Weekly fellowship
I am grateful to the Lord that I had the opportunity to be with the saints in France over a nine day period during which two new local churches were established: the church in Nanterre (in the greater Paris area), and the church in Toulouse (in southwestern France, near the border of Spain). On November 2 was the first Lord’s Table of the church in Nanterre, and on November 9 was the first Lord’s Table of the church in Toulouse. These meetings, and the gatherings the day before (attended also by a large number of visiting saints from France and around the world), were full of joy. Some of the faithful saints who have been laboring in France for years were nearly in tears to see the Lord raise up a new lampstand in their city. There was also a fresh joy in the many new ones, most of whom had only contacted the saints since the gospel trips began in 2024.
An outstanding characteristic of these two churches is their love for the Lord and for each other. This love is evident in their gatherings and in how they pour out in serving the saints. This confirms the revelation in John 15 that fruit bearing is in the condition of loving one another. A second characteristic is their pursuing of the truth. This is the burden of the shepherding saints, using mainly the two lines of Holy Word for Morning Revival, and the “daily” pursuit of the Life-Studies, to feed and teach the new ones. The new ones respond so well, exhibiting hunger for the Word and advancing rapidly in their comprehension and even speaking of the truth in the central line of God’s economy. These are the first two lampstands to be established in French-speaking Europe since the 2024 gospel trips. Labor is ongoing in a number of other cities (they are listed in the “Prayer Burdens” section of the Weekly Fellowship), and the saints’ hope and prayer is that there will be new lampstands in these cities within the next year.