“‘〔我〕也为那些因他们的话信我的人祈求，使他们都合而为一。’” - 约 17:20-21

诗篇133篇谈到一个美丽但又往往不能达到的愿望，它说：“看哪，弟兄和睦同居，是何等的善，何等的美。”要是真的能够这样就好了。但事实上，我们中间很多人连自己的家庭也维系不住！旧约圣经中的以色列民也是这样，他们的家族是由十二个支派组成的，可是他们都分散了，从此不再能聚在一起。这篇诗篇的美好愿望破裂了。

当耶稣招聚教会时，衪祈祷我们成为一群子民、一个家庭；有一天，衪的祈祷将要实现，那时神的子民将会成为“许多的人，没有人能数过来，是从各国、各族、各民、各方来的”（启示录 7:9）。不过，现今的教会仍然是破碎的，耶稣的祈求尚未实现，然而我们却看见了希望的证据，并且有梦想成真的愿景在我们眼前闪现。

我是西密歇根州一所不寻常的教会的牧者，我们的会友活在两个不同的世界；他们有些是已被定罪的罪犯，他们分别住在几个州政府监狱里，被围墙和栅栏所困，然而有很多其他的会友住在监狱以外，住在“一般人”住的地方。每个星期，我们聚集一起，我们是一个教会，我们祷告、我们研习、我们敬拜、我们聊天、我们分享故事 － 因为我们同属耶稣，我们也彼此相爱。

耶稣带领我们的教会相聚一堂，衪也能够带领你和家人相聚一堂的。你向衪祈求吧。

祷告

耶稣啊，我们为破碎的教会和家庭感到惭愧，求你医治我们，帮助我们复合。愿荣耀归与神，阿们。

诗篇 133

1看哪，弟兄和睦同居是何等地善，何等地美！
2这好比那贵重的油浇在亚伦的头上，流到胡须，又流到他的衣襟。
3又好比黑门的甘露降在锡安山，因为在那里有耶和华所命定的福，就是永远的生命。

One Is The Number

"I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one. . . ." - John 17:20-21

Psalm 133 expresses a beautiful but often disappointed hope. It says, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity." If only. Truth is, many of us struggle even to hold our families together! Old Testament Israel was the same way. They were twelve tribes who made up one family. But they fell apart and never came back together. The hope of the psalm crumbled.

When Jesus gathers the church, he prays that we will be one people, one family. Someday his prayer will be fulfilled, when the people of God become "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language" (Revelation 7:9). But for now the church is broken. The prayer is unfulfilled. Yet there are signs of hope, flashes of beauty.

I am the pastor of an unusual church in West Michigan. Our members live in two different worlds. Many are convicted felons. They live behind the walls and fences of several state prisons. But many other members live on the outside, in the "ordinary" world. Every week we gather together as one church. We pray, we study, we worship, we visit, we share stories—because we belong to Jesus together, and we love each other.

Jesus brings our church together. He may bring your family together too. Ask him.

Prayer

Jesus, we're sorry for all the brokenness in the church and in our families. Please heal us. Please make us whole. For the glory of God, Amen.