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Loving the Lord’s Appearing until His Return

“Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart upon the mountains of spices.” (S.S. 8:14)

“He who testifies these things says, Yes, I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20)

As the concluding word of this poetic book, the lover of Christ prays that her Beloved would make haste to come back in the power of His resurrection (gazelle and young hart) to set up His sweet and beautiful kingdom (mountains of spices), which will fill the whole earth. Such a prayer portrays the union and communion between Christ as the Bridegroom and His lovers as the bride in their bridal love, in the way that the prayer of John, a lover of Christ, as the concluding word of the Holy Scriptures, reveals God’s eternal economy concerning Christ and the church in His divine love.

“When He comes, faith will be turned to facts, and praise will replace prayer. Love will consummate in a shadowless perfection, and we will serve Him in the sinless domain. What a day that will be! Lord Jesus, come quickly!”—Watchman Nee, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” p. 126. (Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, Keeping the Faith…, msg. 4, II, A-B)

UCLA Student Internship

Beginning on Monday, August 5 many students from Christian Students at UCLA will serve with the club in a month-long online internship, which aims to fill their time positively while they are spread around the country and simultaneously taking classes or working jobs. The purpose of the internship is to cultivate both an individual and a corporate pursuit of the Lord, to build up healthy Christian life-practices, and to develop a burden for UCLA. We thank the Lord that a far greater number of interns applied and were accepted than originally anticipated and are eager to pursue and serve the Lord together in the coming weeks. Please pray:

  • For the students to be neither distracted nor disheartened by the online format, but that the Lord would fill all the meetings with mutual participation, enjoyment, learning, and perfecting.
  • For the strengthening of the students’ personal and corporate pursuit of the Lord to endure through the coming school year.
  • For the prayer and coordination with the students in this internship to result in a sweet one accord for the Lord to bless us with much remaining fruit.

2024 LA Truth School

Our Truth School for the young people concluded last Saturday, August 3. This week please pray for:

  • The young people to remain in the things they have seen and heard during the 2024 LA Truth School;
  • For the Lord to cover, protect, and strengthen our young people as they begin their next school year;
  • The salvation to reach many of their friends as classmates.

FTTA

The fall term of the Full-time Training in Anaheim begins this Lord’s Day, August 11. Please pray for the first-term and returning trainees as they travel and prepare for the new term. May the Lord cover their tripartite being, fill them with rest and joy, and cause them to be vessels fully open for His fresh words.

Bibles for America

In April 2022, Bibles for America began sending out copies of Basic Elements of the Christian Life, vols. 1 to 3 to recipients all over the US. In July of this year, we sent out the last copies we had available and we are currently in the process of changing our free book offer to The Knowledge of Life. Please pray for a smooth transition, that the Lord would cover all the details as we make changes to our website and ads to reflect this new offer.

Please also pray for the more than 38,000 people who have received sets of Basic Elements of the Christian Life. Pray that the Lord would bless their reading and that they would receive the help they need to grow in their Christian life.

2024 Paris Olympics Gospel Trips

The second set of Olympics gospel trips (OL2) to Rouen and Strasbourg (France), Mertzig (Luxembourg), and Geneva (Switzerland) concludes August 9. The third set of trips (OL3) will be August 10 to 19 and focus on Paris, Lille, Rouen, and Mertzig. Please pray:

  • That all those who have applied to serve full-time in France will receive their visas in a timely manner.
  • That the day-by-day and house-to-house church life among the local and visiting saints will open the way for the Lord to add to the churches, even raising up new districts and lampstands.
  • That the existing churches in French-speaking Europe will be strengthened by the gospel teams.
  • For the Lord to raise up new lampstands in Marseilles, Montpellier, Toulouse, Caen, Nantes, Lille, Rouen, Versailles, Mertzig, and Geneva.
  • That the Lord will cover and rule over any disturbances or hindrances from the enemy.

Subscribe to receive trip reports and testimonies at courantdevie.myflodesk.com; archived reports are at tinyurl.com/2024gospeltrips. A special report on the Lord’s move in France and a presentation on migration to serve in France given at the recent July Semiannual Training are at lme.org/reports.html.

Saints in LA burdened to give for the distribution can do so through the Church in Los Angeles designated for “Paris Olympics.”

Middle East

Many airlines have canceled flights to Israel because of rising tensions in the Middle East involving Israel. A number of Israeli young people are stranded in Poland following the European Young People Conference. Please pray that the Lord will rule over the situation and will make a way for the young people to return to Israel safely.

Announcements

  1. Morning Revival: REPEAT Week 4 of Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, Keeping the Faith, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing in Order to Receive the Reward of Christ as the Crown of Righteousness. Next week, go onto Week 5. On August 19, begin The Christian Life.
  2. SoCal Labor Day Blending Conference: Saturday afternoon, August 31 to Lord’s Day morning, September 1, at the Ministry Conference Center in Anaheim. More details to be announced.
  3. Free e-Booklets: Living Stream Ministry offers free e-booklets to read and share. For example, sixty nuggets and gems have been extracted from the Life-study of Philippians with timely topics such as “Pursue toward the Goal for the Prize of the High Calling” and “The Way to Be Freed from Anxiety.” These e-booklets may be accessed for free at www.lsm.org/life-study-philippians.
  4. The LA Years: Chapter 6: Visiting Seekers Throughout America is published at www.layears.org, an oral history project documenting the early years of the church life in Los Angeles from 1958–1974, including written history, photos, and first-hand accounts.
  5. Bibles for America‘s recent blog post “How Should Christians Respond to the World Situation?” is available to read and share at blog.bfa.org.
  6. Shepherding Words: Seven new articles concerning Israel in God’s economy have been posted to shepherdingwords.com, a helpful resource in ushering the saints into a view of the present situation in the Middle East according to God’s view in His eternal economy.
  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.