Greetings,
This Sabbath marks the beginning of the first month of the year in God’s calendar – “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you” (Exodus 12:2). This means it is time to begin to earnestly focus on specific aspects of what it means to be called by the Father in this day and age. God’s plan of salvation has a time-order. He plans to offer salvation and eternal life to every person – but in a planned progression. God’s calendar sets out that progression as a template for us to follow in order to keep our priorities in place.
Mankind in general does not know God and is not cognizant of the purpose of his own existence. Adam’s sin set man on this course of ignorance. However, sin does not defeat God’s ultimate purpose – that is to build an eternal family of spirit beings who will have been changed from corruptible to incorruptible. While the change itself will occur in an instant at the time of the resurrection, the preparation for the change takes considerable time. It takes time to change a mind that has been conditioned by sin and an environment of sin to a mind that reflects Jesus Christ. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).
Both ancient Israel and the New Testament Church provide patterns of God’s unfolding plan. Ancient Israel walked through the plan of salvation to illustrate its key points – from captivity in sin to the land of promise representing God’s kingdom. They also demonstrated the inability of a mind without God’s Holy Spirit to conform to the spiritual state of God’s mind. Christ gave up His Godhead to become human and act as our Savior. He paid the penalty sin incurs thus allowing man to be reconciled to the Father. The New Testament Church is made up of individuals who have been called into this restored relationship with the Father. They are acting out the plan God has for all of mankind.
Can we begin to fully appreciate how important the role of the Church is at this time? Through the Church, God’s name is to be lifted up and glorified. It appears that Satan is well aware of this importance as he has masterfully eroded and weakened the collective strength of God’s people. Our calling involves reversing Satan’s way of sin. Becoming spiritually unleavened by purging out the old leaven we become “a new lump” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
In our present time and living in this corrupt world as we do, this is a daunting task. Neither the adversary nor the violence-filled, evil environment which he has brought about will assist us in the positive transforming of our minds. However, the annual Holy Days set out by God’s calendar serve to remind us of God’s great plan and provide confidence and encouragement.
Each year is challenging but with God’s might and strength, coupled with our willing submission and obedience, the creation of God’s family will move one step closer. Let us all ask God’s help so that this will be a year of growth for each of us. “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place … And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 2:14; 3:4-6).
Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread:
The Passover service in the U.S. will be streamed live for the Eastern and Western time zones. The Eastern service will begin at 8:10 pm EDT (allowing for sunset times), and the Western service will begin at 8:00 pm PDT. Central and Mountain time zones will be covered by local services as well as a prerecorded service available online. For start times of local services see the pastor or local coordinator as sunset times vary. Most areas will have their own live service and the streaming is intended for scattered members or members who cannot make it to a service.
The prerecorded Passover Service can be accessed by clicking on the following link: Passover Service
(If clicking the above link does not take you to the pre-recorded Passover Service, simply copy and paste the link into your browser’s address bar and click enter. This service can be accessed at any time.)
There will be one service on the first Holy Day of Unleavened Bread and that will be at the usual Sabbath service time of 11:00 am PDT.
7th Day of Unleavened Bread: The morning service for the East will originate from Houston, Texas. Houston will have a 10:00 am CDT service time which means 11:00 am EDT. The afternoon service for the Central and Eastern time zones will originate from Duarte, California – 11:00 am PDT (2:00 pm EDT).
Western time zone service times will be 11:00 am and 2:30 pm.
Warm Regards,
Brian Orchard
