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Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ for the Lord’s Coming

“Remember the word which Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, saying, Jehovah your God has given you rest and will give you this land.” (Josh. 1:13)

“Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light.” (Col. 1:12)

The general subject of last week’s December Semiannual Training was “Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good Land for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, for the Reality and the Manifestation of the Kingdom, and for the Bride to Make Herself Ready for the Lord’s Coming.”

We need to live a life of laboring upon Christ, a life of enjoying Christ personally so that we may enjoy Him together collectively for the building up of the Body of Christ as the temple, the house, of the living God. God’s will is for us to enjoy Christ; we need to seek to enjoy Christ and experience Him in every situation. When we come to the meetings to worship the Lord, we should not come with our hands empty; our hands must be full of the produce of Christ.

If we want to be overcomers, we need to labor on Christ as our good land, to gain Christ as our enjoyment. The issue of our enjoyment of the all-inclusive riches of Christ as the good land is the church as the temple, the dwelling place of God, and as the city, the kingdom of God. (Msg. 12, II.A-B, D, E, V)

Let us pray for the living word of God to pierce into our being. In this new year, may we all renew and intensify our laboring upon Christ, fighting the battle to redeem the time “today” to gain Him and enjoy Him for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, the new man, and the kingdom of God, so that Christ can come back to inherit the earth.

Eating the Word of God

“Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word became to me the gladness and joy of my heart…” (Jer. 15:16)

As part of our laboring on Christ in this new year, may we all have a renewed and strengthened desire to take in the word of God as our food day by day. Pray for all the saints to set up Bible and ministry reading schedules for 2024 so that God’s word can be constituted into us for His purpose!

2024 ICSC – Prayer and Preparation

The International Chinese-speaking Blending Conference will be February 10 to 11 in Taipei. More than 50 saints from Los Angeles are registered to attend. This Lord’s Day, January 7, 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm there will be a time of preparatory prayer and important fellowship on Zoom. Saints in LA who will go to Taiwan are strongly encouraged to participate; others, especially those with an interest in international blending, are also welcome to join. The Zoom link will be communicated in each hall.

Please ask the Lord to release many for this gathering and to energize everyone who attends to exercise in the prayer. Also pray for the Lord’s anointing on the brothers who will speak. Lord, bring us more into the reality of Your one Body!

Bibles for America

2023 was another record-breaking year for the number of Bibles given away, speaking to the abiding desire in many across the US to read the Word of God. This year, copies of the NT Recovery Version were sent to over 17,000 different cities in all 50 states and 10 US territories. People’s hunger for the truth continues to grow, and we’re so thankful that we were able to help meet this need.

In 2022, we set a goal of distributing another 2 million Bibles by 2032; thanks to this past year’s record numbers, we’re on track to meet this goal. In 2023, we gave away more than 215,000 copies of the NT Recovery Version, a 17% increase over 2022 and more than we’ve ever given away in a single year.

Praise the Lord for all He has done and will continue to do! May God’s Word run as never before throughout the US and over the whole earth. Please pray that Bibles would continue to go out without any delays, and that those who receive Bibles would read them regularly and be nourished.

To read the full year-in-review report, go to bfa.org/2023.

FTTA Gospel Trips

Pray for the planning and preparation of upcoming gospel trips, that the Lord would use these trips to many places in the US and around the world to propagate Himself for His church and His kingdom.

Bible Distribution in France

Bible distributions in France will take place May 8 to September 10 in many cities associated with the Olympic torch relay and the Olympic games. The goal is to raise up golden lampstands in at least ten key cities. Please petition the Lord concerning:

  • His wisdom to the brothers planning these distributions.
  • His administration of the earth to bring forth the best environment for our activities in every city.
  • Many French people to be open to the gospel, the truth, and fellowship.
  • Praying and going from churches around the earth, including from Los Angeles.
  • For a revised information letter and an application form (due by February 28), please visit www.amanatrust.org.uk/page/2024Paris.

Sri Lanka

Please pray that the Lord will continue to bless the churches in Sri Lanka, and that by the saints’ preaching of the gospel and shepherding of people, there will be the multiplication of districts and small groups for the increase of the church. Specifically, ask the Lord for the number of saints in the church in Colombo to reach 100 by June 2024.

Furthermore, through the campus work, may many young people be gained to join the full-time training for the producing of more living and functioning members in the Body, issuing in a strong and bright testimony of the Lord in Sri Lanka.

For a full report with photos, see the December 2023 issue of the Lord’s Move to Asia newsletter:

Announcements

  1. Morning Revival: One week of our morning revival material on “Eating the Word of God.” Next week, we will begin a guided reading through the Book of Genesis.
  2. SoCal Spanish-speaking Conference: January 12 to 14 at the Ministry Conference Center, Anaheim.
  3. SoCal YP Blending Conference: January 12 to 14 in Anaheim. Registration at scyp.com/blending.
  4. Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: The ministry meeting will resume in late February 2024.
  5. LSM Digital Resources: Living Stream Ministry’s many digital resources, including free booklets, may be found at lsm.org/daily. The December 2023 newsletter features the third part of an interview with Brother Ron Kangas concerning the history of the Life-study publication work along with a report on the literature service in Brazil.
  6. Bibles for America‘s recent post entitled “The Deep Significance of the Birth of Jesus Christ” is available to read and share at blog.bfa.org.
  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.