2015-08-30 human effort vs. His ... tower, and languages

[Anthony Su]

Rev. Howard Gleason will preach this coming Sunday on Genesis 11:1-9 and 12:1-3 in English. This is another opportunity for many of us to think about our faith in English. Everyone willing to try reading the Mandarin translation in the office to those using earphones please call 314-488-5150 or write to Tony Su Gleason 牧師要在這個主日引用創世紀十一章第一到第九節跟十二章第一到第三節，用英語講道。這是另一個學習用英語思考信仰的機會。願意嘗試透過無線擴音機把華語的翻譯念出來給掛耳機的人聽的話電電話或寫信給蘇希三。

It is a very challenging sermon that most of us might not comprehend all the content behind the simple colloquial American English. It takes me a while plus consulting Rev. Gleason through emailing and some others in facebook to finish the written translation. I think this is a sermon worth listening to and studying afterward over and over.I plan to make a video file including the live recording and captions in two languages for our review in youtube. 這一篇講道很有挑戰性以致，我相信，大部分的人難以立刻從簡單的口語英語中捕捉到內涵的精髓。我花了好幾天包括寫信請教 Gleason 牧師加上在費思簿上請教他人才把翻譯搞定。我認為這篇講道值得一再聆聽、反覆重讀好幾次。我想製作一個影像檔保存實況錄音及雙與字幕讓大家好好複習。

Here is a sermon-aid for preview / review. 下面附上聽講道小幫手幫助大家預習、複習。
select words from here: perfect oneself sin Gate volume merits situations Flood heard important Fall childhood assistance own

1. The seven levels represented seven steps to God. Climbing up these steps was an approach to the gods by way of one's own efforts or ________.
   
2. Embodied in the building of the Tower of Babel to reach to heaven was the naive desire to be great, to be noticed and ___________.
   
3. Like today, people wanted to be _______ and couldn’t.
   
4. It is preserved to show that _____ was spreading in the world after the Fall. First, there was the ______. Then, Cain killed Abel and that was followed by the _______ and then the Tower of Babel.
   
5. Genesis 1 labels creation as good but never _________.
   
6. When the first eleven chapters of Genesis are seen as an attempt by ancient Biblical people to account for ___________ and conditions in life, the Garden does take on a state of dreaming innocence, such as we knew in ___________.
   
7. For men and women to be able to get to the “gate of God,” or heaven, on their _____, without any ____________ from God, showed how cut off they were from God.
   
8. It was to cut human worship of _________.
   
9. But if we focus not on building the Gate of God which God has made possible through Jesus Christ, but on turning down our ________, there is a wonderful discovery to be made.
   
10. In listening for God’s still, small voice, we may discover we’re at the _____ of God, and we're there with our brother and sister.
    

挑字填充: 童年 入口 音量 聽懂 自我 墮落 天堂 功德 情況 重要 罪 洪水 力量 完美 協助

1. 塔的七層代表用七個步驟接近上帝。透過爬階梯去接近神就是一種主張說「接近神是要靠個人本事或是____」的概念與方法。
   
2. 藏在「建造巴別塔以便進入天堂」的意圖的後面是個天真的欲望，要有偉大成就、要引人注意、要被認為_____。
   
3. 就跟現代人一樣，他們希望能夠被_____。可是辦不到。
   
4. 彼此隔離被當做是罪的定義。上帝卻反對他們「自己鋪路努力上_____」的構想。
   
5. 這故事被保留下來顯示出在那個塔倒榻後___就蔓延各地。首先，有亞當夏娃的_____。然後有了該穩殺死亞伯的事件，接著是_____和巴別塔。
   
6. 創世紀第一章把創造寫成「好」，但從沒有說是「_____」。
   
7. 當創世紀的前十一章被看作是古代聖經的學者試圖拿來描繪「解釋生活中的_____和條件」的文章而已，這一來，伊甸園確實成為天真夢境，就如我們_____時所知道的一般。
   
8. 從那些人不想接受上帝的_____，要完全靠自己的_____去走進上帝之門或是說，進入天堂，就可看出他們脫離上帝有多嚴重。
   
9. 那是在阻擋人們的_____崇拜。
   
10. 上帝之門其實已經透過耶穌基督為我們打開。如果我們的精神不是耗在另外自己設法建造上帝之門，而是降低我們的_____，有些奇妙的事情就在等我們發現。
    
11. 在注意聽上帝那低音量又好像靜止不夠刺激的聲音時，我們可能會發現已經跟其他兄弟姊妹一同站在上帝之門的_____處了。
    

We will sing the 3rd and the 4th verses of 298 again for the English people to share the joy of learning to sing the Ode to Joy as a closing hymnn of a worship service. 我們要再唱298的第三、四節讓參加應與禮拜的人也有機會練習用這首歌做為閉會時的讚美、祈禱、與勉勵。

Here is the live recording of how we sang it last Sunday. The music notation and the lyrics are displayed for your private learning. Obviously, we need to sing it many more time to really express the joy. The speeding up toward the end was intentional. We will have another edition to show how we progress. 這裡有一份上主日唱我們如何這首歌的實況錄音。樂譜跟多種歌詞都顯示在螢幕上幫助你在家練習。顯然我們需要多唱幾次才能真正把那喜樂表現出來。結束前加快速度是故意的。我們會有另一個版本看看我們如何進步。