Hi friends,

Welcome to God’s Sabbath! It’s great to have you here. This week I share many announcements for you to read. I encourage you to review all of them, so you don’t miss anything that’s upcoming in our area. If you are ready, here goes.  

1. Sabbath Services in Buford and Atlanta: 3/21. Tomorrow, the Buford congregation will meet at the Holiday Inn Express, Bethlehem (Georgia) at 10:30 AM for services. In the afternoon, the Atlanta congregation will meet at Unity Atlanta at 2:30 PM for services.

2. Ill this Sabbath? Tune into our Atlanta Webcast. If you are sick this week, plan to watch the Atlanta webcast online. To view the service, enter the password tree of life (with no spaces) in the channel password box. The URL location is: https://www.ucg.org/congregations/atlanta-ga

3. Next Young Men's Christian Club of Atlanta: 3/21. The next Young Men’s Christian Club is scheduled for March 21 after services in the chapel. Questions regarding this club may be directed to Ryan Shallenberger.

4. Night to Be Much Remembered: Sign-Up List. The Night to Be Much Remembered (NTBMR) this year takes place on Wednesday evening, April 1. If you have not yet made plans to attend this gathering with other brethren, please do so now. If you’d like to find a place to attend this meal with others, please sign the list below. Likewise, if you or your group have room for others for the NTBMR, please indicate that on the list too. Here is a link to the sign-up list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DFxtep8bHkX0q_e9FT6qDU80ol8CmqOwy7H6Q10h9x8/edit?usp=sharing

Note: If you signed the list that was out last Sabbath, I ask that you sign this one too. This will ensure that we have a list accessible from anywhere via the web.

5. Passover for Atlanta & Buford: 3/31. The Passover takes place this year on the evening of March 31. Baptized members are expected to attend one of the two local services offered below. You must contact Dr. Aust if you have an extenuating circumstance that prevents you from taking the Passover in one of these two locations. The Passover Service is for baptized members only.

In terms of service locations, Atlanta will meet at Unity Atlanta in the Fellowship Hall for the Passover. The service takes place at sunset. This year sunset for Atlanta occurs at 7:57 PM. Because of this solemn occasion, everyone is expected to be quietly seated at 7:35 PM for scripture reading.

Buford will be at the Holiday Inn Express, Bethlehem. 7:55 PM. Because of this solemn occasion, everyone is expected to be quietly seated at 7:35 PM for scripture reading.

In terms of scripture reading immediately before the Passover service, I share the passages below for your notes. 

Christ Foreshadowed the Passover

Exodus 12:1-4, Exodus 12:21-36, Exodus 12:43-49, Psalm 22, Isaiah 52:13-15

Christ Institutes the New Testament Passover and Dies Later that Day

John 13:1-17, Matthew 26:26-30, Matthew 27:27-50, Mark 15:1-38, Luke 23:1-48, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Symbolism

John 6:4, John 6:22-71, 1 Corinthians 10:14-22

6. The First and Last Day of Unleavened Bread: 4/2 & 4/8. The First Day of Unleavened Bread takes place on Thursday, April 2. The Last Day of Unleavened Bread takes place on Wednesday, April 8. The location of services for both Holy Days is Unity Atlanta in Peachtree Corners.

Offerings. According to scripture (Deuteronomy 16:16), we take up an offering on both the First and Last Day of Unleavened Bread. Please use the green envelopes sent to you by the Home Office. This greatly expedites the processing of these offerings.

7. Combined Sabbath Service on 4/4. The Sabbath that takes place during the Feast of Unleavened Bread will be a combined service for Atlanta and Buford. We will meet at Unity Atlanta on this Sabbath at 2:30 PM.

8. Next Atlanta Hymn Sing: 4/11. To properly prepare for our next Atlanta hymn sing, I’ve moved it to April 11. Charlie Graby is coordinating the event. If you are a song leader who wants to lead songs during the hymn sing, contact Mr. Graby. We need 5 song lead volunteers. Each song leader will lead 2 songs.

We also need pianists. If you can play hymns for the hymn sing, again contact Mr. Graby.

9. April’s Sabbath School and Teen Bible Study Classes: 4/11. Our next local Sabbath School and Teen Bible Study classes for April take place on April 11. Parents, please be sure your child has a Bible for classes when they meet.

10. Next UCG Atlanta Bible Study: 4/14. Our next UCG Atlanta Bible Study takes place on Tuesday evening, April 14 at 7 PM. Our next book of the Bible is forthcoming. Stay tuned!

11. UYCCamp registration is open! You can apply for camp and find all the needed information at http://ucg.org/members/uyc. This year everyone will need to create new camper (family) accounts and/or new staff accounts since we are using a new system. Once you have created your account, you can sign back into the same dashboard later to add or edit information and to complete required forms after you are accepted. A nice feature of the new system is that you will be able to reuse these same accounts to apply again in future years. All campers in the same family can be added under one family account, but each staff member will need their own individual staff account (for example, a teen who wants to be a camper at one camp and a staff member at another camp would need to use separate accounts for each role).

The application process requires you to upload the applicant’s photo and provide payment information before you can submit an application. You have the option to pay online (preferred), or you can choose an option to mail a check to the home office. If your camper needs a scholarship, you can begin that process by talking to your local pastor. If you have questions or need help, please email: uyc@ucg.org.

Aaron Creech, National Camp Coordinator

12. Feast Planning Brochure. The Festival Planning Guide is available online and in the center pages of the March-April United News. Please note, the latest information about Feast sites is available at http://feast.ucg.org, where you can download an updated version of the brochure that has been posted since the planning guide’s initial printing.

Key Dates for United States and Canadian Feast Attendees

Sunday, April 19: Preliminary registration begins at 12 p.m. EDT for those who must attend their closest site.

Sunday, April 26: Registration is open at 12 p.m. EDT for all United States and Canadian Feast sites (except if a site has reached capacity).

Need help with Feast of Tabernacles Registration? Our local Feast Advisors are here to help with questions and registration. Contact Steve Holladay in Buford and Bob McCurdy in Atlanta for this help. If you need Festival Assistance, you may contact them in person or by phone.

13. Upcoming Calendar Events

Mar. 31           Passover (Evening of March 31)

Apr. 1             Night to Be Much Observed: Kept as Families (Evening of April 1)

Apr. 2             First Day of Unleavened Bread @ Unity Atlanta

Apr. 8             Last Day of Unleavened Bread @ Unity Atlanta w/ Covered-dish meal

                     The theme for the meal is An Unleavened Gourmet Gathering.

Apr. 11           Atlanta Hymns Sing (before services)

Apr. 11           Sabbath School and Teen Bible Study classes

Apr. 14           UCG Atlanta Bible Study begins again

Apr. 18          Young Men’s Christian Club

That’s it for this evening. Have a great start to God’s Sabbath!

Happy Sabbath!

Philip Aust

United Church of God, Pastor

Atlanta & Buford, Georgia

 Memory Verse 

Proverbs 31:10-12 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. ¹¹ The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. ¹² She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.