A Corporate Living of Conformity to the Death of Christ
“I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:2)
“To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (Phil. 3:10)
“I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20a)
The reality of the Body of Christ is a corporate living of the conformity to the death of Christ through the power of the resurrection of Christ.
GTCA and FTTA Gospel Trips
All the GTCA and FTTA gospel activities are in progress throughout this week. They reach 54 cities in North America and 17 nations in Europe. Please pray for:
- rich and fresh experiences of Christ for all who are participating;
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many open people to be reached, especially those who will commit to follow-on appointments;
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the local saints to be strengthened by the Lord to continue contact with every open person;
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the Lord to thrust out more workers to serve full-time on the wide open US campuses.
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Reports with photos are at http://www.gtca.us/reports/ and http://beseeching.org.
All-LA College Students’ Gathering
This Thursday evening, January 31, college students from CSUN, UCLA, and USC will blend together at Hall 5. A special word will be spoken based on Message 11 of the December Semiannual Training: “Partners of Christ Fighting for God’s Interest.” Please pray that the Lord would:
- Anoint the speaking brother to speak a fresh word to every attendee.
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Gain the “Calebs” from among our students. In the Bible, Caleb had a different spirit from that of his unbelieving generation and fully followed the Lord by this different spirit. Neither Joshua nor Caleb feared the Nephilim or the inhabitants in Canaan but declared instead, “They are our bread.”
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Make every student an overcomer! Overcomers suffer the satanic chaos, but instead of being disappointed or discouraged, they are strengthened and enabled to stand for and live out the divine economy.
Grace and Fellowship in Material Offerings
“With much entreaty they besought of us the grace and the fellowship of the ministry to the saints.” (2 Cor. 8:4)
“For your fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now.” (Phil. 1:5)
Material gifts for the saints, the churches, and the full-time workers are a matter of grace and fellowship, a ministry to and joint participation with the recipients.
The saints in Philippi had fellowship unto the gospel, participating in the furtherance of the gospel through the apostle Paul’s ministry. This kind of fellowship, which kept them from being individualistic and diversely minded, implies that they were one with the apostle Paul and with one another. This gave them the ground for their experience and enjoyment of Christ, which is the main point of this book. The more fellowship we have in the furtherance of the gospel, the more Christ we experience and enjoy. This kills our self, ambition, preference, and choice. (Phil. 1:5, part of note 1)
Lord, grace us to have more fellowship by material offerings for the furtherance of the gospel.
Hall 1 Korean-Speaking Retreat
This weekend, February 2 to 3, the hall 1 Korean-speaking saints will go to Oak Glen for a retreat. We pray that this will be a good beginning for us who just started a new district meeting. The main burden for this retreat is to encourage all the saints to function in the church life as Priests and Levites. Please pray that Lord blend all the saints through the fellowship and that all will have a Nazarite vow for His move.
Burmese Recovery Version Bible
There are 62 churches with about 3,000 saints in Myanmar (also known as Burma), a nation of more than 50 million people. Late last year the entire Recovery Version Bible was published in the Burmese language. The initial printing was presented at a forum of the national Bible society in November. The saints are active to propagate this Bible by distributing booklets and gospel tracts.
A report with photos, plus a testimony of a couple who migrated to Cambodia, are at:
http://lmasia.org/temp/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/E-2019-01.pdf (English)
http://lmasia.org/temp/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Asia-2019-01.pdf (Chinese)
Announcements
- Morning revival: Week 3 of The Reality of the Body of Christ (Thanksgiving Conference).
Keep your copy of Material Offerings and the Lord’s Move Today. We will use it again. - The International Chinese-speaking Conference is February 15 to 17 in Anaheim. Information is at http://www.2019icsc.org (Chinese) and http://www.2019icsc.org/en (English) and at https://churchinlosangeles.org/prayer. All saints are welcome, and there will be translation via FM radio. For Chinese-speaking students and working saints, please register for the special afternoon fellowship sessions before January 31. Since children’s service is only provided for out-of-town families, arrangements have been made with the church in Cerritos for the Lord’s Day morning meeting only; pre-register with your district’s registration coordinator before February 3.