呼呼镇的每个人，无论大小，都要站在一起...with Christmas bells ringing. They'll stand hand in hand...and those Whos...will start singing!
The Grinch hated that. 他讨厌与圣诞节有关的一切——握手和唱歌, the ribbons and bows, the trees and stockings, the gift-giving, and most of all, that feast! 显然，这是因为他的心脏太小了两倍. Whatever the reason, the Grinch was a Who-hater. And, 在经历了53年同样令人烦恼的who家族圣诞节之后, he decided that he would put an end to it. 你知道剩下的故事:圣诞怪杰把自己伪装成圣诞老人(他的狗伪装成驯鹿), 大半夜溜进神秘镇, 偷走了村里所有与神秘人圣诞庆祝活动有关的东西, 然后回到山上，听着神秘社区的悲伤哭声，因为他们醒来时发现圣诞节已经从他们身边偷走了. Spoiler alert –– his plan didn’t work. 礼物都不见了，但是无名氏社区仍然收到了他们的礼物. The tinsel and ribbon were taken, the cupboards empty, and the walls bare, 但他们仍然有理由站在一起唱歌. Christmas had arrived. Or, more fittingly, the Christ of Christmas!
For many of us, 节日是庆祝概念的缩影, and for some, the words "Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, etc,” evoke a winsome image that reminds us that we, too, 有一个地方和一个理由作为一个社区聚集. Similarly, the Venite (Latin for "oh, come"), 赞美诗，出自诗篇95:1-2，在晨祷和晨祷开始时唱, 邀请基督教团体聚会庆祝;
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
Indeed, 庆祝活动标志着我们对那些以一种非凡的方式俘获了我们内心的事物的爱, and while we can celebrate anything by ourselves, 最好的庆祝活动似乎总是所有人在共同的邀请下聚在一起. 活跃的世卫组织家庭从他们的家中站在一起, hand in hand, singing, 似乎是在回应某种邀请. 就像我们在诗篇95篇中所领受的——哦，来吧，让我们...sing to the Lord. Oh come, let us...make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Oh come, let us...come into his presence with thanksgiving. Oh come, let us...make a joyful noise with songs of praise.
在基督徒的日常生活中，我们作为在基督里受洗的弟兄姊妹，彼此勉励, 在三位一体的神面前，以感恩的心定期联合. 敬拜作为一种庆祝，表达了我们对圣父、圣子和圣灵的爱. It’s what we do. But that’s only half of the story of worship. 我们聚集在一起的原因是最重要的部分——他首先在他的儿子耶稣里爱我们!
Psalm 95 continues with verses 3-7:
因为耶和华为大神，为大王，超乎万神之上. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 海洋属他，是他造的。旱地也是他手造成的. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 因为他是我们的神，我们是他草场的羊，是他手下的民.
The Hebrew word “ki” (kē), which literally means “because,” is translated as “for” in Psalm 95, 是指向我们聚会原因的路标. 三位一体的神是“至大的神，至大的王，超乎万神之上”.” He is the creator of all things. 他是造我们的，是我们的神，我们是他草场的民，他手下的羊.他是我们的主，是“拯救我们的磐石”(诗篇95:1)。. 这篇诗篇所期待的，随着基督的到来而变得清晰. In Jesus, the Maker becomes part of his creation. 我们伟大的上帝承担了我们的软弱，为拯救他的子民而忍受了十字架的痛苦. 好牧人为他手中的羊舍命. 我们敬拜是为了回应神在基督里为我们所做的事.
有时候，我们很容易认为敬拜是我们主动发起的事情，或者只是我们为神做的事情. 然而，当我们更仔细地观察时，我们发现事实恰恰相反. God makes us. Christ redeems us. 圣灵呼召我们相信，把我们聚集在一起，成为神的子民. 我们的天父将他的恩赐赐给他聚集的子民——他的话语，他的恩典，他的怜悯. He is giving over and over and over again, 因此，我们用赞美和感恩来回应是很自然的. 神的丰盛和他在基督里所赐给我们的一切，就是我们感恩敬拜的原因!
还有那一大堆让圣诞怪杰生气的玩具:京丁环, floo-floobers, and sloo-slunkers, just to name a few? 辛迪·卢知道小号和真正的圣诞礼物的区别, 而圣诞怪杰则误以为这些小饰品就是圣诞节的代名词. 他错了，有时我们也会错误地看重我们敬拜聚会的风格——乐队vs .乐队. 管风琴——而不是三位一体的神自己. 我们绝不能把敬拜聚会的装饰与我们在聚会中遇到的这位永活的、赐给的神混为一谈! The adornments of worship do not give us life, only Jesus does that; and when we gather to celebrate in worship, we do so knowing the difference. May our Lord and Savior, Jesus, 求祢赐给我们这样的智慧，因为世人的心往往“太小两码”.”
Tags:
Worship Theology