Linga- Nazareth

On Saturday, May 18th 2013, Galilee Bible College held an evening of praise, worship and prayer at the auditorium of the school of nursing at the Nazareth hospital.  Many alumni, students and friends of the college attended the event, as most the attendees were from; Haifa, Nazareth, Shafa-Amer, Cana of Galilee, Reina and other places.

Both Rev. Dr. Hanna Katanacho, Academic Dean of the college and Rev. Dr. Nabil Samara, executive director of the college coordinated this evening.

Pastor Nabil shared from Psalm 108 after he lifted a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving to the lord, reminding everyone that the goal of this evening  is to worship the Lord. Ibrahim Sadran and his wife Ikhlas led the time of praise and worship, accompanied with Fadi Hanna playing the keyboard with Noor Sadran on drums and Majd Shufani played the guitar. There was a beautiful harmony with the worship team and the audience ,especially when they sang from the book of prophet Isaiah quoting: “Wake up and put on garments of your glory, you redeemed; the promise that came along this song was that the Lord is the comforter forever". The time of praise and worship included prayers and words of thanks and praise.

Pastor Hanna Katanacho welcomed the audience thanking all those who played the instruments and all who worked on making the event successful. He talked about “when people sleep during the meeting.”. He quoted from the Gospel of Mark when Jesus asked his disciples to stay awake with him and not to sleep “stay awake and pray lest you fall into temptation”. He shared some examples of people who were surprised after sleeping and waking up as he mentioned Adam who woke up and saw his wife, Eve next to him. He continued to talk about God speaking to Abraham after he slept and He gave him the holy covenant ( Genesis 15). Jacob got tired, slept and saw a dream (Genesis 28: 12). when Joseph slept he was able to see his future. He also mentioned that these people took many blessings but other people have lost their blessing, like Samson who woke up and found that his hair was cut. Eutychus fell from above and was carried dead but the power of the Lord raised him (Acts 20: 9).

 Pastor Hanna humorously commented that the event did not take place in the upper floor lest someone would sleep from the attendance and fall from above! He also referred to the  foolish virgins who found the door closed when they woke up. It was the same with Peter, John and James who all fell asleep and did not listen to what the greatest OT prophets spoke: Moses and Elijah and missed out on the reality of being with Christ and sharing with him about prophecies and their fulfilment through  the death of Christ, his suffering and resurrection.

 Pastor Hanna commented that we need to wake up from our spiritual death and  our sleep, so that we could see the light of Christ. The best awakening in the life of a person is the entry of Jesus to one’s heart, because the devil is like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 8:5.) he also said that Jesus is asking today, “Could you not stay up one hour with me? (Matthew 26: 36-40).

Pasto Hanna encouraged the audience to pray for church leaders and people in positions. The greatest example in enduring hardships was Jesus who held tight to God the Father in the midst of difficulties. He is the only real example for the believer who is awake. He is the God who is able to do everything.

At the end of the evening, Pastor Nabil Samara lifted a prayer of thanksgiving asking that the love of the Holy Spirit be with everyone. In conclusion, everyone enjoyed refreshments.