God’s Purpose and the Desire of His Heart
“The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” “The word of Jehovah came expressly to Ezekiel the priest…and the hand of Jehovah was upon him there.” (Ezek. 1:1, 3)
The most important matter for a person who serves the Lord is that he must see visions of God; under the visions from God we are directed toward God’s destination, and our life is controlled according to God’s economy. (Banner 1)
Ezekiel stood in the position of a priest, one who was seeking God and contacting God and who was connected to the heavens (msg 1, I.A.2). Lord, we are priests open to anything You want to touch
in us and to see Your visions, receive Your words, and to have Your leading hand upon us to meet God’s need. Cause us to see and to experience every aspect of the vision in Ezekiel 1.
Bibles for America
Over 500,000 free copies of the New Testament Recovery Version and books by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee have gone out from BfA to seekers of the Lord in this country in 2016. Additionally, more than 650,000 people have visited the BfA blog to read about Christ, the Christian life, and the Bible. Please pray for the Bible and book recipients and the website visitors. May our Savior God save these spiritually hungry ones and bring them to the full knowledge of the truth!
Germany
The burden of the Lord’s move for the spread and building up of the churches in Germany is fourfold: to strengthen the local saints, to gain university students, to perfect some refugees as co-workers to reach others in their languages, and to recover saints swept away by the turmoil in the 1980s. Lord, carry out this move through this year.
Germany, October 2017
ITERO will be in Leipzig, Germany October 5 to 7. Lord’s Day, October 8, there will be a blending meeting for everyone. October 9 to 13 there will be eight tours of Europe, leading to eight conferences in various parts of Europe on October 14 to 15. During this same period of time there will be Bibles for Europe distributions at more than 90 universities in Germany, and to all kinds of people interested in the Bible due to the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
May we participate in the preparations for October by praying, by giving for the printing of New Testaments to distribute (give to the church designated for Bibles for Europe), and by opening to the Lord about going to Germany in October.
Laos and Vietnam
In this past year, through gospel preaching and shepherding, the number of saints in Laos increased from 143 to 191. May the Lord continue to grant to the churches the blessings of fruitbearing!
Responding to the Lord’s move and by His mercy, two couples migrated to Phan Thiet city, Vietnam two years ago. In the last two years, almost a hundred people were gained and more than ten remained in the church life and are meeting regularly. On November 13, the saints broke bread for the first time in Phan Thiet and declared the establishing of the church in Phan Thiet. May the Lord supply, strengthen and enlarge His testimony in Phan Thiet!
More about the Lord’s move in Laos and Vietnam:
http://lmasia.org/temp/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/E-2016-12.pdf (English)
http://lmasia.org/temp/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Asia-2016-12.pdf (Chinese)
Announcements
- Morning revival: Returning to the Orthodoxy of the Church, week 3.
- There will be a special fellowship for high school juniors and seniors from 9 am, Saturday, January 28 through lunch Lord’s Day, January 29, at Oak Glen. Cost is $75. Please register through the serving ones in LA. Deadline for registration is Lord’s day January 15.
- Oak Glen has been very beneficial to the Southern California churches last year. As the Lord leads, please put an offering designated for Oak Glen in the church offering box.
- The annual Southern California Spanish-speaking Conference will be held in Anaheim from January 13–15 at the Ministry Conference Center in Anaheim. Details in English y español are at https://churchinlosangeles.org/prayer/.