UPDATE – September 20
Greetings,
There are, of course, many aspects we can isolate about any given step in God’s plan of salvation. For example, the Feast of Trumpets has quite a number of important elements that help us understand the ramifications of Christ’s return in more detail. Following the final Passover Christ observed with His disciples, He explained to them that in leaving them, He would, “go to prepare a place for you.” This preparation is followed by the reassurance of His return (John 14:1-3). Christ promised to “make ready” a place.
Preparation is a part of the natural order of things – both physical and spiritual. The Church is being prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. We are in the process of being made ready for Christ’s return and the resulting marriage.
When we consider the observation of the Holy Days by the nation of Israel, it is apparent that a great deal of preparation was necessary. Preparation for the Feast of Tabernacles for instance, required tithing of grain, new wine, oil and the firstborn of the herds and flocks. Depending on where God had placed His name relative to where they were, they would have had to exchange those goods for money in order to make the journey and to keep the Feast. A good deal of preparation was involved.
Similarly, our keeping of the Feast will be enhanced by preparation. There are many physical details that need to be taken care of in advance to make our departure from our homes and journey to a feast site smooth and enjoyable. I would guess that for most of us, the Feast has come upon us quite quickly. We are required to be so engaged with the daily routines of life that unless we make time to stop and think about the important issues, a week can slip by very quickly with little real preparation spiritually or physically.
The Feast of Tabernacles is important to God – He set aside seven days plus an extra Holy Day for His people to come before Him. Let’s make sure we prepare in every way for the upcoming Festival Season.
Meals at the Feast:
Anyone who has not registered their meal preferences or has questions please email Shirley Hendricks for Tulsa (shirley1655att.net) or Rita Sampson for Oxnard (rsampson@surfree.com). If you are going to Oxnard and have not seen the email containing the information, Rita can send it to you. We are fast approaching the deadline of supplying numbers to the hotels.
Holy Day Service Times:
Feast of Trumpets
For the Eastern side of the country morning services will originate from South Dakota at 9:00 am Central.
A service will originate from So. California at 11:00 am Western. This will serve as the afternoon service for the East and the morning service for the West. The offering will be taken up during this service.
The afternoon service for the West will originate from the Bay Area at 2:30 pm.
Atonement
There will be one service for Atonement, originating from So. Cal. at 11:00 am Western.
Services After the Feast
For the weekly Sabbath immediately following the Feast (October 18), we have decided not to hold services. With all the travel being done on Friday, a day of rest has been declared for the Sabbath. We would encourage you to take time to reflect and consider the content from the Feast. The Feast sermons should be available for review if desired.
Warm Regards,
Brian Orchard
