Feast Video—October 2003
Narrator
Welcome to the Feast of Tabernacles 2003. With more than 40 festival sites around the globe, the United Church of God helps provide a wonderful opportunity for brethren from all walks of life to get together for God's Holy Days.
In this year's festival sermon video, Clyde Kilough, Chairman of the Council of Elders, and Roy Holladay, President, will each give an upbeat inspiring message that focuses on the Feast of Tabernacles. They show why we are being prepared as the people of God, and how this relates to the kingdom of God.
You will also hear about the day to day work in which we are involved, and see what we are doing to accomplish the Church's mission. This year we will also focus on one international area, Mexico, and see what is being done to preach the gospel and prepare the people in that region of the world. We hope to focus on area outside the United States each year from now on.
Let' begin with Chairman Clyde Kilough as he address the Cincinnati East congregation. The theme, "Being About Our Father's Business".
Clyde Kilough
Well greetings everyone. And on behalf of the Council of Elders, I hope that you are having a wonderful and inspiring Feast of Tabernacles wherever you are. There are thousands of people gathered in many nations around the world. We come from different languages, from different cultures, different backgrounds, but we are united in our understanding of why we are here and what we are picturing and what we are looking forward to in the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His kingdom.
You know brethren, in many of our summer camps we begin our program every day with something that we call 'compass check'. Compass check simply means we gather our young people, but instead of a physical compass where they would use to find their direction in the wilderness, we put them together in a group and we offer this as their compass. And we take something out of the word of God to give them direction of where they should go that day in their thinking in how to go there. We strive to teach them that the word of God helps us orient our lives in a certain direction. And every day it shows us not only where we are going, but how to go.
As we gather at the Feast of Tabernacles that is exactly what we are doing here as well. God has brought us here. He tells us every year to stop my routine in life; to get away from our homes and to go somewhere and to gather together for an extended period of time, and to think about life. To think about where we have been, and where we are. And most importantly, where we are going. And where the future is for not only us but for the whole world. And when we do, we see that everything in the plan of God points to the kingdom of God. Everything in this compass takes us toward the kingdom. That is where we are being pointed in the mission that Jesus Christ has been given in Hebrews 2:10 of bringing many sons to glory, that is where God is looking. That is His focus in life. And that is where He wants us to focus.
It is very interesting when you look at Nave's Topical Bible under the subject heading of, kingdom. In the introductory remarks, Nave's makes the statement; More space in the prophetic scriptures is devoted to the future rule of God on earth than to any other theme.
More space, it says, is given to the coming rule of God than any other theme in the Bible. Well that is true. God tells His people to orient our lives to that goal. And this compass points us there continually. Everything we do is pointed there. Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God, in Matthew 6:33.
Earlier in that chapter as He was describing to His disciples the way to pray, He said, in this manner you pray, after you address God and recognize His majesty, the first thing you ask for is, Your kingdom come. And then at the end of that prayer He wraps up the prayer by saying, focus again on the kingdom. At the very end of the model prayer He says, your kingdom come. And then at the end He says, for Yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
In between all the things we ask for are sandwiched by those two thoughts. We begin with the kingdom of God in mind. We end with the kingdom of God in mind. Because that is what God wants us to be thinking about. Every day He wants us to mold and shape our lives around that, just as Jesus Christ our elder brother and God our Father are doing.
Even at age twelve Jesus told His parents, I must be about My Father's business. And that is our business too that we share, the coming kingdom of God. And this Feast helps keep in our minds the vision of that purpose and the role that God has given us.
Narrator
The United Church of God President, Roy Holladay, continues with the theme of this years' Feast sermon video sermon presentation; "Being About Our Father's Business".
Roy Holladay
I want you to notice Matthew 28, a scripture we are all very familiar with.
Verses 19, 20.
Matthew 28:19, 20, where Christ in the sense gave the church its marching orders
down through the millennia, the ages.
Christ said, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, He said, even to the end of the age."
I want you to notice the commands that God has given to His church, the responsibilities, duties that we have, and also what He promises to do for us.
Number one He says, make disciples. Secondarily He says, baptize those disciples.
Then He says, teach them. And if we do this, God promises that He will be with
us always, and I want you to notice, not just for a short period of time, but
He would be with us always, as He says, to the end of the age.
I believe this scripture shows that the commission to the Church extends beyond
the first century and the original apostles. The responsibility that God has
given to the Church extends all the way down to the end time, and Christ promises
that He will be with His Church to the very end.
Clyde Kilough
We do have a role. Every one of us sitting here has a role to play; not only in the work of God now, but in the kingdom of God that is coming. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus said,
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Again, He was pointing the message would be of the kingdom of God. What we are representing the beginnings of in this Feast of Tabernacles, He said this will be preached, and it is going to be preached all the way to the end.
Roy Holladay
What I would like to do today is to quote from some of the letters, some of the emails that have come in to the Church and the Home Office, to demonstrate the impact that the truth of God is having in people's lives. I think that you will find that this is a result of the involvement of the whole Church in the two-fold commission that God has given to us. It is not just a few people who are doing a work, but we as a Church, as a body. It is the whole body. Christ is the head. He is in charge. The rest of us comprise that body. And as part of the body we all have to work together. And in order to accomplish the work it is going to take the whole body doing its part.
I think we all remember that the seal that we have illustrates what I am talking about. We have the job of preaching the gospel, and preparing a people.
Let me just quote from some letters, and I think when you begin to see the impact that the truth is having in people's lives. It is inspiring. Here is a letter from Australia. This person writes in and says,
Many, many thanks for a lovely informative magazine. I also thank you for allowing us to receive it free of charge with no pressure for donations. We are a couple on a disable pension and find it hard to go to church, so your magazine is our church.
We have many scattered brethren today. Co-workers and readers who, because of health, age, and distance, are not able to attend church services. They look to us as their church. And when you begin to look around at what we are able, as an organization, to provide for them, it is amazing. They get the Good News Magazine, and booklets. They get sermon tapes, both audio and video. We send out literally thousands of tapes over a period of every other month. We cybercast church services. We also cybercast Feast services.
In fact, right now during this Feast of Tabernacles there are at least two Feast sites that are cybercasting live services so that those who are not able to attend will be able to watch.
The Good News radio program goes out. Both the Tomorrow program and the Good News television program go out. Obviously, we have local congregations that people can attend. And we have a dedicated and loving ministry that is there to serve people. And if individuals are interested, to be able to come out and to personally visit with them.
Clyde Kilough
Just before the day of Pentecost, in Acts 1, the disciples were very curious about when is this kingdom going to come? They were hoping, they were hoping it would be in their day. And so they asked, in Acts 1, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And He said no, when the kingdom comes is in My Father's authority. He makes the call on that one. So I am not telling you when. But He said here is what will happen, in Acts 1:8
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Christ promised that the Church would have that. The Church is preaching. He is preaching a gospel message through His Church.
Roy Holladay
I want you to notice the appreciation of people that express for those who support the work. That means all of us. All of us who tithe, give our offerings, all of who pray for the work of God, those who support it in any way locally, and also centrally.
When you stop and think about it, all of us are here today as a result of the efforts of others who have gone before us. Others have gone before us and paid tithes, given offerings, they have sacrificed to make it possible to print literature, and that the word of God would be sent.
We are thankful for those who have gone before us. We are thankful for their sacrifices. And we have the same responsibility for those who will come after us, because we pick up the gauntlet, we pick up the challenge. We have the same responsibility to be able to take the gospel to the world.
Clyde Kilough
And that gospel message points to the kingdom. It is the gospel of the kingdom of God. And that is why we fervently believe that we have a job to preach the gospel to the world. It is a job that we have been given, to share this message and to get that out there, because it points to and it precedes the coming of that kingdom.
Roy Holladay
Another letter, and this one is from the U.S. It was addressed to one of our pastors, Mr. Dale Shurter. It says, Thanks so much to you and everyone who made me feel so welcome. I am soooo excited. And in the letter, so has many o's in it. As I have been searching for so long. I had many questions in the last few months that felt an urgent need to spread the good news.
Do you remember back when you first heard the truth? When you first heard the word of God, you first learned the way of God? Now some of us may have been searching for it. Others of us were totally oblivious and were not searching for anything.
Do you remember the first love? Do you remember the excitement that you had when you picked up a booklet and you read it? You couldn't get enough of the broadcast and the magazine. And how you had a desire to spread the truth?
With all of the horrendous problems the world is facing, they need good news. And that is exactly what we are preaching and teaching; the good news about the coming kingdom of God.
Brethren, imagine a time, which this Feast of Tabernacles pictures, when the whole world will have the same excitement that this individual does. Think about the time when you will take over your five cities, or your ten cities, and you begin to teach them the way of God. And all at once the light bulb goes off, not in just one or two people who are isolate in different places, mind. But the whole city understands. Everybody that you are working with has the veil of deception removed and they come to understand the truth of God.
What excitement it will be when whole cities, whole nations, understand God's way. Think about the excitement that people will have when they start talking to each other and they start discussing these basic principles of God. You and I will have the opportunity to be able to teach them.
Isaiah 35: 3, 4 and 10 describe the time in the future. Notice verse 3.
Isaiah 35:3-4
Strengthen the weak hands,
And make firm the feeble knees.
[4] Say to those who are fearful-hearted,
"Be strong, do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
With the recompense of God;
He will come and save you."
Now verse 10.
Isaiah 35:10
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Well you and I are learning that way of life today. And because we are learning it and putting it into practice, we will have the opportunity, we will be able to teach it to others in the world tomorrow.
This individual goes on to say, I have been yearning to be baptized. It says, I am generally a quite person and don't talk much, but I am so excited. I feel after to many years of searching that I have finally found my home. And I hope that you will have me.
Brethren, what we find is that here is an individual who is so excited and wants to be baptized. What you find is that many, many people are beginning to come; request baptism, request literature, ask for help in counseling because they want to change their lives.
When one person is baptized, we have one more potential member of the family of God. And I hope that we never become blasé about that. That we never loose our excitement over someone being baptized, realizing that here is a person who receives God's Spirit; now has a connection with God, and one day can participate in the resurrection and become a shining spirit being in the family of God and help bring peace and salvation to this world.
Clyde Kilough
The more we understand about the kingdom, the more we will hunger for it. And those who are hungry for the kingdom to come, those who do pray, as Christ said, with feeling, Your kingdom come, those who do will share a similar curiosity as the disciples did. Is there a person in this room who hasn't been curious, when will the kingdom come? We have though about that. We would like to know. Well, we still don't know exactly when it will come, like them, but the hunger for it, the hunger for the kingdom to come should be a continual ache in our bellies. It should always be there, this hungering for it to be there and to come. But we are also well assured that like them, as they were told, that until it does come we have been given the power of God to do a work.
Roy Holladay
Let me just show you the last three years the growth that God has given. In the year 2000 we had a 151 people baptized, and we had 403 new co-workers. Last year, 2002, we had 242 baptisms and 610 new co-workers. And what we realize is that God just keeps adding to those numbers year by year and He keeps giving us growth.
Let me give you another example of a new attendee and the impact that the local congregation has had on this person's life. This is from Texas. It says, Greetings Again. I would like you to know that since our last correspondence I attended Sabbath services three times consecutively. What a warm and wonderful group of people at the Dallas congregation. After my first attendance, I cried all the way home. I was so filled with real joy. I cam straight home, got down on my knees, and thanked God so much for the opportunity just to be a part of His Church. These loving gracious people made me feel so very welcome and I immediately knew that this is where I belonged. This is where I wanted to be.
I am sure that the first time that many of us attended services, we cried also. You might not remember the first time. I remember my wife describing to me the first time that she sat in the Shakespeare Club in Pasadena. And her father had heard the World Tomorrow broadcast back in '38 and'39, had not been able to attend or have a local church until she went to Ambassador College in 1959. And here she was sitting in a local congregation at a Friday night Bible study, something that her parents had desired for years but never had the opportunity of having. And she sat there with big tears coming down her face at the blessing of being able to attend not only God's college, but also to be able to sit and to be able to hear the truth of God in a local congregation.
Narrator
It is inspiring to hear how God works in each of our lives. We invite you to listen in as Linda Saar, a new member of the Cincinnati East congregation, shares her thoughts about coming into God's Church.
Linda Saar
I attended church one time when I was fourteen years old, with my parents and my grandmother. And about eight years later, when I was in my early 20's, I attended with my grandmother for about six months. And that didn't take then either. So, it was probably about twenty years later when I was having a lot of problems in my life.
Well, things were pretty rocky actually and I knew I needed help. I had problems that I couldn't solve by myself. So I prayed, and I prayed really hard. And I asked God to show me what it was He wanted me to do, because I had been battling with this for years about; you know, I was trying to ignore it. I didn't want to be called because I knew it was going to be kind of a tough, a tough life. I though it would be really hard and I was scared. And I tried to ignore it. But I had reached a point in my life where I knew I really needed help. So I prayed and I asked Him to show me what it was He was trying to tell me. If I was really being called then to make it really plain. And if I wasn't, kind of just, leave me be, because it was, it was getting really tough. And things just started changing. His hand went in my life and I could feel it. He started making things better. And I started buying Bibles; all the different translations that I could find, and reading. And I got on the internet and I started looking. I kept surfing around and I kept looking around, and I found United and I asked for if there were churches in the area. And I got an email back. And they gave me Mr. Elliott's name and phone number, and the pastor of North church and his phone number. And that was on Sunday, September 9th, 2001. And two days later planes hit the World Trade Center and I got really scared because I thought I waited too long. And I figured that everybody had been taken to the place of safety. And I sat in front of the TV set for nearly a month, scared, watching all of that, and anthrax and everything, and I was terrified. So I just decided we would bite the bullet. So my husband and I went to, the first service we went to was over that the Eastgate Holiday Inn. And when we walked in the whole place was just alive with people talking, and talking, and talking. And they were all excited. And, Doris, actually, met me at the door, and said, well we all just got back from the Feast. That is why they are talking. And everybody is excited and telling everybody their story. So, we went in and, nobody stopped us at the door. So, we went in and we sat down. And I was so happy to be there that I had a really tough time not crying. And I couldn't sing because it just got caught in my throat. I would start to cry. So, I was just so happy to be there. And, I remember Dr. Levi giving a sermon on Bible study. And, he was telling about don't believe in the dynamic drop. And I remember a lot of people coming up and introducing themselves to us afterwards. But I guess, specifically, I would have to mention Mike and Becky Bennet because, my husband met Mike and they started a conversation and it worked really well. And then Mike introduced me to Becky. And Becky really just became the person that I kind of almost felt like I clung to because she was always there for me. She always made me feel welcomed and loved. And she was always there to answer my questions, because I was new in the church and there was a lot of things I didn't know. And I always went to Becky. And she always answered them. And made me, it made me feel good. And I knew, because that was my answer. It was part of my prayer, was to, you know, that is how God would tell me whether or not I was supposed to be there; was whether or not they made me feel welcome, and they did.
Roy Holladay
When a new person walks through the door or a local congregation, it is up to the membership to make them feel welcome, and a part of that local family. That means we all have a part whenever we see a new person. And you find that it does have an impact upon them.
Narrator
The impact of God's people has influenced many around the world to start living God's way of life. Brethren from just two of the congregations, Mexico City and Monterrey, openly express their backgrounds, calling, love of the truth, and warmth of the congregations.
You will see and hear how they are about our Father's business in Mexico, a country rich in history and culture.
Enrique Granados
The members that I serve are poor people, but with a great heart. A heart willing to serve God and to keep His commandments. One of the main goals of the ministry is to prepare a people for the return of Jesus Christ.
Esther Granados
I ask God to help us with the time that He allows us for my husband to continue the ministry, that I can really be a true help to him.
Irene Herrera de Roybal
I felt that God called me and that I understood the truth. And since then begin to attend church every Sabbath; every Bible study. And finally I ask for them to baptize me because I was finally in the truth.I can't tell you the happiness that I feel having come out of the darkness into the light.
Agustin Garcia
For me, we are still in the true church that was founded by Jesus Christ in the year 31.
Celia Garcia
There is no doubt that if one obeys the laws of God and His commandments, one is happy.
Bertha Guerrero
I think that this is the biggest heritage that my mother left me. I have nothing physical that my left me, and I really don't care about those things, but she left me great, great truths and riches of the truth. And I am very thankful with God to be here with all my family. This is my real family, the church.
Sabina Gamez
I have been through many churches. I never felt comfortable until I saw in the newspaper an ad that said, from the Church, that this Church, United church, and we went to some conferences two days; Saturday and Sunday. And since then we have been here until God will permit us. We have found the truth.
Larry Roybal
Once or twice a year we have public Bible lectures. That is one of the vehicles that we use to call people that have been reading the magazine. We send them out a letter. And they come to the conferences that they can know that there are real people behind the magazine. And sometimes we have a good amount of people that come to the conferences. They listen. They ask questions. We have had some people that continue to come to Church. That is a way that we have grown a little bit in the Church. So we try to have a conference once or twice a year.
Rodrigo Gutierrez
And we were listening to the radio and we heard a commercial about, they were offering a free magazine. And I remember that I got the phone number and I called and they told me in about two months I would receive that gift. And I received that gift, but I never imagined there was going to be the gift that was going to change our lives.
Victorio Castro
A package came in the mail. The major part of the articles were there, and the booklets. So we started to study, my wife and I, and all surprise for me that they would speak about the Feast days. Something totally unknown to us. And I would comment this with my wife and it says, look, look what it says here. And that is the way that we are here. We have been here participating. And I have participated in one of the Feasts, Feast of Tabernacles, and has a deep meaning for me because it has a purpose, a great purpose.
Elsa Ontiveros
I found a person that told me that there is a Church that keeps the seven Feast days. Well that is how I found this Church.
Paola Mendez
During the Feast of Tabernacles, in Mexico, I have had opportunity to work with the children. And we work at the Feast days and we do things with our hands, and we work with them about the Bible. And the kids, they like a lot, is to know things about God.
Blanca Roybal
The members here in Mexico really look forward is a Feast of Tabernacles because the being so spread around we don't have opportunity to see each other but once a year. And we have one only.
Nora Garga de Padilla
Once I got married with my husband, I begin with this wanting to find the truth, and I contacted some friends. And I began to ask about the Sabbath and the Feast days, and the tithes, and was reborn that interest. And I found a way to get closer to the Church of God and here I am.
Juan Gutierrez
As you have noticed, my brother and I, we are twins. We were born after six months and twenty days. We were not even seven months in the womb before we were born, because my mother, our mother, when she was pregnant, she fell off the stairs. And that provoked our premature birth. We were two month in incubator, and every day we were reported as being in very serious condition. But here we are, my brother and I, and God has blessed us greatly.
Guillermo Ozuna
I would describe the Monterey, Mexico congregation as a small Church, but very united. We know each other very well. We know how they think. What they feel. What happens in their lives We feel that it is very important to come to this closeness in fellowship because we feel that we are being backed up. And it is nice to know that the tribulations that we go through, that other brothers in the same Church are going through them with us. And that helps us to continue firm.
Hector Dzib
It is a warm congregation. We help each other. And we are aware of the problems of each other, and asking and praying for each other.
Dr. Roberto Onliveros
The congregation in Monterrey are brethren not only in the faith, but one feels that they are in my true family. They are united and that we are always preoccupied and conscience of each other lives.
Alba Hinojosa
I am new in this Church. I have been here little time. I am here because of my daughter , Elsa, and my son in law, Roberto. I am very happy and satisfied overall with this Church. I want to continue here because I feel a call to this Church.
Emma Landa
I like the people. I like the way the ministers, they talk and they give the messages.
Sergio Sanchez
Even though I am a local minister, it is a twenty-four hour job. It is a most rewarding job. When one is able to see people taking care of their problems, and advise that one gives them, or simply through one sermon. There are more opportunities of economic benefits, but I do not exchange them for the satisfaction of being a minister of Jesus Christ.
Gemma Sanchez
I have friendship with all my brethren, spiritually, and I try to serve them in whatever way I am able to. And it is a very, good experience. A very nice experience. And I am very happy.
Bethia Leal
After services on the Sabbath at lunchtime, we always stay here to eat. And it is a family meal. And everybody brings something, like a potluck. Everybody fixes their meals at home and we bring them prepared with a lot of love and with a great taste.
Fanny Langarcia de Ozuna
I want to tell you something that Mr. Roybal, our minister from here has taught us. Try to have a long relationship with your Church, eat together, that helps a lot to know each other, and to love each other more, and to have tolerance for each other; all the members of the Church.
Paula Mendez de Perez
I am very thankful to God because He gave me His truth when I was twenty-five years old. It was impossible to get together with the Church until three years ago. And I am very happy and very grateful.
And we have to travel to be with the brethren, every Sabbath two hours. Sometimes it is difficult, but we are very happy to travel two hours. And we are very happy.
Luis Dzib
Here in Mexico City we have this young's people club. We are about fifteen young people. We had the opportunity to attend a summer camp. It was the first summer camp in Mexico of United. We developed very good friendships. At the end of summer camp nobody wanted to finish, to end. And then at the Feast of Tabernacles we were able to see each other again.
Sandra Ramos
I am nineteen years old, the years that I have been in the Church. My mother has been twenty years in the Church, so my whole life I have been in the Church. For me it is something very beautiful, very important, something that fills me a lot. I have had the opportunity to go to camp. Kids camp is something I will never forget. Something that is very nice. They teach you lots of things about God. And also the sports that we practice is very interesting.
Maricela Roybal de Delgado
For me, my husband is not in the Church, it has been very helpful that there is camp where my kids can know that there is another kind of life, a Christian life. And right now my second boy is right now in California and having the opportunity to go to camp, understand about God; he has felt that God has called him there at camp.
Veronica Tenorio
I began to attend the Church in the year 2000. I began to attend United. Being in this congregation in Mexico has been very important in my life because of the many adversities of life. I have been able to see the hand of God. He has never forsaken me, and I am very grateful to Him, and with all the ministers and the brethren in the Church because of their help. I have really found a family with whom I can converse and fellowship.
Maricela Roybal de Delgado
God in his mercy took away my dad, He took away my best friends, and I was having a lot of trouble with my marriage. And He rescued me from all my difficulties. And it was a time that I had to give my dad his last gift that was to get baptized because he was going to die and I wanted him to know that I was secure, that I was going to be with him in the kingdom of God. And even if I was the last one in the family, I am very grateful to God because He rescued me from falling down and I don't know what kind of a hole. And I am very grateful that I have my brothers that are in the Church. My mom has been always praying for me. And to those woman who see me now, I am sorry that I am crying, but I am very emotional, if you are married to someone that is not in the Church, I am with you. I know what it is. I know what it is you have to struggle with. But if you are strong and if you don't move in your beliefs, and if you teach your husband that there is nothing powerful more than God, you, we can do it. We can do it together. And we could be one day in God's kingdom. I hope to see you there.
Andres Cisneros
All my family, my father, my brother, my wife, we come to Church in Mexico. The congregation in Mexico City are very friendly. We have many friends in Mexico. And I thank God for blessing me to have as many friends in all the world. I know so many people for doing the work because I try to speak English so that the opportunity to know so many people from other parts of the world. And I would like to pray for all the people in all the world. They have nothing, and we people have so much. So I pray for some day we are together in the kingdom.
Berenice Ortega
I came into the Church through my brother. I knew my husband in the Church. He is my brother's friends. We have been married for three years. And it has been a great blessing that he is also a member of the Church and converted.
Ricardo Ortega
I was born in Mexico City, but now I am working here in the Church Office. It is a great blessing to work in the office of the Church because of the work that is done at the office for the work to preach the gospel through the distribution of the magazines. Everything that has to do with the office and the internet, and everything that has to do with the printed material that we distribute from here. And the truth is that I feel very happy to have been almost born in the Church.
Larry Roybal
And we have one employee who is Ricardo Otega, which helps me at the office and basically we distribute the magazine. They send the magazine from the Home Office here to Monterrey. And we distribute the magazine. We put it in the envelope. We send it to everyone in the Church. And everyone, member and our prospective members through out the whole country. And here is where everything is centralized. We have the magazine here. We have the booklets here. The letters from the President, we get those through email. We copy those here. We send them out.
The brethren that are far away, it is very difficult for some of them, especially because of the economics of their situation. They can't travel as far, or they don't have the money to travel all the time. So we have a very aggressive tape program with the members. We are sending tapes out to the different congregations all over Mexico. And we try to send them tapes for several months. We get sermons from different ministers in Latin America. They are nice enough to send the messages that they preach in other countries in Spanish. And we reproduce them and we send them out to the different congregations so the members are being fed. And some of them get together with the Church once or twice a year. And of course we have ministers that visit them as often as we can. So we have that tape program that is also being developed here in the office. And Mexico City also with Enrique Granados who copies the sermons and sends them out from Mexico City also.
If it weren't for the brethren in the United States, for the subsidy that we receive, and the help that we receive from the United States, none of this would be possible. We just want them to know that we are very grateful for all the help. For their faithfulness. For their funds. For their prayers And for their love.
Pablo Dimakis
We have been in the Church for almost thirty four years. We have been in the ministry for the last twenty five years I say we could be because really my wife, Teresa, has been a great support in my ministry, and really without her I could not have fulfill my responsibility as a minister. The Mexico City congregation is a very warm congregation. A very loving congregation. And we feel very blessed to be able to serve these people and to help them to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to grow in character, and to continue to preparing themselves for the kingdom of God. And my wife and I are very, very blessed to be able to continue having a part in God's work.
Tere Dimakis
I love to serve in Church because I have found a family. A family that grows with time. And it becomes something wonderful to see small children that become young people and then later they become members.
Bethia Leal
I am sixteen years old and those are the years that I have been living in the Church, because I was born in the Church. I think the Church is a place where the youth can fellowship and the way we learn also from the Bible. Our fellowship is very good in and outside of the Church. That is an opportunity to practice everything that we learn here in the Church and take it to other kids that are not in the Church and also help them to come to the truth.
Larry Roybal
I told God, that I said, I felt really lonely. I feel empty, so can You do something about that? Because I want to follow Your truth now. I think I am ready. I wasn't ready until that time. I think God was calling me then. And a week later I met my wife, Blanca. And my wife Blanca, God was calling her. Obviously she wanted to know about the truth. And I told her, I know where the truth is. But it is just too difficult, you know, very difficult to obey. And she said, where is it?
Blanca Roybal
When I ask him to help me look for the Church, he said, I know where it is. And which is it? And he started talking to me about, he preached to me, it was his first, He preached to me about heaven and hell because I have nothing, a good Catholic, but that was the only thing I knew. So I thought that if I died I would surely go to hell. So he told me that, he told me about the doctrine and he said to me something that it was so logic, he said to me God is a loving God and He will not stand for a man or a woman to be suffering forever and ever; burning, and you know, jumping from one stone to the other.
Larry Roybal
And only four months after that we got baptized. We went, later we wanted to learn how we could serve more the Church, and we asked our minister what can we do to serve the Church more? And we were very interested in serving the Church. They said go to Ambassador College. So we did. We went to Ambassador College. We did the most wonderful years of our lives. We were in contact with the pearl of great price.
And then we were sent to Mexico to serve the Church. For me it has been, and for my wife, I speak for both of us, because for both of us it has been a tremendous blessing to work for God's people. I tell my wife and the members, you know, you think the minister is the one who teaches them, but the truth is that the members are the ones who keep the ministers in line because they constantly give you a reality check. They constantly teach you and show you what faith really is. And being in a third world country, after seeing so many things in the world in first world countries, and being at college in the United States, being with the brethren in Mexico, which in general are a people that are poorer, that are not so wealthy, materialistically, material things, they are very faithful. They are very dedicated. Very God fearing people. And that brings a reality check every time I speak with them. I see their faith. I go anoint them and I come out inspired. And my wife, she has been serving the Church with me, she has been helping me in the ministry. And for us it has been a tremendous blessing. It is truly a joy to have people so converted and so happy. And yes, we are Latin, we are emotional you know. We cry, we get all emotional about things, but it has been great. The Church in Mexico is growing. We are doing all our efforts to help them grow. And we ask God that He can continue to send us of His Holy Spirit that we may guide His people that He is calling, and that we may continue faithful until He returns and establishes His government here on earth.
Clyde Kilough
In some ways we wish we could do so much more. We realize sometimes that our power is limited. And certainly on the human level we are limited, and that is why we pray sincerely that God will open doors, because there are some things that only He can do. W pray that He will call laborers, because we can't call people. But He can. We pray that He will provide the means for us that we just can't do by ourselves. And we pray these things because we know He is the one who controls in His authority, the power and the right to do things when He wills. And He can open and shut doors that nobody else can.
Roy Holladay
When you look at the fact that the Correspondence Course is beginning to help change people's lives; I have a letter here from an individual who wrote in requesting the Correspondence Course. And they were the only one studying it. And one day her husband came along, he picked it up, began to read and began to discuss it with her. Her grown daughter came over to visit. They started to discuss it and then she started reading it. Her grandson who was sitting there, looked absolutely bored at the conversation, but after a while he got interested in it. And so here you have wife, husband, daughter, grandson, all of them, picking up the same Correspondence Course and reading it.
What you find is that God can multiply the seed many times over. There can be a seed planted. And that seed can be multiplied in the lives of people. We need to pray that God would do this. But even though we don't have the monies that we would like to to be able to print magazines or booklets, and to accomplish what we would like to do, God can take the seed that is sown and it can grow. And many people can look at it.
The Bible Study Course and subsequent tape program is really having an impact on people's lives. It is one of the main tools that we have for leading people to baptism, so that they might be baptized.
Clyde Kilough
Along with doing things, along with preaching the gospel to the world and doing that, we also realize that we are to be something, with the help of God, as well. We realize that we are to be kings and priests, as Revelation 20:4 says, we are to assume thrones. And we are going to live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. We have to be prepared for that. We realize from Revelation 17 that when the Lord of lords and King of kings returns, that those who are with Him are called and chosen and faithful. And there is a preparation that goes into being called and chosen and faithful. There is an ongoing work that is done through the power of God's Spirit. So God is doing something to preach the gospel. And He is doing something to help us live the gospel.
Roy Holladay
Let me just read one final letter to you here from a gentlemen who wrote in, talking about United's web site. He says, This is the most wonderful web site I have ever found. I come by here every day to see what is new. So every day they come to see. You know, the redesigned web site is attracting many to come daily to check on what is new. We now have a daily news feed with breaking news. We have daily special news articles of significance that are selected that people can come and check on.
We have the daily Bible Reading program. We have a weekly United Church of God commentary on world news from a Biblical perspective. People can download ABC classes. They can obtain all of our booklets, Good News Magazine, other publications, sermon tapes, and so on. Well this individual has realized the value of it.
And notice he says, I am going through bad times. Since I have been turning to God more, Satan is trying to get to me. But I am fighting him. So far I have been able to stay away from drugs, and I am dealing with my family more. I have even started to attend Church. And he says, Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I would say thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of God's people because it is through your efforts, your prayers, your involvement, your tithes and offerings, that this is made possible.
Clyde Kilough
What God is working in His Church today is the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God, and He is also preparing a people for the kingdom of God. Now how does that relate to the Feast of Tabernacles in preparing a people? It is all about vision. It is all about the power of vision. How important is vision to what we are and to where we are going? How important is it, brethren? Well I can say this, the more that we see the kingdom of God, the more it will change our lives before it even comes.
The kingdom of God can change your life before it even gets here. And for those who understand it, and for those whose lives are wrapped up in the future kingdom of God, it will change their lives.
Proverbs 29:18 offers a law of life that is so important about understanding the way the human mind works.
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; Now the
word in the margin for revelation says prophetic vision. The King James Version
says where there is no vision the people perish. Why do they perish? Because
they cast off restraint. When we have revelation, when we have vision, when
we come to a Feast like this and we have our eyes put on the kingdom of God,
we begin to see things and understand things more and more about that kingdom,
and the vision is solidified, we then restrain our lives. We restrain our conduct
according to the values of that vision. We start to live, if we believe in it,
we live according to the values that we say this vision represents of what is
coming.
Roy Holladay
In our Vision Statement, the Strategic Plan, Hebrews 2:10 is quoted. It says, For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
God's object is to bring many sons to glory. We are the firstfruits. Eventually God will extend that hope and that opportunity to all mankind. So we are fulfilling this now when people are being baptized. And you and I are being taught now to be teachers and leaders. You may not look at it that way, but we know that God has called us to become kings and priests. And we have the opportunity to be a king and a priest in His kingdom. And we are learning how to do that. God is going to give us awesome responsibilities.
Clyde Kilough
We sing a hymn that includes the phrase, I have held back my feet from the ways of this world. Why? Because we want our feet to walk in the path of the kingdom of God, not the path of this world. We see the kingdom. God tells us, come here to the Feast and see the kingdom. Every year I want you to keep the vision in mind. The kingdom that you preach about, the kingdom that you say is coming, understand it, and I want you to realize that it is not just something out there somewhere that has no effect on our lives now. God tells His Church, I want you to live in accordance with what is coming. I want your lives now to be a model of the way of life that is going to come, just as Jesus Christ was a model of that kingdom when He walked this earth when He was alive. That is so important for us. The vision of the kingdom helps us conform our thoughts and our activities to the ideals of the standards of the kingdom of God. The way the kingdom is going to be run and operated under the authority and supervision of Almighty God. That is the power of vision.
There is a man named Elie Wiesel who was a holocaust survivor who has spoken many times. And he tells sometimes an anecdote about a righteous man who came to Sodom an Gomorrah, hoping to save the city. He preached continuously. He begged the people, he said, "You must repent. What you are doing is wrong. It is going to hurt you. It is going to kill you. You will be destroyed."
Nobody paid attention. Nobody listened. They laughed him to scorn. But he kept on going, until one day a child stopped him and said, "Poor man. Don't you see that it is useless to try to change everyone?" And he said, "Yes".
And the child said, "Well why then do you go on preaching?"
And the man said, "In the beginning I was convinced that I would change them. Now I keep preaching because I don't want them to change me."
This Feast explains what it will take to change the world. Some will respond. Some few God will call and they will respond. But like the man preaching aloud to Sodom in that anecdote, our preaching does two things. Number one, it will be a witness from God to warn the world and to tell it of the salvation to come. And number two, in the process of lifting up our voices, in the process of offering our prayers and our efforts, it will also keep us from being dragged down from the way of the world. The vision of the kingdom keep us from following the vision of the world.
That is why they Feast is so important. That is why it is so very important to be at the Feast of Tabernacles, and to observe it with all of our heart and with all of our mind, because it offers a vision of hope. It tells us that we are living in the shadow of the kingdom of God. It is coming and it is the hope that the world has.
Roy Holladay
We are the hope of this world. When you look at this world you find that there isn't much hope. But we are the ones now who are giving people hope now in this life as well as the future. We give people hope now because we show that there is hope in the way that people live their life, that their lives can be changed. That God's law, God's way of life, God's principles, if we put them into practice, will have a lasting change in our attitude and our approach. They can affect our marriages. They can affect how we rear our children. They affect our relationship with everybody we come in contact with God's way of life produces results.
Also, we are the hope of the future generation because we are preaching a message about the second coming of Jesus Christ, which is the hope of this world when He comes to set up His kingdom, His government. We are talking about the coming resurrection, and about a better world tomorrow. And those of us who are here observing the Feast of tabernacles, we need to realize that that is what that pictures; a time of hope for everyone.
Clyde Kilough
That is where our stability lies in an unstable world. That is what gives us spiritual stability. That is why Christ said, seek first that kingdom.
In Isaiah 46:9, 10, God says,
Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
[10] Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, 'My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,'
God has His plan and He knows what He is going to do. And nothing will stop it. We can plan our lives but we are relatively powerless. We can sit here today and say well next year I am going to go to the Feats at such and such a place. But if something comes up to alter or change those plans, we can't miraculously carry them out. But God can. God has His plans and He has the power and authority to make things go according to His will. And He tell us, at the Feast of Tabernacles, this is My plan. This is My plan and here is what is going go happen. I am going to do it. My counsel will stand. And He wants us to be a part of it. He has invited us to be a part of that. And He says I want you to make My plans your plans. That is what matters. It is for us to make the plans that God has for His kingdom our plans. And as we do that, it will impact our lives. We will have our hearts in the work of God. This will be our compass every day because we will realize God is taking us toward His kingdom. And we will preach that message more effectively and we will live it more effectively. The dedication for living our lives will be based on the kingdom of God and on the plans of God, and not on any plans of this world. We will preach the good news of the kingdom, and we will mold and shape our lives according to the standards of the kingdom of God. And thus it will impact our lives before it even gets here.
Roy Holladay
I want you to notice, in conclusion here, when Jesus Christ returns to this earth, I want you to notice what He will focus on. What He will tell His bride to do when He returns.
It says, Luke 4:18
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
The bride of Christ, the Church, is being prepared to assist Jesus Christ in that job. And when Christ returns to this earth, He will send us out, and we will go out and begin to preach the gospel We will help to heal the broken hearted. We will show people, finally, the way to happiness.
As Romans 8:18, 19 clearly say this is what the world is looking for.
Romans 8:18-19 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Now verse 19 [19] For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits
for the revealing of the sons of God.
This world is waiting for the time when the sons and daughters of God will be revealed in glory; to be able to help extend salvation to them. So we are the hope of this world. We are giving people hope now. And the world is waiting for the time when we will assist Jesus Christ in finally extending salvation to the whole world.
Juan de la Selva
And we were very, very pleased, very pleased with God because He has given us the opportunity to know Him and the opportunity to be able to try to live according to His word so that we may be in His kingdom. That is our hope. And that is our faith. And are very, very thankful for being a member of the United Church of God.
Linda Saar
If there is one thing that I could say to the people of United, it would be thank you. Thank you for all your diligence and all your prayers. Because without people like you I wouldn't be here today. And I can't help but believe that there are other people out there just like me who are searching and I just want to thank you. And keep it up for them too.
Clyde Kilough
It is a wonderful thing that God is doing. It is a wonderful opportunity that we have. So again, on behalf of the Council, we extend our love and prayers to all of you. We do appreciate and thank you very much for your loyalty to God's way of life; for your dedication and for your support of the work that God is doing. And we will be with you in our prayers and ask that you would be with us in yours as well.
May the rest of your Feast be inspirational, and may the effect of the Feast carry on for a long time after we all go home.