We need to teach people that when we use the term service we are not referring to the so-called Sunday morning service in the denominations. Not only has Christianity spoiled the word service, but even among us this word has been spoiled to some extent. When we use the word service, we may think of our service groups in the church life or the service office. Actually in the New Testament, the Greek word for service really means ministry. To minister is to serve people with something. If I serve you without ministering something to you, that is wrong.

In the New Testament, the service, or the ministry, is the stewardship (1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 3:2; Col. 1:25). A steward is always serving people with something. The stewardesses on the airplane are a good illustration of this. They serve people on the plane with food, with drinks, with blankets, with pillows, or with things to read. They serve you with something, which means that they minister something to you. A waiter in a restaurant is also a good illustration of one who serves people with something. We have to make this point clear to the saints. To serve is not just to come to clean the meeting hall. Service is ministry.

These basic lessons on service were given by Brother Witness Lee from February through December 1979 in Anaheim, California. They were given to the elders and co-workers in Southern California for the purpose of training the saints.

CONTENTS

1. How to Meet
2. The Lord's Table Meeting (1)
3. The Lord's Table Meeting (2)
4. The Practice of the Lord's Table Meeting (1)
5. The Practice of the Lord's Table Meeting (2)
6. The Practice of the Lord's Table Meeting (3)
7. The Practice of the Lord's Table Meeting (4)
8. The Practice of the Lord's Table Meeting (5)
9. The Practice of the Lord's Table Meeting (6)
10. The Practice of the Lord's Table Meeting (7)
11. The Church-building Service
12. The Grace-ministering Service
13. The Danger and Loss of Not Using Our Gift
14. Strange Fire
15. Taking Heed How to Build
16. The Impotence of Our Natural Being in the
    Things of God
17. Knowing the Flesh
18. Further Knowledge of the Flesh
19. The Denial of the Self
20. Rejecting the Natural Strength and Ability