建殿計劃 - 劉彤牧師
在教會慶祝廿週年的時刻，一方面，我們真是為著神所賜給我們的異象與恩典感謝；另一方面，我們也渴望這些神的恩膏能夠傳承。這些年神在我們中間所賜下最明顯的恩膏，就是「神同在」的恩膏。這是我們得蒙神祝福的原因，也是我們必須傳承下去的恩典。
事實上，這正是大衛王要為神建造聖殿的原因。他在詩篇132:4-5說：「我不容我的眼睛睡覺，也不容我的眼目打盹，直等到我為耶和華尋得所在，為雅各的大能者尋得居所。」大衛王之所以要建殿，不只是為了要有一個獻祭、禮拜的地方，他的心更是渴想為神找到一個居所。當然，我們的神本來是無所不在的，祂並不需要一個居所，但神卻為了憐憫的緣故，願意在人的中間顯明祂同在的恩典。換句話說，教會不只是辦一大堆活動的地方，教會更應當是神榮耀同在彰顯的地方，A House of Shekinah Glory。
這是為什麼我們把建造崇拜大堂的計劃，命名為「She
kinah Glory建殿計劃」。Shekinah是希伯來文，意思就是「神在地上彰顯祂同在的地方」。我們渴望生命河就是成為神所揀選，彰顯祂榮耀同在的地方！ 另一方面，從設施發展的角度而言，建造一個新的崇拜大堂也是勢在必行的事：
1. 因為神給我們一個五千人的異象。1998年時，神很清楚地為我們訂下了發展的目標。無論在當時看來是多麼不可能的事，但的確神的手一直帶領我們直到如今有超過三千人的會眾。這已經不再是高不可及的夢想了，而是指日可待的目標。
2. 因為神賜給我們一個可以容納五千人的場地。我們有十畝地，十三萬平方呎的建築，六百六十一個停車位，這裡的確是一個可以發展成容納五千人的場地。過去我們曾經想過別的地方、別的方法，但都不成功；所以我們就應當回到神所已經給我們的地方，在這裡建立一個合神心意的居所。
3. 因為我們仍然有極大的發展潛力。從過去教會成長的歷史來看，我們一直穩定地以每年百分之五的比例在成長，而且每個主日都不斷地有新的單身人士及年輕家庭進來，可見教會並沒有老化的現象。再加上我們今年開始了新移民的事工，我們仍然有著極大的發展潛力。 然而，當我們看現有的設施，不難看見現在已達飽和的現象。我們需要一個新的崇拜大堂，一個能容納兩千人的會堂。主日可以有兩堂的崇拜，早上九點及十一點；這樣不但能給我們成長的空間，而且中間能有三十分鐘換場的時間，也能舒解現有的交通問題。事實上，如果我們不早作計劃，就會限制了我們自己的成長。
在2003年，當我們在建第一期工程的時候，那時也有人問：為什麼要買那麼大的地方？但我們就是想到將來五千人的異象，所以就憑著信心買地建堂。同樣地，今天我們也來到這個關口，需要為將來教會的發展來計劃、來擺上。我就時常想起一位牧師曾經說過一段十分發人深省的話：「教會的存在，是為了那些還沒有進到教會來的人！」求神再一次給我們信心與勇氣來向前跨越，同心合意來建造 A House of Shekinah Glory！
The Plan - Receive The Anointing，In Unity We Build - Pastor Tong Liu
As our church celebrates the 20th anniversary, we give thanks to God for all the grace that He’s given us; and we are also eager to see all of God’s anointing can be passed on. In all these years, God’s anointing of His presence among us has been evident. That’s the reason we’ve been so blessed by God, and we must pass on this blessing. In fact, that is exactly why King David desired build the temple for God. In Psalm 132:4-5, David said that “I will allow no sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the Lord,a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.“ Instead just building a temple for offering sacrifices and worship, David’s heart was eager to provide God a place to live. Our God is clearly omnipresent and doesn’t need a place to live, but because God is merciful, He is willing to grace us with His presence amongst us. In other word, church is not just a place to conduct events; church must be a place where God’s glorious presence is manifested, or “a House of Shekinah Glory”. That is why we’re naming the project to build a new worship hall “Shekinah Glory Temple Building Project.” Shekinah is a Hebrew word that means “a place where God manifests His presence on earth.” We desire to see River of Life becoming a place where God chooses to manifest His glorious presence! Building a new worship hall is also something we must do from the perspective of facility development for a number of reasons:
1) Vision of 5000 from God. It looked quite impossible back then, but by God’s work we now have more than 3000 people. 5000 is no longer an unachievable dream, but rather a goal that will be reached in a matter of time.
2) God has already given us a place that can accommodate 5000. Our property, with ten acres of land, 130,000 square feet of structure and 661 parking spaces, can be developed to hold 5000 people. We’ve considered other alternatives but none of were successful, therefore we must build on the land that God has already given us.
3) We still have tremendous potential for growth. Based on history, we have been growing steadily at about 5% a year. We have new singles and young families joining us every Sunday, so our congregation overall hasn’t been aging. Adding the new immigrant ministry that we started this year, we still have tremendous potential for growth. We can clearly see that our current facility has reached saturation. We need a new worship hall, a sanctuary that accommodates 2000 people, that way we may have just two Mandarin services on Sunday – 9am and 11am. The new worship hall provide the church with space to grow, and we’ll also have 30 minutes between services to alleviate congestion. Back in 2003, when we constructed Phase One of our facility, some also asked why we needed so much space, but we moved forward by faith because we were preparing for the vision of 5000. Similarly, as we reached this juncture today, we must plan and give for the future growth of our church. I often think of a profound word that a pastor once said: “Church exists for those who have not entered the church.” May God once again give us the faith and courage to move forward, so that in unity we will build A House of Shekinah Glory！
