Month: August 2015

THE PEACE OF GOD. In John 15:8 Jesus told the disciples, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit.” Why? Because then the world can see the results of a Spirit-filled life. That is why we are here —to put God on display to the world.

D.L. Moody said, “We are leaky vessels, and have to keep right under the fountain all the time in order to stay full.” Our human nature is pierced with the bullets of sin. Last week’s Sabbath message will not be enough for today. Israelites needed fresh manna from heaven daily. We must wait on God….and watch for His blessing….and depend only upon Him to be our provision. When our soul becomes that hungry for God, we are in a position to be filled with the Holy Spirit. When we show the fruit of the Spirit we bring glory to God.

The third fruit of the Spirit is peace. How does it relate to the busy routine of our daily living? This will be the topic of our Sabbath morning study. The key passage of my message is taken from Philippians 4:1-9.

PATHFINDERS. Cory Goss is reporting that the Pathfinder Club registration went well. The Club is ready for a new year filled with new adventures. Some of our kids still need a sponsor. Let’s pray that every one of our children gets the support that is needed for their participation in the club activities.

   
   
***

ADVENTURERS. Rebecca Goss posted an announcement for our younger children: “Exciting news, my little Adventurers! Sunday is registration from 3-5 and Wednesday we start meeting 6:30-8:00! I want to hear all about your summers! Be ready to have fun while learning more about our amazing God.”

RECONNECTING. Do you see the names in our church directory of people with whom we lost connection? Our non-attending members aren’t faceless or nameless to us. It’s your son or daughter; your aunt or uncle; your friend, your
neighbor, your colleague, your Facebook friend. You want to
fellowship at church again, but how does that happen? If that person
should honor us by coming back one day, would our congregation really
be ready to receive him or her? We’ll learn more about successful ways of reconnecting with our missing church members on September 12. Paul Richardson will be our guest speaker for the whole day. He will speak even during the Sabbath school time. Your Sabbath school class has the choice of your regular lesson study or joining Paul in the sanctuary for his seminar.

Who is Paul Richardson?

PAUL RICHARDSON – has been the Reconnecting Ministries Coordinator for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America for more than 21 years. Through his interviews with missing members he has gained insight into ways to reconnect with them and prepare congregations to receive inactives effectively. Paul is also the Network General Manager for Positive Life Radio with 5 stations in the Pacific Northwest, 120,000 listeners, and is a ministry to inactively attending church members from many different denominations. To learn more or to stream the station, go to http://www.plr.org. Paul’s wife Teri is an RN. They live in College Place, WA. Our September church Fellowship meal has been moved from September 19 to September 12. Please, make a note of this.

REACHING THE GOAL. Are you prepared to see a miracle? We truly need a miracle to reach our monthly church budget goal. Let us pray that God makes this miracle a reality through our donations tomorrow morning.

CHURCH FAMILY. Our sincere condolences to Avalon Taylor who’s son Danny passed away this week. I invite you to support Avalon through our cards, phone calls, and prayers.

THANK YOU. A huge thank you to my church family from the bottom of my happily-blood-pumping heart ❤️ and healthy pulsating artery for all your sweet cards, loving emails, passionate text messages, and caring prayers. 🙏 I feel much stronger and I look forward to preaching twice tomorrow morning. You are truly the best church family ever.

OAKS. Here are a few pictures of the OAKS life:  
    
    
    
  
See you tomorrow,

Peter

SABBATH MESSAGE. God created us “in His image” so that we would reflect His glory in the world. What does it mean to glorify God? It does not mean to make Him more glorious. It means to acknowledge His glory, and to value it above all things, and to make it known.

Living for the glory of God is in fact an act of complete surrender; declaring God sovereign over every aspect of our lives. When we surrender our life to God we allow His Spirit to work on our character. Everything we do or say will glorify our Heavenly Father if we are lead by His Spirit.

Tomorrow morning I’ll continue my series on “Living for the Glory of God.” Please read 1 Peter 1:3-12.

YOUTH SABBATH OUTING. Last Sabbath morning our church youth worshiped at Harrison Bay. I couldn’t be there in person, but I heard many wonderful reports about our youth testimonies. Many of them shared deep reflections on their personal journey with God. Based on the pictures on the Youth Facebook page their afternoon activities were much fun.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. It was a true joy to watch parents bring their children to OAKS last Wednesday. Some came for the first time. Right before 8 am the school hallways resembled a busy beehive. I pray that the Lord will bless the staff and teachers as they help these children grow intellectually and spiritually. Pastor Aubrey did a great job leading at the first school chapel yesterday.

IMPACT CHATTANOOGA. All the Chattanooga area churches are praying about the evangelistic meetings starting on October 9. The meetings are spearheaded by the It Is Written ministry. October seems to be far away, but a lot needs to be done to prepare the soil for the meetings. Our evangelism committee meets every Tuesday afternoon to work on the activities leading to the October event. Last Tuesday Jennifer Verduzco and Sylvia Hyde presented a proposal for a Health Fair on our church property at the end of September. We’ll have more info after all the details are finalized. Please, keep these evangelism plans in your prayers. Get involved in the area-wide activities outlined in the flyer here.

You can also learn more about the COOKIE GIVEAWAY outreach activity planned for tomorrow afternoon if your click on this linkhttp://impactchatt.webs.com/season-of-service

CHURCH FELLOWSHIP MEAL.  If you are able, please help get tables ready for food, get water pitchers ready, get food to the ovens to stay warm, and get food out to the tables. And afterwards, please help clear tables, wipe them off, wash/dry/put away dishes, wipe down counters, and get trash ready to go out. Also, please place a note on the dishes that are vegan or require special directions.

As a friendly reminder, families should bring enough food for their family and some to share. Thank you.

PRAYERS. Last night Barbara Smith’s cousin’s husband, Jerry, had a heart attack and was taken to Erlanger hospital. The surgery went well and Jerry went home this afternoon. The family needs our prayers.

Ed Young spent his first week at home after an extended stay at the hospital and the rehabilitation center. He is sincerely thankful for your prayers and sweet cards. I hope it will not take too long before we see Jerry and Pat back at church on Sabbath morning. Their Sabbath school class misses them a lot.

Beth Best needs our prayers. She is in a lot of pain that keeps her from coming to church. I invite you to pray for Beth. Let the Lord give her strength to recover.

I’ll see you tomorrow morning.

Happy Sabbath to you, my friends.

SABBATH MORNING MESSAGE. Tomorrow morning I am starting a new sermon series entitled: “Living for God’s Glory.” The Bible says you were created for God, for the purpose of glorifying Him: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” – Colossians 1:16. “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” – Revelation 4:11

Man was created in God’s image, which gave man a unique capacity to glorify God. However, when Adam sinned, humanity’s ability to glorify God was marred. God’s purpose in saving you was that you might fulfill your original purpose. “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” – 1 Corinthians 6:20

Over the course of the next few weeks we’ll study what living for God’s glory is all about.

CHURCH SOCIAL. The ice cream social and Bible trivia challenge was a lot of fun last Sabbath evening. We had a great turn out. The ice cream was delicious and the fellowship was even sweeter! Twelve teams competed in the Bible trivia challenge, with very close scores. It was a very exciting evening, and we hope to see even more people at our next social event! Thank you, Michelle, Adam, and the Social Committee team.

OUR CHURCH FAMILY. Ed and Pat Young are very thankful for your prayers. Ed is doing much better. If everything goes well he is going home tomorrow!!! We’ll continue our prayers for Ed’s full recovery.

Don Morgan was taken to the hospital last Monday with internal bleeding. After a few days at Memorial Hospital he was discharged yesterday. His condition has improved and his spirit is high. Your phone calls, visits and messages meant a lot to both him and his wife Mary Beth.

Let us also remember in our prayers Steve Bremner, our Head Elder and church office secretary. He has health related concerns and needs our prayerful support.

A note from Lisa: “Thank you Church Family for all the cards, well wishes, and flowers. We are mourning the passing of Lisa’s dad but feel uplifted by your outpouring of love.” ~ The Patterson Family.

HELP NEEDED: “Natalie Stark is moving and needs our help loading and unloading. Please let me know if you can help. It will be Sunday morning starting @ 9am in McDonald and moving things to Collegedale. She has a truck. We just need to help with manpower.

Let me know if you can help and I will send more information.

Many hands make little work and less time. I hope you can help!” – Michael Haugee, Head Deacon

12 MONTHS. This Sabbath marks the one-year anniversary of our pastoral ministry at this wonderful Ooltewah church. Galena and I feel super blessed and honored to be a part of this dear church family. I cannot believe that I have yet to meet even one mean person 😉 everyone is sincerely loving and supportive! I keep asking myself if this is just a first year treat :-). But seriously, THANK YOU, my friends, for your commitment to evangelism, for your love to God and His people, for your faithfulness in supporting our ministry financially, for your Christian love and your strong faith. I hope next year will be even more amazing! 🙂

Happy Sabbath. See you tomorrow morning.