Today, we are touching on the final lesson of our programme New Hearts, Fresh Beginnings. It is the eighth lesson on the relationship between people and their churches. When we have made up our mind to believe in Jesus, does it mean that I am a Christian? Is it a must for Christians to participate in the church fellowship and activities? Why are members of the Church called brothers? What are the requirements for me to be baptised? In summary, what is the relationship between the church and I? Today, we will explore on this topic.

In the previous episode, we have discussed about the issue of ancestral worship. There are various motives for ancestral worship – some people want to benefit from it, others want to be known for being filial and the rest are afraid that their dead ancestors will return to bring trouble upon them. Thus, in ancestral worship, they conduct rituals for the souls of their ancestors so that they will not be lonely and become wandering ghosts.

In the previous episode, I explored with everyone on the topic of folk customs and their taboos. I had also mentioned about ancestral worship. Ancestral worship is a very sensitive topic because some people think that we do not worship our ancestors after we have become Christians. They will say that “Christians, who believe in Jesus, do not want their ancestors” and in doing so, Christians have lost their Chinese identity. Actually, all these are misinterpretations. We need to know the true reasons and the motives for ancestral worship.

Today, I will like to explore a special topic with everyone, that is the relationship between people and folk customs with their taboos. People from every nationality have their own cultural customs. All these cultural customs shape the uniqueness of every ethnic group. As Christians, how do we differentiate which cultural customs are to be kept and even be developed and promoted? And which are the folk customs with their taboos that should be abandoned because of superstition?

Dear Brothers and Sisters, peace be with you! Previously, we mentioned that people are sinners. From history, we have already committed sin, fallen short of the glory of God and failed to attain His standard. Therefore, everyone is a sinner. There is no exception. Dear Brothers and Sisters, since this is the truth, how do we solve the issue of sin today? Sin has resulted in numerous tragedies, affected our interpersonal relationship with others and caused our relationship with God to break down. We look down on ourselves, feel inferior and cannot accept ourselves as we have sinned.

In the previous episodes of the programme, I have discussed with all of you on a variety of topics: (1) Relationship between God and the man, (2) Interpersonal relationship between people, (3) Relationship between humans and material things, and (4) Relationship with oneself. Today, we will explore the relationship between man and sin.

Today, we will continue to discuss on “Relationship with oneself”.

Last week, we had mentioned that man is created in the image of God. Such a creation is worthy so we have to respect ourselves. In the same way, man is a humble creation as he is formed from the dust of the ground so we must humble ourselves. Knowing such a human nature, human beings should start to respect and accept themselves, and establish their self-love and self-esteem. Today, we will continue to explore how to build a relationship based on self-love and self-esteem.

For the past few weeks, I have shared on the relationship between God and man, the interpersonal relationship among humans and the relationship between human beings and material things. Today, we will discuss about the relationship with oneself.

Previously, we mentioned that humans are often slaves to money in the relationship between humans and their material things. In Luke 12: 16 -21 from the ESV Bible，Jesus once mentioned the story of a rich man. He called the rich man an ignorant person. Why was this so? Indeed, this rich man was very wealthy. His business grew and expanded and his property also increased. As a result, he said to himself, “My land produced plentifully and I have nowhere to store my crops.

In the previous episodes, we talk about the relationship between God and man and the relationship among people. Today, I want to share about the relationship between people and material things. From such a relationship, we can see a person’s values in life and understand his spiritual perspectives. The relationships between people and the material things affect not only the person’s happiness, but also his environment. It is a question about ecology. I know a person’s values in life from the way that he spends his money and his spiritual life from his willingness to sacrifice.