Living by Grace

Dear Ooltewah church family,

MESSAGE. “There are two errors against which the children of God — particularly those who have just come to trust in His grace — especially need to guard. The first…is that of looking to their own works, trusting to anything they can do, to bring themselves into harmony with God. He who is trying to become holy by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility…

The opposite and no less dangerous error is, that belief that Christ releases men from keeping the law of God; that since by faith alone we become partakers of the grace of Christ, our works have nothing to do with our redemption…If the law is written in the heart, will it not shape the life? …Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which enables us to render obedience” EGW

MINISTRY. It’s now been almost a week, but the Belarus choir music is still ringing in my ears and in my heart. Those who stayed for the fellowship meal were blessed with a prayer song before the meal and a piece of music performed using empty bottles! Those bottles were of different shapes and sizes, from gallon size to tiny pharmaceutical vials! 🙂

This was the first time this choir sang in an SDA church. They were deeply touched by your hospitality and graciousness. This was a good witness to what Adventists are all about.

I invite you to pray for their ministry in Belarus, well known for its tough religious freedom situation.

REVELATION TODAY. I am thankful to many of our church members helping at the Revelation Today meetings. It was so good to see our brothers and sisters welcoming visitors and helping with registration. John’s presentations are Bible-centered, interactive, and relevant to the current needs of our society. Let’s pray for every visitor attending the meetings. We need help in building relationships with visitors from our area. Please, let me know if you are willing to help.

LIGHT OF HOPE. Christ commissioned His followers to preach the Gospel to the whole world. Thank you for your prayers for our churches in Eastern Europe. They are facing serious challenges because of the limited religious liberty. The Russian government is closing doors of freedom for the Three Angels message proclamation. With your prayers and support I travelled to Russia to preach a short series of the Revival meetings in preparation for the March evangelism in Siberia. I am sending this message from Moscow. My next two days will be packed with preaching and planning meetings. On Sabbath morning I’ll be speaking at Nagatinskaya church in Moscow. You can watch it live here at 4 A.M. Chattanooga time 🙂

http://mosadvent.cdnvideo.ru/mosadvent/unter.sdp/playlist.m3u8?

I’ll be back late Monday night (these are my official vacation days). This Sabbath morning elder Steve Bremner will preach for the first service and pastor Victor Czerkasij will preach at 11:25 worship service. I have no doubts that you’ll be richly blessed at either one of these services. I will miss being with you, but I am looking forward to being at my Ooltewah church every Sabbath through the end of this year.

PRAYERS. Please, pray for

– Celeste Crisby’s mother who fell and broke her hip.
– Sarah Jane Reeves, surgery.
– Steve Jones, (Betty Jones’ son) – liver transplant.

BAPTISM. Next Sabbath (Oct 24) I invite you to celebrate the baptisms of Derren Downey and Hannah Crawford. I am sure you’ll not want to miss this wonderful celebration.

With prayers for you,

Peter