Pursuing Christ to Gain Christ for Christ
“But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ.” (Phil. 3:8)
Our need today is to gain more of Christ, to possess more of Christ, and to experience more of Christ. This is not only for our enjoyment but also for Christ to be what He should be. We gain Christ for Christ so that He may have His corporate expression. This is to make the good land the land of Immanuel (Isa. 8:8).
Paul was one who struggled to pursue Christ in order to gain Christ (Phil. 3:8, 12). Because so many Christians do not pursue Christ in order to gain Him, God needs the overcomers. At the time of Joshua, there were two or three million Israelites, but there were not many Joshuas and Calebs. There were not many endeavoring ones, genuine pursuers of God. Without such ones both the good land and the Giver of the land would have been idle. Both the land and the Giver of the land needed certain ones to take the land, possess the land, and enjoy the land. Those who possessed the land did a favor to the One who gave them the land. (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 6, pp. 32-35)
May we do Christ a favor by responding to God’s call for overcomers!
Persevering in Prayer
“Rejoice in hope; endure in tribulation; persevere in prayer.” (Rom. 12:12)
After September 26, Beseeching.org will discontinue the putting out of daily prayer burdens and email reminders. Please pray that the saints would continue or begin to have scheduled times of prayer and intercession, both personally and in small groups of twos and threes, and would endeavor to continue steadfastly in the weekly prayer meetings of the church.
May the Lord fully recover the prayer of the age and may He call many more saints in His recovery to engage in this spiritual warfare. May we all be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength to persevere in one accord to advance His interests on the earth until the day of His return!
UCLA Welcome Week
Thank you for your prayers last week concerning the students who moved into our corporate housing units. The Lord began a good work of blending the students together, and some newer students were also able to join. This week is welcome week for UCLA, and classes begin on Thursday, September 23. We have already been in contact with many new, incoming students over the summer. Please join us to pray desperately that:
- We would be able to immediately connect with and see many freshmen throughout the week, even multiple times;
- All of the students, saints, and full-timers laboring on the students would be in harmony and one accord;
- The Lord would continue to form many companionships among our own students as well as the newer ones;
- Our welcome events would be filled with a comfortable atmosphere and the pleasant fragrance of Christ.
Bibles for America Webinar
Thursday, September 23 at 1:00 pm PDT, BfA will host a special online event for the general public. It will focus on how the Recovery Version can help people know God and understand His Word.
By mid Monday, over 815 people have registered. Please pray that more people would sign up, and that all those who have registered would attend. Pray also that the attendees would be deeply impressed by the riches in the Recovery Version and would be motivated to read and feed upon God’s Word.
Please feel free to invite anyone who would like to learn more about the Recovery Version. Details can be found at http://bfa.org/webinar.
SCYP Parents and Serving Ones Fellowship
This Saturday, September 25 from 9:30 to 11:45 am there will be an important time of fellowship for parents and young people’s serving ones. Translation will be provided in Chinese, Korean, and Spanish.
As we prepare for the upcoming fall conference season we encourage all the saints—especially the parents, serving ones and college students—to pray that our young people will take possession of Christ as their promised land to become the proper persons to bring forth Christ into the human race.
Central European and Balkans Blending Conference
From September 24 to 26, the saints throughout the Central, Eastern and Balkan areas of Europe will have an online conference to blend with many saints throughout the churches in these areas and elsewhere. The subject will be “The All-inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man.” All the fellowship and messages will be translated into Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech/Slovak, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian, and Turkish.
Please pray that the local saints would sign up and that the Lord use this conference for His purpose. In particular, since the messages will not be translated into Albanian, pray for the saints in Tirana who can manage English to participate.
German Election
“Let the name of God be blessed from eternity to eternity, for wisdom and might are His. And it is He who changes the times and seasons; He deposes kings and causes kings to ascend.” (Dan. 2:20-21)
The election will be September 26. All members of the national legislature will be elected. The legislators will then select a chancellor, who is the head of the government, since the current chancellor will not seek re-election. Due to multiple political parties, formation of a majority in the legislature and selection of a new chancellor can be difficult.
Lord, have Your way in this election. Rule the nation for the spread and increase of Your recovery.
European University Training
The training for European university students continues this week from September 23 to 26 in Spain. The subject is “Rise Up and Build.” Please pray that the health of all the participants will be fully covered and protected for the duration of the training and that nothing will happen to hinder the completion of the training. Pray that the students will be “wrecked” with a vision of the desire of God’s heart and offer themselves willingly to Him for His building.
Announcements
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Morning Revival: Week 1 of Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, vol. 1.
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Living Stream Ministry is offering a free e-booklet, The Dispensing of the Triune God to Produce His Abode. Formats include PDF, Kindle, Audiobook, and more! Visit http://www.lsm.org/dispensing.
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SCYP Fall Conferences: Registration is open for the California-wide Junior High (October 15 to 17; register by October 3) and High School (October 22 to 24; register by October 10) conferences.
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Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: Live broadcast this Wednesday beginning at 7:25 pm at http://lsm.org/live in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean. Outlines will be posted on the same site.
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Thanksgiving Conference will be November 25 to 28. Due to the pandemic, Living Stream Ministry will again host this conference completely online. More details will be provided in the coming weeks.
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Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at http://www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.