The Silent Sermon

JOYPEACE

================= A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the minister decided to visit him. It was a chilly day. That evening, the minister found the man at home all alone sitting by a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his minister's visit, the man welcomed him, and led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The minister made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, he took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The minister glanced at his watch and chose this time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more, with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the minister reached the door to leave, his host said, with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday". ~Author Unknown~

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聖經: 「当用各样的智能，把基督的道理丰丰富富地存在心里……彼此教导，互相劝戒。」(歌罗西书3章16节) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 全年读经: 但以理书10-12章 我们在当地教会的肢体生活有多重要？让我用一个故事来回答这个问题。 有位男士平常固定参加崇拜聚会，但后来却缺席，牧者很关心他的状况。几个礼拜之后，牧师决定去拜访他。到了他家，牧师发现他独自一人坐在壁炉前。牧师拉了张椅子在他旁边坐了下来。但是除了刚开始打了声招呼之外，他没有再多说些什么。 两人寂静无声地坐了几分钟。牧师凝视着壁炉中的火焰，然后他拿起取火钳，小心翼翼地从火堆中取出一块燃烧中的木块，把它置于炉床。他坐回椅子，仍然没说话。木块的火光闪烁摇曳并渐渐消逝，主人静静地观看、思想这一幕。不多久木块就变冷，而火光也熄灭了。 牧师看看他的表，说他该走了。不过他在走之前，先拿起了那块已经冷却的木块，并把它放回火堆中。它马上火光重现，与旁边燃烧中的木块一起放出光与热。 当牧师站起来要离开时，主人站了起来并与他握手，微笑着说：「牧师，谢谢你的证道，星期天我们教会见！」David Roper 当我们行在基督的道路上， 主，帮助我们看见我们多么需要彼此； 与弟兄、与姊妹的肢体团契中， 一天又一天，你帮助我们成长。Hess -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 教会温暖的肢体生活将使你的心不至于冷却。 摘自[B]Our Daily Bread [/B]中文版 22/9/2003

[此贴子已经被作者于2005-1-11 21:00:39编辑过]