Mr. Meredith wishes all of you "the best spiritual feast ever!" He and Mrs. Meredith will see many of you in Pigeon Forge and Eureka Springs this year.
Television Production Department
The employees here at Headquarters are beginning to leave for the Feast of Tabernacles. Therefore, there will be a gap in weekly sermon tape production for a two and a half week period. This means that only two sermon tapes will be shipped during the next regular monthly cycle. All video recipients should plan to show sermons that have not yet been seen by their congregations or their groups or replay an earlier tape. Next year we hope to alleviate this problem by producing and mailing five tapes during each of the four months proceeding the Feast of Tabernacles. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Festival
The Feast of Tabernacles will begin on Friday evening, September 20, just a little more than a week from today. Please remember that the Feast begins on Friday evening—not on Sabbath morning—with an opening night message from Dr. Meredith. Everyone should try to attend the Friday evening service if at all possible.
Report from Australia—Mr. Bruce Tyler
In the past year God has truly given the Living Church incredible growth. We thought everyone would be encouraged with some of the facts, figures and brief comments from a couple of the church areas.
Tomorrow's World Program
10,777 individuals have called or written after watching the television program over the last 3½ years.
Up until May this year we only offered a sample copy of the magazine and requested people to return the subscription card if they wished to continue with a full subscription. We now have 4217 subscribers.
Currently we are adding approximately 700 new subscribers each issue. This number is increasing. We anticipate around 10,000 subscribers by this time next year.
686 active Bible Study Students.
Responses to the Internet
- 83 Web requests in August.
- 61 Web requests this month, to September 12 (We expect approx 150 total for September).
- To date, we have had over 500 requests from the Web site since July—or approximately 200 per month.
Mailing Statistics
Average cost of mailing per article is $1.20 (US $.65)
We mail on average 2302.25 pieces of mail each month. This figure does not include the Tomorrows World Magazine. Including the Tomorrow's World Magazine, Australians presently receive an average of 4,450 items from the Living Church of God each month.
We had a 30% response to Dr Meredith's last semiannual letter, which advertised his booklet, "How God Intervenes in World Affairs?" Responses are still trickling in.
Tomorrows World Program
The Four Community Stations (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth) airing the Tomorrow's World programs are still attracting many first time callers. On average, 60% of our weekly calls are first time callers.
The Adelaide station is off air for the time being due to some management difficulties but we expect them back up and running again shortly. The response to the program, despite Adelaide not airing, is producing an average of 160 calls per week. This number does vary from time to time due to various factors, e.g. Public Holidays and major events such as sports.
Considering the few short months the Sydney station has been on, we are hovering just under the 40 responses per program.
The Melbourne station continues to keep Mr. King busy. We average approx. 50 responses per program.
Channel 31 in Brisbane is giving us many very excited new listeners. We are taking close to 30 calls every week.
Perth is also around 30 callers per week.
Comments from Perth—Ken MacLeod.
In the last few months 10 new people are now regularly attending who have come in from the telecast, having had no previous contact with WCG or Mr. Armstrong.
Our Feast plans are well advanced. We expect about 26 to attend in Albany including a few visitors. Eight are going to Malaysia for the Feast and four of our young people are going to Ballina.
Comments from Melbourne—Rod King.
The Tomorrow's World telecast at 11.00 pm on Tuesdays on Melbourne's Channel 31 has proven to be one of the most effective tools for preaching the gospel. In the past six months we have received 61 visit or phone requests. Of these, 27 have received at least one personal visit with some having two or more. Several have requested or have been invited to attend services. There are others who will be invited when they have done more study.
Six people have attended once or twice but have not continued. Another six new people attend regularly and our first baptism has taken place just before the Feast.
Here is a comment from one new contact that viewed the telecast just once before moving from Melbourne to the country.
"I have been doing your Bible Study Course for the last year. You have also sent me various booklets. I have really enjoyed a new vision and search in my life. Thank you for opening up a new world for me."
(HW, Warragul, Victoria)
The Melbourne congregation is now more than fifty in number. Many of the "newer members" who have come from other Churches of God comment on how good it is to be preaching the gospel again.
It seems like yesterday when the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and flew another plane into the ground—all in the name of God [Allah]. I was in Mae Sot, Thailand on that day, and I received many expressions of sympathy from Thai citizens. But the most moving expressions, I think, came from Burmese refugees in Thailand—because they have suffered from the civil war and oppression in their country.
We in America and Canada have suffered great losses in the wars of the past century, but not on our home soil. And there is a difference!
I hope that we all will focus fully on the coming Kingdom of God at the Feast of Tabernacles this year.
The apostle Paul told the church at Rome that there was advantage to "the Jew." And he answered "much in every way!" Paul might write today, "What advantage then has a baptized member of the Church of God?"—and answer, "to them pertains the calling sonship in His Kingdom!"
But what if some do not "believe?" Paul asked. To us he might say, "What if some turn back into the world—falling away from potential sonship in the Kingdom of God?"
Is God unjust to allow our ways to punish us if we live disobediently? "God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?"
Paul then asks, "are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
v. 17 And the way of peace have they not known:
v. 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes."
While many claim to be members of "the kingdom" by virtue of professing to accept Christ, those who disobey His law poorly represent the Kingdom of God.
Brethren, let us reflect the Kingdom of God to the world as faithful Ambassadors, in peace, during the Feast of Tabernacles, which pictures a world at peace.
Please travel safely and keep well this Sabbath and during this festival season.
Carl E. McNair