In the second service of the fourth Sunday of every month, a church in Guangdong always holds an evangelistic meeting, inviting believers to bring their unbelieving relatives and friends to the church to hear the Gospel.
On May 29, 2022, Pinghu Church in Shenzhen invited Rev. Lin Enling, secretary general and director general of Guangdong CC&TSPM, to share a sermon on the theme of the Gospel of Peace.
"Are you guys safe and peaceful? What is your definition of peace?" During the sermon, Rev. Lin first asked the congregation to think about the theme of the Gospel of Peace. He focused on the greeting of David's servants to Nabal of the Caleb in 1 Sam 25:5-6 and Jesus' promise to his disciples in John 14:27. He explained what the Gospel of Peace was from three aspects, "the reconciliation between man and God makes the body and mind healthy", "family harmony and happiness" and "social harmony and prosperity".
Nabal was a descendant of Caleb, a family of faith, but the Bible tells us that Nabal was a wayward man. This told us that when people were away from God, they became more and more wicked without peace. In the face of more and more psychological problems and suicide in society, Rev. Lin also reminded believers that only by knowing God can people face themselves and that humility was the only way to bow down and know God.
In addition to the personal encounter with God, it was very important to introduce God to the family. Whether it be a conjugal relationship, parent-child relationship, sibling relationship, mother-in-law or daughter-in-law relationship, many family relationships were broken because people didn't have a good relationship with God. Compared to Nabal, Nabal's wife Abigail was a true God-fearing person by the way she dealt with affairs. Lin pointed out that the fear of God led to gratitude and wisdom in dealing with personal relationships.
One should worship God before loving other people, the pastor stressed. Lin reminded us that after receiving peace, people and the things around them would be in harmony, in addition to the reconciliation between people and God and harmony between people. "A God-fearing person will obey the rules of the road and will do his best to work, so things around he will be in harmony." The pastor said, "It is not the outside that decides the inside, but the other way around."
After the sermon, Rev. Huang of the Pinghu Church invited seekers who decided to be baptized to come to the stage, as well as those who are descendants of Christians but lost their enthusiasm, to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Coming to the stage, nearly 30 people made the sinner's prayer led by Rev. Huang to be true followers of God.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
