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The Need for Ezras – Those Skilled in the Word of God

“This Ezra…was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which Jehovah the God of Israel had given…” (Ezra 7:6)

“All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction, in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

God’s intention with Israel was to have on earth a divinely constituted people to be his testimony—a people reconstituted the word of God. After the return from captivity, the people of Israel were still unruly, for they had been born and raised in Babylon and had become Babylonian in the constitution. There was the need of teaching and reconstitution to bring the people of God into a culture that was according to God, a culture that expressed God. This kind of culture requires a great deal of education.

Ezra brought the people back to the Word of God so that they might be re-educated and reconstituted with heavenly truths in the divine word. Ezra reconstituted the people of Israel by educating them with the heavenly truths so that Israel could become God’s testimony. In the Lord’s recovery we need Ezras, priestly teachers who contact God, who are saturated with God, who are one with God, who are mingled with God, who are filled with God, and who are skillful in the Word of God. (Crystallization-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, msg. 5, II.A, B, C, E, II, III)

Sixth Grade Conference

The Spring 2023 Sixth Grade Conference is this weekend, May 5 to 7, at Oak Glen. The general subject is “Where Are You?” Please pray for the Lord to prepare the hearts of all of the sixth graders leading this week, to give each of them a definite experience of salvation, and to companionize them as they go on as young people in the church life.

Hall 1 – Olympic Meeting Place

Around 100 Korean-speaking saints meet regularly in two districts as Hall 1 of the Church in Los Angeles. Starting this month, an additional meeting place at 3400 W Olympic Blvd Suite 206, Los Angeles, CA 90019 will be used primarily by around 50 saints from District 2, but it is open to all the saints as a strategic location for the Lord’s testimony to be strengthened in this city. The main room can accommodate gatherings of up to 80 people for Lord’s Day meetings and will be used for prayer meetings, Bible studies, and small group fellowships. The first Lord’s table meeting at the new Olympic meeting place will be held this Lord’s Day, May 7 at 10:00 am.

Please pray that the Lord will pour out His blessing on this place and that all the saints will boldly preach the gospel of the kingdom and practice the God-ordained way for the building up of the Body of Christ in the Koreatown area.

Bibles for America

A new video titled “How Do Sins Affect My Relationship with God?” has been released. This video has been published on BfA’s website and YouTube, as well as on their social media accounts. Please pray that this video would be widely spread and reach many believers struggling with how to deal with their sins after they are saved. Pray that they would see God’s wonderful provision revealed in His Word to resolve the problem of our sins and would apply it in their daily lives.

Gospel to All the Nations

This weekend, May 6 to 7, there will be an in-person gospel conference with the Church in New York City in Brooklyn, NY. Over the past few years, there has been a burden shared by many in the Body of Christ to reach more African Americans in order to increase their participation in the riches in the Lord’s up-to-date move. Although it may appear that this burden is a matter of race, it is in fact directly related to the ratio of African Americans participating in the reality of the one new man.

Our burden is to reach African Americans, others of African descent, as well as all men for the Lord’s testimony. All saints are invited to attend, especially those of African descent. We encourage all the saints to contact, invite, and arrange for gospel friends, relatives, and colleagues to attend the conference.

Germany

This week the 29 saints from FTT Taipei end their four weeks of gospel service in Germany. On Wednesday they visit the Gut Elim blending center before returning home the following day. They will share their highlights on Wednesday 6:00 to 7:30 am PST; the Zoom link is shorturl.at/kzCRV.

Much of the gospel activity has been at universities where semesters begin mid-April. Thank the Lord for all the fruit from these weeks and pray for continued shepherding of all the new believers and Christians contacted. May these believers to be receptive to further contact and to join campus meetings.

Munich Meeting Hall

After much prayer and fellowship, the brothers in Munich and Germany have agreed to purchase a building for the church and the work. Centrally located in a prime residential neighborhood within 10 minutes of the two main universities, the building can serve as a meeting place with additional space for a comfortable student center for appointments, Bible studies and campus activities. The owner has offered the building to us for €2.5 million ($2.7 million), far below the estimated value. Our application with the city is still pending, but approval is expected and final purchase should take place within two or three months. Please stand with us in prayer for the support needed to complete this purchase for the Lord’s interests in this key German city.

A presentation of the property is available at lme.org/reports.html. Saints in LA who are burdened to contribute may give through the Church in Los Angeles designated for ‘Munich Meeting Hall’.

Kenya

We thank the Lord that He opened a way for the printing of the seven Rhema books in Kenya. In 2022 we printed a total of 5,000 books. In addition, we received 1,000 NT Recovery Version Bibles and a pallet of used books from the churches overseas. Through distributing these books among the churches we have received a good number of contacts. We are now laboring on these contacts and our prayer is that these ones would be drawn to the Lord through this ministry!

For a detailed report with photos, see the March 2023 issue of the Lord’s Move to Africa newsletter:

Announcements

  1. Morning Revival: Week 5 of Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.

  2. SAVE THE DATE: Lord’s Day morning, May 21, we will have a meeting of the whole church in Los Angeles at the LA Convention Center at 10:00 am.

  3. Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: The weekly ministry meeting on “The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul’s Epistles” continues this Wednesday starting 7:25 pm.

  4. Memorial Day Conference: Saints in LA who are considering attending in-person sessions May 26 to 29 in Chicago are asked to RSVP at tinyurl.com/memdayla.

  5. July Semiannual Training: July 3 to 8 in Anaheim and by video via Zoom. LA saints may still register for the video training ($130) until June 18 at tinyurl.com/summertrainingla.

  6. LSM Newsletter: The April issue of “Having This Ministry…” contains helpful fellowship on “What Makes a Good Hymn?” Go to newsletters.lsm.org/having-this-ministry.

  7. 500 Life-studies App: This app, on Apple and Google Play, is designed to help us get constituted with the truth by using the Life-study of the Bible for our spiritual nourishment and growth. Create custom schedules, read directly in the app or ministrybooks.org integration, and track your progress toward different milestones. For additional resources and information, please visit 500lifestudies.org.