Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:
Greetings from Grover Beach, California.
I have done a couple of podcasts, plus a couple of pre-podcast interviews, in the past week. We continue to receive positive feedback from the hosts of the podcasts, including views in the thousands.
That said, we are in the Spring Holy Day season as we are observing the Days of Unleavened Bread until sunset 19 April in 2025.
Passover and Baptisms
Passover and the First Day of Unleavened Bread went well here in California.
Louis Rubin sent the following NTBO picture and email related to Texas:
Hello Dr. Thiel, this is Louis and Pat Rubin, we have had a wonderful weekend with Dawn, Chad, Stephanie, and Carlos Leal. It has been great way to start the annual feasts this year 2025. Enjoying the fellowship … and eating well. Wish you all were here.
Best regards.
Louis Rubin
Evangelist Evans Ochieng sent the following from Kenya:
Pastor Dr Bob,
Greetings from kenya.
The Passover went well in Kenya. Though it was raining heavily on Sabbath and today. I recieved calls from got kachola, rift valley and kisiî that they had a wonderful Passover. I also got massage from Burundi and Malawi that the they had a wonderful Passover. …
Hope you also had a good Passover.
Evans.
Deacon Koang Deng reported that Passover went well. Here is a photo he sent from Ethiopia:
Ezekiel Oanda sent the following:
Hope your ULB is going well with you and yours. Am sorry to announce the passing on of one of our members from Rigo group. His name is Osoro Martin. He donated a piece of land where we put up a a hall, but now he has gone. Say prayers to fhe family and the church members.as we morn our fellow disciple of the Christ. May God’s Kingdom come!!!
Yes, in Africa, most of the church buildings we have go on land members donate. Anyway, please pray for the family of Osoro Martin, that group in Kenya, and for God’s kingdom to come.
Deacon Sosten Libungwa sent the following report:
Dear pastor Evans,
Church greetings,the Passover went well, … for baptism,you know that in this district we have over 4 churches namely 1Mchacha,2 Ngombe 1, 3 Mchalo 4 Ngombe 2, since you visited we did not conducted baptism, so all the 4 churches are just keep on waiting how this good day shall come to them . …God bless you.
Sosten Libungwa.
The plan is that Evans Ochieng will visit Malawi soon and go with deacon Libungwa to the places where more baptisms are requested.
Pastor Radson Mulozowa sent the following report:
Greetings from Malawi and Mozambique church
We are all doing well
Let me report that the Passover service was very successful and brethren are observing the days of unleavened bread
The Passover service were done in the following centres :. Chileka, Duya, Nasiyaya, Njenjete,
During Passover, brethren were baptized
Migowi. 2
Chileka 5
Liwonde. 4
Muriko. 3
Kachingwe. 9
Domasi. 3
Nasiyaya 11
Miseu folo. 4
Mgome. 1
Duya. 3
Chiringa. 3
During Passover 48 brethren were baptized …
Let me report that I have received a call that pastor Evans is coming to Malawi next week on Monday 21 after days of unleavened bread
Best regards
Pastor Radson Mulozowa
It is great that so many have responded. In my case, I also was baptized just before Passover.
Remember that Jesus said, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10) and:
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:19-20)
Baptisms, of course, are one of the fruits.
Last Day of Unleavened Bread
The seventh day of unleavened bread occurs on the 21st of Nisan/Abib of the Hebrew calendar. That will be from sunset 18 April to the sunset the 19th in 2025.
“The Crossing of the Red Sea” by Nicolas Poussin c. 1634
On the 21st of Nisan/Abib, God had the Red Sea parted (Exodus 14:20-21). God called for the children of Israel to cross on dry land under the cloud (Exodus 14:20-22,29), where they were symbolically baptized (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). They endured their fleeing with their enemies behind them and the waters stopped on both sides of them. During the daylight hours of the 21st, the Egyptian army pursued them and was destroyed (Exodus 14:23-28).
Here is some information on what happened on it from the old Radio Church of God:
Over 3450 years ago, more than three million Israelites crossed the Red Sea dry shod! In this unusual photo the Red Sea stretches as a barrier between the desolate wilderness of Egypt in the foreground and the peaks of the Sinai peninsula which rise hazily on the horizon. …
Did God Almighty get His people safely across the Red Sea before daylight? Exodus 14:21-27. 10. Then on the daylight part of Wednesday, the seventh and last day of Unleavened Bread, was there great rejoicing? Since the seventh day of Unleavened Bread was an annual Sabbath, was there a Sabbath meeting in which newly composed congregational hymns were sung in memoriam and thanksgiving to God? Ex. 15:1-18, 20-21. (Lesson 34 – Days of Unleavened Bread – Your Part In God’s Master Plan, Ambassador College, 1965)
After finally escaping Egypt, by crossing the Red Sea dry shod on the seventh day of Unleavened Bread (Lesson 35 – Feast of Pentecost – The Church In God’s Master Plan, Ambassador College, 1965)
Here is some information about it from a Jewish source:
Exodus … On the seventh day after leaving Egypt, “the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold! the Egyptians were advancing after them. They were very frightened, and the children of Israel cried out to HaShem.” (ibid 14:10) All of a sudden, following orders was no longer an option. The Egyptians were closing in. This, as far as Israel was concerned, was not part of the plan. Something had to be done! This was a brand new reality for Israel, and they scrambled as they tried to wrap their collective brain around the threat to their continues existence. The people cried out to G-d, but then they quickly turned to Moshe: “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert?” (ibid 14:11) At first glance this appears to be a feeble attempt at gallows humor, a cynical rebuke of Moshe. But on second thought, it is actually a very logical and insightful question: Would the G-d that wrought miracles in Egypt on our behalf, and humbled the greatest power on earth, do it all for naught? There must be some way out of here! …
And now Israel is looking to Moshe for instruction. This is also a new reality for Moshe. Up till now he has been confronting Pharaoh, a most powerful despot, to be sure, but a man, who by his own admission, doesn’t know and doesn’t recognize HaShem, the G-d of Israel, placing Moshe in a distinct advantage. But now Moshe must confront his own people whom he loves, who like him, know and trust in the G-d of Israel. Moshe seeks to console the people: “Don’t be afraid! Stand firm and see HaShem’s salvation that He will wreak for you today, for the way you have seen the Egyptians is only today, but you shall no longer continue to see them for eternity. HaShem will fight for you, but you shall remain silent.” (ibid 14:13-14) What Moshe says is true, but G-d reproaches him: “Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the children of Israel and let them travel!” (ibid 14:15) The children of Israel turn to Moshe, Moshe turns to G-d and G-d turns right back to Moshe, saying, what you have told Israel may be true, but it is not a matter of what they need to hear, but a matter of what they need to do: to extricate themselves form this situation, to move on, to overcome their adversaries, to overcome their own self-doubts. They need to make the first move. They need to move forward. They need to trust themselves before they can believe in me!
And so it was, on the seventh day after leaving Egypt forever, Israel found itself in an impossible situation, the impassable sea before them, and the world’s largest, most powerful army closing in behind them. This might seem like a familiar situation to us today, nothing unusual, especially to those who read the daily headlines, a situation that Israel finds itself in time after time. But this was very new to Israel at the time, a nation of seven days, a babe in the woods, whose great faith in G-d, and ultimately, great trust in themselves, G-d would immortalize with these words: “Go and call out in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: so said HaShem: I remember to you the lovingkindness of your youth, the love of your nuptials, your following Me in the desert, in a land not sown.” (Jeremiah 2:2) G-d had already understood what the infant nation of Israel had yet to begin to realize: Their great trust and faith in HaShem, and their great trust and faith in themselves, the children of G-d, the nation chosen by HaShem to bear witness to His great presence in our world. “Let them travel!” G-d told Moshe. Let them be free! Let them be independent! And as surely as I am your G-d, I will open before them a path to the future, a path to the promised land, to Jerusalem, to the Holy Temple! Chag Sameach! A joyful Seventh Day of Passover to all! (“Speak to the children of Israel and let them travel!” (Exodus 14:15). Temple Institute, Nisan 20, 5778/April 5, 2018 )
The Bible calls this day the seventh day of unleavened bread, not the seventh day of Passover:
15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat–that only may be prepared by you.
17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, (Exodus 12:15-16, NKJV throughout unless otherwise noted)
Understand that it was on the Seventh Day of Unleavened bread that the Hebrews crossed the Red Sea and the army of Egypt was destroyed. The Seventh, the last, Day of Unleavened Bread pictures fully leaving the dead works of sin behind.
Christians need to overcome the world and its sinful ways.
A Christian sequence of events starts from our acceptance of Jesus, repentance, and baptism (Acts 2:38-39). Christians endure to the end (Matthew 10:22) attaining to the first resurrection (Revelation 20:6) to be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).
The crossing of the Red Sea may have other lessons for Philadelphian Christians. As they flee to a place in the wilderness just prior to the start of the Great Tribulation, Satan will be angry with them (Revelation 12:13-16). During the time the Philadelphian Christians are being protected (Revelation 3:7-13), bad things will be happening in the world around them (Revelation 12:14-17). They will often need to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Furthermore, the New Testament also seemingly shows a fulfillment of the destruction of Pharaoh’s army in the destruction of the world’s armies who will fight against the returning Jesus (Revelation 19:19-21).
The Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread helps picture the end of the world’s systems and the emergence of the Kingdom of God.
Suggested Sabbath Day and Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread Services
- 2-3 hymns (our songbook, The Bible Hymnal, contains the materials from the 1974 Bible Hymnal from the old WCG with new covers, plus ten additional hymns; there is also some Choral Accompaniment online).
- Opening prayer
- Offertory: Offering for the Days of Unleavened Bread.
- Announcements (if any; though for many it will be this letter) and one hymn.
- Sermon, which for most who receive this letter via email will be a recorded one: 7ULB, Fleeing, Sin, and Destruction. Other sermons are also available at the ContinuingCOG channel.
- Final hymn.
- Closing prayer.
For those interested in two services, here is a suggestion for the second service:
- 2-3 hymns (our songbook, The Bible Hymnal, contains the materials from the 1974 Bible Hymnal from the old WCG with new covers, plus ten additional hymns; there is also some Choral Accompaniment online).
- Opening prayer.
- Sermonette: How to Be More Hopeful.
- Announcements (if any) and one hymn.
- The one suggested is by Steve Dupuie: Unleavened Bread.
- Other sermons are also available at the ContinuingCOG channel.
- Final hymn.
- Closing prayer.
Here is some Spanish language information:
English title: Offering Message First day of Unleavened Bread 2023
Spanish title: Mensaje de Ofrenda Primer dia de Panes sin Levadura 2023
Spanish youtube link: https://youtu.be/wAFSXiCL3lA
English title: An Important Reminder
Spanish title: Un recordatorio Importante
Spanish youtube link:https://youtu.be/NeWi0Mlt2oE
Christians have kept God’s Holy Days for nearly 2000 years.
Note: If you have a slow internet connection, you can watch these by starting the video, then below it (and towards the right) look for an outline of a gear–if you click on that, it will allow the YouTube video to be played with lower video quality, but at least it will not stop often–you can select a quality as low as 144p. If your internet connection is still too slow (as my home one is) and/or you prefer audio messages to audio-visuals ones, go to the YouTube link for the message, click on SHOW MORE related to the description. You will then see something that says, “Download MP3.” Below that is a link to an MP3 file. Most computers (and even some mobile telephones) will allow MP3 files to be downloaded and played. This is an option we have made available (but we are also looking into ways to improve that as well)–and, of course, we have written article options. Some people have found that if their internet connections are not fast enough, that they can simply listen to the messages that are found at the Bible News Prophecy online radio channel.
IN CASE YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A ‘LETTER TO THE BRETHREN’ FOR ANY WEEK, REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE MANY SERMON MESSAGES ON THE ContinuingCOG channel AND MANY SERMONETTE MESSAGES ON THE Bible News Prophecy channel. There are also some messages at the CCOGAfrica channel. There are also messages in the Spanish language at the CDLIDDSermones channel.
In case one or more of our video channels are unavailable, down, restricted, or ?, understand that we are on multiple platforms.
For sermons in English:
ContinuingCOG YouTube channel. Dr. Thiel has produced video sermons for this channel.
Also available at BitChute COGTube https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogtube/
For sermonettes in English:
Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel BibleNewsProphecy https://www.youtube.com/user/BibleNewsProphecy.
Bitchute Prophecy https://www.bitchute.com/channel/prophecy/,
Vimeo at Bible News Prophecy https://vimeo.com/channels/biblenewsprophecy
Brighteon Bible News Prophecy https://www.brighteon.com/channel/ccogbnp.
Rumble https://rumble.com/c/biblenewsprophecy.
DailyMotion https://www.dailymotion.com/dm_e24c8ac0050c5e7445cd5573711869c6/videos
For animations in English:
CCOG Animations YouTube channel.
Also available at BitChute COGAnimations https://www.bitchute.com/channel/coganimations/
Sermons and sermonettes in Spanish:
CDLIDDSermones channel.
African videos:
CCOGAfricaYouTube channel.
Also available at BitChute COGAfrica https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogafrica/
Audio messages:
Bible News Prophecy radio. This is an audio version of the Bible News Prophecy videos on one of our internet stations as well as our radio broadcasts in English. The BibleNewsProphecy.net website also has information about our international radio presence for Europe, Asia, and North America. That page is also available as a mobile app.
Bible News Prophecy International radio. This has links to our non-English language online radio station as well as materials in multiple languages.
There is also additional information at the Continuing Church of God Multimedia page.
World News Items
The Europeans (see EU President says because of Donald Trump ‘The West as we knew it no longer exists’) and Chinese (see China and USA will BOTH be hurt by trade war — will there be a winner?) are getting more and more concerned about the US. While they still want to work with the US, they also are busily working with others to attempt to increase trade that does NOT involve the US. The trading aspects of the coming European Mystery Babylon are in the process of forming. The prophecies of the 17th and 18th chapters of Revelation related to trade are getting closer to fulfillment.
Europe is increasing its trade presence (see European Union’s reputation and influence growing with ASEAN and Central Asian nations) and the world has been leaning a bit more towards the euro and gold than the US dollar (see Euro emerging as safe haven amid Donald Trump tariff moves).
In other news, unlike the US State of Maine and US Supreme Court justice Ketanji Jackson Brown, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has been able to identify what a woman is (see UK Supreme Court can define a woman, but the State of Maine being sued because it cannot). The biological fact is that males have xy chromosomes and females have xx chromosomes–trying to pretend that cross-dressing, hormones, feelings, or even surgery changes that, is going against true science.
Concluding Comments
Notice an account with the apostles and Jesus:
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” (Luke 17:5-10)
We need to exercise our faith by our actions.
Brethren, yes, it is our duty to observe the Days of Unleavened Bread.
But if your only objective is to obey the minimum, and not truly support God’s work, etc., you, too, may be an unprofitable servant.
Something to think about during these Days of Unleavened Bread.
Sincerely,
Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer