It’s spring banquet/fundraiser season for our partner ministries. Generally speaking, when the fundraisers are free to attend a freewill offering is taken at the end of the program. Here is a quick recap of what is happening:
This Saturday – Onesimus Prison Ministry is having a fundraiser breakfast at Waterway Church in Oxford, starting at 9 am. Head to https://onesimusministries.org/prison-ministry-breakfast-at-waterway-church for more information. Tickets are free.
March 2oth – ServeNow is hosting its spring banquet the Double Tree Resort in Willow Street starting at 6 pm. Tickets are free. For more information and to register head here: https://weservenow.org/pa-banquet/
March 28th - Solid Rock Youth Center’s annual Banquet and Auction is at Wesley Church, starting with Dinner at 5 pm. Auction starts at 7 pm. Attending the auction is free, tickets for the dinner are available for purchase here: https://www.solidrockquarryville.com/auction
April 24th – Lighthouse Youth Ministry is having its’ spring banquet at Bethany Christian School in Oxford, starting at 6:30 pm. Tickets are free. You can register online here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/h27fu8b
May 2nd – Solanco Neighborhood Ministries is having breakfast fundraiser at Wesley Church starting at 7:45 am. Ticket information can be found here: https://solanconeighborhoodministries.org/ministry-event/a-mile-in-my-shoes-spring-fundraising-event/
May 3rd – Cornerstone Reproductive Health is hosting its annual Ladies Tea and Auction at the Barn at Paradise Station. The tea begins at 9:30 am. Tickets can be purchased here: https://pacornerstone.org/support-gap-pennsylvania/charity-events-gap-pennsylvania/
May 9th – Oxford Neighborhood Services has its annual golf tournament at Tanglewood Manor Golf Club, starting at 8 am. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.oxfordnsc.org/golf
This Sunday we are going to look at Daniel 8, which is a prophecy regarding what will happen to the nation of Israel in the future (from Daniel’s perspective). Daniel is given more details about the fulfillment of the prophecy in chapter 11.
The near fulfillment of the prophecy takes place during what we sometimes refer to as the Intertestamental Period. This period of time takes place between the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, and the Gospels of the New Testament. The Intertestamental Period lasted about 400 years, and during this time the political, religious, and social atmosphere of Israel changed significantly.
Due to first the Greek and then the Roman occupations of Israel, by the time of the New Testament the culture of Israel was a mix of the Jewish, Greek and Roman cultures. This “mishmash” of cultures was not a positive development for God’s people, because the Greek and Roman cultures were very worldly, humanistic, and ungodly. It does help to explain why the New Testament seems, at times, to be so different from the Old Testament.
It was towards the end of this time that a new sect of Jews was born – the Pharisees. The Pharisees are the primary enemies of Jesus in the Gospels. There was a brief window of time between the Greek occupation and the Roman Occupation when the Jews ruled themselves. The rulers, however, did not always follow the Mosaic Law, so the Pharisees (which means “separate ones”) separated themselves from the other religious leaders and strictly followed not just the Mosaic Law but also the many laws they added to it.
Since the Bible is “silent” about this time period, scholars use other historical works of literature (including some Jewish ones) to understand what was happening with the Jewish people. These Jewish historical works are considered to be reliable, but they are not part of the Bible because they were never a part of the Hebrew Scriptures and they are never referred to in the New Testament. Protestants, therefore, do not believe that they are the inspired Word of God. The Catholic and Orthodox churches do include them in their Bibles.
Here's what’s happening:
1. Youth Group meets tonight at 6:30 pm in the school house.
2. Youth Breakfast at the church is this Saturday at 8 am in the school house. Breakfast provided, if you would like a breakfast sandwich from Kreider’s Market let Thomas know ASAP.
3. Devon Fite is leading a time of prayer at the church, starting at 8 am on Sunday.
4. Solanco Meat Canning is from 3 to 7:30 pm on March 11. Signup sheet is in the lobby. See Lloyd Kreider or Vernon Myers for more information.
5. If you would like more information about the youth missions trip to North Carolina in July please see Thomas. We need to have a headcount of who is going by 3/16.
6. Save the Dates – Lenten Prayer Services on 3/13, 3/27, & 4/10 from 6:30 -7:30 pm.
7. Save the Date – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner on 4/6.
If you thought our passage from last Sunday was wild…you haven’t seen anything yet! As we look at Daniel 8 I believe that we will be amazed at just how accurate this prophecy was (and is). Still, we have to return to the question of what it means for Christians today. We’ll look at what the prophecy has to say about how we should respond when we see evil prospering.