Dear Brethren and Co-Workers with Christ,
Greetings from Charlotte, NC! Thanks so much for all that so many of you brethren and co-workers are doing! You, my friends, are a key part of the engine that drives this Work of God forward at the end of an age. I deeply appreciate your help, your prayers and your responsiveness in wanting to be part of the very Work which Christ is doing through human beings at this time!
For as you look back in future years on what you are doing today, you will realize that you, personally, were a part of this special Work which Jesus Christ is doing to prepare the way for a complete change of the entire structure of world government. You will realize that you were part of the “team” which Christ is working through right now to do His Work among human beings. You will be blessed if you do this with your whole heart along with many others who are truly aware of the times in which we are living!
For the growing violence and terrorism which is increasing throughout much of the world is going to affect all of our lives more and more as each year goes by. God’s message is truly needed now more than ever. And all of us who have part in preparing for the coming Government of Jesus Christ on this earth will be truly blessed. Let’s look forward to what God predicts will happen within the lifetimes of most of you: “Then the seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” (Revelation 11:15).
So I encourage all of you dear brethren and co-workers to go all out in doing your part to ensure that this Work increases with power and effectiveness in the years to come. Each of us should give generously to the Work of Christ—as best we can—and know that God will bless us forever if we take part in giving the “Ezekiel warning” (Ezekiel 33) to our peoples while there is time. For the soon-coming “Great Tribulation” will be the very “worst” time of trouble in human history (Matthew 24:21-22). It will be the time of “Jacob’s Trouble”—the trouble which will come upon the final descendants of Jacob whose name was changed to Israel (Jeremiah 30:7).
We who understand have a genuine responsibility to reach out and warn our peoples about what is looming just ahead. In a little noted prophetic passage—in a sense—God tells you and me in Proverbs 24:10-12: “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?”
Dear friends and brethren, are you and I really doing our part to prepare and to warn our beloved friends and neighbors and fellow citizens of what is just ahead? Each of us needs to answer that question before God Almighty. And He will render us a reward not just because of our good intentions but, “according to our works” (Proverbs 24:12, KJV).
I am sure that all of us realize that God wants us to do whatever we do with our whole heart. His inspired Word tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”
May we all be encouraged to realize that “God is able” to cause all things to work for good and bless us as we do our part in His very Work on this earth today. God has total power. God wants to bless us and give us eternal life if He sees that we truly “seek first” His coming Kingdom and Government above all else. So it is in that spirit that I ask all of you to be as generous as you possibly can as this year of 2015 comes to a close. Although we are growing, this Work needs to reach out far more powerfully! Most people on earth have never even heard of any part of the Church of God today. Yet, somewhere on this earth, God will use at least a part of His people to do a powerful Work so that the world can receive a warning and a witness and be prepared before the onslaught that is coming in the Great Tribulation. So let us all be inspired by this and know that God will bless us and bless us and bless us as we truly “walk with Him” and have our hearts in what Jesus Christ is doing right now among men.
Be sure to send your tithes and offerings in by or before December 31 so that your gifts are tax deductible. And as you give, ask God to bless your offering and use it to get His full message to the entire world while we have the opportunity. May God be with and bless you and inspire you as you do your part in the service of Jesus Christ today.
With Christian love,
Roderick C. Meredith
P.S. Please remember that any contributions dated in December that are postmarked on or before 12/31/2015 will be counted as year 2015 donations, and may be tax-deductible in 2015, even if we receive them in January 2016. So be sure any December donation is dated and postmarked no later than December 31. If you prefer to use our online donation system found at http://www.lcg.org/donations.shtml, the cutoff for 2015 donations will be 11:59 p.m., December 31.