Ooltewah Seventh-day Adventist Church

“The cloud that was a wall of darkness to the Egyptians was to the Hebrews a great flood of light, illuminating the whole camp, and shedding brightness upon the path before them. So the dealings of Providence bring to the unbelieving, darkness and despair, while to the trusting soul they are full of light and peace. The path where God leads the way may lie through the desert or the sea, but it is a safe path.” (EGW, PP, 290)

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Last Sabbath our church went through a painful shock when Pastor Matthew announced that he would no longer be serving in our conference. For the last six years Matthew, Emmalee, and the boys became an integral part of our church family. They impacted our lives in many ways. Pastoral transitions are never easy for a body of believers. I invite you to pray for God’s comforting presence in the lives of Pastor Matthew and Emmalee. We’ll keep in our hearts and minds all the great things of his ministry that we’ve enjoyed through the last six years. This Sabbath we’ll Celebrate pastor Matthew’s ministry. Come and stay for the Fellowship meal in honor of the Shallenbergers.

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Sunday morning started pretty early in our church kitchen with our men cooking breakfast. Men’s Ministry is a great bonding experience for many gentlemen in our church. They are not just cooking and eating together, but they share their joys and struggles. They pray for each other and support one another. If you have not yet attended their monthly breakfasts, try it in June and I am sure you’ll love it! Thank you, Matthew Geraghty, for your ministry to the men of our church! After the group photo was taken there were several more who came a little later.

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This week we celebrated two graduations at OAKS. Monday night was the “cute graduation” of the Kindergartners’ and Tuesday night the 8th grade class and their friends and family filled our Fellowship Hall. It was an emotional experience for me personally. These graduates just started Kindergarten when I started my ministry here in Ooltewah nine years ago. We’ll be praying for all of them as they transition to high school.

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On Wednesday morning I had a great time with the OAKS staff and teachers as they reviewed the achievements and the challenges of the past school year. It was obvious that God was blessing and leading our school in a mighty way. There were many prayers offered during that meeting. The last hour of the meeting was dedicated to the spiritual vision for the next school year. I was impressed with how much OAKS teachers trust God and want the students to learn how to be spiritually safe. Now OAKS is already prepared for the next school year. Please pray daily for Shelly Parrish, our Principle, teachers, and staff. They carry a huge load on their shoulders.

Also, did you see a cool photo of our OAKS teacher, Jesse Hoffman, in the Southern Tidings? 🙂

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Looking ahead:

Children’s Ministry Pool party is on June 11.

Vacation Bible School, July 16-20.

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Our local church budget needs a serious boost this month. Are you ready to show your generous support by giving to the local budget this week? All of our ministries are funded from this account. Thank you for your part in reaching our monthly goal.

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The Light of Hope Ministry received an official request from Adventist World Radio and the Ukrainian Union president to hold a series of evangelistic meetings in Eastern Ukraine. As the war entered the second year of fighting, the people of Ukraine need encouragement and hope. They need to know that God has a better plan for their nation and for the whole world. I’ll be traveling to Ukraine in the middle of June. Please remember in your prayers the cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia where the meetings will be held daily.

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The nominating committee finished its work. There are a few vacancies but the church board will fill them in in the next couple of months. If the church office does not have enough time today to print the report for the first reading this Sabbath, here is the online file link:

NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT 2023-2025

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Wishing you a blessed Sabbath day!

Pastor Peter

We often succumb to anxiety and live in fear because we are confused by the events of this world, problems in our personal life, issues we face at work or in church. Not knowing how to trust God, we lean on our own limited understanding and eventually get angry and frustrated. There is only one sure path to peace. That path is nothing else but Trust in God. He is still in control. This is still His world. He keeps our fragile lives in His strong hands. He still leads His church. He will always be faithful to His Word. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

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For the past school year, the Discipleship Class has been “sponsoring” the seventh- grade class at OAKS, as we occupy their classroom on Sabbath mornings. Each of our class members has adopted a student prayer partner, and we have all had a good time getting to know our student a little better. And two of our class members even adopted Ms. Veness!
 
This past Monday, May 15, the Discipleship class had our final event with this group of seventh graders. We enjoyed a picnic together outdoors under the trees in the school yard. The Discipleship Class members provided sandwiches, potato salad, chips, baked beans, watermelon, and desserts, and we all enjoyed sitting at the picnic tables with our partners and sharing.
 
Our Sabbath School class hopes that these seventh graders will have felt support and love through communication and prayers. We also pray that these energetic and fine young people will find their special place in God’s service as they continue their education. It won’t be long, and these kids will be in college and moving toward adult life and responsibilities. May God bless each one of them.
Mike Harrell
Discipleship Class Facilitator

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On Wednesday, May 10, our OAKS students spent an hour hosting their annual walk-a-thon. Students set a goal to finish fundraising for their new playground. The weather was beautiful as students walked 6 to19 laps each….three laps equaling a mile. Sponsors pledged donations based on time walked, laps completed, or a flat donation for the entire event. In all the students raised $11,532.50. Congratulations to our students for finishing the fundraiser! The installation will be completed mid summer. Thank you to all our sponsors for your continued support of our program at OAKS. 

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Choose Immune Vitality seminar participants gathered for the last session on Thursday night. As always the food was exceptional and the presentation by Heather Neal was practical and engaging. It was good to see how the attendance grew with each session. All those who attended expressed their appreciation. Thank your, Health ministries team for your commitment in sharing the good news of a healthy lifestyle. I want to seperately thank several of our elders and Rick Banks, the head deacon, who were always there to support the seminar logistics.

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Have a blessed Sabbath Day.

pastor Peter

Jesus offers us the light of life. When His light shines in us we become the children of light. We kill the darkness and bring hope and grace into the lives of others around us. The sun shines for the righteous and the sinners, young and old, black and white, merciful and evil, foreigners and locals. Is this how you shine in your community?

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”” John 8:12

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Do you feel young even if you carry an AARP card in your wallet? If so you are cordially invited to join the Young at Heart group. Every month they come together for lunch and fellowship. This month over twenty of them met at City Cafe in Cleveland. How awesome!

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Tuesday morning May 9 the OAKS gymnasium was renovated into a “wax museum”, complete with “talking statues” offering insightful information on important people in American history and culture. Parents, grandparents, and students toured and listened to presentations ranging from Elvis Presly, Harriet Tubman, Oprah Winfry, plus many more! Museum visitors were impressed with the depth of knowledge displayed and the accurate representation of each “wax figure”. Thank you Mrs. Starr, Ms. Hartman, and the 3rd and 4th grade classes for your hard work and dedication to learning. 

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Last Sabbath we were all blessed with two worship services where the Youth honored the Senior members of our church. I was very impressed with the quality of the program and the powerful testimonies of Ralph Williams and Ina Longway. Enjoy the photos taken by Laura Standish.

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This Sabbath is a full day with two worship services in the morning followed by the Fellowship Meal honoring teacher Margo Haughee’s retirement from OAKS. Margo has been teaching at OAKS for 27 years!!! She was a true blessing for hundreds of OAKS students.

At 7:30 PM everyone is invited to join our spring Bonfire. Come to sing, to eat, and to make friends.

Galena and I just returned from our short vacation. We spent 4 days with our daughter Stacey and her sweet family. We didn’t waist time and all together built a greenhouse from scratch 🙂 We hope they will have a good harvest!

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Happy Sabbath, my friends.

Pastor Peter

I am confident that God wants every family to be happy. That’s the reason He created family. There are many ways you can create joy in your home for your spouse and your children. It is so easy to concentrate on our own headaches, to feel stressed and overwhelmed. Eventually we snap, ignore each other and try to escape the pressure. There is actually a rewarding joy in forgetting about ourselves and concentrating on those around us. Our smile can change the mood for the whole evening. Our kind words may extinguish the sparks of a potential tantrum. Our hug may warm up the soul of an exhausted spouse. It all starts with me being intentional in making my home, my marriage, my parenting experience a joyful one.

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On Thursday night Ann Weeden reported that there was a good turn out for the health seminar. She shared a few photos with me. We all appreciate our Health Ministry team. Their efforts bring positive change in our lifestyle and create awareness in our community. There will be three more sessions of the Choose Immune Vitality seminar.

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Last Sabbath our volunteers got up super early and drove to the Community Kitchen in downtown Chattanooga. Richard Johnson had a perfect system in place. The regular volunteers were all busy preparing breakfast for the hundreds of homeless. The number of those willing to help kept growing with every minute. This is the spirit of a caring church! God bless all of you who came that early in the morning to show your love to the less fortunate in our community.

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On Sabbath afternoon the Fellowship Hall was full when two churches, Ooltewah and McDonald Rd, came together for the joint Gospel Hymns Vespers. What a great way to celebrate our spiritual unity with the local Adventist churches in our community. This is the second time we have had this kind of a joint vespers. I hope this will be our annual tradition.

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On Wednesday night Patricia and Matt Geraghty shared several photos with me from the Pathfinder Investiture Service. Another year completed! Great job, Pathfinders! Thank you, David Reynolds and your team, for providing leadership to our children and youth! We hope the Club will continue to grow after a short summer break.

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I am grateful to all of you for your consistent and generous support of the Cornerstone building Fund. The Building committee is working closely with the architect to finalize the bidding process. We are all praying that this year we’ll see some heavy equipment on our property preparing the site for the new sanctuary! Every dollar is needed and has a great value for the project. Wouldn’t it be great to have the full amount raised by the time the project is completed? I pray that we all continue to support the future ministry of our church.

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Wednesday night Bible study turned into a vibrant spiritual experience. Don’t miss the blessing of praying and studying with your brothers and sisters. Here is a photo Greg Leavitt shared with me from the ‘engage time’ during the study last Wednesday.

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This Sabbath you are invited to two Youth-led worship services. You’ll participate in a totally unique worship experience where our youth will join hands with the elderly members of our congregation. Don’t miss the blessing.

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Next week is my official vacation week 🙂 Galena and I will travel to Flagstaff, AZ to spend time with our daughter Stacey, her husband Javan, and their two precious boys, Pierce and Caspian. Stacey already planned every hour of my vacation at her house. She brought a bunch of lumber from the Home Depot! She expects a new greenhouse built by Thursday night 🙂 ! Fun! I’ll be sharing photos on my Facebook and Instagram while we are there. If you call or text me don’t expect a quick reply… You can always call the church office or pastor Matthew.

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Pastor Peter

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Col. 3:12-14

If we follow Christ we’ll see people through His eyes of grace. He loved to forgive and to accept. He had enough grace for the prostitute, for the criminal on the cross, for His disciple who walked away from Him in the hours of shame and despair. This is a true nature of a Christian who shows grace to those who are different in their lifestyle, political orientation, diet preferences, or spiritual experience. Put on love today.

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This last week was pretty full with many committee meetings, visitors in my office, but mostly with home visitations of our elderly church members. We have many precious church members who cannot come to church due to their physical condition. They need our grace and our hugs. I am so grateful to our elders and lay members who visit our elderly friends. God bless you for your caring hearts.

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Our Pathfinders were camping last weekend. During the Board meeting on Monday night, David Reynolds reported that the club had a great time inspite of the cold weather and a storm. They are truly a brave bunch of young people. I am very confident that our club will continue to grow next year.

Here are a few photos I downloaded from Matt Geraghty’s Facebook (without his permission 😦 Thank you, Matt! )

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May 6 will be our Youth Sabbath. Here is a brief announcement from Connie Reynolds:

“Good morning! Happy Friday! Thought I should give you an update on our Children’s Service for next week. Theme “Great Is His Faithfulness”. Ina Longway & Ralph Williams will be our speakers. There will be several musical selections by our young people.  Primary Class will be in charge of the music. Juniors Class will do a skit. Both children & grandparents will be participating. During Children’s Story we will honor our eldest brothers & sisters. The children will hand out flowers to each of those in their 80s & 90s.”

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This Sabbath evening you are invited to the Music Ministry Vespers.

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Happy Sabbath!

Pastor Peter

I may not remember exactly what my blood type is, but I know for sure that I have matching blood in Christ. He is inviting me to “drink His blood”. In other words He is saying that there is healing in His blood. The cancer of sin is destroying me. I feel weak and my prognosis is bleak. But I do not need to remain on hospice care with no hope. There is power in the blood of Jesus. He is strong to help and he can renew my mind. He can soften my temper and change my spirit. He can transform my marriage. He can restore my broken relationships. All this is offered in the healing blood of Jesus. He wants us to be of the same genetic nature as Him. That’s why apostle Peter makes a profound statement in 2 Peter 1:4 “you may be partakers of the divine nature.” It seems unreal but it is a guaranteed reality. It was at the Lord’s Supper table that Christ presented this life-changing truth when He broke a loaf of bread and poured a glass of wine and invited His disciples to eat and to drink His body and His blood to be One with Him.

I am looking forward to the blessed spiritual experience of a Communion Worship service with all of you this Sabbath morning.

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OAKS has a new playground! On Friday, April 14 Phase One of our new playground opened up.  Students and teachers gathered after Chapel for a ribbon cutting ceremony and enjoyed playing on the playground equipment afterwards. Phase one included a massive net climbing structure, two new slides, two spinning elements and an upper-body exercise system.  Phase 2 will take place this summer with the replacement of the decking and slides on our existing centerpiece, replacing the swings, and adding an additional swing set.

We want to send a special, heartfelt THANK YOU to Mr. Lambert for spreading new mulch.  He has put in countless volunteer hours making sure the surface of the new playground is perfect.  We also want to thank YOU, our parents, students, families, friends and volunteers for your monetary donations, fundraising efforts, and especially for the volunteer hours helping to set up the new playground.  We could not do it without you.

Thank you, OAKS staff, teachers, students, parents, and church for this exciting improvement to our educational program! Great things are happening at our school. Please uplift our principle, Shelly Caswell, in your prayers especially this weekend as she is celebrating her marriage to a wonderful gentleman from our community, Todd Parrish! Let God’s blessing be with both of them as they are starting their new and exciting journey.

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Hey Pastor, just wanted to send you a few pics from last weekend’s women’s retreat at Cohutta. We had a group of 18 ladies and teens. We were truly blessed in getting to know one another, in attending the inspirational seminars, and participating in the music (led by a Kenyan choir and other ladies within our conference). It was also a blessing to meet our NAD Women’s Ministry Director, DeeAnn Bragraw and other leaders within our Southern Union Conference. A huge thank you to Patty Geraghty for putting together a beautiful centerpiece with the theme of “Armed and Dangerous”…..preparing for battle with the armor of God.

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On Thursday night the Health Team had their second session of the Immune Vitality seminar. The dinner was absolutely healthy and delicious. It’s not always guaranteed to find these two elements combined in the same meal. Galena and I were impressed with the quality of the program. There are several more sessions ahead of us. I invite you to join the seminar next Thursday at 6:30 PM in the Collegedale town hall building.

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Have a blessed Sabbath Day.

pastor Peter

“Christ’s followers are to be more than a light in the midst of men. They are the light of the world. Jesus says to all who have named His name, You have given yourselves to Me, and I have given you to the world as My representatives. As the Father had sent Him into the world, so He declares, “have I also sent them into the world.” … While our Saviour is the great source of illumination, forget not, O Christian, that He is revealed through humanity. God’s blessings are bestowed through human instrumentality…. Angels of glory wait to communicate through you heaven’s light and power to souls that are ready to perish…. If Christ is dwelling in the heart, it is impossible to conceal the light of His presence.” (MB, 66)

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On Thursday night the Health Ministry team started the first session of the Immune Vitality seminar. Heather Neal presented the first topic. The meeting took place at Ooltewah City Hall. I wish many more of you participated in the event. There will be five more session and I hope you’ll invite your friends and neighbors to receive the blessing.

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Our Midweek Bible study experienced a complete makeover. The emphasis this quarter is on the steps leading to Christian growth. Everyone is invited to attend.

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Next week is Communion Sabbath. I invite you to celebrate Christ’s power in your life. He died because of our sins. He resurrected to bring us back to life. It is in our communion with Jesus that we find hope and assurance.

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Just from my heart.

This week a local pastor from the city of Perm, Russia, contacted me with a request to record a short video greeting for their church. In a few days the church in Perm will be celebrating its 30th anniversary. In 1993 I was invited by pastor Lonnie Melashenko and his Dad, Joe Melashenko, to go to Perm for a series of evangelistic meetings. Our Bible school instructors travelled to Perm six months in advance to start in-person Bible school with hundreds of people who responded to my radio broadcast and asked for Bible studies. On the first night of the meetings we celebrated the graduation of 450 people who completed the full course. At that time there were only fifty church members in the local Seventh day Adventist Church. After 4 weeks of nightly meetings we had a massive baptism with close to 500 people accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior. This week Lonnie, Jeannie, and I had a long phone conversation reminiscing about our special time in Perm. Lonnie sent me a few photos from that event. Below are a couple of them.

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Happy Sabbath!

Pastor Peter

By His own resurrection Jesus proved that He has power over death. No one needs to live in fear. If we believe in the promise of Jesus we can live with confidence that our resurrection is guaranteed. However, in these words of Jesus I hear more than the promise of a future miracle. All of us need to experience a spiritual resurrection today. Meaningful life is only in Christ. That is the reason He states that He is the LIFE. It is time for us to wake up from our lethargic existence and hear the cries of the suffering, see the tears of the struggling, offer help to the sick and extend love to the rejected. This is what the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus should be all about.

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On Wednesday the Young at Heart ministry gathered almost thirty people for lunch and fellowship. I so wanted to be there, but unfortunately couldn’t join the group again. Willis shared with me the following photos.

It is great to see pastor John Sabo in these photos. We are glad that Kathy and John are back!

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Last Sabbath I was blessed to offer a prayer of blessing over my granddaughter Charlotte. I felt a bit overwhelmed with emotions. Praise God for our families.

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Our Spring Communion Worship service is scheduled for April 22. Please put it on your calendars.

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Dr David Hartman is preaching tomorrow for both services. David agreed to preach only on the condition that Galena and I will take this Sabbath off and leave town for a couple of days. I guess I’ll not see you tomorrow, but I am sure you’ll be blessed with Dr Hartman’s message!

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“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3

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Hugs and Happy Easter,

pastor Peter

Christian community is different from any other society or club. It is not based on one’s status in society, net worth, or political preferences. It actually reminds me of a large group of people at the airport departure gate. These people don’t know each other. They are from various places. They are all strangers, but they are all heading to the same destination. “They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 3:6 MSG). Our journey to heaven is almost like that. Some actually feel like they are in first class 😉 others are cramped in economy, but we are all on board of that same aircraft. Get to know your fellow passengers. They will eventually end up at the same airport (God’s Kingdom) with you. No one likes fights during the flight. (They do happen once in a while). Apostle Paul calls this journey “the secret of Christ.” (Eph. 3:4). Some may have better seats, but we are all together. Show grace to your fellow passengers. We all have the same flight Captain.

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Last Sabbath we missed many of our children during the Sabbath morning service. It was especially noticeable when the children were invited to come forward for the children’s story. Staci Rivera, our Adventurers Club Director, helped me understand what had happened. Here is her story :-):

“The Adventurers Club enjoyed a wonderful weekend of fellowship and fun at the annual Adventurers Family Fun Weekend at Cohutta Springs Youth Camp! We enjoyed singing, playing games, wonderful Bible storytelling, and lots of other activities. Our club won 1st place in the wagon contest and Adrianna Rivera placed 3rd in the poster contest. The weekend may have started with an overnight storm but the wind and rain did not dampen these Adventurers’ spirits! We are grateful for God’s protection and this wonderful time we were able to spend together with many of our Adventurer families! 

I’m also excited to announce that beginning this fall the Adventurers Club will be meeting one Sabbath afternoon per month in place of bi-weekly Wednesday evenings. We hope that this will allow more families the opportunity to join our club and also foster relationship building both within and amongst Adventurer families. We are so grateful to partner with parents in raising children to know, love, and serve Jesus and are excited for what opportunities this change will bring. Registration information will be made available soon!

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On March 25 our church celebrated three beautiful baptisms. Annie Jeffrey, Norma Chua, and her daughter Ashley Chua joined the world wide Seventh-day Adventist Church. All three of them went through thorough Bible study before the baptism. I am very grateful to Ron Malloch for studying with Annie and to Ilka for studying with Norma and Ashley. They gave us a great example of the power of personal Bible studies. Please get to know these ladies and help them feel and know that they have a loving spiritual family.

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It was so good to see many of you on Wednesday night for the new series which we started for our Midweek service. Thank you, Greg Leavitt for the innovative and creative approach to the Prayer meeting format. I noticed that there were many of our members who came for the first time. I hope and pray that many more will come.

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We have a large number of the Great Controversy books available for sharing. They are free of charge. You can find them in the church foyers. Take as many as you can share. Please share these books not as a threat, but as a guide to a closer relationship with Jesus. If you need a whole case contact me in person or by phone.

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I am looking forward to a blessed Sabbath day worship with all of you.

pastor Peter