Taking Christ’s Death as the Mold of the Christian Life
“To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (Phil. 3:10)
“I now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body, which is the church.” (Col. 1:24)
It is crucial for us to realize that Christ is in resurrection. When we experience Christ in His resurrection, we are infused with all the elements of resurrection, and this infusion enables us to partake of His sufferings for the Body. In other words, we must have the dispensing of Christ’s resurrection so that we may experience His cross, His death. It is by knowing Christ’s resurrection that we experience His death. The more we know His resurrection, the more we shall be put into His death to share in the fellowship of His sufferings. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1548)
Like Paul, we should aspire to know and experience Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings and to be conformed to His death as the mold of the Christian life. The mold of Christ’s death refers to Christ’s experience of continually putting to death His human life that He might live by the life of God. If we put to death our natural life, we will have the consciousness that we have another life, the divine life, within us; this life will be released, and then in our experience we will be conformed to Christ’s death. In the mold of Christ’s death the natural man is killed, the old man is crucified, and the self is nullified. If we allow our circumstances to press us into the mold, our daily life will be molded into the form of Christ’s death. (Knowing, Experiencing, and Enjoying Christ as Revealed in Philippians, Key Statement 3; msg. 5, II.C, D.4-6)
Southern California Special Training on the Eldership
The final term of the Special Training on the Eldership begins this Saturday, September 16 in Cerritos. The burden of this five-year training is to strengthen the present eldership and the responsible brothers, to perfect and raise up the next generation of elders and responsible brothers, and to gradually bring more of the next generation into their organic function.
Through this training, may an unprecedented one accord among the churches in Southern California be ushered in. May the Lord bless the churches in Southern California with many blended brothers who have been perfected to care for His glorious testimony in each locality!
Blending Trip to Taipei
“For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus, for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even as they also from the Jews.” (1 Thes. 2:14)
During the week of October 8 to 15, a group of leading and responsible brothers from the church in Los Angeles will travel to Taiwan to blend with the church in Taipei. It is God who is blending the Body together! The burden of this trip is to learn from one another and to be perfected into one for the increase of the testimony of Jesus in Taipei and Los Angeles. Please pray:
- For the preparation of each brother going to be fully emptied out and poor in spirit to properly receive the fellowship from the brothers in Taipei.
- For the healthy blending between the churches for the mutual help and learning for the advancement of the God ordained way in both localities.
2023 SCYP Blending Meeting in Arcadia
The 2023 Young People’s Blending Meeting will be held in Arcadia this Saturday, September 16. The afternoon session and dinner from 4:30 to 7:00 pm is only for pre-registered 7th graders, their parents, and the serving ones. The evening session from 7:00 to 8:30 pm is open to all the young people from grades 7 through 12, their parents, and the serving ones; no registration required.
Lord, gain this generation for Your move to bring You back!
Gospel in Hawaii
In coordination with the brothers in Hawaii, Bibles for America sent over 2,400 gift packets containing pocket NTs, gospel tracts, and ministry books to be given to people who have been affected by the fire, community leaders, firefighters, volunteers involved in the relief effort, and other residents.
Please continue to pray:
- For the Lord’s brooding over Maui and preparation of many open vessels to receive His gospel, that they may gain God in this time of loss.
- For the Lord to direct all the NT gift packets that are being distributed, to get them into the hands of the seeking ones.
- For the local contacts whom the saints have connected with so far, that the Lord as the Chief Shepherd would lead and guide the saints in their shepherding care to bring these new ones into the church life.
- For all the saints laboring together, that the Lord would lead their coordination in the Body regarding the ongoing assembling and distribution of the gift packets as well as the follow-up effort.
Chinese-speaking Conference in Paris
Praise the Lord for His continued shepherding of the saints in Europe, especially the Chinese-speaking saints. The upcoming autumn Chinese-speaking conference will be in Paris from September 15 to 17. This conference is intended not only for the Chinese-speaking saints, but also for the building up of the Body of Christ. Please pray for the Lord to keep advancing rapidly in Europe according to His desire to obtain the reality of the one new man.
European University Training
The European University Training is taking place in Glasgow, Scotland from September 8 to 13. The general subject of this year’s training is “The Kingdom.” Pray that the Lord will raise up many university students in Europe to pursue Him and gain Him for His Body.
Germany Gospel Trips
Let us continue to beseech the Lord of the harvest to thrust out at least 100 workers for the gospels trips in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria taking place October 8 to 22. Pray that an adequate number of saints from overseas would respond and be released for these trips. Also pray for all the local saints in these German-speaking countries to be willing and able to participate in one or more days of the gospel. Pray that the sanctifying Spirit will prepare many divine appointments with key university students, and that He will use these gospel trips to gain much remaining fruit!
For more information, go to bit.ly/GermanyGospelTrips. Registration deadline is September 29.
Announcements
- Morning Revival: Week 5 of Knowing, Experiencing, and Enjoying Christ as Revealed in Philippians.
- Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: Saints are invited to attend this week’s ministry meeting in person at 7:25 pm at the Ministry Conference Center in Anaheim or online at www.lsmwebcast.com. The general subject is “The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul’s Epistles—First Corinthians.”
- Thanksgiving Conference: November 23 to 26 in Dallas, TX. Saints from LA interested in possibly attending in Dallas should RSVP no later than October 31 at tinyurl.com/thanksgivingconfla. This site also has an information packet with hotel information and children’s registration.
- LSM Digital Resources: Living Stream Ministry’s many digital resources, including apps and free booklets, may be found at lsm.org/daily. The August 2023 newsletter features the second part of an interview with Brother Ron Kangas concerning the history of the Life-study publication work along with reports on the Africa Ministry Depot and the Lord’s move in the Balkans.
- Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.