The Need for All Our Service to Be Initiated by God
“Out from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Rom. 11:36) All our work and service in the church must be initiated by God and must be according to His desire.
“This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. Hear Him!” (Matt. 17:5) We must learn deep within that God wants only our cooperation; He does not need us to do anything for Him; we must stop all our opinions, decisions, and ideas; we need to let Him speak, let Him come in, and let Him command.
Texas
Friday night a strong hurricane hit the Texas coast. There is severe damage from strong winds plus “catastrophic” floods from heavy rain. The rain will continue perhaps until Wednesday. The church in Houston and about ten smaller churches are in the most heavily damaged area; at least ten other churches in Texas and Louisiana are in areas expecting 6 to 15 inches of rain. Please pray for 1) the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ to the saints in the region, that “this may turn out to salvation” (Phil. 1:19), and 2) for the storm to cause many unbelievers to invite Jesus into “their boat” (John 6:18-21).
USC
The first week of the semester has passed with many opportunities to contact new students by going on the gospel, tabling, and having club meetings on campus. The Lord has blessed us with 103 names, 62 female and 41 male, for follow up. Please pray:
- for the proper coordination among the full-timers, students, and working saints to follow up with each name to find the sons of peace;
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that each student would have one new person to befriend and care for;
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that each student would be vitally connected with a companion to pray for and shepherd new students they contact.
West Los Angeles College
A table was setup on campus for the August18 orientation, with several saints attending. Although there were not many students, 15-20 BfA Bible cards and tracts were handed out to students and staff who passed by the table. School starts Monday, August 28. Please pray that the Lord would be our leading in deciding the best day to setup the weekly table, and that the sons-of-peace and lovers of His word would be drawn to the table.
Amharic-Speaking Conference
Over Labor Day weekend, Amharic-speaking brothers and sisters will hold a conference in Big Bear. (Amharic is the official working language in most of Ethiopia and there is a sizable Amharic-speaking community in Southern California.) Over the past several years, some have enjoyed fellowship with the churches in Anaheim, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. The burden for this gathering will be to present the vision of the Lord’s recovery, including the functioning of all the members, the apostles’ teaching as seen in the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and the building of the one Body of Christ.
Please pray for a clear sky so that all attendees would hear the Spirit’s speaking and see the vision of God’s economy concerning Christ and the church. Pray for the brothers who care for this group to be strengthened and supplied as they take a stand for the Lord’s recovery. Pray that many from this group would have a rich entrance into the church life.
Germany
Please pray for:
- The Lord’s shepherding of all who attended the emigration training and especially for the first twenty who are migrating this month. Pray that they may be bountifully supplied and be guarded against the enemy’s attacks. These saints will initially move to Düsseldorf to begin learning German for six months.
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The saints who are already busy coordinating for events in October after ITERO: a Lord’s Table in Berlin (up to 500 expected to attend), two weeks of Bible distributions, and the Stuttgart conference. Ask the Lord to grace them, strengthen them, and cover them against stratagems of the enemy.
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The continued loosing and shepherding of college students so they can be gained as remaining fruit. During the current summer break, our activities on campus continue and some students are responding. May the Lord would bless and increase us “with young men like a flock.”
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The Lord to send an adequate number of experienced brothers who can provide leadership to the work in Germany.
Romania
The national conference is September 1 to 3. Please pray for release of a timely word to meet the present need in Romania.
Polish Recovery Version
During the first of six weeks of proofreading 45 saints served. By the Lord’s grace and mercy, this one-week phase finished a day and a half early. The atmosphere among the serving ones was sweet, harmonious, and jubilant. The second week, 38 saints served. The tasks for the current phase are more complex and the laborers fewer. Please pray for the Lord’s continued blessing and for the timely completion of all the tasks for the best possible publication of the Polish NT Recovery Version.
Announcements
Morning revival: Week 3 in Knowing Life and the Church (Memorial Day Conference).
The Thanksgiving Conference will be in Phoenix Thursday night, November 23 to Lord’s Day noon, November 26. Information is at https://churchinlosangeles.org/prayer/.
Used Ministry Books: Since 2004 LSM has sent containers of used books to Africa and India. These books have been a great blessing to seekers there. LSM continues to collect all used ministry books in English, except morning revivals, for these distributions. They suggest that you remove personal information from the books. Bring books to your meeting hall any time throughout this year.
Information about Germany and Europe: see August 13 prayer (“Older Entries” near bottom of https://churchinlosangeles.org/prayer/).