Sunday, April 09, 2023
Read Leviticus 23:1-14
The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘These are the Lord’s appointed times which you must proclaim as holy assemblies—my appointed times.
3 “‘Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.
The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread
4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you must proclaim at their appointed time. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, is a Passover offering to the Lord. 6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month will be the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day there will be a holy assembly for you; you must not do any regular work. 8 You must present a gift to the Lord for seven days, and the seventh day is a holy assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”
The Presentation of Firstfruits
9 The Lord spoke to Moses: 10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am about to give to you and you gather in its harvest, then you must bring the sheaf of the first portion of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he must wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for your benefit—on the day after the Sabbath the priest is to wave it. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf you must also offer a flawless yearling lamb for a burnt offering to the Lord, 13 along with its grain offering, two-tenths of an ephah of choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil, as a gift to the Lord, a soothing aroma, and its drink offering, one-fourth of a hin of wine. 14 You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this very day, until you bring the offering to your God. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all the places where you live.
Read 1 Corinthians 15:20-26
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then when Christ comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be eliminated is death.
Celebrate Yeshua’s resurrection by honoring God’s appointed time, a Feast of Firstfruits.
See below for the order of the events during this celebration:
- 11:00 AM
Brunch - 12:30 – 1:00 PM
Worship + Short time of teaching - 1:00 – 2:30 PM
The Way Documentary
Often we are asked how one could contribute to the event. Here are some ways:
- We welcome donations towards feast expenses.
- If you are local (Willmar, MN), you may bring one or two shelf stable foods to share (these will need to be dropped off no later than Saturday evening before the event).
- We ABSOLUTELY NEED to know if you are bringing something and the item(s) you are bringing. Please send an email to helen@theback40mn.com to let us know which items you’re bringing. Once you commit to bring something, remember the rest of the attendees will depend on you for that item.
– Menu –
Baked Oatmeal
Egg Bake
Fresh Fruit
Coffee, Tea & Orange Juice
RSVP
If you have any trouble making an RSVP on a mobile device, please try it on a Desktop Computer. If you experience further difficulty making a reservation please email helen@theback40mn.com.
Housekeeping Notes:
We are thrilled to invite you to join us for Firstfruits at the Back 40 Farm.
- BIG CROWD HEADS-UP: Our capacity is limited to 150 so do not postpone your RSVP. If your plans change, we kindly ask you to let us know so that we can add guests from the waiting list.
- PARKING: We are a working farm. It will also be early spring. Snow will be melted (Yah willing!) but our ground will be soft. We will be sending out final parking instructions closer to the event when we know the conditions better.
- DRESS CODE: Remember, we are a working farm. Please dress appropriately to be warm and comfortable. We will update our mud status closer to the event.
- VENUE: hmm, perhaps “venue” is a bit of a stretch, but we are opening up the top floor of our barn to host this celebration. It’s pretty rustic, but we are working hard to make it cozy! A porta-potty will be available.
