All For The Love Of The Lord
Thank
God! He chose and consecrated us through His loving son, Jesus Christ to be His
church, so that we may work together here at the Richmond Peace Evangelical
Church according to His good will to manifest His abundant glory through our
testimonies. Praise the Lord! He continues to listen to our prayers. Since our
church construction commenced in March, we have so often experienced His grace.
To our financial need, God has supplied over $2,600,000 in offerings through
local and overseas brothers and sisters. To the administration of the church
construction, God has elected members with varied gifts and willing to offer
themselves to serve together with one mind and in complementary coordination. I
especially thank God for the abiding unity shown by the brothers and sisters of
the church regarding the building of our hall. The construction is now entering
into the final stage, and it is also the most critical stage. I would like here
to encourage the brothers and sisters to continue fulfilling our love towards
God and towards people with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds and
all our strength. Establish one another through the building project,
accomplish the mission to build our church entrusted by the Lord, complete the
good will of God, and ensure that the glorious Lord will receive His due praise
through us.
1.
Pray
with all your heart. If someone asks, ¡§Since God knows the needs of His
children, and will meet all of our needs according to His glorious riches in
Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19), why do we have to pray for His providence?¡¨ I
believe prayer and intercession shows an attitude of reliance on God, and
displays our intimate relationship, like the contact between a child and his
daddy. We should learn to pray with all our hearts, not nonchalantly mouthing
certain religious jargons, but speaking to our Heavenly Father with truth and
sincerity. When the Lord spoke of loving God ¡§with all your heart¡¨, He meant
loving Him by pouring out your all. Yet when it comes to praying, I dare not be
overly demanding. I only wish that everyone, especially believing couples use
at least 15 minutes a day to pray together for the church¡¦s work of ¡§building
up a hall and building up people¡¨. Dear brothers and sisters, pray often, never
be discouraged, and fulfill your duty of prayer.
2.
Care
for the members of the Church-building Committee with all your soul. When
Christ talked about loving God and people with ¡§all your soul¡¨, He meant the
whole of your spirit, and includes the emotional component. Why don¡¦t we learn
to implement the love of people by caring for and being concerned about those
members who ¡§build up a hall and build up people¡¨? Sometimes an encouraging
word, a tender greeting card, a solicitous phone call or email, or a bit of
loving food will be enough to warm the hearts of those in service. Please don¡¦t
forget that the members of the Church-building Committee are not toiling for
money. They all have busy jobs and responsibilities to family and children. If
they toil for the House of God (church-building) because of their love of God,
how can we neglect them? Therefore, I encourage everyone to have consideration
for the members of the Church-building Committee, and even their wives, to
implement your love of the Lord through this precious opportunity.
3.
Complement
one another in the church-building with all your minds. ¡§All your minds¡¨ means
all human wit and ingenuity. I hope that all members among us who truly love
the Lord will learn to serve each other with ¡§all your minds¡¨, coordinating
with one another to establish oneself and others. ¡§Build up a hall and build up
people¡¨ is the great project that God has entrusted to us at this time. We must
use all of our wisdom and intelligence to complete it. The brothers of the general
services department will continue to follow up with necessary duties. I hope
everyone will support them with action, using all of your minds to complement
the plan and work hard for the completion of construction and the chores that
follows.
4.
Offer
with all your strength. When you earnestly ask for God¡¦s providence for the
church-building¡¦s financial needs, can you hear the Lord¡¦s reply, saying, ¡§I
have acceded to your prayer, and supplied the funds for your church-building.
The money is now deposited in your bank account, in the trust funds and assets
under your name. I will use you to supply a part of the financial requirements
of the church-building. You have said, ¡¥Lord, I love you deeply!¡¦ Now is the
time for you to express your love for me. Are you willing to offer once more
for me? You should understand that all of the wealth and possessions that you
own today are blessings given by me. You must further understand that all of
you belong to me. It is I who first loved you with all my heart, all my soul,
all my mind and all my strength, who is willing to give up the glory and
abundance of heaven for you, who lays down my life for you so that you may
enjoy the blessings of today. How much are you willing to lay down for me?¡¨
Dear brothers and sisters. If we are willing to give
¡§all for the love of the Lord¡¨, and fulfill the exhortations above, then we
truly will be involved in the work of building God¡¦s temple. Are we really
willing to learn to ¡§hold back nothing for the Lord, and ask nothing for ourselves¡¨?
By: Daniel To