MESSAGE. “To all who receive the Sabbath as a sign of Christ’s creative and redeeming power, it will be a delight. Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him. The Sabbath points them to the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in redemption. While it calls to mind the lost peace of Eden, it tells of peace restored through the Savior. And every object in nature repeats His invitation, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt 11:28.” Desire of Ages, 289
Tomorrow morning I will continue “The Ten Commandments” sermon series. I invite you to study the eternal significance of the Sabbath day.
MINISTRY. As I took a couple of vacation days last week and did not send my weekly message here is a brief recap of some important activities that took place on April 8 and 9. Those of you who attended the communion service on April 8 remember the heavenly music presented by Brass for Worship and the church choir. Not only did they bless us in the morning, but also offered an excellent concert in the afternoon. Thank you, Larry for your leadership in the area of music and worship.
The Prayer Ministry had a Sabbath lunch at the Chilson’s house. It was good to see a solid group of our church members come together once a quarter to fine tune their responsibilities on the “prayer chain.” Their “prayer chain” is a continues flow of praises, intercessory prayers and loving updates on our church families’ needs and situations. I’m honored to be a part of this intercessory ministry. If you are interested in joining this group of faithful prayer warriors please contact Sondra Chilson directly.
April 9, Sunday morning, started at 8 am with a business breakfast for the church building committee. The committee reviewed proposals from four bidders to fix the leaking roof above the office and Sabbath school wing of our building. The best proposal will be presented to the Finance committee and church Board this Monday night. The estimate cost of repairs is at $25,000.
That same Sunday morning continued with the first session of the nominating committee. You have selected an excellent group of people, who from the very start showed unity of spirit, much prayer and a bold vision. The committee asked pastor David Bissell to serve as chairperson and Lupina Hayne as secretary. The second meeting of this committee is planned for this Sunday morning.
While the nominating committee was in session the church parking lot filled with fire trucks. This was the last training exercise of the TriState Volunteer Fire Department before burning the parsonage structure later that afternoon. Heartfelt thank you to Steve Bremner who planned a great appreciation lunch for the fire-fighters and their families. If I’m not mistaken, close to fifty people enjoyed delicious pizza and cold drinks. Thank you Carleen, Galena, and the Rose family for your help serving lunch.
At 4 pm the OAKBOW band presented a concert on Cambridge square in Ooltewah. It was good to see parents and grandparents of our OAKS students as well as people from the community. Thank you Wes Bradford for this wonderful event.
At 6 pm still on the same day the church Board members got together to celebrate the unity of spirit in the ministry of our church. Thank you, Connect Committee, for putting together a perfect night for our church leaders and their families.
Galena and I spent last Sabbath with our daughter Stacey and her husband Javan at the Daytona Beach church. It was a communion Sabbath in their church and as parents we were especially blessed seeing our daughter and our son-in-law serving bread and juice during the service along with the other deacons and deaconesses of that congregation. Stacey and Javan are expecting a baby in mid August. We had a wonderful time rubbing Stacey’s growing tummy 😇.
This Sunday morning the Men’s Ministry is having their famous Haney’s Hungry Hombres breakfast. I’m very thankful to Edymar for inviting Dominque Brandt, from Habitat for Humanity, to share information about an upcoming multi-church project to build a home for a local family. Men of our church, I hope you will plan on attending this important breakfast.
We are just four days away from THE REFORMATION TODAY Bible seminar which will start on April 26. I hope you will make an effort to attend all four sessions, Wednesday through Sabbath, nightly at 7 pm. Invite your friends and family members.
Tomorrow is another day of baptisms in Mariupol, Ukraine. We are gaining more brothers and sisters in that war-torn part of the world. Thank you for your financial support of the Light of Hope Ministry.
The Health Rally with EW Dempsey is on Saturday, April 29th from 2-5 pm in the Fellowship Hall. A meal will be provided for the Seminar participants. Please call the church office at (423) 238-4619 and leave a message if you are interested so that we know how much food to prepare. Please contact our Health Ministry team if you want to know more about this seminar.
Ooltewah Pathfinder Club is participating in a major conference camporee this weekend. They are all at Cohutta Springs. Pastor Aubrey is there with the club. Please, keep them in your prayers.
I’m sincerely grateful to a loving team of our church ladies who regularly visit elderly members of our church. Last week they went to visit my mom. Thank you Mary Ellen, Pat Young, and Marlene Keaton for your caring hearts.
Adventurer Club. Steve Bremner has a never ending fountain of creativity. Last week he ordered a box of frozen butterflies for the Adventure Club program. On Wednesday night the kids opened dozens of envelopes with hibernating butterflies, “brought them back to life” and released them into the wild 😁🌟 What a fun exercise! I had fun “throwing” one of the butterflies myself. Even our cat Lara was fascinated watching this miracle. I was so relieved that the butterfly flew away before Lara pounced on it 😨.
PRAYERS. Prayers are requested for the Chilson’s. They have been on the road for the last several days and Bill had to be taken to the hospital. As of this morning Bill is feeling stronger and we hope to see them back in a couple of days.
Betty Chastain is asking the church to pray for her daughter Dawn. She fell and hit the back of her head. After a couple of days in the hospital the family is hoping to see her back home over the weekend.
Prayers are needed for Dorothy Champion who has been moved to the Collegedale Life Care Center this week.
Please also pray for Gene Fowler. He is having more problems with the foot that he had surgery on a few months ago. He will be seeing his doctor next week. They will appreciate our prayer.
Our April local church budget needs a boost in contributions. Let us all pray that this Sabbath we will make it look happier. This is our church with many wonderful ministries and where we come together and contribute faithfully and generously.
RESOURCES. Need to give your tithe and offerings online? Visit our church website and click on the ONLINE GIVING link. The church site address is www.ooltewahchurch.org
Click here for the church weekly bulletin with inserts and flyers.
See you tomorrow morning,
Peter
Ooltewah Seventh-day Adventist Church 