Fellowship Concerning the Book Service
Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 2:4; Matt. 24:45; Col. 3:16; Psa. 119:103; Acts 6:7
I. In 1 Timothy 2:4 Paul says that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth”; we should not merely have the knowledge of the truth, but the full knowledge, the complete knowledge, the perfect knowledge, of the truth—1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Tim. 3:15-17: (CWWL, 1984, vol. 5, The Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 3; Elders’ Training, Book 05: Fellowship Concerning the Lord’s Up-to-Date Move, ch. 3)
A. Knowing the truth requiring others’ explanation and the Lord’s opening of our minds—Acts 8:30-31; Luke 24:44-45. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 3)
B. We all know that it is not easy to understand the Bible; however, through the Life-study messages and the publications in the Lord’s recovery, we can understand the central thought of every book in the Bible, and we can be clear about the true meaning of every chapter and verse—Psa. 119:130. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 3)
C. I hope that we would receive the burden to thoroughly study the truths of the Lord’s recovery and to spread these truths. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 3)
II. In order to deliver these truths into the hands of God’s children, we need to go out to visit people and to supply them, and we need the serving ones in all the localities to faithfully labor in the book service in the churches to diligently distribute the food to the saints—Matt. 24:45: (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, 3)
A. Even the wonderful truth of the excellent gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ requires us to speak much with all our heart and to preach diligently so that people will receive and believe it—Col. 1:28-29; 4:12; Rom. 15:16. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 3)
B. We have a heart to serve the Lord and that we have obtained His mercy to serve Him in His word; we must have a proper attitude and be positive and aggressive, doing our best to urge people to read His word—Rom. 12:1, 11; Col. 1:28-29. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 3)
III. The most important burden of the book service is not to care for the inventory of books but to study and find a way to spread every book into all the homes of the saints in your locality and, once the books are in the homes, to find a way to deposit their contents into the saints’ hearts—Col. 3:16: (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, 3)
A. The primary matter is not to promote the books but to stir up the saints’ interest in pursuing the truth and to encourage them to enjoy reading the spiritual publications—Psa. 119:103: (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 3)
1. We should help the saints to build up a practice or a habit that every day they would spend at least thirty minutes in the Word. (Elders’ Training, Book 03: The Way to Carry Out the Vision, Chapter 10)
2. Encourage the brothers and sisters to build up the habit of reading spiritual books after every meal and before going to bed; they will gain a great benefit from reading in this way—Acts 17:11-12; Matt. 4:4; 1 Pet. 2:2. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 2)
B. I hope that the elders in each locality will give the saints some help and encouragement so that each household will have a supply of spiritual books: (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 2)
1. The saints can place a copy in various places within their homes—on their dining table, on their nightstand, on their bathroom counter, and in their kitchen—to make enjoying the Lord’s word in every place convenient for all the members of their family and even for their guests—Psa. 119:105. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 2)
2. These books are full of God’s rich grace; it would certainly be beneficial for each household to place them throughout their home—19:9-10. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 2)
C. We must see that serving in book sales is really to be the Lord’s co-worker, to promote His truth, and to spread His divine economy and divine speaking to the whole earth—1 Cor. 3:9; Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 5, the Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth, msg. 3)
IV. There are three things that need to be done to set up an active and healthy book service:
A. In order for all the saints to get into the proper and ongoing burden for the ministry publication, there must be a group of local saints who will take the lead to help the saints to enter into such burden and practice.
1.Both brothers and sisters can be in such service group. Some leading brothers must also be involved.
2. All those in the group needs to be burdened by the same thing———the promotion of ministry publication in the church.
3. The group can start according to Brother Lee’s principle on the formation of the vital groups.
4. The group needs to continue by coming together every week, like any other regular service groups of the church such as children service group, young people service group, etc.
5. The group should come together to pray, to find ways to promote the literature among the saints, and to help to provide “direction, encouragement, and incentive” (see point C below for suggestions on different ways)
B. Set up a display/library corner.
1. The functions of such a corner is to provide one of the following: 1) a display counter for the saints; 2) a lending library for borrowing; 3) a sales counter or the saints to order or buy books.
2. The Living Stream Ministry has provided a choice of display/library packages. Choose from the list, or come up with your own custom-tailored set, then place the order with the Living Stream.
3. Decide on a spot for the display corner (hall, homes, movable stands, etc).
4. Find suitable furniture (shelves, racks, bookstands, etc.) for the set; you can order from the internet, or purchase from existing retail stores.
5. The primary function of the display is for providing a physical presence of the books. If you want to use it as a library to loan out books, some of the books will be missing from the shelf some of the time; you can also set up two sets, one for display and one for lending
C. The group will start implementing some specific ways to promote reading and distribution of the publications; some possible ways are:
1. Initiate some reading schedules among the saints (whole church reading schedule, special one-time reading gatherings, internet reading, weekending retreat reading camp, etc.)
2. Promote borrowing by actively going to the saints one by one, especially the young people, to encourage borrowing.
3. Promote setting up personal libraries at home (for display, personal use, or as a library), or sponsor display racks or bookstands in public places.
4. Initiate mini-conferences or trainings to heighten awareness of reading through outlines, video, audios, or live guest speakers.
5. Coordinate with LSM to trumpet new products and burdens.
6. Promote FTTA-OL
7. Promote other internet activities related to the ministry publications.
8. You may come up with other ways to promote reading, lending or selling the books.
