Author: 王建国 Wang Jianguo

Others looked down on him, but he said it didn’t matter and it was enough that God respected him. Others misunderstood him, but he said it was enough that God knew him. Someone asked, “Why if you are a preacher don’t you preach?” It doesn’t matter, God knows! I was really shocked by such a God-centered person. He lay down everything, and he was not married during his whole life, and he did these things silently. But I see the glory of Jesus Christ, the image of the slain Lamb, because he who worships God has the same character as God. He has the Lord’s image. It is beautiful.

Brothers and sisters, grace is not self-centered, but it is the personal God. We see that the personal God becomes the deepest bottom line in our lives. So when my aunt encountered any persecution, she might be nervous, but nothing can take away joy. John Piper has a book named God Is the Gospel. The nature of God – his glory, righteousness, and holiness – is the gospel. And all discipline from God is also the gospel. God’s discipline of, training of us, and eventual taking of us to the renewed country, these are the grace of God. So it is the Lord who helps us to return to God, and we also know that the growth of our lives is inseparable from Jesus Christ, and inseparable from the justice and mercy of Christ.  

Dear pastors and dear colleagues, I am grateful for being able to share here God’s work in China, how the great power of his gospel is working in each soul and in his church. For this we can give thanks together and be encouraged. At the same time, I am grateful for your sacrifice and faithful service in the gospel for the souls of China, and to you all I offer my deep gratitude.

There was a fellowship in Beijing led by a married couple. Between 2005 and 2011, the fellowship they led grew from a disorganized group of ten or so people to a disciplined and structured fellowship of about 120 people. It sprung up from two people, who were attempting to serve step by step, to thirty colleagues. It became an organized ministry, blessing and transforming the lives of many students. One after another, many brothers and sisters committed to full-time ministry. Later, when they had left to study elsewhere, these colleagues continued to serve. Currently, they still have a very active gospel ministry. The following is an episode from when they first began serving.

In 1807, a young British man by the name of Robert Morrison arrived at China. He was barely twenty-five years old and became the first Protestant missionary to China, with the goal of bringing the gospel to the Chinese souls who were still living under the dark shadow of death. The same concern for the souls of China could be felt again in the appeal of another young man, who arrived at China about fifty years later. This young man was Hudson Taylor.