Having Secret Fellowship with God
“Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah and whose trust Jehovah is. And he will be like a tree transplanted beside water, which sends out its roots by a stream, and will not be afraid when heat comes; for its leaves remain flourishing, and it will not be anxious in the year of drought and will not cease to bear fruit.” (Jer. 17:7-8)
“And the remnant of those who have escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.” (Isa. 37:31)
The revelation here reveals that according to God’s economy, the one who trusts in God is like a tree transplanted beside water. The tree grows beside water by absorbing all the riches of the water into it; this is a picture of God’s dispensing. In order to receive the divine dispensing, we as the trees must absorb God as the living water to be dispensed into our being in order to become our very constituent.
In order to grow in life for the building up of the Body of Christ, we need to absorb God by taking root downward and bearing fruit upward. This means that we need to have hidden times of fellowship with God. The empowering, enlightening, enjoying of rest, rejoicing, believing, solving of problems, overcoming of trials, temptations, and hardships, and comforting for a Christian all depend upon his secret fellowship with God through prayer and God’s word. (Crystallization-Study of Jeremiah and Lamentations, msg. 8, I.A.1-2, B.3)
United States
“Let every person be subject to the authorities over him, for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are ordained by God.” (Rom. 13:1)
To be subject to the authorities is to recognize God’s authority and to respect His government over man. God ordains the authorities over man in order to maintain peace and security in human society so that He may have the time and the opportunity to preach the gospel, to save sinners, and to build the church for the spread of His kingdom. (Footnotes 3 and 4 on Rom. 13:1)
As the church, the Body of Christ, let us continue to trust in the Lord’s sovereignty and cooperate with Him by praying and laboring together with Him for the advance of His economy.
Semiannual Video Training Registration
The December Semiannual Training will again be conducted as an online video training. For saints in Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, the schedule will be December 21 to 26 for English, Chinese, and Korean, and December 21 to 28 for Spanish. The registration deadline is Tuesday, December 1; the cost is $125 per person (no shared seating). Details are at http://tinyurl.com/wintertrainingla.
May the Lord grace and motivate many saints to consecrate themselves for this training, to be infused with the Lord’s up-to-date word, and to register on time.
SCYP Children’s Work Conference
This Saturday, November 14, from 9:00 to 12:15 am, the Children’s Work Conference will take place for for parents with children under 12 years of age and for the saints who are serving with the children’s service. The two sessions will cover matters related to the burden and vision for the children along with fellowship related to some practices for the families in the home and for the church in raising up the next generation for the church life. Translation into Chinese, Spanish and Korean will be provided. Register by November 10. For more information, please fellowship with the children’s service coordinators.
Bibles for America
To increase our reach on YouTube, we are improving the BfA YouTube channel in a number of ways. One focus is updating our graphics, making it easier for people to see our free Bible offer and connecting them with related content and the BfA Podcast. Please pray that the Lord will use this channel to reach people who are searching on YouTube for the basic truths in God’s Word and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray also that the Lord would be our wisdom as we continue to update our YouTube presence.
Honduras
Last Wednesday, Hurricane Eta moved into Honduras with heavy rains that flooded and caused deadly landslides. In and around the northern city of San Pedro Sula, at least 30 homes of the saints have been damaged; many saints were evacuated to the meeting hall. Some families have lost everything—appliances, furniture, clothing—but they are smiling, happy to be alive and unharmed. The saints are coordinating to deliver food and medicine as well as carefully assess all the needs and situations.
Please pray for the Lord to continue to protect His interests, including the saints and the churches, in Honduras and the rest of Central America. Pray for the gospel of the kingdom to be proclaimed and the hearts of the people to be open to receive it.
Offerings for the saints affected by the hurricane may be given to the Church in Los Angeles designated for ‘Honduras.’
Canada – Abbotsford and Guelph
On Lord’s Day, November 8, all the churches in Canada—across five time zones—gathered together on Zoom for an unprecedented blending meeting. After a word of fellowship concerning renewal, revival, and restoration, it was announced that Abbotsford, British Columbia and Guelph, Ontario—both GTCA target cities for this year—had taken the ground. Praise the Lord for establishing these two new lampstands! Please pray for the Lord to continue vitalizing the saints and energizing them to preach the gospel on the campuses and in their communities for the spread of His testimony.
For more information about the Lord’s move in Canada, visit http://www.lordsmoveincanada.org.
Announcements
-
Morning Revival: Week 8 of Crystallization-study of Jeremiah and Lamentations.
-
Ministry & Gospel: Our Ministry & Gospel Meetings this month continue on November 15 and 22. The entire series may be viewed and shared at http://youtube.com/churchinlosangeles.
-
SCYP Children’s Work Conference is Saturday morning, November 14. Register by November 10.
-
The Thanksgiving Conference will be online from November 26 to 29. No registration required; details will be announced closer to the date.
-
The December Semiannual Training for saints in LA will be held online beginning Monday, December 21. Registration ($125) at http://tinyurl.com/wintertrainingla closes on December 1.
-
New Online Platform for Giving: Information about the church’s new online giving platform, Subsplash Giving, as well as where to mail checks while our meeting halls are closed, are at http://www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.
-
Interim guidelines for in-person meetings are posted at http://www.churchinlosangeles.org/covid19.