Week of September 14

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The Bride as the Corporate Warrior

“You are as beautiful, my love, as Tirzah; as lovely as Jerusalem, as terrible as an army with banners.” (S.S. 6:4)

“Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil.” (Eph. 6:11)

“By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints…” (Eph. 6:18)

Spiritual warfare is necessary because Satan's will is in conflict with God's will. Spiritual warfare is not an individual matter. It is a matter of Christ's bride being a corporate warrior. The church as the bride is actually the corporate man in God's intention, who will fulfill the twofold purpose of expressing God and dealing with God's enemy.

To fight the spiritual warfare, we need to put on the whole armor of God. The whole armor of God is for the Body, not for individuals. Only the corporate warrior can wear the whole armor of God. Prayer is the unique, crucial, and vital means by which we apply the whole armor of God, making every item of the armor available to us in a practical way. We all need to see that in the Lord's recovery today we are on a battlefield. We must cooperate with the Lord to fight against Satan's aerial forces so that we can gain more of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ and the preparation of the bride of Christ, setting up and spreading the kingdom of God so that Christ can come back to inherit the earth. (The Preparation of the Bride, msg. 6, III, VI, I.B, VII, VI.C, VII.G, IX)

UCLA

We are entering a most critical phase of the campus work at UCLA. We ask for your prevailing prayers over the next few weeks, beginning with the following matters for this week:

• Pray for the mutual fellowship and building in spirit among the existing students this week during the various workshops, fellowships, activities, and gatherings to prepare for the academic year.
• We will begin to contact the several hundred freshmen who signed up with our club during the summer. Pray for warm interactions and face-to-face contacts within the first week after they move in.
• This Lord's day we have our first welcome meeting on campus. Ask the Lord to bring many freshman who would be open to receive the living word of God and be connected with the saints.

LA High School Seniors

On Tuesday, September 16, the LAUSD Region West Annual College and Career Fair will be held at West LA College in Culver City. High school students from different schools will be bused to the campus for the day to speak to college representatives about their admissions process and attend workshops. Many of our own high school seniors will be in attendance. Additionally, community saints will have a Bibles for America (BfA) table at the event.

Please pray:

• That our high school senior would consecrate their college years to the Lord as they consider and begin their college applications.
• For all those who received a Bible to come to know the Lord through His word.

Community Gospel – San Fernando Valley

Hall 2 saints have BfA tables at California State University Northridge (CSUN) every Tuesday and Wednesday morning. In the past three weeks we have distributed at least 100 NTs, a similar number of ministry books, and about 3,000 Mystery of Human Life tracts. Since the beginning of August we have had BfA tables weekly outside DMV offices, where we have distributed over 250 NTs and at least 220 ministry books. However, we have very few personal contacts with recipients at either location.

Please ask the Lord:

• To cause people “to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:4)
• To give these recipients a hunger for getting into continuing fellowship.
• To train the saints to be skilled in establishing contact and making appointments for shepherding.

France – Nanterre

Nanterre is a suburb to the west of Paris. The city of Nanterre includes Paris Nanterre University, one of the largest and most prestigious universities in France. The saints who live in this area currently meet as a district of the church in Paris, but there is a burden to raise up a lampstand in Nanterre.

With the start of classes this week at the university, the full-time team in Paris and visiting shepherding saints are distributing Bibles, preaching the gospel, and contacting seeking believers around the campus. On Monday, over 50 Bibles were handed out and at least 10 personal contacts made.

Please pray:

• For the Lord to capture some seeking French college students and bring them into a normal Christian church life.
• That the Lord would release a meeting hall in Nanterre at the appointed time and establish a golden, shining lampstand in Nanterre this year..

Nepal

On September 8, massive youth-led protests broke out in Kathmandu and many other parts of Nepal over widespread allegations of government corruption and sparked by a social media ban, which has since been withdrawn. The police responded with force, protesters damaged buildings, and the prime minister resigned. It is estimated that at least 72 people died and over 2,000 suffered injuries. It is the deadliest outbreak of political violence in Nepal in decades.

All the saints are safe. Please pray that the Lord would make the situation in Nepal favorable to the spread of the gospel, and that the brothers and sisters may go on in peace under His protection and care.

Announcements

1. Morning Revival: Week 6 of The Preparation of the Bride. Next week, we begin Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (3), vol. 5.
2. SCYP Parents & YP Serving Ones Fellowship: September 20 in Fullerton, 9:30 am to noon. Translation will be provided into Chinese, Korean and Spanish (please bring a smartphone and headphones). Contact serving ones for registration and more details.
3. Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: The ministry series continues this Wednesday 7:25 pm on “The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul's Epistles—Philippians and Colossians.” Saints are invited to attend in person at the MCC in Anaheim. The meeting will also be live-streamed at lsmwebcast.com.
4. Thanksgiving Conference: This year's conference will be held in Indianapolis, November 27 to 30. Childcare for K–6 will be provided during the meetings. Saints from LA interested in attending can get more information on hotel group rates and RSVP at tinyurl.com/thanksgivingconfla.
5. Bibles for America's new blogpost “What Can the Story of the Magi Teach Us About Knowing Jesus?” is available to read and share at bfa.org/blog. Many insightful videos are at bfa.org/videos.
6. France Shepherding Trips: An invitation letter to participate in ongoing short-term shepherding trips throughout France is posted at lme.org/reports.html.
7. Italy 2026 Winter Olympics: A letter of fellowship and a letter with instructions on how to apply and participate in gospel trips are posted at lme.org/reports.html.
8. Ways to Give: Information about the church's online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.