The Lord Sowing Himself as the Seed of Life into Us
“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love…” (Eph. 3:16-17)
“But the one sown on the good earth, this is he who hears the word and understands, who by all means bears fruit and produces, one a hundredfold, and one sixtyfold, and one thirtyfold.” (Matt. 13:23)
Ephesians 3:17 reveals that the Triune God has come into us to do a building work with Himself as the element and also with something from us as the material. This is illustrated by the parable of the sower in Matthew 13.
The Lord sows Himself as the seed of life into men’s hearts, the soil, that He might grow and live in them and be expressed from within them. The rate at which we grow in life depends not on the divine seed but on how many nutrients we afford this seed. The more nutrients we supply, the faster the seed will grow and the more it will flourish. If we remain in our soul, in our natural man, there will not be any nutrients for the growth of the divine seed, but if we are strengthened into our inner man and if we pay attention to our spirit and exercise our spirit, the nutrients will be supplied and Christ will make His home in our hearts.
On the one hand, God strengthens us with Himself as the element, and on the other hand, we afford the nutrients. Through these two, God in Christ carries out His intrinsic building—the building of His home—in our entire being. (Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (1), msg. 2, IV.E, 1, 4, 5, 7)
ITERO Follow-up
The October 2024 International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones was held October 4 to 6 in Warsaw, Poland. The general subject of the eight messages was “Living in the Reality of the Kingdom of God.” The emphasis was subjective, experiential. We all have been born into this kingdom where Christ is our life and everything; now we exercise to live and serve here all the time.
Approximately 1,200 brothers attended in Warsaw and many more are still receiving the messages by video. The need now is that all we have heard be absorbed, digested, lived out, and spread throughout the churches. Please pray for this, that we all enter more into living in the reality of the kingdom to be built together, to serve to spread the recovery, and to fight the spiritual warfare to conclude this age and allow the Lord to come back in glory.
SoCal Junior High Conferences
The Fall 2024 Junior High Conferences will be held October 11 to 13 with sisters in Diamond Bar and brothers in Irvine. The topic is “The Word of God.” Please pray for the Lord to gather the young people this weekend to be nourished by the Lord’s word (Matt. 4:4) and to be mutually encouraged and built up with one another.
Sacramento Meeting Hall
Please pray for the completion of the purchase of a new meeting hall property in Sacramento and for the Lord to release the funds to pay the purchase price $3.25 million by the October 15 deadline.
Once the 2.48-acre property is secured, there will be some retrofitting, upgrades and repairs estimated at around $1.2 million for a total cost of $4.45 million. A detailed letter with a brochure of the property is at www.churchinsacramento.org. As the Lord leads, the saints in LA may give through the Church in LA designated for “Sacramento Meeting Hall.”
Gospel Week in Europe
This week, following ITERO, there are gospel activities in multiple cities and European nations, concluding Lord’s Day, October 13. Pray for good blending among local and visiting saints in prayer, in enjoying the Lord, and in contacting people. Pray also that the infusion from ITERO be released into more people, especially native Europeans for the strengthening and building up of the recovery in Europe.
France – Shepherding Trips
A letter in English is available at lme.org/reports.html concerning an urgent need for short-term shepherding trips to French-speaking Europe to care for the seeking ones who were contacted during the Bible distribution trips. This next stage of the move requires more concentrated, detailed contact with new ones, hence burdened saints are requested to stay for a longer period of time. Please pray:
- For many saints who participated in the gospel trips to return for one to three months to meet the urgent need to participate in follow-up shepherding trips to care for all the new contacts.
- That those burdened to serve full-time in French-speaking Europe will receive the needed visas..
As the Lord leads, saints in LA burdened to give may do so through the Church in Los Angeles designated for “Paris Olympics.”
Czech and Slovak Translation Work
The current population of the Czech Republic is a little over 10 million, and the population of Slovakia, about 5.5 million. Today there are three lampstands in the Czech Republic and two lampstands in Slovakia, with approximately 50 local saints in each country. In 1996 we began to translate the ministry from English into Czech and Slovak, and that work continues to this day. At present a total of 140 books and Life-studies are available in these languages. In addition to the ministry books, most of the up-to-date speaking given during the “seven feasts” is made available to the saints in both countries in the form of outlines, morning revivals, and translated recordings of the spoken messages.
There is a burden to translate the NT Recovery Version into the Czech and Slovak languages. One team of Czech and Slovak translators will work together to produce the two versions simultaneously. Please pray with us while we progress in our fellowship, coordination, and practical preparation for this project to begin in the summer of 2025. May the blessing come to the people of these two countries!
Middle East
Please pray that recent developments in Israel and the surrounding region will be under the ruling of God’s throne so that He will work out the counsel of His will. Pray for the saints there to be strengthened into their inner man, so that they are not shaken by what is happening, but live a life that expresses God and cooperates with God’s move.
Announcements
- Morning Revival: Week 2 of Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (1).
- Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: The ministry meeting continues this week starting at 7:25 pm.
- Semiannual Training: December 23 to 28 in Anaheim. Registration is open for LA saints at tinyurl.com/wintertrainingla. Registration due October 31 (live) or December 8 (video).
- Thanksgiving Conference: November 28 to December 1 in Atlanta, GA. Interested LA saints can get more information on hotel rates and RSVP at tinyurl.com/thanksgivingconfla.
- SCYP High School Conferences: October 25 to 27 in Cerritos (sisters) and Huntington Beach (brothers). Registration is due October 13.
- Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.