March 13 – Church Information; Announcements

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

Devotional
by Jared Miller

Known By Our Love

“Oftentimes, when stress levels rise like they are in Lebanon these days, arguments or disagreements happen, and the situation escalates—between husband and wife, or other family members.  People lose their tempers—they shout, they yell, and then sometimes violence follows—with hitting, punching, or kicking.  After the big blow up, oftentimes the violent one apologizes and promises to never repeat their behavior—and makes excuses for it.  But then a couple of days later, or a few weeks or months, it happens again.  Some people repeat this over and over again—and it becomes a cycle of abuse.  This is very detrimental to relationships—it especially destroys women mentally, emotionally, and physically.
            But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and self-control.  These are completely the opposite of abusive behavior.  Love is not abusive.  Rather, 1 Corinthians 13 says, “Love is patient, love is kind…. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered…. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects…” (vss. 4-7).
            Love is patient—it’s not easily angered.  Abuse hurts people—physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually.  Hurting people like that is evil.  True love does not delight in evil.  True love always protects.
            As Christians, we are called to be known by our love (John 13:35)—loving God with all our hearts, and loving our neighbors.  And one way we love our neighbors is by protecting them—especially protecting them from being abused.  This is part of our Christian duty.

Dear Church Family,

Our Sabbath morning services are as follows:

9:15 A.M.: Church Service

10:45 A.M.: Sabbath School

12:00 P.M.: Collegiate Worship Service (This one won't be livestreamed.)

CHURCH SERVICE
9:15 am

The speaker is Pr. Jared Miller, and his message is titled, "Standing Up for Her." It is part four of the series "Pandemic Problems... God's Solutions".

Looking Ahead:

March 20 – The speaker will be Pr. Byard Parks, concluding our Week of Spiritual Emphasis.

CHILDREN'S SABBATH SCHOOLS
10:45 AM-12:00 PM

JUNIORS — https://meet.google.com/sud-fsur-spr

EARLY TEENS — https://zoom.us/j/94677630128?pwd=d1BRYVBqTmRUWEw4ZlBFa1pSL1pEdz09

TEENS — https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86086440560?pwd=NU1IMFhWQkc1M3BYdGtNYlU2dE9TZz09

ADULT SABBATH SCHOOLS
10:45 AM-12:00 PM

Check Out This Week's MISSION STORY: https://am.adventistmission.org/mqa21q1-24

COLLEGIATE CLASS – https://meet.google.com/dzu-xrfc-yas?authuser=0

AUDITORIUM – Teacher – Rick McEdward https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85172367855?pwd=ZFFmRkl6d2tPeDAya1haU3BLQ05EZz09 Meeting ID: 851 7236 7855; Passcode: 229378

ROOM #217 — Teacher – Tibor Szilvasi
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89343372117?pwd=OFBBYmpncXNNdzk2K3VFRHVXTHIPdz09 Meeting ID: 893 4337 2117; Passcode: 622017

CLICK BELOW TO CONNECT WITH YOUR CHURCH ON SOCIAL MEDIA!

LOCAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Welcome to University Church online! Our speaker today is Pastor Jared Miller. He will conclude our four-part series today called Pandemic Problems...God’s Solutions.

2. The church board has temporarily adjusted our Sabbath service times. Please note the new times for all Sabbath Schools and second service. Until further notice, our Sabbath services will be as follows:

9:15 a.m.: Church Service (Facebook/YouTube)
10:45 a.m.: Sabbath School (Zoom/Google Meet).
12:00 p.m.: Second Collegiate Worship Service (Google Meet)

Please worship with us online from your home! Lord willing, we hope to resume in-person services again when it is safe to do so.

3. This next week is our Week of Spiritual Emphasis, and the theme is "Love in Action.” The speaker is Pastor Byard Parks. The nightly meetings will be at 7:00 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, and at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, concluding during the Sabbath morning church services. Please join us on Facebook or YouTube!

4. Because of our Week of Spiritual Emphasis, we will only have our regular prayer meeting on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87620027362?pwd=WkowbUhVajd3 OXYxT0ZsVC9qN3psdz09

5. At this time, our Friday vespers program is completely online, and uses the same link as the prayer meeting. Join us and be blessed!

6. All members are encouraged to attend our Online Church Business Meeting on Tuesday, March 23, at 7:00 p.m. Please add it to your calendars, and plan to join us.

7. The SS quarterlies are here! They include both this quarter and next quarter’s lessons. If you would like to have one, please contact Grethel Tadeo at (grethel.tadeo@meu.edu.lb). The cost of each is 15,000 LBP and you can make the payment in the same way as you return your tithes and offerings (online or box at the gate).

8. As we want to spread the events and announcements of the church as effectively as possible, we have created a new Telegram group to communicate more easily. To join the group, please contact Sara Calado at (sara.calado@adventistmena.org).

9. The podcasts of many of our recent sermons can be listened to on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wvonlRW1EKbj04rySf0mB or https://anchor.fm/middle-east-university-church. If you were blessed by a sermon, share the blessing by sending a link to someone else.

10. If you have an announcement you would like in the bulletin, or prayer request for the prayer box, please email it to bulletin@universitysda.church on or before Wednesday