A Lost Opportunity 失去的机会

My 75 year old neighbor just passed away yesterday afternoon. He was active and alive one day and the next morning, his wife found him unconscious on the floor. He never regained consciousness. As I was sitting in the emergency room of the hospital with his wife, I am reminded of Pastor Chu Vee Ping’s message on Sunday about making the most of the opportunity during Christmas time to introduce our friends, relatives and neighbors to Jesus. For my neighbor, it is already too late.

Over the past few years, some members have criticized us for having our Christmas celebration outside the church. Some have even accused us of placing more importance on having fun than worshiping God. Nothing can be further from the truth. If they think that the organizing committee and volunteers are doing this for fun, they are sadly mistaken. They have no idea how much the organizers, volunteers and church workers have to sacrifice for these events. It is not fun for them but they do it because Christmas is a good opportunity to introduce non-Christians to Christ.

Due to the commercialization of Christmas, December 25th has become a day of celebration for people of all races and religions. I do not condone the commercialization of Christmas but, this has created an opportunity for us to educate non-Christians about the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is easier to invite them to attend a Christmas celebration then to get them to attend an evangelical meeting. It is because we do not want to waste this opportunity that many members of our church have sacrificed their time, energy and talent to organize and take part in our Christmas celebration.

What better way is there to celebrate Christmas than to follow the examples of the angels who brought “good news of a great joy” to the people who do not yet know of this good news? Jesus came to this world on Christmas day to save the people of the world. What better way is there to celebrate the birth of our Saviour than to introduce our friends to Him, so that He can be their Saviour too? If we want to honor our Lord and Saviour who was born on Christmas day, is there a better way than to follow the commandments that he gave us to “make disciples of all nations”?

We are holding our celebration in Royale Bintang Hotel this year for several reasons. We believe that the hall is big enough to accommodate the people we are hoping to bring and still provide for an environment where we can properly present our message to them. This will not be possible in our present church building. Our church will not be able to accommodate that many people. Would you invite your friends to sit or stand outside the church under the hot sun? Even if they do come, do you think that they will be able to listen to the message when the whole place is so noisy and they are uncomfortable, hot and sweating? We also hope that it will be easier for us to invite non-Christians to attend a celebration in a hotel than to ask them to come to church.

Our church is celebrating Christmas in Royale Bintang Hotel because we do not want to waste this once in a year opportunity to expand the kingdom of God. This opportunity is lost for my neighbor but there are still many others who we can reach out to during this Christmas time. Please do not miss this opportunity to introduce the host of Christmas, Jesus Christ, to your friends, relatives and neighbors.


我一个75岁的邻居昨日下午逝世了。一日前他还是一个活跃及充满生气的人，第二日早晨他的妻子却发现他躺在地上不省人事。他自此再没醒过来。当我陪伴他的妻子坐在医院急救室外等候时，我想起了周伟平传道于主日崇拜的证道——『趁机行事』(13/12/2009)，当中提到基督题应把握圣诞节这个机会，把耶稣基督介绍给亲戚朋友和邻居认识。只是，对我的邻居来说，一切都已经太迟了。

自数年前开始，就有一些会友对于本堂会的圣诞庆典在教堂以外的场地举办颇有怨言，甚至有人因此指责教会着重宴乐甚于敬拜上帝。我想说的是，没有任何事可以超越真理。倘若有人认为筹委们及义工们只是为着好玩而着手这事工，他们实在错得可怜。这些人根本不晓得筹委们及义工们为了庆典付出了多少的牺牲，他们所做的并不是为了宴乐，他们做，乃是因为他们清楚知道圣诞庆典是一个把耶稣基督介绍给未信主的人的大好机会。

圣诞节已被商业化，十二月二十五日已变成一个不分种族或信仰的节庆。我丝毫不赞同圣诞节被商业化或娱乐化，但是无可否认地这也无形中为我们打开了一机会：向非信徒传讲救主耶稣基督的机会。邀请未信者到圣诞庆典比邀请他们到布道会确实是容易得多。这就是为什么我们有这么多的会友宁可牺牲自己的时间、精力和才华恩赐，也毫无怨言地参与这圣诞庆典的事工，就是不想浪费了这个好机会。

除了像天使一样“报给你们大喜的信息”之外，我们还有其他更好的办法向未信主的人传讲福音吗？耶稣基督在圣诞节这一天降世乃是要拯救世人。除了将他介绍给未信主的亲友，让他成为所有人的生命的救主之外，还有其他更好的庆祝圣诞节方式吗？在圣诞节我们尊崇主，有什么比得上体行主的命令——“使万民作我的门徒”？

今年，我们在芙蓉Royale Bintang酒店举办圣诞庆典是有充足的理由的。我们知道酒店的礼堂足以容纳所有愿意介绍及接受福音的众多亲友，同时礼堂里的设备也容许我们将福音信息更好地呈现给他们。这是在我们教堂里所做不到的。我们教堂的空间太小，不能容纳这么多的人。请问您会邀请您的朋友站在教堂门外，烈日之下庆祝圣诞节吗？即使他们来了，在吵杂、炽热、汗如雨滴的情况之中，你想他们能否专心听福音信息？此外，我们期望亲友们听到我们提出在酒店庆祝圣诞的邀请时，他们会雀跃地接受我们的邀请。

我们的教会选择了在Royale Bintang酒店举行一年一度的圣诞庆典，因为我们不想失去一个扩展上帝国度的机会。我的邻居失去了他的机会，可是我们的周围还有其他的人，我们可以藉着圣诞节这个好机会向他们传扬福音。请把握机会向我们的至爱、亲友、邻居们介绍圣诞节的主角——我们的救主耶稣基督，切勿让这个机会轻易溜掉啊！