‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.’ - Genesis 2:24
Scripture teaches us that marriage has a special place within God’s design of humanity. Through marriage families are formed, societies are built and generations are marked. At CPC, marriages and families form a rich tapestry of our history and will continue to do so in the future. This is why discipleship in the space of families and marriage is vital to God’s work within our church. While not everyone is called to marriage, we should all be discipled in, as a community, how to serve families and marriages. This year we are going to make it an area of emphasis for us, particularly because in 3-5 years’ time, we will be having (God willing!) a significant amount of growth in this area.
Two weeks ago, we had a Marriage Enrichment Retreat run by Rev. Chris Chia and his wife Mona. We invited a few Next-Gen married and dating couples to experience investment in this space, with the idea that it would be the beginning of a next season of growth in that area. The event was a great blessing to all who were involved. Xin Yu and myself felt incredibly blessed by the retreat and the couples that were present shared that sentiment as well. There was theological teaching, reflection questions between couples and also sharing in small groups. All of which was to build spaces for honest, scripture led conversations that might not have been easy to bring up in day-to-day life.
If you are a married couple, or intend to be married, please keep an eye out for mentors, programs and discipleship relationships that would build you. Healthy marriages build healthy families, healthy families build healthy communities and healthy communities are used powerfully by God.
「因此，人要離開父母，與妻子連合，二人成為一體。」創世記2章24節
聖經教導我們婚姻在神為人的設計中佔一特殊地位。家庭藉此而成、社會因此而建立、世代由此而得印記。在長老會，婚姻和家庭如豐富多彩的織錦編織了我們的歷史，將來亦繼續如此。所以，在婚姻與家庭的範疇裡進行門徒培訓是我們教會中神工作的重要環節。雖然並非每人都被呼召成家立室，但我們仍要訓練成為一個羣體去服侍這方面的需要。因此今年我們將著重在這一領域，特別是未來的三、五年間，（如得神願意）期待在這方面有相當顯著的增長。
兩星期前，教會舉辦了一個婚姻深化營會，由謝家添牧師及Mona師母帶領。我們邀請了好幾對「下一代」夫婦和約會中的情侶參加。他們放時間在這個方面的體驗，將是下一季成長的開端。退修會對所有參與的人是莫大的祝福。內子善瑜同我更感福杯滿溢、其他人亦有同感。會中包括有神學上的教導、情侶互相反思的題目及小組分享。藉此建立一個坦誠及由聖經為主導的談話空間，這是平日中不容易做到的。如果你們是一對已婚夫婦，或準備共諧連理，請留意那些能建立你們的成長的導師、課程和門徒關係。健康的婚姻能建立健康的家庭，健康的家庭建立健康的羣體而健康的羣體會被神大大地使用。
