[View as PDF]

Gaining God to Be Transformed by God for the Purpose of God

“Whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image…” (2 Cor. 3:16-18)

God’s purpose in dealing with His holy people is that they would be emptied of everything and receive only God as their gain; the desire of God’s heart is that they would gain Him in full as life, as the life supply, and as everything to their being.

In God’s appearing to him, Job saw God in order to gain God to be transformed by God for the purpose of God. Seeing God issues in the transformation of our being into God’s image. Hence, the more we look at Him as the consummated Spirit in our spirit, the more we receive all His ingredients into our being as the divine element to discharge our old element so that our whole being becomes new. We can remain in the daily process of transformation by turning our heart to the Lord so that we can behold and reflect Him with an unveiled face. (CS Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Key Statement 3; msg. 6, II.B, 1-2)

ITERO

The International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones will take place by webcast this weekend, April 16 to 18, with brothers participating from around the globe. The general subject is “Vital Factors for the Recovery of the Church Life.”

Please pray for the rich and timely supply of Christ to be ministered to all the brothers that they may grow in life and be equipped further in their function and service. May the Lord gain and perfect all the brothers as able ministers of the New Testament, effective building material for the universal building up of the Body of Christ, and good stewards and serving ones in their respective local churches.

Los Angeles

Over the past year, the pandemic has undoubtedly brought in many complexities. It has impacted our practice of the church life, especially in its many outward arrangements. As the environment and government allow, and according to the Lord’s leading, we will likely see more in-person meetings in different halls and districts. But, because the timing may not be the same for every saint, Zoom meetings will just as likely remain with us for a while.

All our meetings in LA should be rich with Christ! All our gatherings, whether on Zoom or in-person, need the functioning in the measure of every saint. Therefore, in whichever way we gather, may we prioritize a certain simplicity—of being strengthened into our mingled spirit, the true place of worship according to John 4:24. As we continue to experiment with outward arrangements, let us pray for the Lord’s covering and blessing, and for all the saints to receive grace to care inwardly for Christ as life.

California High School Seniors

Thank you for your prayers for the high school seniors and for the California College Connect Event this past weekend! We had a very good turnout, heard some relevant sharing from college students, and established connections with YP and college students that will be helpful in the future. Because an unprecedented number of seniors applied to UC schools this year, many of our own YP did not get into the schools to which they were expecting to go. Please pray for the Lord to shepherd them, comfort them, and lead them in their college decision for the sake of His purpose!

Junior High Conference Follow-up

Thank you for your prayers for last weekend’s junior high conference. There was a sweet time of blending with other localities from all over California during the group activities. From Los Angeles, 23 young people attended. They came to appreciate the Spirit of God brooding over the death situation to generate life, and that they have a human spirit to contact, receive, and contain God.

Please pray that our young people would build up the practice and habit of exercising their spirit by calling on the name of the Lord and pray-reading the Word, and being filled with the Spirit by speaking, singing, psalming, giving thanks to God, and subjecting themselves to one another (Eph. 5:19-21).

Videos of the conference messages, including a special burden on April 11 for parents and serving ones, may be viewed at http://www.scyp.com/juniorhigh.

Myanmar

There is an urgent financial need for saints in Myanmar. A total of 57 saints, comprising 11 families, took the ground of the church in their village and have been meeting for over two years. This has caused them to be persecuted by other Christian groups; as a result, they have all been ordered to leave by April 15, otherwise their houses will be burned down. These saints will thus migrate to another village about 100 km away, where there is a church and also some land to accommodate them. Offerings made to Myanmar for this need will be used for the purchase of this land, the building of houses, and assistance during this transition process. Please pray for the saints’ safety and transition.

For those who wish to offer financial assistance, for fastest processing, please follow the instructions for wire transfer or Zelle at http://nztc.ac.nz/myanmar; a short video fellowship is also at the site. Alternatively, offerings marked for ‘Myanmar’ under the ‘Other’ designation in Subsplash may also be made to the church in Los Angeles.

Announcements

  1. Morning Revival: Week 6 of Crystallization-study of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes.

  2. Words of Fellowship to the Church in LA: A new video entitled Seasons of Refreshing is posted at http://youtube.com/churchinlosangeles and in our church app, with translated versions in Chinese, Korean and Spanish. We hope the saints will be encouraged to contact the Lord for a new beginning.

  3. 6th Grade Parents & Serving Ones: On May 1 from 10:00 to 11:30 am, there is an important time of fellowship via Zoom. It will cover practical matters on how to help the newly saved 6th graders begin to have a healthy Christian life and church life. Translation into Chinese, Korean and Spanish will be provided. Register by April 24 at http://www.scyp.com/6thgrade.

  4. Ways to Give: Information on setting up online giving through Subsplash, as well as where to mail checks, are at http://www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.