The Messengers Responding to the Son of Man
“And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands One like the Son of Man.” (Rev. 1:12-13a)
“The mystery of the seven stars which you saw upon My right hand and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” (Rev. 1:20)
In order to see the vision of Christ as the Son of Man walking in the midst of the golden lampstands, we must be the Lord’s overcoming messengers, those who are in our spirit on the ground of the church as fellow partakers in the tribulation, kingdom, and endurance in Jesus. (Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (4), msg. 3, I.)
The Head of the church is not only the Son of God but also the Son of Man. That the Lord is still the Son of Man after His ascension indicates that He has not put off His human nature after resurrection and that His dealings with us are based upon His humanity. As a man, He succeeded in being God’s testimony. Thus, we in the churches today, being human, can also be God’s testimony.
The messengers are the spiritual ones in the churches bearing the responsibility of the testimony of Jesus. Like stars, they should be of the heavenly nature and in a heavenly position…Both the lampstands and the stars are for shining in the night. A lampstand, representing a local church, is a collective unit, whereas a star, representing a messenger of a local church, is an individual entity. In the dark night of the church’s degradation, the shining of both the collective churches and the individual messengers is needed. As Christ walks among the churches, He holds the leading ones in His right hand. How comforting this is! The leading ones must praise Him that they are in His hands and that He is holding them. Since the leading ones are in His hands, there is no need for them to shrink back, to be weak, or to be mistaken. Christ truly takes the responsibility for His testimony. (Life-study of Revelation, 2nd ed., pp. 95, 100-101)
As the overcoming messengers of the churches bearing the responsibility of the testimony of Jesus, may we all see and experience Christ as the caring High Priest in the midst of the golden lampstands!
Church in Los Angeles Joint Meeting
The whole church in Los Angeles—all halls, districts, and languages—will meet together at 10:00 am this Lord’s Day, April 26 on the CSUN campus at the Northridge Center Building. We will be joined by saints from Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks, and San Jose. There will be translation via FM radio into Chinese, Korean, and Spanish, and saints are encouraged to arrive early, full of spirit and enjoyment!
Lunch will be provided after the meeting, and for our young working saints there will be a special time of blending and fellowship immediately following lunch.
Please pray for a healthy attendance and blending, as well as for the preparation and coordination among all the saints. Lord, release Your timely speaking and burden to all the saints!
LA Bible Distribution
On Monday, April 20 saints from Hall 2 had BfA tables at a transit hub and at a DMV office. The saints gave out 84 English and 51 Spanish NTs along with Basic Elements of the Christian Life, volume 1.
With the ongoing burden this year of The Truth Sets US Free (TSUF), the Lord is calling all the saints to enter into a living, personal gospel life—not just outward activity, but an inward burden to contact people and share Christ daily. Through such a calling, may all the saints be enlivened and participate together for the gospel of the kingdom to spread throughout Los Angeles and the United States.
Please pray:
- For the Bible recipients to contact us for regular reading and fellowship.
- That, in addition to these larger distribution events, many saints enter into personal distributions to people the Lord has placed around them in daily life.
California Central Coast
The central coast of California refers to the coastal area between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. This area is made up of six counties—Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz—and has two University of California campuses.
Out of fellowship and a burden for the Lord’s testimony along the central coast, there will be a mini conference in Santa Barbara this weekend, April 25 to 26. Brother Minoru Chen will speak in these meetings. Due to limited space, the conference is open only to those who are burdened for the central coast, including for the churches in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Meetings will be Saturday 2:00 to 4:00 pm and 6:00 to 8:00 pm with dinner in between, and Lord’s Day 11:00 to 11:30 am (Lord’s table) and 11:30 am to 1:00 pm followed by lunch. If you have a burden for the central coast and desire to participate, please contact George Estrella (805-451-9776) for more details.
Please pray for this time of blending with the ministry of the word, that the Lord use it to advance, strengthen, and spread His move in this part of California.
Bibles for America
Thank the Lord for the increasing demand for His Word in this country! In the first quarter of this year, we at BfA have sent out over 120,500 Bibles, which exceeds our annual total for many years of our history. We believe this is a special time and a special season. The Lord has prepared the environment, the infrastructure, and even the hunger in people’s hearts.
Though we employ the most cost-effective methods available to us, the cost of postage and online advertising continues to increase, and several significant payments will need to be made soon for the large Bible orders. Please pray for the supply, both practical and spiritual, to meet the needs for BfA to operate and help satisfy the growing hunger for spiritual food in this country.
As the Lord leads, saints who are burdened to participate financially may do so through The Church in Los Angeles designated for “BfA” or “Bibles for America.”
FTTT Gospel Trips in Europe
This month, teams of trainees from the Full-time Training in Taipei are laboring in England, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland and Northern Ireland, Poland, and Spain and Portugal. The burden is for the trainees to gain experience in presenting the riches of this ministry to all kinds of people and to learn how to coordinate among themselves and with local saints.
We thank the Lord for His continued blessing and covering. Despite some language limitations, many teams have already had multiple appointments with open contacts. As we head into the final stretch of April, please pray for a seamless coordination and transition with local saints so that none of these seeking ones would be lost. Also pray for these contacts to pray for all of their own friends and relatives.
Announcements
- Morning Revival: Week 39 of Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (4), vol. 7.
- Semiannual Training: April 30 is the firm registration deadline for live, in-person attendance at the next Semiannual Training, June 29 to July 4 in Anaheim. For LA saints, please register on time at tinyurl.com/summertrainingla. Registration to participate by video/webcast is due later (June 14).
- The Truth Sets US Free: This Lord’s Day, April 26 at 2:00 pm PT is the next webinar about the burden to spread God’s interpreted Word to seekers throughout the US this year. To watch, catch up on archived videos, and learn more about spreading the truth of the gospel, visit tsuf.us/participate.
- Bibles for America’s new blogpost “How Can We Practice Praying Without Ceasing?” is available to read and share at bfa.org/blog.
- Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: The ministry meeting on 1 & 2 Thessalonians continues this Wednesday at 7:25 pm at the Ministry Conference Center and online at www.lsmwebcast.com.
- Memorial Day Conference: May 22 to 25 in Dallas, TX. For LA saints attending in person, please RSVP by May 1 at tinyurl.com/memdayla. More information is linked at that site.
- LSM Digital Resources: Living Stream Ministry’s many digital resources, including newsletters and free booklets, may be enjoyed at lsm.org/daily.
- Ways to Give: Information may be found at www.churchinlosangeles.org/
members/offerings.