Week of December 1

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Oneness in Glorification with the Divine Glory

“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him, this One is true, and unrighteousness is not in Him.” (John 7:18)

“And the glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, even as We are one; I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.” (John 17:22-23)

If we would be one in the divine glory, we must forsake and forget ourselves. It must be no longer I but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20). The “I” has been crucified, and the self must be denied that Christ may live in us. We must not only renounce the world but also ourselves. On the one hand, we have been sanctified from so many worldly places and worldly things and have come home to the Father's house. On the other hand, each of us has his opinions, thoughts, or ideas. If this is the situation, how can we be one? Once we were separated into various worldly places, but now, having come home, we may still have trouble with the self. For this reason we must not live by our own life but by the life of glory, the divine life.

In this aspect of oneness, the believers, their self having been fully denied, enjoy the glory of the Father as the factor of their perfected oneness and thus express God in a corporate, built-up way. (Life-study of John, 2nd ed., pp. 469, 471)

Loving the Lord for Growth in Life

“Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” (John 14:23)

In order to grow in life for God's building, we must love the Lord (Thanksgiving Conference, msg 3, III.A). During this message we were encouraged to read Practical Lessons on the Experience of Life, chapter 16 (CWWL, 1964, vol. 4). The Lord Jesus asks us to believe in Him and to love Him. We must have faith in Him, and we must have love toward Him. It may be good that we pray for a few weeks, even when we come together for the prayer meeting, “Lord, show us this love, and grant us such a love.” We must learn to love the Lord…When we start to love the Lord, we start to grow.

We need to pray that the Lord would touch the hearts of many saints. Among us we need this love…The source, the origin, of the fall of the church is the loss of the first love (Rev. 2:4). (Practical Lessons…)

Lord, daily grant us a love for You!

Thanksgiving Conference Recordings

The 2024 Thanksgiving Blending Conference was held last weekend in Atlanta. The general subject was “Living the Christian Life and Church Life Under the Government of God for the Economy of God.”

Let us pray for the divine riches and burden from the conference to enter into and operate in all the saints for their advancement in the enjoyment of Christ and the growth in life unto maturity. Pray for as many saints as possible to review the messages at www.lsmwebcast.com so that the Lord's burden could be received and absorbed throughout His recovery.

Church in Los Angeles

The whole church in Los Angeles—all halls, districts, and languages—will meet together starting at 10:00 am on Lord's Day, December 8 at Hall 2 (8655 Haskell Ave). There will be translation to Chinese, Korean, and Spanish via FM radio as well as on Zoom. Lunch will be provided afterwards for more blending among the saints.

Please pray for a healthy attendance and blending, and for the timely speaking of the Lord to shepherd all the saints in the church. Lord, release Your speaking and Your burden into us for Your moving onward in each of us and in the whole of Los Angeles!

Semiannual Video Training Registrations

The general subject of the upcoming Semiannual Training, December 23 to 28, is “Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2).” For saints in LA, the firm registration deadline to participate in this training by webcast is this Lord's Day, December 8 ($130). Registration is at tinyurl.com/wintertrainingla.

Please pray for the release and receiving of the Lord's speaking in this training. May the Lord grant us to treasure these trainings and seize every opportunity to attend them not only to see the intrinsic essence of the divine revelation but also to serve as a proper audience for the unhindered release of the crystals in the Word of God. (For more fellowship on the history and significance of the semiannual trainings, see the April 2022 issue of "Having This Ministry…")

FTTL Graduation

The Full-time Training in London will hold its graduation for the 2024 fall semester on December 7. Pray that the graduating trainees will continue to love the Lord and to pursue the growth in life and the constitution with the truth to become useful vessels for the building up of the Lord's testimony in Europe.

Brussels, Belgium

Please pray for the gathering of the saints and the new ones and for the Lord's speaking this weekend, December 7 to 8, in Brussels, Belgium. The conference will be on “Body-consciousness.” May the Lord's up-to-date speaking meet the particular need at this time and the saints be more blended for the reality of the Body of Christ.

Madrid House Purchase

In September 2018 a meeting hall was purchased for the church in Madrid, Spain. In March 2021, one of the houses next to the meeting hall was purchased. Having these properties allowed the church in Madrid to take better care of visiting saints, gather all the responsible brothers of the Iberian Peninsula, and serve as one of the European hubs for FTTA gospel trips.

On August 17 of this year, the owner of the other house next to the meeting hall notified us that she wanted to sell and gave us the first right of refusal. The two-story, three-bedroom house is in very good move-in condition and the asking price of €1.36 million (around US$1.5 million) is reasonable. With this additional property, the entire city block will be owned by the church.

In order to fulfill the purchase contract for this house, 28,760 Euros are needed by January 6, 2025; 610,000 Euros more are needed by March 6, 2025. Please pray for the advancement of the Lord's move on the Iberian Peninsula through the purchase of this property.

A letter in English, Spanish, and Chinese can be downloaded at lme.org/reports.html. As the Lord leads, saints in LA may participate in giving through the Church in Los Angeles designated for “Madrid House.”

Announcements

1. Morning Revival: Week 10 of Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (1). Next week, after our LA Joint Meeting, proceed to Week 11.
2. Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: The ministry meeting continues this Wednesday 7:25 pm.
3. Semiannual Video Training: This Lord's Day, December 8 is the firm deadline for LA saints to register for the video training (December 23 to 28) at tinyurl.com/wintertrainingla.
4. Thanksgiving Conference: Recordings are on lsmwebcast.com at no charge until December 31.
5. FTTA: The graduation meeting of the Fall 2024 class will be Saturday, December 21 at 9:30 am.
6. A Timely Speaking of Supply: Enjoy a free weekly video from messages given by Brother Lee at lsm.org/timely-speaking.html.
7. Ways to Give: Information about the church's online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.