Father’s Day was the largest Sunday St Paul’s has had all year — and it came in a fortnight when we had least to give. Thank you. Praise God.
父亲节是圣保罗堂今年人数最多的一个主日——而它偏偏发生在我们最缺人手的两周。谢谢各位，愿荣耀归神。
We do not mark Father’s Day because greeting cards told us to. We mark it because fatherhood was God’s idea first. Every family in heaven and on earth, the Bible says, is named after him — our dads are the copy, and he is the original.
That is why the day can be honest. Some of us had wonderful fathers to thank on Sunday. Some of us were remembering a dad we have lost, and some were carrying a hurt that Father’s Day reopens. A day built on God’s fatherhood makes room for all three.
And it holds out the best news there is: through Jesus, God does not merely tolerate us — he adopts us. People who were outsiders get called his children, and the name sticks.
我们守父亲节，不是因为贺卡商这样吩咐，而是因为「父亲」原是神的心意。圣经说，天上地上的各家都是从他得名——我们的父亲是摹本，神才是原型。
正因如此，这日子可以很诚实。主日那天，有人为一位美好的父亲献上感恩；有人在思念已故的父亲；也有人心里的旧伤，正因父亲节而再被掀开。以神的父性为根基的节日，能同时容纳这三种人。
而它也捧出世上最好的消息：藉着耶稣，神不只是勉强接纳我们，而是收纳我们为儿女。本是局外人的，得称为神的儿女，且这名分永不更改。
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
「你看父赐给我们是何等的慈爱，使我们得称为神的儿女；我们也真是他的儿女。」
1 John 3:1 · 约翰一书 3:1
The three big Sundays of 2026 2026年三个大主日
The dashed line shows where we would have landed had the 22 regular members who were away been with us: over 100.
Who was in the room 当天在场的是哪些人
Ten visitors came — more than on any other Sunday this year — along with twenty-one friends who normally manage less than one Sunday a month.
None of that was arranged by us. In the two weeks before Father’s Day we farewelled five much-loved members of the 9:15 congregation, held a funeral, and came to Sunday with two brand-new AV operators, one rostered welcomer, and only two service leaders — both of whom were leading. We had very little in hand. God gave a great deal.
这一切都不是我们安排出来的。父亲节前的两周，我们欢送了九时十五分堂五位深受爱戴的弟兄姊妹，举行了一场安息礼拜；到了主日，视听同工是两位刚上任不足一个月的新手，当值迎新同工只有一位，在场的主领同工也只有两位，而且两位都在带领聚会。我们手上所有的极少，神所赐的却极多。
We had the least to work with, and God gave us the most. 我们手上的资源最少，神却赐下最多。
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
「我的恩典够你用的，因为我的能力是在人的软弱上显得完全。」
2 Corinthians 12:9 · 哥林多后书 12:9
Thank you. To everyone who set up, welcomed, ran the desk, poured tea, minded the children, cooked, prayed, invited a friend, or simply moved along the pew to make room — you carried one another on Sunday, and it was the most inspiring part of the morning. Sunday is what we hope every Sunday will look like.
谢谢你们。感谢每一位摆设场地、接待、操作控制台、斟茶、照顾孩子、预备饭食、代祷、邀请朋友，或只是往长椅里挪一挪、为人腾出座位的弟兄姊妹——主日那天你们彼此担当，这是当天早上最令人振奋的一幕。我们盼望每个主日都是这个样子。
The Mid-Autumn Festival. Pray for wisdom and willing hands as we prepare, and start praying now for the friend or neighbour you might invite.
中秋节聚会。求神在筹备中赐下智慧与乐意服侍的人手；也请现在就为你可能邀请的朋友或邻舍祷告。
Our 157th anniversary. God has kept this church since 1869. Pray that another year of his mercy would end in his praise, not ours.
157周年堂庆。神自1869年保守这教会至今。愿再一年的怜悯，最终归荣耀于他，而不是归功于我们。
For the ten visitors and twenty-one occasional friends. That the welcome they found here would bring them back, and that they would meet the Father himself.
为十位来宾及二十一位偶尔出席的朋友祷告。愿他们在这里所领受的接待成为再来的动力，更让他们亲自认识天父。
That God would keep glorifying himself through the work of our hands — and that a Sunday like this one would become ordinary among us.
愿神继续藉我们手所作的工得着荣耀——也愿这样的主日，成为我们中间的常态。
“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”
「若不是耶和华建造房屋，建造的人就枉然劳力。」
Psalm 127:1 · 诗篇 127:1