The Ensign Zarahemla Branch The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints April 2007 Newsletter Pastor s Corner Elder Bob Moore April corresponds to the first month of the Hebrew calendar. It begins at the new moon before the first full moon after the spring equinox. Originally, October was the first month. An analysis of the Zodiac suggests that astronomy was instituted at the fall equinox. Josephus states that Adam and Seth invented astronomy. Perhaps Seth recorded in the Zodiac the revelations that Adam gave when he predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation (D&C 104:29a). At the first Passover, God changed the calendar so that the first month after the spring equinox started each year. He told Moses, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you (Ex 12:2). The change placed Passover in the middle of the first month. Its central feature is the selection and sacrifice of a Pascal lamb. God commanded, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house (Ex 12:3). The lamb was required to be without blemish, a male of the first year (Ex 12:5) and kept separate from the rest of the flock until the fourteenth day. In the evening of the fourteenth day, each house sacrificed the Pascal lamb, took the blood, and painted it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses (Ex 12:6). That night, the angel of death passed through Egypt and took the life of each first born male except those in homes washed by the blood of the lamb. The death of all first-born males in Egypt was divine retribution for Pharaoh s repeated previous refusals to let Israel go and sufficiently humbled the monarch into freeing God s people. All Israel prepared for their liberation by eating the lamb along with unleavened bread during the night (the beginning of the fifteenth day, or day of the full moon). The Egyptians were so happy to see the Hebrews leave that they gave them presents as the former slaves departed. The Exodus happened in April 1491 BC. By that time, the procession of the equinoxes, which gradually recedes over time, had retreated into the sign of Aries, or the sign of the Ram. Thus, the first time after creation that the sun entered the sign of the Ram, God liberated his people from bondage through the blood of the Pascal lamb and led them under Moses guidance toward the Promised Land. Nearly 500 years before, God commanded Abraham to offer his only son of promise as a sacrifice. Abraham obeyed. He took Isaac to Mount Moriah, the site of the future Temple where the daily sacrifice was still offered at the time of Jesus first advent, to sacrifice him. According to Josephus, Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice fire up the mountain. God intervened and presented a ram as a substitutionary sacrifice for Abraham s son. The symbolism of Israelite liberation under Moses is obvious to Christians. All people are captive to the devil, bound in sin and estranged from the Promised Land of celestial glory. Their captor refuses to let them go. Jesus, God s only begotten Son, is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). Several events point to the fact that Jesus is the Pascal Lamb. According to the Book of Mormon, Jesus was born on the tenth of Nisan. It states, that the crucifixion occurred in in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, in the fourth day of the month (3 N 4:6). Since the Nephites changed their calendar to mark Jesus birth, Jesus died on the fourth day after his birthday. The Bible records that Jesus was crucified on the fourteenth of Nisan. This means that he was born on the tenth, the same day that the Hebrews selected their Pascal lambs. They killed the lamb on the fourteenth, the same day Jesus died on the cross. Like the Pascal lamb, Jesus was selected, or born, on the tenth and was killed, or crucified, on the fourteenth. At the time of Jesus, the Pascal lambs were slaughtered at the Temple about 3:00 on the afternoon of the fourteenth. Jesus died on the cross at 3:00 PM and, like the Pascal lamb, died without a broken bone. He was without blemish, or in spiritual terms, without sin. His sinlessness allowed our Savior to pay the price of our sins. Because he is God, his infiniteness allowed him to bear the sins of all. Jesus became our Pascal Lamb to die for our sins on Calvary s cross. Like the subsitutionary ram for Isaac, he is the substitutionary lamb for all those under sin s condemnation. As Isaac carried the wood for his offering up the hill of his sacrifice, Jesus carried the cross, the wood of his sacrifice, up Calvary. Calvary is the Greek word for the Hebrew Golgotha. It means the skull. When God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, He told the serpent, He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Gen 3:21). Satan bruised Jesus in the crucifixion, marring his body so that he permanently bears the nail prints in his hands and feet, but Jesus bruised the serpent s head,
who is Satan. Satan means apostate serpent. On Calvary Jesus bruised the devil s head and overcame the poison in the serpent s bite. This fact is imbedded in the name of the spot where Jesus was crucified. Calvary means skull, or as we might say, Dead Head. By the time of the crucifixion, the sun had still further receded so that on the fourteenth of Nisan it stood near the stars in Aries named El Nath (meaning the wounded or slain) and Al Sheratan (meaning bruised or wounded). Jesus was, as Isaiah prophesied, wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities (Is 53:5). The stars record this fact in the Zodiac. The blood of Jesus sanctifies the faithful (Gen 6:63). Even as the Hebrews washed their houses posts and lintels in the lamb s blood to escape the judgment of death, the faithful are washed in the lamb s blood to escape the judgment of eternal death. The ancient Hebrews ate unleavened bread at the beginning of Passover. Jesus said that he is the bread of heaven, the manna in this life s wilderness by which those who eat never die (John 6:51). Leaven refers to the pretentious teachings of sophist and lifeless clergy. Jesus told his disciples Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees (Matt 16:7). They understood him to mean the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees (Matt 16:13). Unleavened bread symbolizes the Savior s pure teachings, un-inflated with the opinions and philosophies of men. If Jesus is the Word of God and if the Hebrews were commanded to eat the Pascal Lamb, then the symbolism of the Pascal supper is to feast on the words of Christ. Nephi taught, Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do (2N 14:4). One message of April is that Jesus took our nature to bear our sins on Calvary s cruel cross. Both the sacred scriptures and the starry heavens detail how the Savior s blood cleanses us from our vile nature. If we abide in him, feasting on his pure words, he will raise us up in the resurrection to celestial glory. Praise the true Pascal Lamb, Jesus Christ, the Father s Only Begotten Son. He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Sunday Morning Devotions 04/01/2007 Bob Moore Family 04/08/2007 Brad Gault Family 04/15/2007 Dean Falconer Family 04/22/2007 Jerry Gerber Family 04/29/2007 Lloyd Stilwell Family WO DERFUL HATS Several of the ladies of our congregation knitted hats for the Indians on the Pine Ridge Reservation last year. There were approximately 75 hats in various lively colors. They were delivered to Richard Boyden, who took them to the Indians over Christmas. Richard recently sent an e-mail to Dean Falconer, stating, The knitted hats were WO DERFUL especially since it was sooooooo cold there... This will be a project again for this year, so anyone interested in getting together or learning to knit easy hats, please see DJ Falconer. april BIRTHDAYS 6 Joy McKay 8 Ursala Beil 9 Hailey Peabody 10 Mary Stilwell 10 Marilyn James 18 Harrison Sharkey 18 Jeff Stilwell 24 Joy Moore 25 Jeremiah Trahern If you have anything to submit for the newsletter, please call Marilyn 215-2299 OR e-mail it to Marilyn (mholey1@comcast.net), or (marilyncounts@gmail.com) put it in the EWSLETTER BOX OR give it to me at church. Deadline for the May, 2007 ewsletter will be Sunday, April 22, 2007. This ewsletter will be distributed on Sunday, April 29, 2007. Thank you for supporting the congregational newsletter. Marilyn James and Rolland James
K OWI G THE MASTER S VOICE DJ and I recently went to assist in a sheep shearing at the farm of one of the spinners and weavers in our guild. Spring is the time of year when the sheep need to be sheared. Their wool is then usually commercially processed - washed - dried and carded. Then the owner of the wool will spin it into wool yarn and then knit or weave it into a finished product. This particular sheep shearing took place on a cold Saturday morning. Even though it was in the sheep barn, it was unheated, so the cold was felt. Forty head of sheep were to be sheared. So at about 9:00 am, half of the sheep were herded into the barn pens when all of a sudden one of the helpers said something and the sheep all bolted and ran from the barn. Then the real fun started. We tried and tried and tried to get the sheep herded back into the barn. They wanted no part of it. On one of the unsuccessful attempts, the sheep bolted and knocked one of the helpers down and trampled over her. Luckily she was not hurt, and she laughingly said that she had just had a complete body massage by forty sheep. The owner of the sheep, their shepherd would call to them, but they did not know the sound of her voice since her husband, their real shepherd was the usual sheep caregiver. He was very sick that day and was unable to be at the farm. The sheep would have nothing to do with her calling and kept bolting time and time again. We all said that if only he had been there to call them, they would have responded to his voice. He was their shepherd. After many tries, we gave up and went to the house for lunch. We had delicious home made soup and chili, along with many other food items that the helpers had brought. So after lunch, we tried again and the sheep responded to a round up. They were sheared; the wool was skirted, put in bags for being processed. What a long day, but what a blessing it is to be a part of such a wonderful group of people who would do anything for each other or anybody at any time. When the sheep did not respond to the sound of a shepherd, this make me stop and think, Do we know the sound of our Shepherd s voice and do we respond to His calling? We are the sheep of His pasture. Even though we do not get sheared like the sheep at the farm, when we respond, He will instruct us, turn our lives around, so in that regard perhaps we do get a shearing. His voice is gentle, soft and kind. He does not yell at His sheep, causing them to bolt and run. Let us listen for the voice of our Shepherd, get to know His voice, and respond, as He wants us to live our lives. Dean Falconer Thank you Dean and DJ for such a wonderful testimony. These are the types of testimonies that help to strengthen us and remind us of some things that are missing in our lives from time to time. Let s help each other by sharing our testimonies with each other. If we are given this type of experience we need to share them with our brothers and sisters to help each other. I know for a fact that testimonies like this one from other people give me such strength and love for those around me. Share your experiences and let s print them in each newsletter. Marilyn James
Musical Schedule April 1st Devotion Jeri Gault Worship Jeri Gault Evening Sharon Francis April 8th Devotions Jill Moore Worship Jill Moore April 15th Devotions Jeri Gault Worship Karen Hawley Arpil 22nd Devotions Joy McKay Worship Jill Moore Evening Jeri Gault April 29th Devotions Karen Hawley Worship Jeri Gault Evening Sharon Francis ************************* Special Music April 8th Rolland James April 15th Heather Gault EVE TS FOR APRIL April 2nd is the priesthood meeting at the church at 7:00 PM. April 9th will be the Women s meeting at the church at 7:00 PM. April 14th: Everyone is invited to Marilyn James s 60th birthday party at DOS AMIGOS in Blue Springs from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. April 15th is the monthly potluck. The theme this month is MEXICA. April 21st is the branch social. It will be a volleyball and kids afternoon from 2:00 PM until 5:00 PM. This will be held at Hank s Gym in Oak Grove. April 28th the Zion s League and Zion s Builders will enjoy a mid-morning and early afternoon church yard beautification and party. The activities will be from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Lunch will be provided. All youth are invited to come enjoy the planned activities and lunch. April 22nd April 29th Choir DJ Falconer and Marilyn James IT DOESN T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS. Come help me celebrate Here are the rules, COME to have fun, no-one wears black. I was very lucky to be able to convince a certain musician to sing for my party free of charge. Yeah. 60 years APRIL 14TH 2007 DOS AMIGOS RESTAURANT (Blue Springs) 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM Dos Amigos is located on the east side of 7 highway north of I-70 I in a strip mall behind the gas station after the second stop light. Call 816-215 215-2299 2299 for questions. NO GIFTS!!!
ACTIVITY CALE DAR Zarahemla Branch April 2007 S M T W Th F S 1 Genesis 22:9-10 9:15 Morning Worship 9:30 Sunday School 10:30 Worship Service Presiding: Patrick McKay Preaching: Ron Johnson 6:00 Evening Service Presiding 2 Priesthood Meeting 7:00 pm at church 3 4 7:00 p.m. Prayer Service Rex Curtis Presiding Isaiah 53:3-6 5 6 7 8 III ephi 5:10-12 9:15 Morning Worship 9:30 Sunday School 10:30 Worship Service Presiding: Brad Gault Preaching: eil Simmons JOI T CO FERE CE BEGI S AT WALDO 9 Women s Meeting 7:00 pm at church 10 11 7:00 p.m. Prayer Service Dean Falconer Presiding Genesis 4:6-7 12 13 14 15 Revelation 5:12-13 9:15 Morning Worship 9:30 Sunday School 10:30 Worship Service Presiding: Rex Curtis Preaching: Lloyd Stilwell Potluck after worship-ole Mexican theme 6:00 pm Presiding: Chuck Perry Religio 22 Revelation 19:7-9 9:15 Morning Worship 9:30 Sunday School 10:30 Worship Service Presiding: Ken Simmons Preaching: Brad Gault 6:00 pm Evening Service 16 17 18 7:00 p.m. Prayer Service Doug Trahern Presiding D&C 58:3f 23 24 25 7:00 p.m. Prayer Service Chuck Perry Presiding 19 20 21 26 27 28 Volleyball Hank s Gym 2-5 pm Zion s League Zion s Builders 10 am-2 pm Church yard Beautification 29 D&C 65:1b 9:15 Morning Worship 9:30 Sunday School 10:30 Worship Service Presiding: Tim Canfield Preaching: Doug Patterson 6:00 Evening Service Bible Marking 30
Zarahemla Branch The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 502 Southwest 17th Street Blue Springs, MO 64015