SABBATH ANNOUNCEMENTS & REMINDERS 

United Church of God, an International Association

North Canton & Youngstown, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; Wheeling, WV Congregations

SABBATH, AUGUST 31, 2019

Youngstown –11 a.m.              Wheeling – 2:30 p.m.

North Canton – 2 p.m.                        Pittsburgh – 10:00 p.m. 

Greetings brethren,

Since this is a 5th Sabbath of the month, Linda and I will not be running a circuit, but will stay close to home with the North Canton congregation. There are few 5th Sabbaths in the calendar year, but each allows us a chance to focus on the fact that the Sabbath is a “rest” day!

Many times in the ministry the Sabbath—especially when running a church circuit—is one of, or the heaviest “work” days of a pastor’s week. Sabbath-wise that places us in the situation of the priests in ancient Israel. 

Jesus Christ pointed out that the priests “profaned,” meaning were before or outside the Temple on the Sabbath Read Matthew 12:5 – “Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?” 

The case in point is the Sabbath offering…”And on the Sabbath day two lambs in their first year, without blemish, and two-thirds of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with the oil, with its drink  offering—this is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering with its drink offering” (Numbers 28:9-10). 

There’s a fair amount of effort / work for several Levitical priests to accomplish those offerings on the Sabbath. Now in the era of the true Church of God, for one of Christ’s ministers to run a church circuit, giving two sermons, plus provide any needed anointings and counseling requires significant effort/work. On those days the Sabbath is a divinely sanctioned “work” day. And the effort required is gladly expended, I might add. 

Physically rest well on God’s weekly holy day! And today Linda and I will join you in doing so!

Keep the true faith—and spread it,
Randy Stiver, Pastor 

Pastor’s contact information:  PO Box 1474, Massillon, OH  44648.  Home phone: 330-809-0566, cell phone: 740-739-7248. Email addresses:randy_stiver@ucg.org  or rpstiver@gmail.com (both come to the same location). For emails regarding scheduling (church events, visits or counseling), please copy my wife Linda ldstiver@gmail.com. Announcements should be sent to my email and copied to our daughter Amanda at anstiver@gmail.com as she helps process them each week.

1. Church Circuit Schedule 

August 31	Sabbath Services	Youngstown-1 PM; North Canton-2 PM; Pittsburgh-2:30 PM; Wheeling-10 AM
September 7	Sabbath Services	Youngstown-1 PM; North Canton-2 PM; Pittsburgh-2:30 PM; Wheeling-10 AM
September 13	Bible Study Webcast	7:30 PM EDT – Title to be announced https://www.ucg.org/congregations/north-canton-oh/webcast
September 14	Sabbath Services	Youngstown-1 PM; North Canton-2 PM; Pittsburgh-2:30 PM; Wheeling-10 AM Memorial for Dale Harmon following services in North Canton, at 5:30 PM
September 21	Sabbath Services	Youngstown-1 PM; North Canton-2 PM; Pittsburgh-2:30 PM; Wheeling-10 AM  North Canton Bible Study – 12 Noon
September 28	Sabbath Services	Youngstown-1 PM; North Canton-2 PM; Pittsburgh-2:30 PM; Wheeling-10 AM
September 30	Feast of Trumpets	North Canton and Youngstown at Global Gateway-10:30 AM and 2:30 PM Pittsburgh and Wheeling at Chartiers Community Center-10:30 AM and 2:30 PM

 

LOCAL PRAYER REQUESTS: 

• Ian Healey (grandson of Louis & Carol Petit in NC) – awaiting a kidney donor.
• Steve Richmond (Cambridge) – Fighting liver and colon cancer. 
• Todd Bickel (North Canton) – Bursitis and high blood pressure.
• Dave Ritter (North Canton) – Upcoming prostate surgery.
• Marcia Wehman (Pittsburgh) – Recovering from a fractured eye socket from a fall at home.

2.    FRIDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY – 

We will have only one Bible Study webcast in September on Friday the 13th as usual at 7:30 p.m. 

3.    SPOKESMAN CLUB – Sunday, September 8 

The next meeting of our local, four-church Spokesman Club will be Sunday morning, September 8 at the YWCA in Steubenville, OH. For those of you men who haven’t yet gotten involved for Spokesman Club, this could be your first meeting!  Please talk to Mr. Stiver, Freeman Kuhns, Keith Wilson or Jim Kocher to get involved in the premiere personal growth and leadership training program in God’s true Church from 1960 to 2019!

4.    MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR DALE HARMAN – SABBATH, SEPTEMBER 14

The memorial service for Dale will take place on the Sabbath of September 14 after services at the North Canton church hall. We have invited our COGWA brethren to join us for the service and refreshments afterward. The memorial will begin at 5:30 p.m. following a slightly shorter church service (about 90 minutes). Debbie Kuhns is coordinating refreshments for afterward.

5.    COUNCIL OF ELDERS MEETING – update

The Council meetings went well. Mr. Stiver will provide a verbal review for Wheeling & Pittsburgh on the Sabbath of September 7th.

6.    NORTH CANTON CHURCH OUTING:  CANAL BOAT TOUR – SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

Come join us on Sunday, September 15 at Canal Fulton to take the Canal Boat Tour! The tour includes: a short film on the history and the boat ride (pulled by horses) with a tour guide. The boat has a roof and is shaded and cool on the water. It goes 3 miles per hour and is an activity young and old can enjoy, with plenty of assistance getting on this very stable boat! The tour begins at 2:00 PM and lasts about an hour. 

Prices are $8 for Seniors (60+), $9 for Adults, $5 for kids and, Free for kids under 5 years old. Afterwards, for those interested, we can stop at the Cherry Street Creamery across the street for some ice cream. 

In addition, about 8 minutes away at Clay’s Park Resort is the Yankee Peddler Festival (historical reenactments, entertainment, food and artisans), open that Sunday from 10:30 AM to 6 PM. If you want to extend your day, arrive early and see the festival, then join everyone for the Canal Boat Tour. Prices for the festival are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $3 for kids, and free for kids under 5. See their website for more information: https://www.yankeepeddlerfestival.com/tickets

The address for the Canal Boat: 125 Tuscarawas St NW, Canal Fulton, OH 44614

Address for the Yankee Peddler Festival: 13190 Patterson Street NW, North Lawrence, Ohio 44666

If you are interested please contact Mark or Amanda Miller (amandamiller52216@gmail.com).

7.    UPCOMING FALL HOLYDAY DETAILS 

·        Feast of Trumpets on September 30th at Global Gateway for North Canton & Youngstown (10:30 AM/2:30 PM)

·        Day of Atonement on Wednesday, October 9 at Holiday Inn Express—Akron South, 898 Arlington Ridge East, Akron, Ohio (time to be announced)

·        If you still have any questions about the Feast of Tabernacles, please check with your local Feast advisors:  Freeman Kuhns & Mark Miller in North Canton; Jimmy Guy in Youngstown; Nathan Courtney in Pittsburgh, and Jim Kocher in Wheeling. 

8.    LOCAL BIBLE READING PROGRAM – Read Isaiah by the Feast

Starting with our recent Bible Study webcast entitled, “Bible Biography – Isaiah the Prophet” (still available to view on the North Canton website), here is our latest set of chapter summaries to go along with our local, Bible reading leading up to the Feast of Tabernacles. Each week we’ll post the chapter summaries for the upcoming week’s reading assignments. If you have Bible Study questions, please send them to Mr. Stiver.

ISAIAH Bible Reading Project leading up to the Feast of Tabernacles            

Human author: Isaiah, the son of Amoz.  Written: approx. 740-698 B.C.           

DATES                                  WEEK               CHAPTERS

July 28-Aug. 3            --Week 1            --1-6

August 4-10               --Week 2            --7-13

August 11-17             --Week 3             --14-20

August 18-24             --Week 4            --21-27

August 25-31             --Week 5            --28-34

September 1-7          --Week 6            --35-41

September 8-14        --Week 7            --42-48

September 15-21      --Week 8            --49-55

September 22-28      --Week 9            --56-59

Sept. 29-Oct. 5          --Week 10          --60-63

October 6-12             --Week 11          --64-66

ISAIAH CHAPTER SUMMARIES  

(Each week we’ll publish a brief chapters summaries by Mr. Stiver.)

ISAIAH 35 – Millennial prophecies:  v. 1-4 – the desert shall blossom like a rose; v. 5-7 – a time of healing… the blind see, deaf hear and the lame goes leaping like a deer; v. 8-10 the highway of holiness.

NOTE:  Chapters 36-39 are the only prose in the book—all the other chapters are in poetic form. This prose section covers the Assyrian invasion of Judah after they have conquered and deported the 10 Tribes of northern Israel 734 – 722 B.C. The date for these events in Isaiah commences in 701 B.C. The Assyrian expeditionary force swept through the nation of Judea conquering the strategic, fortified cities including the most famous: Lachish. Then they moved against Jerusalem. The events are also covered in 2 Kings 18 to 20 and in 2 Chronicles 32. Many Jews were taken into captivity (historical inscriptions mention 200,000 at least) like their northern Israelite cousins had done to them. This nucleus of Jews among the wandering Israelites very likely accounts for the Jutes who invaded Celtic Britain along with the Angles and Saxons. They settled in the British counties just to the south of London.

ISAIAH 36 – (see also 2 Kings 18:13-37 and 2 Chron. 32:1-9) Sennacherib the king or emperor of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, his personal advisor, with the army to lay siege to Jerusalem after they had conquered Lachish to the southeast. Initially, it was a propaganda war with the Rabshakeh could call from a siege tower (or some strategic location) so the Jews on the walls could hear him—and then tell everyone else. He tried to pit the Jewish soldiers and people against King Hezekiah (v. 18-20). The people held their piece by Hezekiah’s command.

ISAIAH 37 – Isaiah steadied an agitated King Hezekiah was very agitated by the Assyrian propaganda. The prophet prophesied to Hezekiah the miraculous collapse and departure of the Assyrians (v. 5-7). The Rabshakeh returned to his superior (Sennacherib, King of Assyria) sieging the city of Libnah. He then wrote a threatening letter to Hezekiah proclaiming death and destruction (v.8-13). Good king Hezekiah took that letter to read it to God in prayer, pleading for His victorious intervention. God responded through Isiah proclaiming the end of the king of Assyria and the promise that the Jews already taken captive would make new roots elsewhere (v. 21-35).  Divine punishment via the “angel of the LORD” wipes out 185,000 Assyrians overnight, ending the war.

ISAIAH 38 – A great lesson in faith. King Hezekiah falls deathly ill during the war with Assyria (v. 6). Although told that he would die, Hezekiah responds in true faith praying for God’s mercy. God hears and answers that he will live 15 more years.

ISAIAH 39 – A visit to Jerusalem by Babylonian envoys just after Hezekiah is healed. He shows them all the treasures of the nation. Isaiah prophesied that Babylon would conquer Jerusalem and Judah and take all that wealth away (v. 5-7). The King reflects that at least there would be “peace and truth” during his day. 

ISAIAH 40 – With this chapter the poetic, prophetic writing of Isaiah resumes after the historical interlude. George Fredrick Handel’s famous oratorio “The Messiah” draws powerful lyrics from the first part of this chapter. The “voice crying in the wilderness” (ie. the spiritual wilderness of our present, evil world) is the voice of God’s Church through the ages as it heralded the second coming of Christ. Famous “world tomorrow” prophecies abound: “crooked places…made straight,” “…the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand…gently lead those who are with young” (v’s. 14). The greatness of God versus the smallness of man (v’s. 15-31). Note also the divine verification of a round earth in v. 22.

ISAIAH 41 – “O coastlands” in verse 1 indicates the destination of the migrations of the 10 Tribes of Israel and to a degree even of Judah (v. 1). V. 2-3 is a prophecy of Cyrus the Great “…one from the east” who would conquer the Babylonian Empire and free the Jews to return to Jerusalem. V. 8-20 is God would work through the Israelite nations in this age and in the Millennium.  V. 21-24 – God challenges the futile idols man worships.  V. 25-29 – another prophecy of Cyrus the Great who would free the Jews to return home. Cyrus is a type of Christ in that way (v. 27).

- end-