Being Nazarites Enjoying the Richest Grace and Sweetest Love
“He will eat curds and honey until he knows how to refuse evil and choose good.” (Isa. 7:15)
“The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us…full of grace and reality….Of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” (John 1:14, 16)
Among the human race, the unique Nazarite is the Lord Jesus. Hence, a Nazarite is a type of Christ in His living absolutely for God in His humanity. God desires that all His people be Nazarites. To be a Nazarite is to be sanctified, separated, absolutely and ultimately to God, that is, to be for nothing other than God and for nothing other than His satisfaction—the testimony of Jesus. We can be such people by the great and reinforcing power of the enjoyment of Christ as the richest grace and the sweetest love. (CS Numbers, msg. 5, I, II, I.B)
Lord, gain our hearts to fully enjoy, love, and reflect You, and form us as Your army of Nazarites!
LA Chinese-Speaking Retreat
This weekend, March 29 to 31, Chinese-speaking saints from LA will gather for a retreat in Thousand Oaks. Around 140 saints are expected, including children. There are three main burdens this time:
- Salvation—for gospel friends who come to receive the Lord.
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Consecration—for all to renew their consecration to the Lord, especially those joining for the first time.
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Service—for all to be vital and practice the God-ordained way.
Please pray that the Lord’s rich presence will be with the saints during this retreat and that all those attending will be deeply touched with the messages and testimonies.
GTCA Cities in California – Hayward
GTCA is the carrying out of the burden to “gospelize, truthize, and churchize” North America. This long-term labor is part of the one, unique work of the Lord to build up the Body of Christ. This year, more than 20 cities are targeted for ongoing care and labor, including 3 in California.
Hayward is a city in the East Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is the sixth-largest city in the Bay Area. It has a large number of manufacturing and high-tech companies. The two campuses, Cal State East Bay and Chabot College, have a combined student population of over 25,000.
The church in Hayward was established in 1979. Over the years, many saints migrated elsewhere, while three families remained to continue the church life. From 2008 to 2010, three or four families moved to Hayward, and the Lord gradually added more. Today, the Lord’s Day meeting has about 25 to 30 saints, not including children; the prayer meeting has 8 to 9 saints. There are several small group meetings and home meetings as well.
With the 2019 GTCA, we have a new beginning in Hayward. Many saints participated in the gospel outreach to the nearby campuses and communities. The church plans to have a regular BfA table and raise up a campus team to gain more college students. Please join the church in Hayward to pray for:
- the raising up of a campus team to gain students at Cal State East Bay and Chabot College, and the building up of the campus Bible studies;
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the saints’ migration to strengthen the church life in Hayward and increase the number of the saints;
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the follow-up with all the contacts and the new ones that they may be remaining fruit.
Bibles for America
Bibles for America receives approximately five requests per month from Bible recipients who would like to be put in touch with others in their area who are reading the NT Recovery Version. Although three out of five of them live within an hour of saints, it’s not always possible to make a connection.
Please pray for the Lord to open the way for recipients to be promptly connected to local saints in their area. Pray also for these connections to be warm and positive with a view toward shepherding recipients into the riches of the ministry.
Germany
The Leipzig book fair was March 21 to 24. Bibles for Europe and Lebensstrom were present for the first time. One goal was to distribute 5000 Recovery Version NTs. The actual distribution was 5060. Please pray for many to receive light and life from their NT and for them to seek fellowship with the churches.
European University Conference
The Spring European University Conference will take place March 29 to 31 in the Netherlands. The conference subject is “The Jubilee.” Please pray that the Lord will prepare the hearts of the university-age saints from all over Europe and release them to attend the conference. Please pray also that the Lord’s blessing will be poured out on every aspect of this gathering.
United Kingdom
Please pray for the Lord to rule over the UK’s withdrawal process from the European Union (Brexit). Ask the Lord to keep the door open for saints to travel freely between the UK and EU, and for continued freedom of residency for UK saints in the EU. Pray also for the climate of discord and uncertainty to open people to the gospel. May we release on earth what has already been released in the heavens concerning His will and pray the prayers that that match Him in His move on the earth!
Sri Lanka
There are currently 16 local churches in Sri Lanka. Last year, the propagation was blessed in three aspects: first, it was a move in the Body, with several visits by overseas co-workers, saints, and teams from FTT Taipei and FTT Seoul; second, the local saints received perfecting, including the desire of more young people to attend the full-time training, as well as a plan for regular monthly regional trainings; and third, the saints have been faithfully offering towards the purchase of a property in the capital city of Colombo for blending and training. We are praying before the Lord that we will find a suitable place this year and be able to make the purchase by the end of the year.
A more detailed report with photos, including an update on Kuwait, is at:
http://lmasia.org/temp/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/E-2019-02.pdf (English)
http://lmasia.org/temp/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Asia-2019-02.pdf (Chinese)
Announcements
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Morning Revival: Week 5 of Crystallization-Study of Numbers, vol. 1.
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July 2019 Semiannual Training is July 1 to 6. Registration begins this Lord’s Day, March 31 and ends April 28 for the live sessions (no late registrations) in Anaheim ($205) and June 11 for webcasts in LA ($105). Saints in LA should register online at http://tinyurl.com/summertrainingla and follow payment directions.
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Southern California Blending Conference will be June 8 and 9 in Anaheim.
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Junior High School Conferences at Oak Glen: for sisters, April 12 to 14 (registration due March 31); for brothers, April 19 to 21 (registration due April 7).
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Memorial Day Conference will be May 24 to 27 in Seattle, WA. Conference and hotel information is at https://churchinlosangeles.org/prayer. Saints from LA attending should RSVP no later than April 28 at http://tinyurl.com/memdayla (adults) and http://tinyurl.com/memchildrenla (children).
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Spanish language radio broadcast: Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 9:30 pm. LA County 100.3 FM; San Fernando Valley and Ventura County 90.3 FM.