Alpha-video15-transcript
The Alpha Course is called the “Inspiration Course” (启发 qifa 课程) on the Chinese language video.
Title: What is the Church
(City Scenes, Hosts Walking) We who live in this world all need to have relationships with others. We all long to establish honest and long lasting relations. We can use technology or daily interactions or even cross the seas to make relationships. To spend time together, sharing both joys and sorrows with each other, traveling together on the road of life.
1:05 (Trees and a group of people meeting in a park) I love my small group. What I like best in the Alpha course is the small group. We get to know many new friends, and also share with each other honestly and deeply.
Teacher: At first, people may feel a bit awkward with strangers, but slowly they begin to enjoy the group. Every week I was excited to meet again with the group members, to hear their current situation, 近况, sharing and thoughts. If someone doesn’t come I am concerned about them. There many wonderful memories from our small group. We often burst out laughing 开怀大笑. Sometimes we also cry together and comfort each other. I feel that everybody enjoys this kind of corporate life more and more. If you have experienced some of this you are already getting a taste of church life. An Alpha group is like a mini church, or you could say a miniature church 缩影. But a church is much greater than a small group. A church means Christ’s body. 群体 This large group of people transcends language, skin color and culture. It is amazingly wonderful. If you hear the word “Church”, you might think of a building or a ceremony. That’s how I thought before I became a believer in Christ. I had no interest in going to church. But it is fascinating that in the first 300 hundred years of church history, Christians had no church buildings. So, the church is not the same as church buildings. Please allow me to use the metaphor of marriage again. If you ask me what marriage is, and I tell you that it is a ring, a marriage certificate, and a wedding ceremony, you probably would not accept that definition, would you? You already know that the core meaning of marriage is much much deeper. In the same way, the meaning of church is much deeper and richer than buildings or ceremonies. Now, we don’t have time for an in-depth explanation, but we can provide a simple introduction. This can give you the first steps of understanding. If you really want a deeper knowledge and experience I encourage you to go to a church. Personally experience the wonder of this corporate life. I believe you will get to know and experience the beauty of the church. I want to use some basic church-related vocabulary to explain the church to everybody. These words show just why I love the church so much.
4:00 First the church is a friend. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said: “You are my friends. I call you my friends.”
QUESTION | What do you like about Alpha?
4:14 “Freedom, openness, building relationships, being friends.”… “Careful and detailed. Every topic is clearly presented.”… “I like the atmosphere and hearing many different people’s testimony and sharing.”….”Love makes us meet together.”...It is very natural, its like making friends, and it really helps everyone to understand their Christian faith and what Jesus really is“. “I like that Alpha is: high end 高端 ，talented 大器，first class上等次. low key 低调, luxurious 奢华, with hidden depths 有内涵, young, creative, and vibrant.”…”I feel surrounded by light, 被光芒包围, that’s right, as soon as I enter I feel it- no, it is not, really I’m not faking, -yes, this is not，-not just random talk. I feel is really true and truly positive. Really good. Yeah, then when everyone is together it is overflowing with enthusiasm 热情洋溢的, and everybody is smiling and welcoming. Its truly something good. Really, I can’t find words…”
5:18 (a city square) Becoming a Christian, becoming Jesus’s friend, speaking with him, reading his story, and knowing him continuously are all extremely great privileges. Jesus not only wants us to establish a close relationship with him, he also invites us to become friends with each other. This the amazing part of our small group. People begin wonderful friendships, the New Testament use the word Koinonia to describe this kind of relationship. This word is not easy to translate. It is used to describe a kind of deep friendship that transcends age, race, background, and education. I experienced these authentic, deep relationships in church. Going to the regular meeting times is very important. Because it is impossible to be a solitary 孤单Christian. The Bible says: “Do not stop going to the meetings, instead encourage each other.” The Bible also says: “Everything works together for the good of those who love God”. We can find friends who are honest and full of love in church. God wants us to become a body of people who encourage each other. help each other, and support each other, walking together on this journey of faith.
6:50 (Teacher) The second reason that we should love the church is because it is our family. My family members are in it. The church is not an organization to join. Instead it is a family where you have a sense of belonging. 归属感。First John 5:1 says: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.” Since we all call God our father, then our relationship with other church members is like brothers and sisters. Even though our background, gender, abilities, work, etc all may be very different, the church is still one big family. We are all united in Christ. We become a family. This is not dependent on blood relations, but on the Holy Spirit. We all are born again by the same Holy Spirit, we all have the same symbol of having been born again: baptism. God also commanded us to go and baptize others. In other words, becoming a Christian includes three areas of responsibility to work. The first is God’s. He gives the Holy Spirit to you. The second is yours. You have to repent and believe. The third area is for the church. The church confirms that you believe and then baptizes you.
On Baptism:
8:19 (Teacher Continues) Baptizing is an important function of the church, a holy ceremony. There are several implications of this.
- First, receiving baptism implies you have formally become a part of the [worldwide] church.
- Secondly, water has a cleansing function. It is a symbol that your sins are washed away.
- Number three, water also symbolizes that God has given you the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the source of “living water”. Jesus said a river of living water would flow out from within you.
- Number four. Baptism also symbolizes that you have been resurrected together with Jesus from death. Imagine that this paper I am holding represents you and this Bible I am holding represents Jesus. Paul said: You are united with Jesus in a mysterious way. So, everyone who is baptized in the name of Jesus is baptized into his death. From now on all those things which have to do with Christ, now also have to do with you. Therefore, Jesus Christ died on the cross and was buried. Your old self, which was ruined by sin, also died and was buried together with Jesus. Jesus was resurrected from death. You also have been resurrected together with him. You now possess a completely new life.
13:13 (Teacher) Three reasons I really love the church are it is truly my family. In the Old Testament the temple was God’s house, the place he was present. 临在的地方 This was why people had such deep love for the temple. In the New Testament God no longer dwells in a building. Instead he now dwells in a community made up of people. 由人构成的社群
13:40 (Hosts walking into a church) Paul said in Ephesians 2:21–22: “In Christ the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Jesus also said; “Wherever two or three people are gathered together in my name, I am right there among them.” Jesus promised that he would be with us through the Holy Spirit. Sometimes when people step into the church they feel an unusual atmosphere. They are experiencing Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God’s presence. There is a feeling as if people were coming back home. The church is our home. I hope that every person who comes to church can feel a family style warmth. When we meet together to worship God, study his word, and receive holy communion, and pray for each other, the difficult and busy workweek turns into Sunday. Then we come back to the church, our big family. We can come and get re-charged. We can renew our strength. The church is not a place where people are judged. It is a place to receive love, acceptance and welcome.
14:50 Question: The first time you went to church, what did you think about the people there)
The only thing I really loved from church was the delicious food. 我唯一热爱教堂的就是能有好吃的 Eating is what I really enjoy...I thought it was very good, that they eat things together, help each other….the church people are really kind, easy to get to know, and they are really friendly...after going to church I had the feeling everybody was really clean and really pure 纯粹….The first time I went to church there were a lot of people that came up to me to say “hello, how are you?” Normally you don’t see these kinds of things….The architecture is nice looking, I went mainly to observe 参观, and buy some small jewelry or such….When they worship I felt like “What are they doing????”, clapping etc. I felt awkward, but now I clap more joyfully than they do! Really. I jump higher than they do! Really!
15:46 (TEACHER) The fourth reason I love the church is that it is Christ’s own body. This metaphor is directly from the New Testament. First Corinthians 12:27 says: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” Jesus is the head who directs the body. 指挥 We are his body who obeys him. We are members of the body who work together. Jesus cannot be separated from his body. Through the church, the people of the world can see Jesus. The church is God’s plan. During Jesus’s time on earth, he gathered a small group of people, and established them as a body. Two thousand years later this body continues to expand and grow throughout the world. 扩大壮大 It has so many people that it cannot be counted. Everyone in the world who trusts in God is a member.
16:46 (HOSTS) Christianity has the most believers of any world religion. Every day there are tens of thousands of people entering this great family. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be over 3 billion Christians. What a huge family. Even more, we all belong to Jesus, all united in Him.
17:12 (TEACHER) Perhaps there are many different reasons why people separate from each other. But the power of unity is greater than this. Perhaps some people are afraid of too much emphasis on unity. Does this mean compromising the truth? 是否意味着在真理上的妥协呢? Actually there is absolutely no conflict between truth and unity. In fact, these two things work together. 相铺相成 No person has a complete understanding of truth. We need each other. It is only as we connect together that we can truly understand the truth. Jesus is the truth.
17:50 (Hosts walk into a church building) Christians should learn from one another. Paul said: “Consider others higher than yourself.” In a united church, every person has the duty to give and serve. In every land the church provides food for the hungry, healing for the sick, and visits for prisoners. The church lifts up the fallen, 扶助失足的人。The church is the body of Jesus in this world. The church is Jesus.
18:25 (A scene of apartment buildings) Testimony. My name is Zhu Xinming. I am from the small county town of Pingjin in lower Gansu province in the great Northwest. My home is in the countryside. My child was seated in a baby walker 学步车 when he knocked over a thermos of boiled water. The hot water spilled off the table onto him, badly scalding his head, legs and both feet. Our child had to have 21 operations. Our family went deep into debt to pay for them. Then, at this most difficult point in time, our child’s mother left us. Later we heard about a private hospital in Wuhan that had good results for scars. So, when the child was two and a half years old I took him there. As we traveled down from Beijing, we had almost no money left, and no milk powder. Nor was there money for our son’s nutritional supplements. 辅食 I was almost at the point of despair. Then amazingly, next to the clinic was a church. There was an auntie in the church who often came to see our child. She would cry when she came to see him. She had never seen a child who had gone through so much hardship. 遭罪 Once after visiting, she left behind a thousand yuan for the child. She said it was for buying milk powder. I was deeply moved. She went all out in helping us 不遗余力 ts without being a relative or friend 非亲非故. This made me curious. I wanted to understand the church. What kind of place is a church? After pondering this, I took the initiative to go find out what this church was all about. At that time there were about 50 or 60 brothers and sisters there. I didn’t actually know many of them. But they all surrounded my boy and kneeled to pray for him. I felt that this was a deeply meaningful place. Then the group leader said you don’t need to worry about the expense for your child, there are brothers and sisters who want to help. If there had been no church to help, my child and I would not be where we are now. In my heart I want to be able to serve in the church. When I have time I make some food for for all the children in the church. Although this kind of love feels very small, I still want to spread it to many more people. The love Jesus gave me allows me understand just how precious life is.
21:39 (Teacher) The fifth reason that l love the church is because the church is love. This includes both the love between Jesus and the church as well as the love among members of the church. The Bible uses marriage to describe the relationship between Jesus and the church. The church is known as the bride of Christ. 被誉为 Paul wrote about the relationship between husband and wife and said: “You who are husbands should love your wives just as Jesus loves the church and gave his life for her”. Though Paul is discussing marriage here, marriage does not represent everything in life. Jesus himself did not marry. It is worth noting that Paul extended 引申 the meaning of marriage to the relationship between Christ and the church. In other words, at whatever level marriage is, it reflects the relationship between Jesus and us. We should have a close and intimate relationship. He deeply loves his church and cares about every detail in loving and protecting her. 细心 This is the kind of relationship we have with Jesus.
The Alpha Course is only a small beginning, something like the wedding ceremony. The most important thing about marriage is not the wedding, but the slow development of married life afterwards. The Alpha course has give you and introduction to knowing Jesus. I hope that your relationship with Jesus will also continue to develop, that you will constantly draw near to him and know him and love him more and more. God’s love for you is unconditional. He loves with all his heart and mind and without changing. As a church we should also manifest this kind of love. As we are meeting together as a church, try hard to live out unconditional love. Accepting and forgiving 包容 one another, no matter what the background, age, race, lifestyle are. Or how different your viewpoints on different issues are. Others should find love in the church
23.53 (Hosts standing in a church) A church is not a museum for putting saints on display. It has a special purpose in receiving and treating 收治 those with wounds of the heart. Unconditional love can break down all the walls that hem us in. 围墙 It allows us to regain our footing, 站立起来 and obtain healing and restoration. 修复 We can begin an entirely new life.
We have now finished this Alpha Course. We encourage you to join a local church, because you are already a part of this great family of God. The church is your family. If we could pack the whole message of the Alpha course into one sentence, it would be: God loves you, Jesus died for your sins so that you could become God’s child, and that you and the world can be changed. So now it is time to get going on this amazing journey of faith!
24:48 (Teacher) God loves you, Jesus died for you, you are God’s child. God’s Spirit lives in you. You have the most powerful message of good news in the entire world. This gospel can change lives. Your life has a purpose. You are able to change. However we cannot singlehandedly fight the battle. 单枪匹马 Mother Theresa once said: “I can do what you cannot, you can do what I cannot. If we work together 同心合力 we can achieve great things.” In the name of Jesus I bless you! Amen!
Small Group Discussion | What kind of experience has the Alpha Course given you? What do you think about going to church?