Announcements
Week of August 16, 2026
Lord's Day - 8/23
Lord's table and prophesying meeting at the hall, also children's and young people's meetings
Hall cleaning by all the saints with last names starting with A - C
Tuesday - 8/25
Prayer meetings by area in person and on Zoom
Lord's Day - 8/30
Lord's table and prophesying meeting at the hall, also children's and young people's meetings
Hall cleaning by all the saints with last names starting with D - J
Holy word for morning revival
August 17 - 23
HWMR: Noah, Daniel, and Job - Patterns of Living an Overcoming
Life on the Line of Life, Week 3 - "The Victory of the Overcomers Seen
with Daniel and His Companions", $5.50 each
Read this article entitled The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Its
Purpose and Usefulness.
PursuiNG THE TRUTH
August 17 - 23
Read Life-Study of Ephesians, Message 91 - "Faith but not Doctrine" and
Message 92 - "The Perfecting of the New Man"
To help you develop a habit of reading the Life-studies for your spiritual
nourishment and growth in Christ, download and use the 500 Life-Studies
app on your phone by clicking this link. Also, here is a very encouraging
excerpt entitled "Becoming What We Read" as an incentive to read the
Bible and the ministry that opens up the Word of God to us.
To read the Life-study messages for Ephesians online at Living Stream
Ministry, use this link.
To listen to the Life-study of the Bible Radio Broadcast for Ephesians online
at Living Stream Ministry, click this link.
Reading through the Recovery Version Bible each year: three chapters
in the Old Testament and one chapter in the New Testament six days
per week. Click here for the 2026 schedule. Or to create your own
personal Bible reading schedule, go to this link.
Also, here is a website about the Recovery Version Bible to read and
share with others.
August 24 - 30
Read Chapter One in The Lord's Table Meeting (Outlines),"The
Remembrance of the Lord (1)", $6.50 each
Conferences, Trainings, & MEETINGS
September 4 - 6
2026 Southeast Labor Day Blending Conference, Atlanta, GA. The
General Subject will be "Rapture and Abiding in the Lord." See the
conference schedule and "Helpful Links and Information" by clicking
on this link.
NOTE: The deadline for requesting hospitality and registering your
children for this conference through the link above is Friday, August 21st.
October 10 - 11
2026 Southeast Spanish-speaking Blending Conference, Orlando.
Here is the conference invitation in Spanish and in English.
November 26 - 29
2026 International Thanksgiving Blending Conference will be held
in Denver, CO. See the conference announcement by clicking on this link.
December 11 - 13
2026 Florida Young People's Conference, Lake Placid Camp
You can watch the most recently recorded TSUF webinar from August 9 and all the previous ones on the Truth Sets US Free website’s video page. You can also read encouraging reports from the saints who have been spreading God’s word on the Testimonies page. You may share your own testimonies with others here. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” (Galatians 5:1)
During the recent June Semiannual Training, saints gathered together for a time of special fellowship. Several brothers testified of the Lord’s blessing in their going out in one accord with prayer, the Spirit, and the Word throughout North America. Brother Minoru concluded with an encouraging word about two cases in Acts where the speaking of the Word was the spearhead of the gospel and emphasized the invaluable riches contained in the Recovery Version. Click this link to watch the video recording of that fellowship.
Living Stream Ministry is pleased to announce the release of the 2026 Gospel Calendar. Calendars are available for immediate purchase at the LSM Bookstore at this link. Pre-ordering is not required. This calendar features traditional Chinese drawings with Scriptures in both Chinese and English and includes American holidays. The size of the calendar is 13–3/8” x 30–5/8”. The list price is $16.00 per calendar, but customers who purchase their calendars by October 31 will enjoy a reduced price of $12 per calendar. Appropriate sales tax and shipping and handling charges will be added to your order.
Living Stream Ministry offers two series of free eBooklets: Nuggets and Gems from the Bible and Essential Classic Booklets. All these eBooklets are free to download and share, with the hope that many will join them in spreading these riches.
A suggested eBooklet for you to read and share with someone else this week is Filled with Grace to Reign in Life. Luke’s record of the Man-Savior ends with His ascension to heaven (24:51). In this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee presents two particular aspects of the Man-Savior in His ascension: the Head of the church and the High Priest in the heavens.
Also, at the Rhema Literature Distributors website you can download the three volumes of the Basic Elements of the Christian Life, which include eleven short publications that everyone should read and then share with others.
One of the National GTCA Target Cities is in Florida-Pensacola, read the report at this link.
EXCERPTS FROM THE MINISTRY
THE NEED FOR HUMAN COOPERATION
In His economy God requires human cooperation. His economy is based on the principle of incarnation, that is, of God and man mingled and working together to accomplish God’s goal. In John 15 the Lord Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (v. 5). However, it is also true that apart from us Christ can do nothing. We can tell the Lord, “Lord Jesus, just as I need You, You also need me. We can do nothing without You, and You can do nothing without us.” If we would speak to the Lord in this way, He would agree. The very fact that Christ was incarnated indicates that God’s economy has both the divine aspect and the human aspect.
This principle applies to the book of Ephesians. The first three chapters emphasize the divine aspect. These chapters reveal that Christ has accomplished everything and that the new man has been filled with the riches of Christ unto all the fullness of God. Then in chapters four through six we see the human aspect, the aspect of our cooperation with the Lord. Hallelujah, we need God, and God needs us! If we fail to cooperate with Him, we cause a serious problem. Therefore, it is crucial that we fulfill our responsibility to cooperate with God in the carrying out of His economy.
NOT MERE TEACHING, BUT GROWTH
Paul’s concept in Ephesians 4 is absolutely different from the concept in today’s Christianity. The basic concept in this chapter is that of growth until we all arrive at a full-grown man. As all mothers know, growth of children comes by feeding, not mainly by teaching. When we all arrive at a full-grown man, we shall no longer be children spiritually. On the human side the main need is not doctrine; it is growth. We need to grow until we arrive at a full-grown man.
Teachings that distract us from God’s economy are instigated by Satan in his subtlety with the sleight of men, in order to frustrate the building up of the Body of Christ. The teachings systematized by Satan cause serious error and thus damage the practical oneness of the Body life. If this matter were not serious, Paul would not use so many strong terms to describe it.
Doctrine may be likened to a baited hook used to catch fish. Ignorant of the hook, the fish go for the bait and are caught. In like manner, many Christians have been lured by the “bait” of doctrine, only to be caught on the “hook” concealed within it. Because many of the Lord’s people are ignorant of the “hook” inside an enticing doctrine, they have been systematized by the enemy in a very subtle way.
He says that we shall grow up into Christ as the Head (v. 15). This indicates that what is needed on the human side for the fulfillment of God’s economy is growth. Only by growth shall we be no longer children who are carried about by every wind of teaching.
FEEDING, EATING, AND DRINKING
Growth comes through feeding and through eating and drinking. Apart from this process, it is impossible for anyone to grow. Therefore, what we need today is not the mere teaching of doctrine; it is the feeding with processed spiritual food. We need to feed others with the riches of Christ that we have “cooked” and processed in our experience. In this way others will receive nourishment and be able to grow.
A BOOK OF LIFE
Actually, the Bible as a whole is not primarily a book of doctrine; it is a book of life. We should come to the Scriptures not primarily to learn doctrine, but mainly to be nourished by the living bread. We need to be like the prophet Jeremiah who said, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them” (Jer. 15:16).
PROPER NOURISHMENT AND GENUINE GROWTH
We should try our best not to become involved in discussions over doctrine, especially as we contact new ones or visit Christian meetings in other places. Furthermore, we should certainly not criticize others according to a doctrinal standard. Instead of talking about doctrine, we should enjoy Christ and minister Christ to others. This is the Lord’s way in His recovery. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 744-750)