Weekly Update

Hello everyone,

Spring has sprung here in Charlotte, and it gets prettier by the day! Several of us will be visiting field churches for the spring Holy Days. Mr. and Mrs. Roderick Meredith will be traveling internationally. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ames will be in Milwaukee for the weekend of the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. Mr. and Mrs. Dibar Apartian will be in Montreal for the Passover and the First Day of Unleavened Bread. I will be in Winchester, VA, for the Passover weekend and then in Washington, DC for the First Day of Unleavened Bread. I plan to be in Toronto for the weekend of the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. All of us count on your prayers that God will bless these trips in every way.

CHURCH ADMINISTRATION

Ministerial Reconfigurations

Mr. Meredith has approved a reconfiguration of ministerial responsibilities in the Philippines. Mr. Bruce Tyler will become the Regional Director starting May 15, 2004. Mr. Rod King will be the Area Pastor, overseeing all operations in the Philippines Work under Mr. Tyler's supervision. We have discussed these changes thoroughly with Mr. Carl McNair and Mr. Rod McNair and both of them are in complete agreement. Mr. Carl McNair has been supervising the Philippines overall and we appreciate his leadership, work and travels over there all the way from Helena. Mr. Rod McNair has been the Regional Director there for the last 7 years. He and his wife have done an outstanding job in every way. They will still be very busy with their other ministerial duties in California. Just one reason for making this switch is that Mr. Rod King can take a non-stop flight from Melbourne to Manila in 6 ½ hours, compared to 15-17 hours travel time for Mr. Rod McNair from Sacramento. We anticipate good things to continue to happen in the Philippines, and we truly appreciate the total cooperation and zealous service of all the ministers and wives involved in this realignment.

Canadian Update

Mr. Gerald Weston sends this encouraging report from Canada: Things are really beginning to pop up here. We had 7 church inquiries last Friday and another batch the previous Monday. One fellow called from Arviat, a small Inuit village on the shores of Hudson Bay about 1,000 miles north of Winnipeg. Mr. Meredith's article in the latest Tomorrow's World on the subject of the Sabbath seems to have moved quite a number of people to start looking for a Sabbath-keeping church. It has also inspired a number of people to cancel their subscription, but either way it shows the message was clear and we are excited to see people being moved off the fence. Even before this issue came out we were seeing an upturn in interest. So far attendance is running a little over 8 percent above last year for the country overall, and we are expecting more visitors each Sabbath. Here in Ontario we plan to baptize five people before Passover, and there are several others who have asked for counseling. The Work in Canada is still very small, but we are seeing steady growth.

Atlanta Singles Weekend

The Atlanta congregation once again plans to have a spring singles activity during the Days of Unleavened Bread. All singles in the Living Church of God, 18 years old and up, are invited! Families are also welcome. The following activities are being planned: a Bible Study on Friday, April 9, at 8:00 pm (plan to arrive early on Friday afternoon); Sabbath services at 3:00 pm the next day, followed by a concert of special Sabbath music at 5:30 pm, a meal at 7:00 pm, and a dance starting at 8:30 pm. An activity is planned for the next afternoon (Sunday). We will, of course, have services the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. For further details go to the Atlanta congregation website, www.lcgatl.com, or email [email protected] or [email protected].
You must register by March 25th!

MEDIA

The program topics for Wednesday's telecast tapings are:

COMMENTS

I dare say the deleavening process is now underway big-time throughout the Church! I hope all of us are focusing our personal Bible study on the scriptures pertaining to this time of year. If we do, it will deepen our understanding of the profound meaning of each part of the spring Holy Day season. One of the scriptures our family always considers is found in Exodus 13:7-10, "Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year." It is good to involve the whole family in the lessons and activities of physical and spiritual deleavening.

The Night To Be Much Observed is another wonderful part of this upcoming season. We read about it in Exodus 12: 41-42, "And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations." The spiritual application of God bringing us out of this world into His Church is referred to in II Peter 2:19-20, "While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning."

So we gather with friends and family at the beginning of the First Day of Unleavened Bread and have a wonderful evening of feasting and fellowship to celebrate and commemorate God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt and His deliverance of spiritual Israel, His New Testament Church, from this world. It is not an evening to take carelessly or lightly. It is not like a Church social or dance. It is a happy, joyous occasion, but with deep spiritual significance. We must not forget that! By the way, it is fine to begin this gathering before sunset as long as the main part of the occasion takes place after sunset on the First Day of Unleavened Bread, which is an annual Sabbath day. This timing question was discussed at one of our recent Council of Elders meetings, and that was our conclusion.

Happy Sabbath and all the best in your preparation for the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread!

Charles E. Bryce