--> Please note there is a PDF attachment for "Proverbs Reading Project - Chapter 30 Commentary" along with this Sabbath Announcements email. 

SABBATH ANNOUNCEMENTS 

&  REMINDERS

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

United Church of God, an International Association

SABBATH, May 16, 2020

12:00 Noon (EDT) – local webcast beginning with brief announcements from Mr. Stiver followed by the sermon from John Miller, Associate Pastor in the North Canton and Youngstown, OH congregations.

https://www.ucg.org/congregations/north-canton-oh/webcast

Correction: Last week Keith Wilson was listed as Assistant Pastor, that should have read, Associate Pastor. 

*DUE TO PRECAUTIONS RELATING TO PREVENTION OF THE SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) 

AND VARIOUS STATE REGULATIONS, WE WILL BE WEBCASTING LOCAL SERVICES UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.  

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NEXT TWO WEEKS

(may be subject to change)

Friday, May 22	Friday night Bible study webcast – 7:30 PM (EDT) – Randy Stiver https://www.ucg.org/congregations/north-canton-oh/webcast
Sabbath, May 23	Local Sabbath webcast – 12:00 Noon (EDT) – Freeman Kuhns and Jim Kocher https://www.ucg.org/congregations/north-canton-oh/webcast
Sabbath, May 30	Local Sabbath webcast – 12:00 Noon (EDT) – Randy Stiver https://www.ucg.org/congregations/north-canton-oh/webcast
Feast of Pentecost,  Sunday, May 31	Local Holyday webcast – 12:00 Noon (EDT) – Keith Wilson and Randy Stiver https://www.ucg.org/congregations/north-canton-oh/webcast

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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.

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PASTOR’S NOTE:

Greetings brethren,

Hope that you are all weathering this remarkable national trial of the COVID-19 coronavirus shut down! 

We are living in incredible times. What we have yet to see is the economic and political impact of how America and all the various nations have dealt with the virus.

Clearly, a vast economic impact will unfold. How much damage will it do to the basic economy? How much will the impact constrict the economy going forward? How will that affect people's lives and families? 

How will COVID-19 impact international relations and world tensions? 

Remember that the Great Depression of the 1930's set the stage for the devastation of World War Two. At a certain point during the worst war modern man had ever seen, Herbert Armstrong, from studying end time prophecies in the Bible, wondered if the trigger prophecies of Daniel 11:40-45 were about to be fulfilled.

The subsequent Allied (America and Great Britain) victories over the Afrika Corps of the NAZI Army signaled that then, 1942, was not the actual end of this age and the prelude to the Great Tribulation. 

Yet that prophesied time will come. It must come, for "the way of peace they [mankind] have not known" (Isaiah 59:8). We are also told to "watch, therefore, and pray always" (Luke 21:36).

But we also pray for others--those who have contracted the coronavirus, for our brethren and for God's great Kingdom to come!

Have an inspiring and peaceful Sabbath day savoring the beauty and wonder of God’s way.

Keep the true faith… and spread it!

Warm regards,

Randy Stiver, Pastor

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1.       LOCAL PRAYER REQUESTS and UPDATES

(If you notice that your prayer request needs updating, please drop us an email or a call with an update. Thank you!)

• Please pray fervently for the national and international emergency we are facing with the Coronavirus. Pray that God protect His people and that He extends mercy to our nation and to all nations as they face this health and financial crisis. 
• Please also pray that our freedoms to assemble and to worship are restored as soon as is safely possible. We have long been able to take those for granted, but now is the time to treasure them. Also pray that the financial impactglobally, nationally, and individually is mitigated through God’s mercy.

Updates:

• Janice Walters (North Canton) – After a scary fall down the basement staircase earlier this week, Janice was checked out at the hospital and released to recuperate from severe bruising at home. Your prayers for a quick recovery from the aches and pains of healing up are greatly appreciated! And grateful thanks to our merciful God for His protection from what could have been a very serious injury. 

Ongoing:

• Mary Wade – Mary (sister of Freeman Kuhns) is a resident at Rose Lane Nursing Home in Massillon. As of now there are cases of COVID-19 at her nursing facility, with 4 cases on her floor.  Mary has respiratory issues which would make this very serious for her. Please pray for her protection. 
• Pat Lesko – Pat (cousin of Jackie Stewart in the Youngstown area) has been fighting some severe health issues in the past month. Unfortunately, despite some positive progress, she has had to return to the hospital because of a rapid drop in blood pressure. Your continued prayers are appreciated.
• Steve Richmond (Cambridge) – Steve is battling stage four cancer and is in a lot of pain. His situation has become critical because the tumor is growing again. Increased chemotherapy has difficult side effects, and Steve has trouble eating and walking. He requests further prayer for relief of pain, for his surgery to be approved, and for God to intervene on his behalf.

Steve also really appreciates cards and letters:    Stephen Richmond, 232 Dover Road NE, Sugarcreek, OH  44681

• John Williamson (Columbus/North Canton) – John, son-in-law of Louis and Carol Petit, has a confirmed, cancer diagnosis. Please pray for God’s healing and for peace of mind for John and Lisa, and Louis and Carol.

2.      CAMP PINECREST CANCELLED for 2020

We have had conversations over the past two months with the Camp Pinecrest owners and monitored restrictions and guidelines to determine if we could go forward with our UYC Camp Pinecrest program this summer. This week, our UYC Pinecrest camp leadership team came to the difficult conclusion that it is not feasible to hold Camp Pinecrest this summer in a way that satisfies safety standards while facilitating the closeness of relationships and fellowship that staff and campers love about camp. Thus, for the 2020 camp season, Camp Pinecrest has been canceled.                                                                            --Mike Phelps, Director, Camp Pinecrest

3.      ACCEPTING GOOD WORKS PROGRAM PROPOSALS

Good Works is currently accepting proposals for projects for the second half of the 2020 calendar year! If you have a great idea, please run it by your local pastor, and with his approval please contact Lena VanAusdle at Lena_VanAusdle@ucg.org for more information. Deadline for proposals is May 31, 2020.

4.      FEAST UPDATES in Light of the COVID-19 Situation. 

Any changes to “all sites are open” will bring about an immediate announcement. Please do not contact individual Feast Coordinators with questions about whether a site will be open or cancelled at this time. Conditions are fluid and constantly changing. The next scheduled update for the Feast of Tabernacles will be the Sabbath of July 11. That will still provide nearly 3 months advance planning and consideration before the Feast.

To receive immediate updates, be sure to subscribe to Email Updates which not only provide Feast updates, but church-wide updates, announcements, articles and more. You can register for those updates by going to feast.ucg.org, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Get Email Updates.”

--Charles Melear, Overall Festival Coordinator

5.      LOCAL FESTIVAL COORDINATORS

The Festival Planning Brochure is published online at feast.ucg.org. Accommodation information for each site can be found at https://www.ucg.org/members/feast/sites. Please be sure to register for the Feast and begin making accommodation reservations when appropriate, and as your circumstances allow. 

If you need local assistance, please contact your festival coordinator:

North Canton: Freeman Kuhns and Mark Miller               Pittsburgh: Nathan Courtney

Youngstown: James Guy                                                          Wheeling: Jim Kocher

 

6. GRADUATING SENIORS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE UNITED NEWS

We are going to feature the class of 2020 in the July-August United News. If you are a graduating senior, please take a few minutes to answer these questions and send a photograph by June 8. 250 words maximum. 

Include your phone number or email address so we can contact you with any questions or to confirm spellings, etc. (they will not be printed). Please send with a recent photo (conforming with biblical standards of modesty) of the graduate by June 8. Digital photos should be at least 800 pixels in their smallest dimension to print sharply. Send by email to un@ucg.org (preferred), or send by mail to United News, P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027. We may edit for clarity and/or length to meet the 250-word maximum length.

Many graduation ceremonies are not occurring in-person this year, so feel free to include any information about what you or your school did to make graduation special in light of having to conduct it virtually or in an altered format. Thank you and congratulations!

Here's what to include:

1. Graduate's name
2. Parents' names (if high school grad)
3. Congregation
4. School, work, internship, co-op or other accomplishments
5. Interests, interesting facts about yourself, Church activities you're involved in, hobbies, unusual skills, etc.
6. Plans after graduation
7. Additional comments (favorite scripture, favorite quote, motto, advice, poetry, wisdom, etc.)

7.      COVID-19 Links and Resources:

National: https://www.coronavirus.gov/

Ohio: https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/

Pennsylvania:https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx

West Virginia: https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/Pages/default.aspx

UCG home office: https://www.ucg.org/members/news/united-church-of-god-coronavirus-updates

8.      VIEWING SABBATH WEBCASTS – How-to

The following link can help you better connect to the webcasts from the UCG.org website. Please follow the link and read the extensive directions for more information and troubleshooting help:

https://www.ucg.org/help/problems-viewing-ustream-and-youtube-videos

9.      PHONE HOOK-UP to Home Office Webcasts

If you need a phone hook-up to the webcast services from Cincinnati (2:30PM on Sabbaths) here are the directions:

Please call no earlier than 5 minutes before the service will begin. If the Home Office has not activated the meeting, the caller will be put on hold, and then asked to call again later.

Normal Calling Directions for Home Office Webcast:

For those who can pay for long distance calls or have an unlimited phone calling plan:

Call: 1-508-924-1634

No access code needed.

If you know someone who could use the phone hook-up number, but does not get the announcements by email, please call them and pass along the information! Thank you!

10.   PROVERBS READING PROJECT – From now till Pentecost, May 31

From now until Pentecost we’ll be reading through the books of Proverbs, following the schedule below.

BOOK OF PROVERBS READING SCHEDULE

Week            Dates                   Chapter(s)

1                     Jan 12-18                             1

2                     Jan 19-25                            2

3                    Jan 26/Feb 1                      3

4                    Feb 2-8                               4

5                    Feb 9-15                             5

6                    Feb 16-22                            6-7

7                    Feb 23-29                           8-9

8                    Mar 1-7                               10-11

9                    Mar 8-14                             12-13

10                   Mar 15-21                            14-15

11                    Mar 22-28                           16-17

12                   Mar 29/Apr 4                    18-19

13                   Apr 5-11                               20-21

14                   Apr 12-18                            22-23

15                   Apr 19-25                            24-25

16                   Apr 26/May 2                    26-27

17                   May 3-9                              28

18                   May 10-16                           29

19                   May 17-23                          30

20                   May 24-30                         31

 

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