Dear Church family and friends,
‘So as we move toward Easter…’
Woah, Pastor Buddy! Some of us are trying to close off Christmas and get over New Year! On-the-other-hand, he is right. At least according to the calendar, our Saviour has been born but not actually saved us yet. That rescue act happened on a cross a little over 30 years after his birth. As much as we prepare for Christmas, we should also get ready for Easter and the hope through sacrifice that it brings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyuK7cTNDTM
For those not yet completely orientated in their planners, but are now curious: Easter happens toward the end of April this year, with Maundy Thursday through Easter Monday being the last weekend of the school holidays. We will of course have our Maundy Thursday evening service and Easter Breakfast – but we have a little while until we need to make any big announcements about that!
This week in Church…
Our Young Adults will meet in their regular way on Tuesday evening at 7pm. As there are so many who belong to YABS, they gather together in smaller groups to study, pray and share fellowship together. To find out which group is nearest to you or which one is the English speaking one, please write to yabs@ibc-giessen.org.
As soon as it starts back up again, it has a pause. There will be no Mid-Week Bible Study on Wednesday this week, as we are hosting an event for the Allianz Gebetswoche in the Chapel Room at 7:30pm on the same evening! The event is title ‘Pray and See’ and will be held in German. IBC Giessen, however, is not the only Church to take part in the week of prayer organised by the Evangelische Allianz in Giessen – a full list can be found on www.ev-allianz-giessen.de/allianz-gebetswoche . The purpose of this action is to have many Christians across the city gather and pray for the place in which they live, one another and for the wider world.

To wrap up the week we will hold our regular Sunday service at 11am in the Chapel Room of the FTH. If you are unable to attend, you are more than welcome to join our online congregation. To get a link to the livestream, please write to office@ibc-giessen.org .
The weekend after…
…kicks off with Men’s Breakfast on Saturday (25th) at 9:30am in the Student Kitchen. The gentlemen will be meeting for the first time this year for their traditional big breakfast, an input, and fellowship. Let’s make it a good one! If you plan on attending, please write to office@ibc-giessen.org telling us whether any guests will join you, as well as what food you will bring to share.
On Sunday 26th after the service we will be holding a Business Meeting. Here we will find out more about the state of the Church’s finances, the budget for this coming year, as well as several other changes happening in IBC Giessen.
As election campaigns get underway here in Germany, we pray for a peaceful and tolerant process of democracy. No matter what your political leanings may be, everyone has a right to be heard and a responsibility to listen to others without judgement. We are all united under God’s reign, regardless of who comes into government in February.
May you have a blessed week!