒冷。这成为早期教会的总部，也是教会活动的主要地点。问题是，耶稣已经给出了一个明确的使命，其范围比耶路撒冷更广阔。“你们要在耶路撒冷、犹太全地、撒玛利亚，直到地级，作我的见证人，向人传福音。”使徒行传一章 8 节來自耶稣的命令。
Guess what? 7 chapters after Jesus gave this mission - the church is still centred in Jerusalem. That makes sense because this is where the early followers lived and worked. While things stayed like they were, they continued to live within these constraints. But, a massive disruption radically changed the scope of their mission:
A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. … Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison./ Acts 8:1, 3
你猜怎么着？在耶稣颁布这一使命的七章后，教会仍然以耶路撒冷为中心活动。这也说得通，因为这是早期信徒生活和工作的地方。情况没什么改变，他们继续在这一地域中生活。但是，一次大规模的破坏活动从根本上改变了他们的使命范围：
从那天起，耶路撒冷的教会大受迫害；除了使徒以外，所有的人都分散到犹太和撒玛利亚各地......扫罗却残害教会，逐家进去，连男带女拉去坐监。（徒 8:1, 3）
This is incredibly disruptive.
All the believers have been scattered. A man called Saul is out to destroy the church, dragging men and women into prison. The verses before this speak about the killing of one of their followers – a man named Stephen. This is a scary time for everyone in the church.
If I was a pastor at that time, I would have had every reason to fear and worry.
• On a personal level – I’d be concerned about the safety of my own family. Where are we going to live? Will we be arrested and dragged away?
• On a church level – how will the church ever survive this? The places people met before are no longer
accessible. People’s jobs are up in the air. We don't even know where they are or what’s happening to them.
I can’t think of a bigger disruption than this one.
这是个令人难以置信的破坏性事件。所有的信徒被打散了。一个叫扫罗的人破坏教会，把男人和女人关进监狱。在此之前的经文谈到一位信徒被杀，他叫司提反。对教会中的每个人来说，这是一个可怕的时刻。
如果我当时是一名牧师，我完全有理由害怕和担心。
● 就个人而言，我会担心我家人的安全。我们要住在哪里？我们会不会被逮捕并被带走？
● 就教会层面，教会将如何度过这一关？人们以前聚会的地方已经无法进入。人们的工作都是悬而未决的。我们甚至不知道他们在哪里，也不知道他们发生了什么。
我想不出有什么比这更大的破坏了。
How could anything good come out of something so horrid?
Glace your eyes down to verse 4:
“But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.”/ Acts 8:4
These believers lived out the first two shifts we already seen: kingdom and Spirit.
Just because they weren’t able to gather as they had done before, and just because the culture is against them, and just because the stability of the life they had has all gone, they focus on what they do have: the gospel ofthe kingdom and Spirit who indwells them.
So, wherever they went, they preached this Good News about Jesus. Guess what happened?
如此可怕的事情怎么会有好的结果呢？
让我们看第 4 节经文：
“那些分散的人，经过各地，传扬福音真道。”（徒 8:4）
这些信徒活出了我们谈论的前两个转变：国度和圣灵。正因为他们没有能力像以前那样聚集，正因为文化对他们不利，正因为他们所拥有的稳定生活已经全部消失，他们专注于他们所拥有的东西：天国的福音和住在他们身上的圣灵。因此，无论他们走到哪里，他们都可以專注於传扬关于耶稣的好消息。
你猜之后发生了什么？
Multiplication. That’s our third seismic shift.
The movement rapidly grew – despite the disruption. Even because of the disruption.
Luke gives a story about how this happened: Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did./ Acts 8:5-6 Remember, Samaria is one of the regions Jesus had called them to go. Yes, it took persecution -but they got there! Philip witnesses to what he knows. People respond. Later in our story, Peter and John check out what happened and the Spirit comes on these ordinary believers too with His presence and His power. This is multiplication.
倍增。这是第三个巨大转变。
这场运动迅速发展，尽管有干扰，甚至正是因为有干扰。路加给出了一个关于运动如何发生的故事：
“腓利下到撒玛利亚城，宣讲基督。群众听了腓利所讲的，看见他所行的神迹，就同心听从了他的话。”（徒 8:5- 6）
请大家记住，撒玛利亚是耶稣呼召信徒们去的地区之一。是的，他们受到了迫害，但他们还是到了那里! 腓利为他所知道的事情作见证。人们回应。在我们故事的后面，彼得和约翰查看了所发生的事情，圣灵也以祂的存在和祂的能力降临在这些普通的信徒身上。这就是倍增。
Then, guess what happened to Saul who was dragging men and women to prison for their faith? In the chapter immediately following news of this disruption, God miraculously disrupts Saul on his journeywhere he is on his way to have more believers arrested. Saul is transformed into Paul, the key leader in the multicultural growth of the church. This leads to rapid multiplication. Who would have thought God would use disruption to multiply a movement of the gospel? From this event, there were significant shifts that took place:
● Shift in locale: The temple was no longer the core gathering place. Rather, homes were the focus.
● A shift to decentralize: Rather, than the church centralizing in Jerusalem, churches popped up everywhere.
● A shift in ethnicity: The church moved from one people group – Jewish, to multiple people groups.
Incredibly diverse.
● A shift in the type of leaders: new voices began to emerge and they led in new ways
然后，你猜扫罗发生了什么，他正在因为人们的信仰而把他们关进监狱？
在紧随之后的经文中，上帝奇妙地打断了扫罗的旅程，他正在去逮捕更多信徒的路上。扫罗被转化为保罗，成为教会多元文化发展的关键领袖。这导致了快速的繁殖。谁会想到上帝会利用混乱来使福音运动倍增呢？这一事件中，发生了一些重大的转变：
● 地点的转变：会堂不再是核心聚会场所。相反，家庭成为聚会场所。
● 分散化的转变：教会不再集中在耶路撒冷，教会在各地涌现。
● 种族的转变：教会从一个民族-犹太人，转向多个民族。令人难以置信的多样化。
● 领袖类型的转变：新的声音开始出现，他们以新的方式进行领导。
Guess what?
Believers multiplied. Missionaries multiplied. Churches multiplied. Within 30 years, the ground-breaking news of Jesus touched every city of the known world and began to transform every sphere of culture. The story of Acts shows us that God can use disruption for gospel multiplication. And this is where this story needs to become personal to you and me: What if this story isn’t meant to finish at the end of Acts? What if God’s not finished with us? What if everyone gets be part of what God is doing to renew people and places everywhere? What if God doesn’t want us to go back to the way things were? And what if the disruptions we’re experiencing can also lead to gospel multiplication?
再接下來怎麼着？
信徒成倍增加。传教士成倍增加。教会成倍增加。在 30 年内，福音好消息触及了已知世界的每个城市，并开始改变每个文化领域。使徒行传的故事告诉我们，上帝可以利用混乱来实现福音的繁擴張。而这正是这个故事需要成为你我个人事件的地方。如果这个故事并不是要在使徒行传的结尾结束呢？如果上帝对我们还没有结束呢？如果每个人都能成为上帝更新各地人民和地方所做的事情的一部分呢？如果上帝不希望我们回到过去的状态呢？如果我们正在经历的混乱也能导致福音的擴張呢？
In early 2020, we heard the whisper of the Spirit say: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”/ Isaiah 43:19 Little did we know the month after sharing this verse with you at our Vision Sunday in February 2020, that the would be significantly disrupted through the pandemic. We’re not celebrating the restrictions and lockdowns and difficulties. But, a biblical lens should change the way we see disruption: that God can use disruption for gospel multiplication.
在 2020 年初，我们听到圣灵耳语说：“看哪！我要作一件新的事；现在它要发生了，难道你们还不知道吗？我要在旷野开一条道路，在荒地开挖江河。”（赛 43:19）我们不知道的是，在 2020 年 2 月的异象主日与你分享这节经文后的一个月，世界将因新冠疫情而被大大扰乱。我们并不为那些限制、封锁和困难而庆贺。但是，通过圣经的视角能够改变我们看待混乱的方式：上帝可以利用混乱来实现福音的擴張。
This year, we hear another whisper of the Spirit building on those earlier words of “I am doing a new thing.” Later, in the same book, Isaiah says: “You will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.”/ Isaiah 58:12 The original promise was that when God’s people are in step with God’s purposes, then God’s people can rebuild what is broken around them. We believe we are stepping into a rebuilding season. The months ahead will require a lot of rebuilding. Rebuilding lives, rebuilding homes, places of work, neighbourhoods and churches.
今年，我们听到圣灵的另一个耳语，它建立在先前的 "我要做一件新事 "的话语基础之上。后来，在同一本书中，以赛亚说：“你必重建历代拆毁了的根基；你要称为修补破口的人，重修路径给人居住的人。”（赛 58:12）最初的应许是，当上帝的子民与上帝的旨意同步时，那么上帝的子民就能重建他们周围破碎的东西。我们相信我们正步入一个重建的时刻。未来几个月将需要大量的重建工作。重建生活、重建家庭、工作场所、社区和教会。
That’s why our vision lens continues to be focussed in these three vision areas that we highlighted with our change of name one year ago this week:
1. Transformed people: We help people restore their identity in Jesus and discover the unique calling He has for them.
Amidst so much misplaced identity, our focus is continually inviting people to personally encounter God’s saving grace, and to allow his grace to change the way we see ourselves and everything we do.
2. Transformed places. Transformed people are empowered to be agents of renewal wherever they are. We do everything we can to support this. We’re all about deleting the line that too often exists with faith and work, faith and home, and faith and life.
3. Transformed partnerships. Our church partners with other churches to foster community and effective mission. For too long, churches have largely seen each other as competitors. Our vision is one of Churches working together - celebrating the diversity of expressions, and using our gifts, passions and opportunities to transform every sphere of culture and bring blessing to others
这就是为什么我们的视角继续集中在这三个异象/愿景领域，我们在一年前的这个时候更换教会名称时，强调了这些领域：
1. 改变的人：我们帮助人们恢复他们在耶稣里的身份，发现耶稣对他们的独特呼召。
在如此多的身份错位中，我们的重点是不断邀请人们亲自遇见上帝的拯救之恩，并让上帝的恩典改变我们看待自己和所做一切事物的方式。
2. 改变的地方：被改造的人被赋予能力，无论他们在哪里都能成为更新的代理人。我们尽我们所能支持这样的改变, 我们要去除信仰与工作、信仰与家庭、信仰与生活之间经常存在的界限。
3. 改变的关系：教会与其他教会合作，促进社区发展和有效的宣教。
. 长期以来，教会在很大程度上将彼此视为竞争对手。我们的愿景是教会一起同工，以此来庆贺多样性，并利用我们的恩赐、激情和机会来改变文化的每一个领域，给他人带来祝福。
When we step out as ordinary people empowered with the Spirit and with the gospel in our hands, we can see a multiplication of the gospel where we become rebuilders of what is broken in our city. This year we are beginning this rebuilding with 3 significant shifts:
1. A Shift towards Hybrid Church
What is “hybrid”?
A hybrid car is a car with different options - petrol and electric.
Hybrid church expands options for people in their journey to ensure that we are able to engage onsite AND online.
Dave Adamson, an Aussie friend defines it this way: “Hybrid is a fresh expression of church for a networked society, where physical and digital experiences are seamlessly integrated into the lives of society.”/ Dave Adamson
Isn’t a large part of our life now done in a hybrid way? Think of the way you shop for groceries: it’s likely a mixture of in-person walking the aisles, arranging a click and collect, or a delivery to your door. Our habits have changed significantly over the last few years. The pandemic has accelerated the speed of that change.
The beauty of Hybrid Church is that we are able to offer new opportunities to include more people who may not want to or be able to attend in-person gatherings. It may be because of a disability, or being unwell, or being housebound, or particular fears stopping them coming into a strange place with 'strange' people. It might be that our in-person service times don’t work with someone’s work schedule, or someone is away at the family Bach.
当我们这些被圣灵赋予能力的普通信徒带着福音走出来，我们可以看到在我们成为城市中破碎事物的重建者的地方福音的倍增。今年，我们以 3 个重要的转变开始这一重建事工：
1. 向混合型教会的转变
什么是“混合型”？
混合动力汽车是一种有不同动力选择的汽车，汽油和电力。
混合型教会为人们的属灵旅程增加了选择，以确保每个人能够在现场和网上参与其中。
戴夫-亚当森，一位澳洲朋友，这样定义：
“混合型是教会对网络化社会的一种全新表达，在这个社会形态中，实体和数字化体验被无缝整合到社会生活中。”（戴夫-亚当森）
现在我们生活的大部分不都是以混合方式完成的吗？ 想想你买菜的方式：可以采用亲自去买，安排线上购买线下提货，或者送货上门的混合方式。在过去的几年里，我们的习惯已经发生了重大变化。疫情加快了这种变化的速度。
混合型教会的魅力在于，我们能够提供新的机会，让更多可能不想或不能参加实体聚会的人参与进来。这些人可能是因为残疾，或身体不适，或是居家者，或特别害怕到一个陌生的地方与 "陌生 "的人在一起。也可能是我们的聚会时间与一些人的工作安排不一致，或者有些人因在度假屋而无法前来聚会。
So what does a shift towards Hybrid Church involve?
● After Omicron peaks, We will continue to do in-person, onsite services and ministries. That doesn’t change.
● What changes is expanding our services and ministries outside of in-person and onsite. ● So, we will Continue Church Online as an ongoing connection point for people to connect together. In other words, Church Online isn’t simply a back-stop when we have no in-person gatherings.
● On top of this, we will, Develop online tools – where people can belong, thrive, and renew at times and places that are not restricted to being in-person and onsite.
● Additionally, we will encourage the development of household gatherings – Encourage Gracecity at My Place as a long-term model providing people the opportunity to invite people who don’t know Jesus to their own homes.
● All this is going to require a shift in our thinking and approach. We need to develop new rhythms and grab the additional opportunities for both ourselves and for others all designed to help us belong, thrive, and renew.
那么，向混合型教会的转变涉及什么呢？
● 在疫情达到顶峰后，我们将继续进行实体聚会和事工。这一点并没有改变。
● 变化的是扩大我们的服事和事工，不仅仅是实体聚会。
● 因此，我们将继续在线聚会，作为一个接点，让人们联系在一起。 换句话说，当我们没有面对面的聚会时，网上教会并不是简单的后备选项。
● 在此基础上，我们将开发在线工具，帮助大家可以在其上找到归属、茁壮成长和更新生命，而不局限于实体聚会。
● 此外，我们将鼓励发展家庭聚会，Gracecity at My Place（恩典教会在我家）作为一个长期模式，为人们提供机会，邀请不认识耶稣的人到开放家庭中。
● 所有这些都需要我们转变思维方式。我们需要发展新的节奏，为自己和他人抓住更多的机会，所有这些都是为了帮助我们有归属感、茁壮成长和更新生命。
The first shift for rebuilding is a shift towards Hybrid Church. The second one is…
2. A Shift towards Multi Site
● A multi-site church is simply a church that meets in more than one location. In many ways, we already function as a multisite church, with different service times and a growing Hybrid expression both onlineand in households.
● We believe we need to create new in-person gatherings around our city to enable people to gather at a location closer to where they live. It’s best to think of these new locations as additional mission outposts enabling people to invite friends locally, and a mission hub from which they able to strategically renew specific neighbourhoods in our city.
● I like to use the phrase ‘big little church’ to describe this: providing the benefits of being big but keeping the feel little - becoming more localised and connected.
● This past year, we have enjoyed our Collective: remember, our Mosaic Series in the story of Joseph, and Follow the Star Christmas event. During that time, we enjoyed a growing relationship with Summit Church in East Auckland. Sensing the Spirit’s prompting, mid-way through last year I put a proposal to their leadership team and asked whether they might look at Summit becoming part of Gracecity – effectively an East Campus we would call ‘Gracecity East.’ This led to a lot of healthy discussions, dialogue, and dreaming about possibilities.
重建的第一个转变是向混合型教会转变。第二个是...... 2. 向多地点教会的转变
● 多地点教会就是在一个以上地点聚会的教会。在许多方面，我们已经作为一个多地点教会在运作，有不同的聚会时间，并且在网上和家庭中都有越来越多的混合方式聚会。
● 我们相信，我们需要在我们的城市周围创建新的实体聚会，使人们能够在离他们居所更近的地方聚会。最好把这些新的地点看作是宣教前哨站，使人们能够邀请当地的朋友，也可以看作是一个宣教中心，能够从这里战略性地更新我们的社区。
● 我喜欢用 "大的小教会 "来描述这一点：提供“大”的益处，但保持“小”的感觉，更加本地化和彼此连接。
● 在过去的一年里，我们很享受我们的集合：我们约瑟故事中的马赛克讲道系列，以及跟随星星的圣诞活动。在那时，我们与奥克兰东区的山峰教会的关系日益密切。受到圣灵的感动，去年年中，我向他们的领导团队提出了一个建议，问他们是否可以考虑让山峰教会成为恩典教会的一部分，实际上是一个“东”教区，我们称之为 "东部恩典之城教会"。这导致了许多健康的讨论、对话和对可能性的憧憬。
Three key questions we asked ourselves are:
1) Could we accomplish more together than separate?
2) Would our community be better served by coming together?
3) Is this where God is leading us as churches?
我们问自己的三个关键问题是：
1）我们“在一起”能不能比“分开”完成更多的工作？
2）我们的社区会不会因为结合而得到更好的服务？
3）这是上帝引导我们教会的地方吗？
The leadership teams from both Summit and Gracecity have answered with a resounding ‘yes’ to all three of these.
● Following this, our Gracecity board began the needed financial due diligence. Once that was satisfied, we formally invited their leaders to consider being adopted by Gracecity and becoming our first multisite - providing a mission hub and Sunday gathering space in East Auckland. Their leaders gave their endorsement to the proposal.
● This last week, their leadership team gathered their wider leaders together and put a proposal to them. Today - Summit will hear about this proposal, just as you.
● This proposal doesn’t mean it’s happening. This is a big step for Summit and requires their congregation to take time to pray and reflect and then vote on the 3rd April.
● Meantime, we asked some of their leaders and ours to give their thoughts around this proposal. Here’s what they had to say:
● So, this proposal is now the decision of Summit. If they vote ‘yes’ on 3rd April, they will become Gracecity East. If that doesn’t go ahead, our vision is still to pursue a multisite strategy - but the timing and next steps of that will be different. We’ll continue to pray and seek God in terms of the timing and next steps.
来自山峰教会和恩典教会的领导团队对这三点都做出了响亮的回答 "是"。
● 在这之后，我们恩典教会理事会开始进行必要的财务尽职调查。一旦通过，我们正式邀请他们的领导人考虑被恩典教会接纳（合并），成为我们的第一个多站点，在东奥克兰提供一个宣教中心和周日聚会地点。 他们的领导对这个提议表示赞同。
● 上周，他们的领导团队召集了他们更多的领袖，并向他们提出了一个提案。今天，山峰教会会众将听到这个提案，就像你听到的一样。
● 这个提案并不意味着它将最终发生。这对山峰教会来说是一大步，需要他们的会众花时间祷告和思考，然后在 4 月 3 日投票。
● 同时，我们请他们的一些领导人和我们的领导人围绕这个提案发表想法。以下是他们的意见。
● 所以，这个提案现在是山峰教会的决定。如果他们在 4 月 3 日投票赞成，他们将成为“东部恩典教会”。如果提案被否决，我们的愿景仍然是追求一个多站点战略，但时间和下一步将有所不同。我们会继续祷告，并在时间和下一步方面寻求上帝引领。
Why do we think this is a good proposal?
If we had to pin it down to four reasons:
#1 We believe we can accomplish the mission better together.
It’s the idea of Ecclesiastes 4:9: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour.” Together, we can create opportunities, like: Planting new faith communities across our city Our city is expanding and we need more gathering spaces and churches across Tāmaki Makaurau. Expanding outreach initiatives in our community, our city, and across our world Developing quality resources for discipleship, next generation, and leadership Establishing Gracecity College to train the next generation of pastors and leaders.
#2 We see strong commonality between our two churches.
I’ve jotted down 7 areas of real affinity between our two churches.
- a yearning to see people find eternal life in Jesus;
- a heart for God’s grace and how it impacts the way we act, react & interact;
- a commitment to biblical, relevant preaching;
- a desire to impact our community and city in practical ways;
- a commitment to doing life together as whanau;
- empowerment for doing ministry in teams; - a commitment to investing in the next generation
This affinity should be expected because the founder of Summit and myself go back a long way. You already know their founder: Brad Carr is well known to us because he is part of a teaching team. Brad stepped down from being the Senior Pastor of Summit in early 2019 when he suffered burn-out. Though the church has sought to find a senior pastor for three years, they haven’t been able to find a good fit. Brad and I have known each other for 25 years. We both graduated from the same seminary, served in the same church for a season, and have met each month for the past 18 years sharing life-on-life and ministry aspirations together. This DNA is shared in both churches. For that reason, we think it’s a good fit for Summit to be adopted by Gracecity.
#3 We see specific benefits for Gracecity.
Summit has their own list of what they see as their benefits. But, we also see huge benefits for Gracecity. After all, it is much easier to begin our first multi-site via adoption than beginning from scratch.
- Established presence and reputation in the community. Summit has a good reputation in its community for the way it serves schools and neighbourhoods.
- Strong local leadership. Their staff and leaders are brilliant. We got to experience that during the collective.
- Good financial & system health. Our Gracecity board conducted careful due diligence of the finances & systems of Summit, and found they have a strong financial position with positive cashflow.
- An established ministry centre. They own a ministry centre (Kotahi Community Centre), which would give Gracecity East a physical presence and base in the local community from which we can expand various community ministries with Alpha, English Classes and our CAP Debt Centre.
#4 God Is In This.
Psalm 127 says ‘unless the Lord builds the house, it builders labour in vain.’ We sense the Spirit of God in this. We sense it in the linking of hearts around a common vision of what is possible. We sense it in the ease of discussions, the shared dreams. We sense this in the providence of God in the relationships built during the Collective – giving us a chance to get to know each other more.
为什么我们认为这是一个好提案？
我把它归结为四个原因：
#1 我们相信我们可以一起更好地完成使命。
这就是传道书 4:9 的意思："二人胜过一人，因为他们一起的劳碌有美好的酬报。" 我们一起可以创造更多机会，比如：在我们的城市中建立新的信仰社区我们的城市正在扩大，我们需要在整个奥克兰城市中建立更多的聚会场所和教会在我们的社区、我们的城市和我们的世界中扩张拓展活动为门徒训练、下一代和领导力开发优质资源建立恩典教会学院，培训下一代的牧师和领袖.
#2 我们看到我们两个教会之间有很强的共同点。
我写下我们两个教会之间真正相似的 7 个领域
- 渴望看到人们在耶稣里找到永恒的生命。
- 对上帝的恩典以及它如何影响我们的行为、反应和互动方式的心。
- 对符合圣经的、关联性的讲道的承诺。
- 渴望以实际方式影响我们的社区和城市。
- 对作为大家庭一起生活的承诺。
- 赋予团队的力量，使其能够开展事奉。
- 对栽培下一代的承诺
这种相似应该是在意料之中的，因为山峰教会的创始人和我本人有很深的渊源。大家应该知道他们的创始人是布拉德-卡尔，他被我们所熟知，因为他是我们讲道团队的成员。2019 年初，布拉德在遭遇职业倦怠时，从山峰教会的主任牧师职位上退下来。虽然教会三年来一直在寻找牧师，但他们一直没能找到合适的人选。布拉德和我已经认识 25 年了。我们毕业于同一所神学院，在同一个教会服事了一段时间，在过去的 18 年里，我们每个月都见面，一起分享生活和事工的状况. 这种 DNA 在两个教会中都有。出于这个原因，我们认为山峰教会被恩典教会接纳是很合适的。
#3 我们看到对恩典教会的具体益处。
山峰教会有他们自己认为他们能得到益处的清单。但是，我们也看到恩典教会能得到的巨大益处。毕竟，通过接纳其他教会开始我们的第一个多站点，要比从头开始建立教会容易得多。
- 在社区中建立存在和声誉。山峰教会在其社区中因其服务学校和社区的方式而具有良好的声誉。
- 强大的当地领袖。他们的同工和领袖都很出色。我们在集体讨论中体验到了这一点。
- 良好的财务和健康的系统。我们的恩典教会理事会对山峰教会的财务和系统进行了仔细的尽职调查，发现他们有一个良好的财务状况，有一个正的现金流。
- 一个成熟的事工中心。他们拥有一个事工中心（Kotahi 社区中心），这将使东部恩典教会在当地社区有一个实际的存在和基地，我们可以从这里扩展各种社区事工，包括启发课程、英语课和我们的 CAP 事工中心。
#4 上帝在同工。
诗篇 127 篇说："如果不是耶和华建造房屋，建造的人就徒然劳苦。” 我们在其中感受到上帝的圣灵。
我们在围绕着对可能的事情的共同异象中感受到圣灵。我们从讨论和共同的梦想中感受到圣灵。
我们在集体讨论期间建立的关系中感受到上帝的旨意，让我们有机会更加了解对方。
You may have a range of questions as to what this might look like.
Two things can help with that:
First, we have produced an e-booklet you can download through the link on the screen, in the host feed right now, or via using the QR code. While this is written to the Summit congregation, it will certainly provide more info for everyone at Gracecity as well. Second, we have a Q and A next Sunday night at 8pm for everyone and anyone from Gracecity to attend.
你可能对之后的状况有一系列的问题。
有两个东西可以帮助你：
首先，我们制作了一本电子书，你现在可以通过屏幕上的链接下载，或者通过扫描二维码下载。虽然这是写给山峰教会会众的，但它肯定也会为恩典教会的每个人提供更多信息。第二，我们在下周日晚上 8 点有一个问答活动，供恩典教会的会众参加。
As we look to rebuild, we see three shifts:
We’ve seen a shift towards Hybrid Church and a Shift towards Multi-Site. There is one more: A Shift towards serving the Wider Church
当我们展望重建的时候，我们看到了三个转变。
我们已经看到了向混合型教会的转变和向多地点的转变。还有最後一个：
向服事更广泛的教会转变
This shift began 2 years ago when I was appointed leader of Auckland Church Leaders. It’s been so exciting
and humbling to see God igniting a desire for churches to be working together to foster community and an effective mission. To keep you in the loop of what is happening wider around Auckland:
● We’re now in the process of:
o forming pastoral networks around our city to ensure pastors are connected. o Gathering leaders from diverse churches to begin shaping a decadal vision for our city
o Additionally, there have been a number of media engagements where we are seeking to
convey a positive united voice on radio and TV. o And, we have an Easter devotional coming out on the 6th March - a chance for us all to hear
from church leaders across different denominations and ethnicities and sizes each day during the period of Lent/Easter reflections. You can subscribe to receive these on social media and invite your Christian friends to do the same.
All this comes out of our Vision as a church of ‘transformed partnerships’. We realise that a divided world needs a united capital ‘C’ church. … to see churches coming together with a shared vision of a flourishing city, embracing the gospel that is placed in the hands of ordinary believers empowered by the Spirit - all designed to see a tangible expression of the kingdom in our lifetime.
这一转变始于两年前，当时我被任命为奥克兰教会团体的领袖。看到上帝点燃了教会对于一起合作来促进社区和有效宣教的渴望，我感到非常兴奋和谦卑。为了让你了解奥克兰周围发生的更多事情。
我们现在正在进行以下工作：
● 在我们的城市周围形成教牧网络，以确保牧师们之间彼此连结。
● 召集不同教会的领袖，开始为我们的城市塑造一个十年期的愿景。
● 此外，召集一些媒体参与，我们正在寻求在广播和电视上传达一个积极的统一的声音。
● 而且，我们在 3 月 6 日推出了一份复活节灵修，在大斋节/复活节反思期间，我们每天都有机会听到不同教派、不同种族、不同规模的教会领袖的信息。你可以在社交媒体上订阅接收这些信息，并邀请你的基督徒朋友也这样做。
所有这些都来自于我们作为一个 "改变的关系 "的教会的愿景。我们意识到，一个分裂的世界需要一个团结的教会......教会带着对繁荣城市的共同愿景走到一起，拥抱被圣灵赋予能力的普通信徒手中的福音，所有这些都是为了在我们有生之年看到天国的具体表现。
When this happens, we will see…
● churches filled with a diversity that embraces the richness of the cultures so prominent in our city.
● Churches serving side-by-side upholding the name of Jesus together.
● Christian business leaders influencing the economic systems.
● The marginalised being served by those who have more because they are driven by a shared heart for
God.
● The next generation finding their voice and purpose in the great call of the gospel.
● Creative gifts awakened and valued to bring honest reflection and hope.
● We’ll see people who pray for governmental and civic leaders, who check on neighbours, who make
sacrifices to nurture family life
● We’ll see communities of faith that embody aroha noa – a love without constraint.
当这种情况发生时，我们将看到...
● 教会充满了多样性，包容了我们城市中各种丰富的文化。
● 教会并肩服事，共同高举耶稣的名。
● 基督徒商业领袖影响着经济体系。
● 被边缘化的人被更多人（他们被一颗共同的爱上帝之心所驱动）服事。
● 下一代人在福音的伟大召唤中找到自己的声音和目标。
● 创造性的恩赐被唤醒并得到重视，带来诚实的思考和希望。
● 我们将看到人们为政府和人民领袖祈祷，人们查看邻居的情况，人们为家庭生活作出牺牲
● 我们将看到体现无拘无束之爱的信仰团体。
What begins in us can overflow into every sphere of culture and every part of our city. Remember, Jesus taught us to pray: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…" As we step out as with the gospel in our hands and empowered by the Spirit, we can see radical and tangible expressions of that ‘kingdom come’ in my lifetime and yours - regardless of the disruptions around us. ” So, yes there are big disruptions all around us. But, we believe that God can use such disruptions for bigger things.
在我们身上开始的东西可以溢出到文化的每个领域和我们城市的每个部分。请记住，耶稣教导我们要祈祷："愿你的国降临，愿你的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上......"当我们带着福音，在圣灵赋予的能力下走出去时，我们可以看到 "国度降临 "在你我的有生之年得到彻底和具体的表达，不管我们周围有什么干扰。是的，我们周围有很大的干扰。但是，我们相信，上帝可以利用这些混乱来做更大的事情。
It’s what seismic shift #3 is all about:
MULTIPLICATION:
You are called to multiply God’s kingdom and even in disruption, God empowers you to fulfil this call.
You and I are part of something bigger than the circumstances, so that even disruption becomes fuel for greater mission.
This is the story of Acts. It can be our story too.
But, it doesn’t happen automatically.
One of the things I have seen again and again in life and ministry is that two people can face the exact samedisruption and crisis. One person becomes hardened and divisive. The other person is transformed by it. The difference is not the disruption. The difference is how you respond to the disruption. Will I be open to what God might be doing to multiply a work of the gospel? Or, will I push against this moment and the possibilities amidst the problems?
这就是巨大转变 #3 的意义：
倍增：你被呼召去擴張上帝的国度，即使在混乱中，上帝也会赋予你力量来完成这一呼召。
你我是比周遭环境更大的东西的一部分，因此，即使是混乱也会成为更大使命的燃料。
这就是使徒行传的故事。它也可以是我们的故事。但是，它不会自动发生。我在生活和事工中一再看到的一件事情是，两个人面对完全相同的干扰和危机时，一个人可以变得强硬和分裂，而另一个人则因此而改变。区别不在于干扰，区别在于你如何应对这种干扰。我是否会敞开心扉，接受上帝可能要做的事，使福音的事工繁殖？或者，我是否会对抗这个时刻和拒绝存在在问题中的其他可能性？
My prayer for you – and for all of us – is that the seismic shifts that characterized the early church would shape who we are as Gracecity – kingdom, Spirit, and multiplication.
As we look navigate our way through this disruption, we see a
1. a shift towards Hybrid Church
2. a Shift towards Multi-Site
3. A shift towards serving the wider church.
Just as God used 120 people in the upper room to multiply God’s kingdom… You and I are called to multiply God’s kingdom. Even in disruption, God empowers you to fulfil this call.
我为大家的祈祷是，從學習早期教会面對的巨大转变将塑造我们今天作为恩典教会的身份 - 国度、圣灵和倍增。当我们在现今的混乱环境中寻找方向时，我们看到一个：
1. 向混合型教会的转变
2. 向多地点教会的转变
3. 向服事更广泛教会的转变
就像上帝使用在当年耶稣和门徒吃最后晚餐时的那个楼里的 120 人繁殖上帝的国度一样......你我都被呼召去繁擴張上帝的国度，即使在混乱中，上帝也会赋予你力量来完成这一呼召.
