Month: November 2015

Thus let us rest awhile from toil and care,
In the sweet sabbath of this autumn calm,
And lift our hearts to heaven in grateful prayer,
And sing with nature our thanksgiving psalm. (Kate Maclean 1880)

PSALM 138
Thank you! Everything in me says “Thank you!” Angels listen as I sing my thanks. I kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again: “Thank you!” Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness; Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word. The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength.

When they hear what you have to say, GOD, all earth’s kings will say “Thank you.” They’ll sing of what you’ve done: “How great the glory of GOD!” And here’s why: GOD, high above, sees far below; no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.

When I walk into the thick of trouble, keep me alive in the angry turmoil. With one hand strike my foes, With your other hand save me. Finish what you started in me, GOD. Your love is eternal—don’t quit on me now. (‭Psalm‬ ‭138‬:‭1-8‬ MSG)

SABBATH WORSHIP. Tomorrow is the last Sabbath before Thanksgiving. I invite you to join one of our worship services to celebrate God’s goodness to us. Our early service will be beautified by Sarah Bremner’s baptism. Sarah went through the whole course of Bible studies and made a decision to celebrate God’s love by giving her life to Him.

My message for both services will be based on the Gospel of John chapter two. God is willing to make a miracle of grace in your life. Are you ready to acknowledge that “you are running out of wine?”

CHURCH LIFE. The storm on Wednesday  was really bad. Guess how I know that? We only had four individuals come to prayer meeting last Wednesday night, and two of them were visitors :-). I hope everyone was safe and well. The storm was really bad. My van almost sank in one of the huge puddles that turned into a lake. Next week’s Wednesday weather forecast looks sunny and warm, but there will be NO prayer meeting on November 25. I hope you’ll have a wonderful time preparing for Thanksgiving with your family and friends. I realized that I have 28 unused vacation days through the end of this year!!! I’ll take a few vacation days next week, but I’ll be in town. Feel free to call or text if you need a prayer or have an emergency situation. Our family Thanksgiving dinner will be simple and quiet. Stacey and Dasha will be visiting their in-laws with their husbands. Dasha Victoria and Barby, our hungry Southern students, will come home to celebrate Thanksgiving with us :-).

We had a really good board meeting this week. I want you to know that you have great church leaders. They love the Lord and love His people. Please pray for every church board member, they need God’s guidance in fulfilling their manyfold ministry duties. Our church treasurer Rita Rogers shared with the board an excellent financial report. Once again I praised the Lord for the faithful stewardship of our church members. Your local church budget donations provided funding for every one of our church departments including OAKS. THANK YOU!

Remember our Fresh Financial Start goal of 60,000? As of this week we are at 29,000! Praise God for every dollar donated toward this goal. We all want to see our church in a healthy, stable financial condition. If you have not donated towards the Local Church budget or Fresh Financial Start you can do it this week. Try just $1… it will surely make a difference.

Tomorrow night I invite you to join a Thanksgiving Vespers program. You’ll see me in an Old Testament priestly robe. Snacks and dessert will be offered after the program.

PRAYERS.

Thank you so much for your prayers for Anita’s grandson Matthew. His heart valve is now closed and the EEG shows normal brain activity. Please continue to pray for Matthew and his family.

Here is a Facebook post by Jacqueline Stovall: “My family and I were in a car accident last night. No one was hurt. I can’t say the same about my car. It could have turned out so different. I am thanking God for our deliverance. So may good people stopped to help. Keep me and my family in your prayers.”

LIGHT OF HOPE MINISTRY. November newsletter.

See you tomorrow,

Peter

Don’t you see that children are GOD ’s best gift? The fruit of the womb his generous legacy? Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. (‭Psalm‬ ‭127‬:‭3 MSG) “Jesus was the pattern for children, and He was also the father’s example. He spoke as one having authority, and His word was with power; yet in all His intercourse with rude and violent men He did not use one unkind or discourteous expression. The grace of Christ in the heart will impart a heaven-born dignity and sense of propriety. It will soften whatever is harsh, and subdue all that is coarse and unkind. It will lead fathers and mothers to treat their children as intelligent beings, as they themselves would like to be treated.” (DA, 515)

November 14 is the OAKS Sabbath. Both services will take place in the Fellowship Hall. Shelly Turkenkopf, our school principle, will speak for both services.

Last Tuesday OAKS put together a wonderful Veterans’ Day program. Here are a few pictures from that day:

FRESH FINANCIAL START. We had a great beginning towards our Fresh Financial Start goal. Imagine a debt free church with all the church ministries funded and a positive balance… By God’s grace this can be our Ooltewah SDA church effective January 1, 2016. We agreed on the goal of $60,495. As of today this number dropped to $54,848. Good start. I pray that we will all strive to achieve this goal. This Fresh Financial Start (FFS) line has been added to the online tithe envelope.

PRAYERS. Please, uplift in your prayers:

– The Goss family. Tim and Janet are with Tim’s father is Wisconsin. They are sending their greetings to our church family and are thankful for your prayers.

– The Recchia family. Renee’s mother passed away last week. The funeral took place in Texas on Tuesday. Let the Lord give comfort and safety to Renee and Dan as they’ll be traveling back home.

– The Houghton family. Lance’s father passed away early this week. Heidi and Lance are in our prayers at this time of loss. We know that God is faithful to His promise and He is coming soon to reunited our families separated by death. “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” (‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ NIV)

– Anita Shelton is thankful for your prayers for her grandson Matthew. Here is her latest message: “Matthew is much better, but not out of the woods yet. We so appreciate all the prayers from the church family and ask that they continue. We should be home before next weekend.”

– Julie Philips: God’s guidance and protection.

“Let us never forget to pray. God lives. He is near. He is real. He is not only aware of us but cares for us. He is our Father. He is accessible to all who will seek Him.” (G.B.H.)

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬ NIV)

See you tomorrow morning,

Peter