United News Weekly
Passover is our annual remembrance that we are the cleansed and betrothed Bride of our great Savior.
Preparing Spiritually for Passover
Dear Brethren,
As the Passover approaches, let’s prepare to observe it with deep appreciation for the awesome event it portrays.
Passover is the memorial of the greatest event in the history of the physical universe—the death of our hands-on Creator, Jesus Christ. The One who is greater than all creation combined came to save us from the consequence of our sins, dying in our place as the Passover Lamb.
All the host of heaven worships Him in awe, crying out, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” (Revelation 5:12). Let’s prepare ourselves to come to this service with that awesome reverence, deeply appreciating the magnitude of what He gave and endured for each of us. It is the most sacred of God’s annual Festivals.
When we take the bread and cup, let us do so with reverence for the sacrifice of the One who redeemed us (Revelation 5:9-10). Let’s prepare our minds in advance and come come fully appreciating what the Passover symbols represent: His torn body and shed blood, freely and lovingly given to the repentant.
Passover is not an annual guilt reminder, or a time to shame anyone for how sinful they were. Your baptism buried that old self, and washed away all your past sins. Then, every day when we come before God in repentance, our sins are absolutely forgiven.
“If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7-9).
Believe that fully with sincere faith. Be repentant and come to Passover forgiven—cleansed, justified and sanctified.
And as part of our preparation, let’s carefully examine our current commitment to our New Covenant with Him. Jesus is our faithful Husband, devoted to readying us for salvation through helping, washing and forgiving us. Our duty is to reciprocate with increasing godliness (2 Peter 1:3-8).
Passover is our annual remembrance that we are the cleansed and betrothed Bride of our great Savior as we journey to the Kingdom together. Forgetting all shameful pasts, let us come with gratitude, joy and love—forgiving one another just as Christ has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32).
Brethren, as I have encouraged you previously, let’s prepare to observe the Passover as one Body, united with Christ and with each other, pressing forward together toward the Kingdom of God.
“Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead . . . press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
With deep love and anticipation for you,
John Elliott
President, United Church of God
Video Sermon
Watch this recent sermon, “Prepare to Participate in the Passover,” for an in-depth examination of how we can prepare for the Passover.
Service Opportunities
Potential Asian Good Works Opportunity
Would you like to let your light shine, build your resume, prepare for potential future Church leadership roles, serve the youth of Thailand, and have an in-depth, 5-month cultural experience? Then this opportunity is for you. We are looking for two United Church of God young adults who are energetic, positive, adaptive, hard-working, enthusiastic, and love to let their light shine!
Specifics: You will teach English at Chulalongkorn University Demonstration School in Bangkok, Thailand for five months. You will be co-teaching 15-17 hours of classes per week to 7th-12th grade students. Experience teaching not required, but preferred. The English staff you will work with are all well-educated, yet none have a natural accent. So, you will be teaching reading, pronunciation, public speaking, phonetics and similar subjects where your natural accent can be heard.
Why Should You Consider?
- Experience for your resume, whether or not you are pursuing a teaching career.
- Great opportunity to lead your life as a witness to others.
- Opportunity to serve and build relationships with teachers and students.
- You will have an influence on the future leaders of Thailand.
- Being in a school setting, you will gain a deep understanding of the history and culture of Thailand and SE Asia.
- You are the next generation of Church leadership. Your in-depth cultural experience will help influence and guide God’s work in Asia.
- You will learn about teaching—something we are all called to do in the future.
Background: Satit Chula is a K-12 grade school on the campus of Chulalongkorn University, which is the oldest and largest university in Thailand, located in the center of Bangkok. The school is under the Faculty of Education. Satit Chula maintains a full-time teaching staff for approximately 2,200 students. The Foreign Language department has around 25-30 teachers teaching something like 8 languages. The school is highly sought after by leaders in business, government, military, education and other fields as a place to send their children.
When: Second semester (November 2026 to March 2027).
Provided: Housing near campus, food allowance, help with visas and other.
Requirements: Young, baptized members of the Church with a four-year degree required. ABC graduate desired. A Bachelor’s degree in Education, TESOL, ELT, Linguistics or related field desired, but not required. Spiritually strong and grounded in God’s truth. Must love working hard, learning, helping others and be willing to live God’s way as an example.
More information: If interested please send an email to Lena VanAusdle: lena_vanausdle@UCG.org. We will schedule a Zoom call to discuss more details and answer questions.
Ministerial and Member Services
Ordination of Lynn Leiby
We’re happy to announce that on March 21, 2026, Lynn Leiby was ordained into the ministry. He and his wife, Casie, serve the congregation in Dallas, Texas.
Feast of Tabernacles
Grenada
Registration Opens April 1
Join us for the Feast of Tabernacles 2026 on “The Spice Isle” in the Caribbean! Grenada is a lush, green, mountainous island, with beautiful beaches and waterfalls. Brethren will be attending from several nearby islands. There will also be room for a limited number of transfers from other locations. Because this will be a small site, there will be ample time for extra fellowship, and you will have the opportunity to share quality time with the local brethren.
