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