TAKING THE SHEPHERDING WAY
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND REVIVE THE CHURCH

SERIES One
Practicing the Church Life
according to the Framework of the God-ordained Way

Message One
Practicing the Church Life
according to the Framework of the God-ordained Way

Scripture Reading:

Eph. 4:11-12     And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.

THE STEPS TO ARRIVE AT GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE—
GOSPEL, HOMES, GROUPS, AND DISTRICTS

God’s eternal purpose is to have the Body of Christ, and the steps to arrive at this purpose are the begetting through the preaching of the gospel, our nourishing through the home meetings, our teaching through the small group meetings, and our building up through the church meetings. (The New Testament Priests of the Gospel, msg. 2)

Going Out to Knock on Doors for the Preaching of the Gospel

We need to preach the gospel regularly as a part of our Christian life.…This God-ordained way of preaching the gospel as a part of our Christian life is very workable. (The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, msg. 6)

Maybe we cannot go out to knock on doors every day, but one thing we can do is spend two to three hours each week for door-knocking. We should visit not only those whom we know but also those we do not know. We should knock on all the doors in the district in which we live. Do not worry or be anxious. As long as we are willing to do it, we will be successful. (Rising Up to Preach the Gospel, msg. 5)

Practicing the Home Meetings

In order to nourish the new believers and lead them to grow in life that they may become remaining fruit, we need to go to their homes to meet with them by personally leading and nourishing them.…As we go, time after time, to nourish and take care of the new believers, eventually every one of them will become like us, not loving the world but only loving the Lord and always being filled with the Lord to such an extent that they present themselves to God as sacrifices. (The Ministry of the New Testament Priests of the Gospel, msg. 2)

Being Trained to Have the Group Meetings

The group meetings occupy about eighty percent of the practical church life. If there are no group meetings in our local church, our church life cannot be that practical, strong, and living. We all must be trained to have these group meetings. (The Advance of the Lord’s Recovery Today, ch. 9)

The group meetings have at most a dozen people. The opportunity for contact is great, and all are close to one another and see one another every week. This makes it easy to have the sense of being members one of another.…In the group meetings where the number is not big, the members can easily contact and fellowship with one another, and be mingled together. Once there is the mingling, many problems are solved. (Words of Training for the New Way, vol. 2, msg. 19)

The District Meetings Bringing People into the Church

We have been studying the way for the church to gain the increase and have seen that door-knocking gains people, the home meetings keep people, the group meetings join people together, and the district meetings bring people into the church. The principle is the same with the students’ work. We need to visit people and gain people directly on the campuses. Then we need to keep them by the principle of the home meetings. Although the students do not have homes, we must find a way, based on this principle, to keep them. Then we need to use the group meetings to join them with others. Finally, we can use the district meetings to bring them into the church. While the work of gaining people is done on the campuses, we still need to bring the new believers to attend the district meetings on the Lord’s Day so that they can taste the church life and have some knowledge and feeling for the church.…If we are able to practice these points well, we will succeed. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 2: Leading the Saints to Practice the New Way Ordained by the Lord, msg. 13)

GOING OUT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL EVERY WEEK WITHOUT FAIL

We must be very definite in our going out to preach the gospel. We must make a budget. We should not be uncertain in any point. Furthermore, we should not have an unrealistically large budget. If we try to go out every day, we will probably fail. For the long run, it is probably best to go out just two days each week. This is a more practical budget for those brothers and sisters who must work at a regular job and for the sisters who have families to care for at home. Set your budget to go out twice a week during two set days, each time for two or three hours. Do it regularly, constantly, and definitely, unless you are too ill to go out. Disregard your emotions and just go out. Budget yourself in this way.

If we live a regular life and budget our time, we can easily separate two periods of two or three hours each for fruit-bearing. This is the keeping of the commandment of the One who loves us, who has exalted us to such an extent that we can be His expression. (The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, msg. 6)

No matter what happens in our homes, we should always adhere to the principle of spending two hours a week to go out door-knocking. There are no excuses; nothing is so important that it can keep us from going out. No matter how busy we are, we must go out for two hours a week. There are fifty-two weeks a year, and as long as we are able to go, then we should practice this principle every week without fail. (The Furtherance of the New Way for the Lord’s Recovery, msg. 1)

TAKING CARE OF THE NEW ONES
IN THE HOME MEETINGS EVERY WEEK

If we love the Lord, we should respond to this fellowship. First, we should consecrate ourselves to the Lord and set aside a definite time, two to three hours a week, to go out door-knocking. This time should be used either to lead people to be baptized or to meet in the home of a new believer. After our initial contact with a new believer, we should meet with him ten times in the first month and once per week thereafter. We should do this every week for one year. After twelve months the new one will be established. Then he will beget and teach others in the same way that he was begotten and taught. This will make him remaining fruit. (The Proper Way for Believers to Meet and to Serve, msg. 5)

We need to practice taking care of the new ones in the home meetings and small group meetings until we become experts. We have to practice and exercise in a regular way by caring for the new ones in the home meetings week after week. This has to be our habit. (Speaking Christ for the Building Up of the Body of Christ, msg. 5)

We should not carry out the home meetings sporadically; rather, we should do it steadily and continually, fifty-two times a year. Even though there may be conferences, trainings, and joint meetings, we should try not to interrupt the time of our home meeting. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 1: The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way, msg. 6)

BEARING FRUIT YEARLY

Because the physical law of fruit-bearing is a sign of the spiritual situation, it is fair to say that the branches of the vine ought to bear fruit yearly. However, as branches of the divine vine we may not have borne fruit for years. If as branches we bear little fruit, what excuse can we give? Because there are three hundred sixty-five days in a year, it is unreasonable not to lead one person to salvation. Within a year of three hundred sixty-five days, we should be able to catch one fish, that is, lead one person to be saved. This is not difficult.…For each of us to lead one person to salvation may seem slow, but it is very effective. (CWWL, 1966, vol. 3, “The Transformation of Life and the Building Up of the Church,” msg. 11)