Avoiding Division by Keeping the Oneness
“Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:3)
“That we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men…” (Eph. 4:14)
Divisions come out of different teachings, teachings other than God’s economy….The different teachings of the dissenting ones are winds used by God’s enemy to distract His people and carry them away from His economy. The dividing teachings are organized and systematized by Satan to cause serious error and thus damage the practical oneness of the Body life.
In the Lord’s recovery we elevate Christ and Christ alone….In the church we enjoy Christ as the rich produce of the land. Our enjoyment of Christ in the presence of God becomes our worship, our church life, and even our Christian living, and we grow and mature on the ground of oneness. (Crystallization-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 10, II.D, D.4-5, III.E, E.3)
LA Gospel Meetings
“…Our Savior God, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:3-4)
We realize that the Lord sovereignly uses times of uncertainty, such as the current global pandemic, to open the hearts of many people whose lives have been disrupted. Now is the season when friends and families are most open to receive the gospel, and all saints are needed to seize this opportunity to share the gospel. This the Lord’s greatest commission to the church.
Ask the Lord to give us a heart for the salvation of our of friends and relatives. The delight of our heart needs to be the salvation of men because this is the delight of God’s heart. May we as the church truly be the testimony of Jesus among humanity in our city.
Last Friday, April 24, over 200 people attended our online Chinese-speaking gospel meeting on “Death and Life.” There were at least 22 gospel friends and dormant saints. After the testimonies and message, a brother led everyone to sing, “Death cannot hold the resurrection life” (Hymns, #639). Hearts were touched and spirits were stirred up. When everyone was asked to call on the Lord’s name loudly, many also responded by typing in the chat thread, “I will accept the Lord!” and “I am saved now!” Please continue to pray fervently for the new ones not only to be saved but also to be baptized and become remaining fruits.
This Saturday, May 2, from 4 to 5 pm, we will hold an online English-speaking church-wide gospel meeting. Everyone is encouraged to invite 1 or 2 “relatives and intimate friends” (Acts 10:24) as well as attend themselves. The topic, “A New Normal: Some Good News from God’s Word,” will be relevant to those who are curious about the Christian faith, new to the church, or looking to rekindle their relationship with God; this includes not only unbelievers, but also other believers and dormant ones who do not currently meet with us or do not meet regularly.
In order for the gospel to reach man, we need to cooperate with God by praying to bind Satan and loose the sinners. Pray by yourself, with your companions and small groups, and with the church. To facilitate prayer across the whole church, we are having a daily Zoom prayer time every day this week, Monday through Saturday from 12-12:30 pm. To guide us in our prayer, daily prayer burdens for this week have been posted at https://churchinlosangeles.org/gospel.
SoCal College Conference Follow-up
Thank you for your prayers! The Spring College Conference was well attended this year, both from our area and around the world. The general subject was “Doing the Will of God.” Overflow in SoCal took place online in smaller clusters. Please continue to pray that our students would be those who do the will of God habitually and continually, come to the Lord as the One who does the Father’s will, and live a meeting life to do the will of God. Pray also for our follow-up with LA students who signed up but are not regular among us.
Unceasingly Pray – Persevering in Prayer
“Rejoice in hope; endure in tribulation; persevere in prayer.” (Rom. 12:12)
“Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.” (Col. 4:2)
Unceasingly Pray, in its current format, will end this Thursday, April 30. That does not mean that we should relax our praying. Let us continue praying at set times alone and with companions. Reviewing the 30 days’ burdens at http://unceasinglypray.org is one good way to guide our prayer to focus on the Lord’s interests. This website, under the heading Ministry, lists many publications; reading one of these is also a help for our prayer.
Proper prayer is “with thanksgiving” as in Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2, and 1 Timothy 2:1.
Know That Man Lives by the Word of Jehovah
“Jehovah your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness in order to humble you…let you go hungry and fed you the manna…so that He might make you know that man lives not by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out from the mouth of Jehovah.” (Deut. 8:2-3)
God has allowed the whole earth to be in the wilderness. Lord,
- cause the hunger of these days to lead many to open to Your word, to learn to eat it, and to live by it;
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make us active in this through gospel tracts and speaking the gospel;
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bless the use of free NTs that are in many homes in many nations.
Berlin, Germany
Please pray for the mailing of a new gospel tract to 854,000 households in Berlin. The mailing begins this week. Pray that the Lord will use this tract to give all the people in Berlin an opportunity to hear the gospel, to save many people in Berlin, and to gain many for the organic building up of the church.
Announcements
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Morning Revival: Crystallization-study of Deuteronomy, week 10.
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Giving to the church at this time, see https://churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.
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We will not have the 6th Grade Conference at Oak Glen this year. It is our hope later in the summer to have a one day conference for the 6th graders.
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The European Young People’s Conference (usually one week in Poland at end of July) will be held online on May 16, June 20, July 31 through August 3, and August 29. The Parents Conference will be June 5 to 7 and the Family Conference will be June 26 to 28. Details are at http://ypconference.eu.
Online Resources
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The Church in Los Angeles website has frequent updates on resources and fellowship related to our church life in the present situation. https://churchinlosangeles.org/covid19
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The Bible Tells Me So is posting daily videos from Monday to Friday. The purpose is to foster a “Family Time” in each household. http://www.thebibletellsmeso.com/familytime
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LSM Webcast is offering access to all video content at a reduced subscription rate until June 30. http://www.lsmwebcast.com
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LSM Christian Radio broadcasts hymns and messages of the ministry 24 hours each day. http://lsmchristianradio.com
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Bibles for America has a new webpage with easy-to-use resources for telling people about God’s salvation. http://gospel.biblesforamerica.org
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GTCA has a redesigned website to present ongoing burdens and updates about the ten target cities for migration this year. Participate by praying, giving or going! http://gtca.us
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Living to Him provides a forum for dialogue, study and prayerful exploration with a goal of helping young working saints to practically enter into a vital living for the building up of the Body of Christ. http://livingtohim.com.