Feast Fever
FEAST of TABERNACLES 2012

Dear Brethren,

The Feast of Tabernacles begins October 1st and the Last Great Day is October 8, 2012.  “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.  On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein… On the eighth day [Last Great Day] shall be an holy convocation unto you… it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.”  (Leviticus 23:34-36)”

Feast Fever

Brethren, do you have Feast Fever this year?  The scattered brethren who basically have very few church members, or no one at all to meet with during the year, are looking forward to the Feast of Tabernacles with great fervor.  The Bible reveals the Feast Fever of the patriarchs and the New Testament Church of God, but do we still have it?  Do you remember camping at Big Sandy or counting bumper stickers?  When did you catch your first case of Feast Fever?

There are still a few who can remember back to the early days of the Radio Church of God when Feast Fever began in this modern era.   An "old timer" remembers:

"Let me take you back in time to 1964 and Jekyll Island, GA.  Many restaurants back then put pork in almost everything, or they cooked using lard, so we had to ask a lot of questions about ingredients.  The big food chains we all know today didn’t yet exist.  And for those of us that went to Jekyll via US301 there was that little firecracker stand just “South of Ze Border” in Dillon, SC that had signs all the way back up into Virginia.

As we drove south, we would see cars here and there with that little diamond “FT” sticker on the rear bumper.  Later, those bumper stickers would become green rectangles with the church symbol containing the lion, lamb and little boy.  Sometimes we would happen to be at the same gas station or restaurant and it was like an old family reunion.  And the way we traveled was interesting in that cars were crammed full of stuff and people would be in caravans of 2 to 8 vehicles.  My family typically went down with at least three other families, so we had a large truck, two station wagons and a car, packed full of people and stuff

Segregation was still the way of things then and so our “Colored” brethren still had to deal with places that would only serve whites.  It made it a bit interesting when we would meet up on the road, because most of us in the church didn’t see the color of skin.

As we got closer to Georgia, we would see more cars with those stickers on them, to the point that we were always in sight of some car that also had a “C” or “FT” on it (the “C” meant camper).  We automatically knew we would be OK if we had a flat or some other problem because somebody else with one of those stickers on their bumper would stop to help.

Once we got onto Jekyll or St. Simons Islands, it seemed like everyone was “in the church.”  We basically ran the place with the police giving us traffic control authority; we could empty the parking lots in less time than they could, with much fewer problems for the locals.

Since we camped the first three years we were assigned to Jekyll Island, I was familiar with the campgrounds.  Back then, the Radio Church of God (later Worldwide) ran a Festival Reservation office and people were assigned to specific sites.  We, as a church, basically ran the Cherokee campground that first year we were there - which was the second year Jekyll was used for the Feast of Tabernacles.  And it was amazing.  People from all over the country and some from Canada were all talking about the same things: How they had come to hear one of the Armstrongs.  How they had come to be invited to attend church.

And then we kids were all excited because we had found other kids that had the same problems with pork in the school meals, and family members that didn’t understand that we can’t eat pork.  And then there was Christmas, Halloween, Valentines and Easter that we all were dealing with.

How could one forget “The Tent”?  We met there twice a day to hear sermonettes that were sermons by today’s standards.  And the sermons that went on and on and on.  But we couldn’t get enough.  Even though it was over 90 degrees under that tent and the humidity was over 90%, and we had to use portable toilets that were hotter than the tent, we couldn’t get enough.  People drove and walked to services so that they could get there 2 hours early.  Very few people missed services or were late, and those who did felt that they had really missed out.

At sometime during the Feast, we were asked to raise our hands if this was our first Feast of Tabernacles.  And then a call for those who were attending for their second time, third time, and finally, we would be stunned at those few who had their hands up at 25 and 30 years of keeping the Feast of Tabernacles!

At the end of the Feast on the Last Great Day we sang the final song – “’Till We Meet Again”.  It became the traditional last song that ended the Feast.  It was not easy to sing, because no one had a dry eye by the end of the last verse, including the song leader.  The song was in the old gray Radio Church of God Hymnal.  Even a few years later at a different feast site, we all knew that would be the last hymn.  And we all knew it would be another year of battling problems until we could come back to this special time when everyone was helping everyone else and we could all be together."

Brethren, we need to rekindle this kind of Feast Fever, this intense desire to be with God’s Children and to serve one another.  Let’s set a goal of enthusiastically rejoicing that we can be together with God’s scattered children, encouraging and serving one another. Let’s make Feast Fever contagious for all the brethren.

We wish to extend to everyone a very happy and joyous Fall Holy Day season.  We look for the day when all of God's people will be keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in unity.  We wish that all of those we know and love could be together this year.

Happy Feast of Tabernacles!  Brethren, please be careful and safe in all your travels.  Please pray for one another and all the brethren who are experiencing personal trials as we observe these Fall Holy Days.

***

Sermon:  "Satan's Plan Foiled" 26 Sep 12
Sermon:  "Expectations"
(Feast of Tabernacles 2012 - 1st evening)
30 Sep 12
Sermon:  "The Kingdom"
(Feast of Tabernacles 2012 - 1st day)
1 Oct 12
Sermon:  "Joseph - God's Intervention"
(Feast of Tabernacles 2012 - 3rd day)
3 Oct 12
Sermon:  "Joseph - Trust in God"
(Feast of Tabernacles 2012 - 4th day)
4 Oct 12
Sermon:  "Joseph - Deliverance"
(Feast of Tabernacles 2012 - 5th day)
5 Oct 12
Sermon:  "A Great Light"
(Feast of Tabernacles 2012 - 6th day)
6 Oct 12
Sermon:  "They Shall Know That I Am the Lord"
(Last Great Day 2012)
8 Oct 12

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