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Giving Christ the Preeminence in All Things

“…God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.” (Phil. 2:9)

“And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church.” (Eph. 1:22)

For Christ to have the preeminence in all things, God needs a people; apart from God’s having a people, there is no way for Christ to be made preeminent. Christ, the preeminent One, must be the centrality and universality in our church life, family life, and daily life.

Under God’s heavenly rule everything is working together for our good. This is especially true of the things in our personal universe. Our personal universe includes ourselves, our families, and the church. In our personal universe many things happen day by day for the purpose of making Christ preeminent. We need to realize this and be submissive to God’s heavenly rule.

In order to give Christ the preeminence in all things, we must be willing to be adjusted, to be broken, and to be made nothing so that the Lord can have a way in us, through us, and among us for the building up of His organic Body. If we have a vision of the preeminence of Christ, our living and our church life will be revolutionized, for we will realize that in all things Christ must have the first place. (Knowing and Experiencing the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ, msg. 3, I.B, III.B-E)

“The Heavens Do Rule” (Dan. 4:26)

The entire world situation is under the rule of the heavens by the God of the heavens to match His intention in His economy, of which Christ is the center. Under His heavenly rule God is using the environment to make Christ the centrality (the first) and the universality (everything) to us. (Knowing and Experiencing the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ, msg. 3, I.A,C)

As God’s people, let us pray for the advance of the divine history within human history. We believe the Lord rules sovereignly over the earth that the environment might be fit for God’s chosen people to receive His salvation. In these days of global uncertainty—from politics to epidemics and reminders of the brevity of human life—may the Lord turn all questions and anxieties to the advancement of the gospel. May all forms of “shaking” open the hearts of people to receive the gospel and stir us to speak the gospel in more places at more times.

Southern California Special Training on the Eldership

The third term of the special training on the eldership for SoCal elders and responsible brothers began last Saturday with a plenary session in Arcadia. Through monthly corporate gatherings, weekly group fellowships, and weekly personal study, the burden is to strengthen the present eldership and responsible brothers in the churches, to perfect and raise up the next generation of elders and responsible brothers, and to gradually bring more younger brothers into a functioning role in an organic way. Please pray:

  1. That the Lord will strengthen all the participants and become their perseverance and faithfulness to continually present themselves absolutely to this training.

  2. That an unprecedented one accord among the churches in Southern California will be ushered in as all the participants are attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion.

  3. That the Lord will continue to bless this training so that all participants will be perfected further for the Lord’s testimony in Southern California and for the building up of the church, the Body of Christ.

GTCA

GTCA activities, including FTTA gospel team trips, continue this week in at least 23 North American cities and in Ethiopia. Please ask the Lord to use these trips to:

  • strengthen all the local saints and the churches receiving and coordinating with the trainees;

  • encourage the trainees with a rich view and experience of church life outside the training center;

  • bless the distribution of NTs, gospel tracts, and other literature;

  • continuing contact/appointments with people who received the Lord or a Bible or other literature;

  • those invited to events this week to be released from everything to attend;

  • bring seeking believers into homes these weeks and into long-term fellowship with the churches.

United Kingdom

Please continue to pray for the Lord to rule over the UK’s withdrawal process from the European Union. Brexit is scheduled for January 31, although many details will be negotiated throughout 2020. Ask the Lord to exercise His authority so that every aspect is beneficial for His move in the UK and in Europe.

Announcements

  1. Morning Revival: Knowing and Experiencing the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ, week 3.

  2. The International Chinese-speaking Conference is February 14 to 16 in Anaheim. Information is at http://www.2020icsc.org and at https://churchinlosangeles.org/prayer. All saints are welcome, and there will be translation via FM radio. Advanced registration by January 31 is required only for childcare, and for special Saturday fellowship sessions (one for Chinese-speaking saints presently in school, and one for Chinese-speaking working saints).

  3. GTCA—Gospelize, Truthize, Churchize America: a fresh expression of this burden is presented at http://www.gtca.us. All are encouraged to read the home page, where you may sign up for email updates.

  4. LSM Internet Radio: http://lsmchristianradio.com broadcasts hymns, Life-study of the Bible broadcasts, and spoken messages of the ministry 24 hours each day.