Month: July 2015

SABBATH MORNING MESSAGE. We all experience storms—persecutions, financial troubles, illnesses, disappointments, loneliness—and Jesus does not always prevent them. But He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). He will keep us calm in the storm. Tomorrow morning is Part 4 of my “Peace in the Storm” series. Please read Mark 4, verses 35-41.

“The heart that is in harmony with God is a partaker of the peace of heaven, and will diffuse its blessed influence all around. The spirit of peace will rest like dew upon hearts weary and troubled with worldly strife.” (EGW)—The Signs of the Times, December 27, 1905.

IMPACT CHATTANOOGA. We are three months away from the “Impact Chattanooga” outreach event. Our church board unanimously voted to be a part of this evangelistic effort initiated by the It Is Written ministry. The opening night of the meetings is October 9. The meetings will take place at the ICCM auditorium, which is less than 15 minutes from our church on Hwy 58. Pastor John Bradshaw will be the speaker for the meetings. The Hope Channel will be broadcasting these meetings live. There will be two sessions daily at 4 pm and at 7 pm. Below is a link to pastor Bradshaw’s video appeal:

http://impactchatt.webs.com

PRAYERS. Pat and Ed Young are sincerely thankful for your prayers. Ed has been moved to HealthSouth Rehabilitation hospital. He is on a slow but steady path to recovery after heart surgery. Pat is asking for more prayers as Ed is fighting with an infection in his leg. Both Ed and Pat miss their Kindergarten class. See a picture below of all the cards that were handmade for Ed by the kids in our lower Sabbath School divisions.

CHURCH MINISTRY. God called each one of us to be His disciples. Discipleship implies following Jesus and serving people around us. I praise God for many dedicated members of our church who commit their time, talents, and energy to the advancement of our church ministry. Last Sunday many of our church brothers and sisters came to work in and around the OAKS building. Our new school principle, Shelly Turkenkopf, is grateful for your wonderful work. Great job, church family!

This morning Christine and Jon Reinoehl mowed our church lawns. Huge thank you to both of them! Our church is ready for the Sabbath day.

Below is a photo of our Church Garden with Jessica Turner.

There is more work that needs to be done. The Bridge ministry, visitations, Bible studies, etc… Are you praying about finding your place in the ministry of God’s church? If so, please, talk to one of the pastors or to the Head Elder, Steve Bremner.

“Christ’s followers have been redeemed for service. Our Lord teaches that the true object of life is ministry. Christ Himself was a worker, and to all His followers He gives the law of service–service to God and to their fellow men. Here Christ has presented to the world a higher conception of life than they had ever known. By living to minister for others, man is brought into connection with Christ. The law of service becomes the connecting link which binds us to God and to our fellow men.” (COL, p. 326)

Pastor Aubrey has been attending the Southern Deaf Fellowship Camp Meeting at Cohutta Springs this week. People come from all over the south eastern part of the U.S. to be a part and fellowship. The Camp Meeting began on Wednesday and will end this Sunday. Although she is not a certified interpreter, she has been helping with communication while there as well as registration. About 100 people are attending and gaining a blessing from this special event. Praise the Lord that God is working to grow the Deaf work here in America! Please continue to pray for their ministry and their camp meeting.

Let this be a blessed Sabbath day for you, my friends.

SABBATH MESSAGE. Jonah was running away from God’s will. He actually paid money to get away from God. Then the storm came. There is only one way to deal with storms of this type. You have to turn round. Praying and fasting will not help you here. Nor will an increase in your offering. Obedience is the only antidote.

God is too merciful and too loving to allow His children to drift into open rebellion without disciplining them. The Psalmist David wrote, (Psalm 119:67) “Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.” (Psalm 119:71) “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.”

Tomorrow morning is Part 3 of my “Peace in the Storm” series. Please, read Jonah 1 and Acts 27.

WOMEN’S MINISTRY. WIDOWS OUTREACH. Here is a report from Lupina about a new outreach program. Thank you, ladies, for this initiative. “It is a shame but most connections with the church are broken upon becoming a widow. A desire to organize a group to fellowship with and to help widows make this painful, lonely journey began with conversations between Lupina Haney, Marlene Keaton, Barbara Smith and Sondra Chilson. On Thursday we got together for a delightful lunch and a chance to discuss some of our feelings and concerns.

A survey of needs found that those attending wanted to develop friendships and plan fun daytime social activities. Some had a need for help with home maintenance and others seminars on grief or financial counseling. There were 18 (5 were members of other churches) who came to share, feast and fellowship. We plan to meet the 4thThursday in every month.”

VICTORY GARDEN. Our church garden is in full bloom. On the very last day of school lots of vegetables were planted to be shared with the others. The main champion of this outdoor class, Connie Jones, calls it the Victory Garden. Along with the berry bushes and vegetables there are also flowers. These flowers are often shared with the shut-ins and used for the hospital visits. Our OAKS students learn about cotton plants. Connie and Jessica Turner help them learn how cotton from the plant is being transformed into their jeans and shirts :-). Peanut plants are another miracle of God’s creative power. This garden is a wonderful outdoor classroom for our kids. Nathanael, Jessica’s son, is building up his muscles by harvesting zucchinis :-). When I have no time for my Taco Bell lunch I get my daily vegetable intake straight from our Victory Garden :-)!

PRAYERS NEEDED. Our dear Ed Young is still having a rough time after major heart surgery. The doctors will try a blood transfusion today to help him gain strength and fight nausea. He is not quite ready for hospital visitations. Please, pray for Ed and Pat.

Peggy Bell had neck surgery on Wednesday. The surgery went well and Peggy is very thankful for your prayerful support. She is on her way home as I type this message.

ABOUNDING GRACE. Stewardship can seem daunting. After all, being managers of our families, possessions, the earth, and builders of a kingdom isn’t small stuff. But remember, God promises us that He’ll never require something of us that we cannot accomplish. Furthermore, whatever God may require of us, He provides the ability to achieve.

“God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed”(2 Corinthians 9:8 NASB).

At our Finance committee last night, I noticed that we need serious catching up on our local church budget giving for the month of July. OAKS and many other important ministries fully depend on our support of the local budget. I pray that on our last Sabbath of the month, tomorrow, we’ll bring the offerings that will make us meet the monthly goal.

Thank you for your loving and faithful support of God’s church ministry in our community.

JULY NEWSLETTER. Our July newsletter is on the church website. The website address is http://www.ooltewahchurch.org/ To access the newsletter you can click on this link http://www.ooltewahchurch.org/site/1/docs/JULY%20Oo.pdf

See you tomorrow morning,

Peter.

OUR COMMUNITY. The Thursday morning shooting in Chattanooga made us all realize how fragile our world is. This horrible disaster happened not in New York or Beirut, but just a few miles away from our church. I heard that some of you knew the killed marines personally. We are all hurting. Our prayers are with the families of the victims, their friends, and our community in general. The resolution of the problems of this world is not in the hands of the governments or politicians. Violence brings more violence. Our only hope is the Second Coming of Jesus. He has an answer to the problem of sin and evil. However, while we are waiting for His glorious appearance let us be proactive in changing our community by the power of His Word. Christ is sending us into the world to be the Light and the Salt of our society. We cannot do much on our own, but God CAN through each one of us individually.

VBS. Our vacation Bible school has been a huge blessing. Close to a hundred children registered for the program. Nightly attendance ranged from 65 to 85. It was so wonderful to see many of our church members assist during the program. Every detail of the program was well thought of with lots of happy music and singing. Thank you, Rhonda Hicks and Summer Bradford! You put your heart into this event. God bless you for the hundreds of hours of planning and praying, leading and feeding! I wish I could mention every name of the VBS team, but that will be practically impossible. THANK YOU, church family, for turning this program into an effective church ministry.

The program will continue tomorrow morning during the second service.

SABBATH WORSHIP SERVICES. Both worship services will take place in the church Fellowship Hall. This is a one-time change due to the VBS presentation during the second service. I am looking forward to seeing lots of kids and families in our church tomorrow.

You are invited to stay for the Fellowship Meal after the second service.

SABBATH MESSAGE: In my Sabbath message I will continue the topic that we started last week: “Peace in the Storm.” Tomorrow is part two: “The Divided Sea.” Please, read Exodus chapter 14.

There will be times when we all face the storms of life. There will be days when we face circumstances that put our faith to the test, but in the end can produce in us an unshakeable trust in God and bring glory to a God who can do anything but fail.

PORTUGUESE GROUP. Our Portuguese-speaking brothers and sisters will have an evening program tomorrow night in the church Fellowship Hall. Their ministry is growing. The Portuguese Sabbath school class can barely fit into the “upper room” in the OAKS building. Because of the special program planned for tomorrow by the their group there will be a ONE TIME Sabbath school class switch between the Youth and the Portuguese Sabbath school classes. I am thankful to the Youth SS leaders for their cooperation. We learn how to share the blessings.

PRAYERS. Ed Young is feeling stronger today. The doctors are gradually weaning him off of some medications. He is still in the ICU recovery area. Overall, there is a steady progress in his condition. Pat is sincerely thankful for your prayers, phone calls, and visitations.

Please, keep the Patterson family in your prayers. The funeral service for Lisa’s dad was held yesterday in South Carolina.

Brenda Miller lost her oldest brother, Doug, who died unexpectedly on July 6 at the age of 57.

David Stevens had a mini stroke early this week.

Steve O’Neil, (Mary Ellen Worthy’s brother) is at Memorial hospital with a staph infection.

“Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your loving kindness and Your truth continually preserve me.” (Psalms 40:11 NKJV)

See you tomorrow,

Pastor Peter

This is the last weekend of the General Conference session in San Antonio. Thousands of our fellow believers from around the globe came together to celebrate the progress of the Three Angels message proclamation. I have no doubts that many of you enjoyed the televised reports of our church ministry in various parts of the world. I hope you’ll be watching more tonight. It will be rather personal for my family as my brother Michael will present a report on the new Russian Bible translation tonight at 7:30 pm Eastern time.

Last Wednesday night the GC session delegates voted down a motion to allow local divisions to make their own decision on women’s ordination. I pray that we continue to treasure our ladies who serve our church as local church elders and pastors. Each one of them is a valuable vessel in God’s hands. God called them to serve our church in much needed capacities.

VBS. Vacation Bible school is starting this Sunday night. Have you invited you family and friends to this exciting program? The VBS staff still needs your help. Please, talk to Rhonda if you could volunteer your time this week.

BRAVES. Just a reminder about the upcoming Georgia-Cumberland Conference Family game day on August 16. This is a multi-generation event sponsored by the Pathfinder, Youth, and Young adult departments. Those who choose to attend will enjoy a Pathfinder processional on the field before the game.If you decide to go, please, see David Denton or pastor Aubrey this Sabbath. Only a few days left to order tickets. Don’t forget to bring $20. A portion of this price will go towards the Pathfinder club activities.

SABBATH MESSAGE. Tomorrow, I am starting a new sermon series entitled, “Peace in the Storm”. Peace is not just the absence of a storm, but rest in the middle of the storm. Many of us could use that kind of peace, and it is the kind of peace that you can have right now if you’re resting where you ought to be. Please, read Psalm 46.

If you are out-of-town, you can always watch a live stream of our service. Here is a link to the live stream page http://www.ooltewahchurch.org/article/7/media

PRAYERS. I ask you to pray for the Patterson family. Lisa’s dad is battling cancer and these may be his last days with his family. Let the Lord grant them peace and strength to go through these painful days.

The Otto family. Sandra Otto’s mother, Myrna March, fell on Tuesday. She hit her head and had five stitches placed. Let us pray for her soon and full recovery.

PRAYER MEETING. There will be NO prayer meeting this Wednesday because of the VBS program.

See you tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor Pastor Peter

SDA GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION. Today is the second day of the General Conference session taking place in San Antonio, TX. Thousands of Seventh-day Adventists from around the globe came together to discuss the mission of the church for the next five years, to pray together for the success of the Gospel proclamation and to elect church administrators for the next term.

This afternoon Elder Ted Wilson was re-elected as the president of the SDA world-wide church. Let the Lord give elder Wilson wisdom and courage to lead our church forward. More news and updates from the GC session are available on the following sources:

http://www.adventistreview.org/

http://news.adventist.org/

https://www.facebook.com/AdventistReview

Our associate pastor, Aubrey Tout is there, as well as many of our Ooltewah church members and elders. I hope we’ll hear their first-hand reports when they come back home. I invite you to pray for our church leaders as they will be discussing many important issues in the next few days.

ONE NATION UNDER GOD. Let the Lord’s blessing be with all of you, my friends, as we are preparing to celebrate the 4-th of July. The Lord has truly blessed us with a great nation. I thank God for the freedom to preach the Gospel, freedom to worship, freedom to pray. We may not always be happy with the decisions made by our nation’s leaders, but this should not lead us to discouragement. God is still in control and He still loves this wonderful nation.

My message tomorrow morning is based on Psalm 33:12-22. Our founding fathers were convinced that the Psalmist was right when he wrote in Psalm 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” Patrick Henry, one of America’s Founding Fathers, said, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians. Not on religion, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

VBS. July 12 is the first day of our Vacation Bible School. Have you registered your kids? If not, please, don’t wait till the last day. VBS is a great way to share the Gospel with your friends and neighbors. Please, remember to pick up brochures and flyers before you leave church tomorrow.

NEHEMIAH PROJECT. New church pews have already been ordered! Exciting! Crews are working daily around the church replacing the facia boards and gutters. Unfortunately, wet weather is a hindrance for the painters. (They were eager to work even in the rain 😦 Thank you, David Denton, for stopping them from painting wet boards. We need to wait for some sunny days before the painting job will resume). I can’t wait to see new landscaping around the church. We’ll see that happening in the next couple of weeks.

There is a new fridge in the kitchen. Looks awesome!

Thank you, dear church family, for the wonderful financial support of our church renovation project.

PRAYERS. Please, continue your prayers for Larry Stevenson (Larry is being discharged today. He and his wife are sincerely thankful for all the prayers and visits), Amy Wysong, granddaughter of Velma Mountcastle, and Steve O’Neal, brother of Mary Ellen-Worthy.

I’ll see you tomorrow.

Your pastor and friend,

Peter