Pressing Forward

MESSAGE. In Philippians 3:14 the apostle Paul set for himself a goal! “I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus.” Philippians‬ ‭3:14‬ ‭MSG‬‬ He pressed forward in search for his goal — he pressed toward the mark of the high calling in Jesus! He had a clear direction of where he was going and he was focused on the Lord! How much more should we!

By setting a goal, we are making a decision to act. We are providing ourselves a map and depending on the Lord to be our compass — to provide the direction He wants us to go! A goal is more than a dream — it’s a dream acted upon. It’s not saying “oh, I wish I could” — it’s declaring what we want to do for the Lord– it’s a declaration of faith!

Let’s make our lives interesting — let’s set for ourselves a goal for 2018! Let’s make a clear declaration of faith, saying “This is what I am going to do for the Lord and then press forward!” Will it be studying God’s Word daily? Attending Wednesday night prayer meetings? Visiting the elderly of my church? Getting to know the sixty new members who joined our church in 2017? Press forward!  I can’t wait to see where the Lord will take us!

Happy New Year!

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MINISTRY. It’s been pretty quiet around the church this week. The school is on Christmas break. Many families are traveling. However, I was glad to see a good turn out for our Wednesday night prayer meeting. There was a lot of signing and praying for our church and the community around us. This church can definitely be called a House of Prayer.

If you missed the prayer meeting this week there will be plenty of opportunities next week. We’ll start the new year with a Week of Prayer. Tuesday through Saturday there will be study and prayer sessions daily at 8 am and at 7 pm. I’d like to encourage you to attend either in the morning or in the evening. The topic of our study and prayer will be the High Priestly ministry of our Savior in the heavenly sanctuary. Jesus is interceding for us each one of us daily. There is comfort and encouragement in this message. I hope I’ll see many of you participate in the Week of Prayer meetings.

Closer to the end of the Week of Prayer we’ll have an Agape Feast. It will take place at 7 pm on Friday night, January 5th. This will be a time of celebration with lots of music, communion and supper.

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Molly and Philip Recchia got a very special Christmas present. Here is what Molly wrote on her Facebook page on December 25th: “We welcomed Emily Jo Recchia into the world today! We were truly blessed with the best Christmas present ever! She is tiny but mighty at 5 lbs, 10 oz & 19.25 in. We are both doing well. Thank you for all the prayers and support we have received!”

Congratulatuons, Molly and Philip. We are sincerely happy for you.

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This Sabbath morning we are welcoming six new members who chose to join the Ooltewah SDA church family. They are:

1. Linda Astacio and her mother Matilde Jimenez

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Heidi Matthews

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Katie Mayfield

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Chrystique Neibauer

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Jamie Barboza (no photo available at this time)

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FROM MY HEART. Galena and I were blessed to have all four of our daughters, two sons-in-law, one boy friend, a grandson 👼 and my Mom come home for Christmas. Unfortunately our youngest Dasha and her boyfriend Eli did not make it in time for the family photo while our little grandson Pierce was awake. So, below is our picture missing two precious members of our family.

 

Pierce is only four months old but he was eager to help with my backyard work. He was not quite ready to split wood, but was definitely happy to pose for the Instagram picture 😄

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Happy New Year! Wishing you many wonderful blessings from our Heavenly Father.