A New Spirit, A New Heart 新灵肉心 (1)
“And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh”
Author：Rev Ng Eng Keng
To be a church “disciple-making church among our communities” is our vision. This is not a slogan or catch phrase, but a vision we have received from God. 2020’s theme for our church is A New Spirit, A New Heart. This theme’s emphasis is on the growth of our spiritual life and it includes:
1. A New Spirit
The scripture says that God will give us a heart with “a new spirit”. The emphasis is that this spirit is one that is “alive” and is “active”. This “new spirit” will free us from the bondage of sin and dirt in our life, so that we can change and transform into a new life, a life that can live for God. Ezekiel 36:27 says that this spirit will cause us to “obey” God’s statutes and law.
2. A New Heart
Besides receiving a “new spirit” from God, He also wants to remove the heart of stone from our life, and give us a heart of flesh. “A heart of stone” is one that is hard, stubborn, cold and unfeeling, but “a heart of flesh” is the opposite. It is soft, obedient, warm, active, and is sensitive towards the workings of God.
Because the Israelite’s heart is hard and far from God, even to the point of idolatry, they had to face God’s stern discipline. A Christian must have a heart that is soft so that we can listen to God’s “soft” voice in this complex and noisy world we live in!
This is the theme our church is moving towards this year and it focuses on our being. Only when we receive this abundant life from God, can we live as a disciple that has the strength to be God’s wonderful witness in this generation that we live in!
A life that doesn’t have a “new spirit” with our life is “dead”;
A life that doesn’t have a “heart of flesh”, is a life that “dull” to God.
“我要把一颗心赐给他们，把新的灵放在他们里面；
我要从他们肉体中除掉石心，赐给他们肉心”
作者：黄永庆牧师
成为一间“活在人群中的门徒教会”是教会的异象，这不是一个口号，乃是我们从神领受的异象。2020年教会的主题是“新灵肉心”。这个主题的重点乃是强调生命素质的提升与培育。其中包括：
㈠ “新灵”
经文说到神会将一颗拥有“新的灵”的心赐给我们。“新的灵”乃是强调这灵是有“生命”、是“活泼”的。这“新的灵”会使我们从自己的罪与污秽中得到洁净与释放，以至于我们的生命得以改变与更新，并有力量为主做新事。以西结书36：27岂不是这么说，这灵能够使我们有力量“遵行”神的律例与典章。
㈡ “肉心”
除了领受神所赐予的“新灵”，神也要从我们的生命中除去刚硬的石心，并将一颗柔软的肉心赐给我们。“石心”是刚硬、顽梗、没有感觉、不受感动的，但“肉心”却是相反，它是柔软、温顺、有活力、并且对神的作为是敏感的。
以色列民因心里刚硬远离神，甚至去拜别的神，至终他们需要面对神严厉的管教。基督徒必须有一颗柔软的心，以致我们能够在这个繁杂的世界中，听到神那“微小“的声音！
教会今年采用这一个主题与方向，乃是要强调生命的本质。唯有当我们有这从神而来丰盛的生命，我们才能够成为有能力的门徒，并为主在这个世代作美好的见证！
一个没有“新灵”内住的生命是“死”的生命
一个没有柔软“肉心”的生命，是一个“迟钝”的生命.