Alpha-video11-transcript
The Alpha Course is called the “Inspiration Course” (启发 qifa 课程) on the Chinese language video.
Title: How can I make most of my life
(Hosts packing up to leave the weekend retreat) A nominee for the Nobel prize for literature, Lin Yutang said: “Throughout life, people do nothing more than constantly explore what kind of meaning their life should have.” (人终其一生，无非就是在不断探知自己的人生到底应当有什么样的意义而已). People only live once. We should treasure our life, not mess things up 搞砸 through making mistakes that are so difficult to avoid. We cannot change our past, but we can make the right decisions for our future. It is not toο late for anything. It is possible to change so that we can live a meaningful and worthwhile life. That is also the life that God desires us to live.
1:30 QUESTION | If you could go back in time, what kind of advice would you give yourself?
First, buy a house….buy bitcoin...keep up your figure, now it is so hard to lose weight...I would really hope I could remember the winning numbers of the lottery….buy more books….I would give myself a good beating to make me wake up. Then it will be okay...Do not go to Sport School it is too painful…. I would say: “Study hard and play less computer games”….Eat less and you won’t get fat and have acne 少贪吃还不至于说得很痘. ….I would have wanted to study art or dancing, when I was little, but I didn’t do it….take care of your health because dark circles under you eyes are irreversible因为黑眼圈是不可逆的….Don’t waste your time, also be quick to understand what your own world is….When you fall down, then get back up; if you are hurt then don’t cry. Only you can help yourself, not other people.
2:55 (Teacher) Paul the Apostle wrote in Romans 12:1-3 -
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Paul means that we should say goodbye to our past life. We should not let the world guide us, or drag us by our noses. By “this world” Paul means the corrupted and twisted values of the world. 堕落而扭曲These come from not believing in the true God. Paul’s sentence in the original Greek text is in the passive tense, (被动式). It means ”don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold”. 挤进它的模套 In other words, dare to be different. 换句来说敢于不同.
3:40 (Animated Scene) Imagine this kind of a situation: One morning, the security guard in a housing community is on duty (在值班). He sees an old grandma who fell off her bicycle. Suddenly he also sees a little child up in a tree crying and asking him to save her cat who is also up in the tree. Immediately after that(紧接着) he hears a lady shouting “Help, Thief!!” 打劫啊 A short distance away there are two men arguing. One of them has a baseball bat in his hands. Even worse, an old grandpa is walking but doesn’t realize he is about to fall into the sewer. 下水道 Oh my, so many crises! What should the security guard do?... GET OUT OF THERE FAST! 迅速开溜 Xùnsù kāi liū
4:27 (Car on the road) Everyday we meet with various kinds of experiences. There is no way to escape these unavoidable circumstances. Though we would love to have an easy life, God calls us to something different (与众不同). Different does not mean weird behavior. Nor does it mean talking with mysterious, hard to understand religious vocabulary. Neither do we need to cater to and please others in a way we lose ourselves. Neither are we to blindly go with the flow 随波逐流,一味的 seeking our own selfish pleasures.
5:00 Question | Are you under pressure to conform to society?
Temporarily, not….Everybody is...yes…yes and I have social fear...Now I feel no pressure at all….Yes, I feel there is very great pressure….I certainly do, certainly do….If there are too many people, I feel pressured, if there is too much noise I feel pressure...Not, not at all, I have an outgoing personality and love to laugh, so for me it is easy to blend into society….I think everyone has another side of themselves. The outside is very sunny (很阳光开朗)...Its like I am always trying to please others, so I play a role (扮演) according to what other people expect , but it isn’t really the way I am….I think that I can see through this world, I know the meaning and value of my existence. (我知道我存在的意义和价值). And what my mission is is this world….It is very common, when you come into society to have the pressure do something, make something, do this for society, for your family, make some contribution…
6:02 Small Group Discussion | Are you under pressure to conform to society
6:22 ( Trees in nature) Teacher: Some people are very afraid of change, because this requires changing the way of life they have gotten used to. Perhaps you came to Alpha because you saw some change in your friend or family member. Their life exudes (散发出) a kind of attractiveness and you want to know the reason for that. But at the same time you hesitate. (犹豫) Do I really want to become like that? Would I lose something? Don’t worry, Jesus would never want you to lose anything that is truly good. He hopes for you to have an abundant life. He only wants you to throw away the “garbage” from your life. Only then can you receive that treasure that he has prepared for you.
7:13 (Picture of lush fields) Hosts: The greatest treasure is to both receive and give (给予) sincere (真挚zhì) love. However we are simply not used to this way of living. The poet Xu Zhimo wrote: Because we are so used to wearing masks in front of other people, at the end it leads us to be false even to ourselves. 假装 We often wear masks because we do not want other people to see our real vulnerabilities. This impacts our relationships with others, keeping them at a superficial level. This is even more true of social media. (社交媒体). Most people would never put their ugliest photo online, instead they choose the most beautiful. This tells the whole world how wonderful your life is, and that it is without much sadness. In the end it is just like Xu Zhimo said: You have forgotten that you are wearing a mask. This is a tragedy. The good news is that God knows our dark side. But he still accepts us. Even if (哪怕) we are not perfect. we are still precious in his eyes. When you realize that God loves you for who you are 照着你的本相, you can take off your mask and be your real self. Paul said “Love must not be fake”. This points out that love should be sincere, not wearing a mask. That is the meaning of receiving God’s love. Accepting also your own true self, is the only way to build good relationships. In your Alpha (Qifa) group, you can see people slowly taking off (摘掉) their masks. We have always depended on our strengths to win the respect of others, but honestly (坦然) being able to reveal our weaknesses wins people’s honest friendship. (真挚 Zhēnzhì) Only after taking off the mask can we build sincere and beautiful friendships. Sincere love means love that is not fake. No matter what the situation, we can always be upright, honest, respectful of others and loving each other.
9:04 (scene of hillside homes) Teacher: True love is giving, not taking. 真挚的爱是付出，是给予， 而不是索取. This is true in every area of life. There was a father who decided to give sex education to his 11 year old son. He took his son came to a café with no people. He sighed deeply and said seriously: “My son, I want to talk to you about a serious matter. About sex. The son was a bit dumbfounded 愣了. He sighed deeply and then said: “Okay...what do you want to know.”
Actually, sex is God’s gift. The one who knows the most about it is God. It is a beautiful gift that he has given to us. Delight 愉悦 is created by God not Satan. Satan’s work is to twist and destroy God’s wonderful creation. Looking at the Bible, we can see that sex is wonderful. There is a book in the Bible called the Song of Songs. It describes the satisfaction that love and sex bring. However, even though it is a beautiful thing, when it is abused it becomes ugly. 丑陋 So, God the creator and designer, tells us how to enjoy this gift. He tells us that good and beautiful sex is only between a man and a women in a true marriage relationship. This is what the Bible says. Therefore a man should leave his parents and unite with his wife. The two become one. In other words. A marriage lets two people publicly declare they have separated from their parents and united with each other. In the original language of the Bible, unite means stuck together. 被黏在一起 Marriage is when people are joined together in their physiological 生理, emotional, spiritual, and social lives at every level. Marriage is for your entire life. It is only under the protection of marriage that people are able to freely enjoy the delight and wonder of sex. The Bible’s perspective on sex is the most positive. 正面的 . Moreover it is the most wonderfully romantic. Such a wonderful gift. If we don’t use it according to the designer’s instructions, it brings us hurt instead of happiness. Let us enjoy it according to God’s meaning and purpose.
12:02 (Scene of a building and stairs) TESTIMONY When I was young, I seemed to be an obedient child in the eyes of my parents. I even studied in a famous school. No one would have ever thought that I was one of the naughty kids. I did not dare to tell others during middle school, that outside of class I had been under pressure from people. I had no way to overcome the pressure I was under. I was suffering. I could not control things like masturbation自慰 I was spending more and more time, and sank deeper and deeper into this. I had a real feeling of shame and hopelessness about myself. I felt that my life had no value and purpose. But I thought of a friend who had once told me something. God had created people in order to love us. I thought, if I have been created, then my life does have a purpose. Then I thought, I want to find that purpose. I began to have more hope. While praying, I hoped that I could hear God’s voice. During one gathering, I continuously prayed...God, speak to me, speak to me. Suddenly, God appeared in my mind, in the image of my father. At that moment I felt such love and acceptance from him. I began to cry hard and couldn’t stop. At that time I felt very ashamed of myself, not worthy of God’s love. But amazingly he still loved me. God then helped me to look clearly at what the pressure on me originated from. This gave some help to deal with the pressure. I am no longer mastered by these things that held me captive. I thank God that he has given me satisfaction in marriage, he has given me the wisest wife, and then a super cute daughter. I am very, very thankful to God for giving me a completely new life. I have begun to understand what love is. And what acceptance is. So then, I can love and accept the people around me. I can feel God’s love. Even to the point of accepting my former unbearably shameful self.
14:50 (Scene of Buildings) TEACHER: God really, really loves you. Jesus even died for you, so that your sin could be taken away. No matter how many bad things you have done, they can all be forgiven. 得到宽恕 No matter how much you have been hurt by others, you can be healed. The God who created everything can rebuild your life and give you a completely new start. You only need to be willing. Today could be your new start. This is true love. which we have already talked about. Apart from receiving, there is also giving. This includes the earnest love we are to give God. This love expressed through our service. Romans 12:11 says: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” We are able to be involved in valuable things that will last for eternity, during our short lives. This is really great! So we need to maintain fervent zeal for the long term.
16:09 (Car driving in village) Hosts. The Bible says you should present your body to God as a living sacrifice. This means we should give every aspect of our life completely to God. This includes our future, our finances, plans and time. When a person entrusts their life to Christ, that means the center of their life changes. Relationship becomes the most important thing. This includes relationships with people and with God. As soon as we experience the love of Christ, we understand that love is the most important thing. Because of this, many Christians spend time reading scripture, praying and having fellowship with God in order to have a close relationship with him. Investing time in friendship is extremely important. But we cannot only depend on our ourselves to do this. Alpha (qifa) is a platform that gives people a regular time to meet together. Also the Sunday meeting of the church can help you find a place with authentic love. In other words, we want to give priority (优先秩序) to renewing our life, by placing God above everything else in our life.
That’s right! Some peoples purpose in life is to make big money. But the Bible says: “ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
If you say, I want to make a lot of money so that I can help the poor, and help make the world a better place, that is a good reason. Jesus said: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33) Your money can bring great happiness to others. A heart of charity (乐善好施 ) can become a driving force (驱动力) for earning money. This pleases God
18:00 (scene of city buildings from above) Testimony: Wang Jian 王捡 - For me it was not easy to be a new immigrant starting a business in Singapore. It was definitely full of many different hardships 艰辛 and difficult situations. But I went from being one person to having fifty employee groups, from one consulting firm咨询 to a consulting group 集团, with three restaurants under its flag. Many people said, “Hey, things are smooth sailing for you! You are so lucky.” But only I know what the reasons that lie behind all this. I know that everything has come from God’s grace. To me, Christians should not just go to church. How they treat people and things is more important. For example, our company is not so much (与其说是) a company as a big family. In our harmonious atmosphere 融洽氛围, I hope that everyone will not only understand, but fully hold onto God’s love. So if any people on staff (员工) have difficulties we will try our best to offer assistance. In my view, success is honoring God and benefitting people. Everyone knows that business is war. And society is flooded with “wolf culture”. (充斥着狼文化 chōngchì) The word ‘wolf’ represents fierceness, cunning, and using any means necessary to win. But what we respect is “lamb culture”. The lamb is Jesus Christ. And the lamb is filled with gentleness, goodness, benevolence and peace. Lamb culture certainly faces many challenges. For example our customers are usually foreign. They lack information. So, if we just added a zero to the end of each number on our price list, we could easily make a fat profit. But we obey God’s teaching in order to give glory to his name. We refuse that kind of temptation. (诱惑) We
try to live according to God’s truth. When we treat our customers with kindness, they understand us better and see us as friends. They may even be willing to understand our faith. Many of our customers come with us to church. They also have an opportunity there to understand Jesus’s message. A few who have even been baptized and are growing in the Word. I know that God wants to use me in the workplace. He has given me this grace to be able to influence others through my life. And I know the success of my business is because I seek first God’s kingdom. So, today, everything I possess comes from God who is honest, righteous and kind.
20:55 (Green pastures) Hosts: Of course God does not want us to give up everything. No matter what kind of work we do, it is having the desire to offer everything to God, that enables us to influence them by bringing love to people. Our transformation is not necessarily 未必 in only one night! It takes time to change. The Holy Spirit who lives inside of us is our help. He is our companion for our entire life.
21:29 Question | What kind of life is truly wonderful?
First man hesitates while thinking….I think that this question can cause many people to have a bad life...I think to help others, “helping people makes a person happy 送人玫瑰手有余香 this is really how a wonderful life is lived….Do whatever you want to do, eat what you want to eat, that’s enough...having a happy, peaceful family is a fairly wonderful life...from ‘have not’ to ‘have’, that is wonderful….living a happy life is living well….I think that if you just think that you yourself are wonderful that is the most wonderful life….if you are able to leave traces of your past existence in this world, then that is the kind of life that is wonderful. 能够在这个世界上留下自己存在过去的痕迹...I think if you don’t have a life of regrets then that is a wonderful life...I think that everything has regrets. It is impossible for anyone to live their life again. The so-called life of highlights 高光的人生 also has its share of regrets….In the past people thought that when economic conditions were good, then having a lot of money would be enough. But later people discovered having money did not necessarily make them happy. So I feel that if you are able to do what you like to do...Having no regrets about the past, happy in the present, and looking forward to the future (对未来非常的憧憬 chōngjǐng)...I think that always seeking after 追逐 Zhuīzhú) your purpose is not a wonderful life. The answer to this lies with a higher power.
22:44 Small Group discussion | What kind of life is truly wonderful?
23:02 (Scene of lamp by a window) TEACHER: St Augustine once wrote: “Serving God is incredibly liberating.” This is also my own experience. Actually God’s plan is to shape (塑造 Sùzào) us to become great people. So, we will face many challenges, and through these we will gradually get rid of the garbage in our lives. God will also bring out the potential (潜力) that he placed within us. Sometimes it is not easy at all to throw out the garbage in our
livesl, because we are so used to it and depend on it. There is a cost to pay in getting rid of our garbage. However, any valuable thing in life is worth the cost. There is another cost that needs to be paid, which to courageously lift up the banner of our faith in a world that is increasingly hostile to God. Sometimes we might feel that our faith is a very personal thing. So we might believe in Jesus but not let others know about it. We may fear that people will laugh at us. But being mocked is just another cost of following Christ. Trusting in Jesus is a wonderful thing, why would we not want to share it with others? We have received Jesus’s love, so we want to spread it. We should not hide our faith. (隐瞒 yǐnmán) God has already sent Jesus as a sacrifice for you. His great love is so full of worth that we should imitate it. Following his loving example is the way to respond to his love.
Lord, I offer everything to you. I rely on you In everything I do. I want to offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
When you offer yourself to God you will understand more how beautiful, pure and joyful his will is. Satan does not like you to live in God’s ways. So he uses lies to deceive you. He tells you that if you offer your life to God you’ll be miserable. But his purpose is to destroy your life. You should absolutely never believe him! God’s plan is wonderful. If you offer yourself to him, you will not only escape destruction, but will also possess a new and wonderful life. You will experience the richness and fulfillment of a new life. You will live out the value of a new life. Follow Jesus and you’ll be right.