Joined to Christ for the Body of Christ
“But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.” (Rom. 7:6)
“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” (1 Cor. 6:17)
At the beginning and at the end of the portion of Israel’s history from Joshua to Ruth are two prominent persons typifying Christ. These persons are Joshua and Boaz, who signify two aspects of one person. At the beginning Joshua typifies Christ in bringing God’s chosen people into God’s ordained blessings. As typified by Joshua, Christ has brought us into the good land, has taken possession of the land for us, and has allotted the land to us as our inheritance for our enjoyment. Christ has gained the good land for us, and eventually, He is the good land for us to enjoy. At the end Boaz typifies Christ as our Husband for our satisfaction.
As the regenerated new man and the wife to Christ, everything we are and do is now related to God, and God is brought forth by us as the fruit, the overflow, of our life. This is in contrast to the fruit born to death (Rom. 7:5), which was previously brought forth by us as the old man, the old husband. We are now joined to the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit in our spirit. This is the joining of “the Spirit…with our spirit” (Rom. 8:16) as “one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). We should have our whole being turned to and set on this joined spirit. We should also live and walk according to this joined spirit. When we thus live in this joined spirit, we can live out the Body of Christ to become the corporate expression of Christ for the glory of the Triune God. (Crystallization-Study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, msg. 11, I-I.B, IV.H-I.3)
Church in Los Angeles
As we continue our transition toward in-person gatherings in our respective meeting places, let us look to the Lord for doing so safely without fear or anxiety. Let us continue to pray for one another and for more saints to be shepherded back to the enjoyment of in-person meetings and “face-to-face” fellowship (2 John 12). May the Lord gain our true worship and receive all the glory!
December 2021 Semiannual Training
The December 2021 semiannual training will be held online by Living Stream Ministry. The training will cover the books of 1 & 2 Samuel. Please pray for the full release of the Lord’s burden in each message and for the saints to have a prepared heart and an ear to receive the Lord’s speaking.
SoCal Chinese-speaking Gospel Meeting
This Saturday, December 11, there will be a Chinese-speaking gospel meeting for all the churches in Southern California. Please pray:
- For the Lord to bind the strong man and release many gospel friends to attend.
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For the Lord to soften the hearts of the gospel friends to receive salvation and be baptized.
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For the meetings to go smoothly without any technical frustrations.
Gospel to All the Nations
Please pray for the upcoming virtual conference on Saturday, December 11 at 1:00 pm PST. The fellowship will continue from Gospel of John on the topic of “The Food Abiding to Eternal Life.” We anticipate the Lord’s sweet, enjoyable presence with His rich blessing from His word to unveil us to Him.
All the people of every nation are invited to join! Those of African origin are particularly encouraged to join and to invite friends, relatives, and colleagues. Come and see how the life of Christ meets the need of every person and enjoy the pure ministry of the Word as the gospel of the kingdom.
More information at http://gospeltoallthenations.com. The link for sharing is http://tinyurl.com/dec11gospel.
India
There are currently 193 churches in India, with 4,929 saints attending the Lord’s table meeting regularly and 8,248 saints in the church life. As the pandemic relaxes, the saints have been meeting both online and offline to recover and strengthen the church life gradually. Through the bigger gatherings online, the Lord’s present speaking has been brought among the saints more commonly. As the situation allows, the saints also meet physically to contact people, visit one another, and recover the small group gatherings. By encouraging the saints to exercise their spirit and have mutual concern for one another, we hope to recover many believers and new ones whom we could not care for during the lockdown.
Please continue to pray for the pandemic situation in India, that hearts may be open toward the gospel for the Lord’s interest on the earth. Pray for stronger exercise of the saints’ spirits that they would cooperate with the Lord to care for one another in the church life and to preach the gospel to have people under their care.
To read the complete report on India, as well as a testimony of migration to Laos, see the December issue of The Lord’s Move to Asia newsletter:
http://lmasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/E-2021-12.pdf (English)
http://lmasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Asia-2021-12.pdf (Chinese)
Announcements
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Morning Revival: Week 11 of Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, vol. 2.
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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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Bibles for America Webinar: December 19 from 3:00 to 3:45 pm on “Preaching the Gospel and Teaching the Truth with BfA Materials.” Registration needed to receive Zoom information.
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Living Stream Ministry: The November digital newsletter contains enlightening reports on the publication work in Africa, the impact of the pandemic on LSM feasts, and the purpose and usefulness of The Holy Word for Morning Revival series.
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Children’s Work Conference: Recordings of the November 13 sessions are available for all parents and serving ones at http://scyp.com/children. Translations into Chinese, Korean, and Spanish are available.
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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.