God’s Call to Service
      
      
         19
      
      
        Combined Christian Forces
      
      
        Brethren and sisters in the faith, does the question arise in your
      
      
        hearts, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” If you claim to be children of God,
      
      
        you are your brother’s keeper. The Lord holds the church responsible
      
      
        for the souls of those whom they might be the means of saving.—
      
      
        Historical Sketches, 291
      
      
        .
      
      
        The Saviour has given His precious life in order to establish a
      
      
        church capable of ministering to the suffering, the sorrowful, and
      
      
        the tempted. A company of believers may be poor, uneducated, and
      
      
        unknown; yet in Christ they may do a work in the home, in the com-
      
      
        munity, and even in the “regions beyond,” whose results shall be as
      
      
        far-reaching as eternity.—
      
      
        The Ministry of Healing, 106
      
      
        .
      
      
        Enfeebled and defective as it may appear, the church is the one
      
      
        object upon which God bestows in a special sense His supreme regard.
      
      
        It is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power
      
      
         [14]
      
      
        to transform hearts.—
      
      
        The Acts of the Apostles, 12
      
      
        .
      
      
        Some one must fulfil the commission of Christ; some one must
      
      
        carry on the work which He began to do on earth; and the church
      
      
        has been given this privilege. For this purpose it has been organized.
      
      
        Why, then, have not church members accepted the responsibility?—
      
      
        Testimonies for the Church 6:295
      
      
        .
      
      
        He calls upon the church to take up their appointed duty, holding
      
      
        up the standard of true reform in their own territory, leaving the trained
      
      
        and experienced workers to press on into new fields.—
      
      
        Testimonies for
      
      
        the Church 6:292
      
      
        .
      
      
        The Thessalonian believers were true missionaries.... Hearts were
      
      
        won by the truths presented, and souls were added to the number of
      
      
        believers.—
      
      
        The Acts of the Apostles, 256
      
      
        .
      
      
        It was at the ordination of the twelve that the first step was taken
      
      
        in the organization of the church that after Christ’s departure was to
      
      
        carry on His work on the earth.—
      
      
        The Acts of the Apostles, 18
      
      
        .
      
      
        God’s church is the court of holy life, filled with varied gifts, and
      
      
        endowed with the Holy Spirit. The members are to find their happiness
      
      
        in the happiness of those whom they help and bless. Wonderful is the
      
      
        work which the Lord designs to accomplish through His church, that
      
      
        His name may be glorified.—
      
      
        The Acts of the Apostles, 12, 13
      
      
        .