Month: March 2018

MESSAGE. The resurrection is more than just an event that happened once in history. It’s the source of the power we can experience in our own life, every day. The same power of resurrection that brought Jesus from death to life is available to us, and if we tap into it, we will see an amazing transformation in our own life, too.

MINISTRY.  Yard Sale/Fundraiser mobilized our church family in the noble effort of helping the OAKS handbell choir raise money needed for their own bells. Thank you, Jaunita and Jackie for planning and organizing this event. We all know that you have been working for weeks in order to make this yard sale a success. Thank you, everyone, who donated items for this fundraiser. Thank you, everyone who came last Sabbath night to set up the Fellowship hall and worked till midnight. Your efforts were nicely rewarded with over $3,000 raised for the new bells. How exciting to be a part of this church! (And yes, Connie Reynold’s photo is here because all haircut proceeds were donated to the Handbell choir! 🙂 )

 

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Our March Season of Change luncheon had 50 ladies and helpers attending and enjoying our theme a “Mad Hatter Tea Party”. Like “Alice in Wonderland” widows find themselves falling down a rabbit hole and landing in a strange new world. We look for joy and fun in the loss and difficult transition by sharing, laughing and praying for one another.
In the photos below you’ll find Paula Wolfe and Lupina Haney, Nancy McCoy, Paula Wolfe and Barbara. The tables had teapots or clocks, flowers and Alice in Wonderland quotes, the White Rabbit and Alice of course! Heartfelt THANK YOU to Lupina and her awesome crew!

 

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OUR BEST TO GOD. Church family, aren’t we grateful to God for all the wonderful ministries that we have at our church? Without your support of the local church budget we would’t been able to do all these wonderful things. Here is where I need to speak to you from my heart. March has been the third month in a row where we have not reached our monthly local church budget goal. As a result of this shortage we were not able to support our Pathfinders and Adventurers, our Widows and our Evangelism. These are just a few of the ministries which have not been receiving their monthly allocations. I know that by God’s grace we can change this situation. Galena and I are praying about increasing our local church giving by 50%. Can you pray about increasing your local church budget giving by 5%, 10%, or whatever amount you can afford. Tomorrow is the last Sabbath of March. Please, join me in prayers for a miracle.

PRAYERS. From Margo: “Dear Church and school family. I am on the mends. I’m having much less pain and daily increases in mobility. I am overwhelmed and humbled by the outpouring of love and caring. I feel undeserving of so much help, prayers, cards, food and more. Thank you for being the fingers and feet of a very loving God.”

Please, continue your daily prayers for Howard Kennedy, Jerry Lastine, Eileen Lezeau  and David Bissell.

Here is a Facebook update from David: “AMAZING: Only 1 more proton therapy treatment. God has been with me. I am doing well. I am joyful! Leaving for home tomorrow after treatment in the morning. I just feel so thankful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love this song. Listened to it on the way back to the hotel. Expresses my heartfelt emotions! Need encouragement? LISTEN. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s9l5EvHeQs THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS.”

RESOURCES. Online tithe and offering giving: www.ooltewahchurch.org

Weekly church bulletin:

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/058e52_71be48c891af4f7796aa7d900df3bfea.pdf

MESSAGE. 

By Christ’s shed blood we are redeemed, ransomed and set free from our sins (Ephesians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:18-19, Revelation 1:5). That is the liberating, transforming, glorious truth of justification by faith that brings us peace with God (Romans 5:1). He took our sin so that we might be clothed in His righteousness. Through faith we can stand before God’s holy throne as righteous as Jesus himself – because the righteousness in which we stand clothed there is Jesus’ righteousness!

This Sabbath morning is my last sermon from the Power of the Blood series. Please read Hebrews 9:11-14.

MINISTRY. Last Sabbath a group of our church members and their friends had an early start. They went downtown to the Community Kitchen to feed hundreds of homeless people. From 6 am they were cooking, grilling, cutting, and chopping. By 7 am the doors of the Kitchen were open and a couple of hundred guests enjoyed breakfast with pancakes, grilled turkey patties, scrambled eggs and a fruit salad. Thank you, everyone, who went to help last week and also those who will go again tomorrow morning.

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This Friday night the Collegiate Sabbath school class met in our family room. How encouraging it is to see young people coming together to sing and worship the Lord. Of course there is great food there. What students would not want to eat 🙂 . Thank you, Michael Luchak and Britney Verduzco for your leadership!

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PRAYERS.

• Jim Easter – health concerns.
• Eilean Lezeau – upcoming surgery.

David Bissell – ongoing cancer treatment. Here is the latest update from pastor David. In the update you’ll find a request for help. Please, pray for God’s answer to the need in the Bissell family. “Here is a quick update.  Lots of pain in my tongue and sores in my throat BUT the doctor has given me medicine that blocks most of the pain and I can still eat solid foods.  I am doing pretty well.  This ends my 4th week.  Only 2 to go.  We need some help for Dan and Spring.  They are finally moving in to their own home, after having lived with us 3 years.  However, they only have one car .  Jeanette needs our car.  Do you know of anyone who has a dependable running car that they would like to donate or rent to someone?” Please, contact me or pastor David directly if you can help. Thank you.

• The Mountcastle family.

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Helpful Resources:

From Family Ministry – Our Resources Page is now on the church website.  You can check it out by visiting: https://www.ooltewahchurch.org/familyministry…. Thanks so much to Alisa Hall for your hard work!

New Mobile Adventist Giving App. This new app from the Seventh-day Adventist Church allows you to return tithe and give offerings any time and from anywhere using your smart phone or tablet. Available for Android and Apple devices.

Prayer Conference resources link. Here is a short message from Connie Jones: “I feel sure you got this email also…but it is a link to the presentations at Prayer Conference by Kevin Wilfley.  I feel it would be a blessing to post it on your blog so all church members have the opportunity to listen to them.  It was such an inspiring weekend.  Thanks, Connie Jones”  https://vimeo.com/channels/prayerconference

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See you tomorrow. Happy Sabbath.

MESSAGE. “Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness.” (Ephesians 1:7 GWT) How much are you worth? Jesus says, with his arms stretched out on the cross, “I’m willing to die for you, because you mean this much to me.” You may think that you’re worthless because of things you’ve done wrong. But Jesus says, “No. You’re priceless. And I’m willing to give my life in order to pay for your sins.”

Tomorrow morning is my fourth message from the “Power in the Blood” series.

MINISTRY. This Sabbath we are welcoming several families into our church. Unfortunately some families are out of town this week. I will introduce them later this month. Below are the photos of those who will be in church tomorrow:

1. Bobby and Karen Boles

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2. Jenny and Seth Alford

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3. Zary and Raul Colon

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4. Pastor Mario & Celia Cruz

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Last Sabbath the Bremner family presented a worship service at the Bridge Assisted Living center in Ooltewah. They do it on a regular basis and are praying for more church members to get involved in this ministry to the elderly. Specifically, they are looking for a team to cover the second Sabbath of the month. See a picture below where Sarah and Katherine handed out roses to the residents of Bridge.

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The Fellowship Hall upgrades are going full speed and I hope all structural work will be finished by next Sabbath. With these changes we will be better equipped to host church and school functions. Thank you for your support and your readiness to move forward. A church that stops moving turns into a warm and cozy swamp. When God is leading we need to be ready for the adventures of a rushing mountain stream; a stream that transforms deserts into bright and colorful meadows.

I was very encouraged by your support of the Local church budget on the first Sabbath of March. When each one of us gets on board with our small contribution big miracles begin to happen. I invite you to test the Lord through every week of March. He will be faithful to His promise of the open windows of blessings.

PRAYERS. Please pray for:

Jim Easter – health concerns related to his heart. Jim will have additional tests done on his heart this coming Tuesday.

Roger Wolfe – who is now on in-home hospice.

Heather, Bill and Sondra’s  granddaughter.

Pastor Aubrey – broke her ankle; needs a miracle as her mission trip to Cuba is coming in 8 days.

Sandra Wade, Cindy Mountcastle’s relative, who was placed on a ventilator this week.

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MESSAGE. Jesus said, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23) This is not morbid theology, this is a gospel of liberty (Galatians 5:1)! Self is the root of all misery, and the cross is the source of victory over sin and self. We do not need to wait until we die to experience this victory, for we have it now through the blood of Christ Jesus (Hebrews 9:12 – 14). Oh blessed be His Name (Psalm 72:19)!

MINISTRY. Last week was packed with ministry related activities and programs. The Emmanuel quartet performed on Friday night, we had two services on Sabbath morning, and an elders’ meeting on Sabbath night followed by the OAKS Variety Show. Here is a brief report from Shelly Turkenkopf:  “What a high weekend for OAKS with our annual Variety Show and Music and Marinara Band Concert. The students were in high form performing skits, lip syncing, playing duets, and even two instruments at the same time. Turn-out was very high for both events and the home and school and band students raised good funding for future travel and school events. Thank you so much for all those who volunteered to help run both events. Our parents and volunteers are the legs we stand on. Praise the Lord for students with so many talents who are willing to share them with our community. We can’t wait until next year.”

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The Men’s Ministry group met on Sunday morning to eat, to pray, and to laugh together! I was personally greatly energized by their awesome spirit. There was time to dive into the study of God’s Word and time to plan their next love in action project. One of our church family members is in need of assistance with several projects around their home, that is where we come in. All the men agreed that “its time for love to act”!

Below are a few photos taken by Edymar:

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The Church Board had a busy meeting last Monday night. There were great reports shared by the Women’s Ministry and the Sabbath school department. Carlene asked everyone to pray about the challenges presented by the growth of the lower divisions.

A considerable amount of time was dedicated to the discussion of the Fellowship Hall renovation. The Fellowship Hall is being used for various church and school programs. The building committee presented a proposal to extend the platform to meet the needs of the choir and band performance, and to move the sound room to the upper space above the doors of the Fellowship hall. After thorough discussion the Board voted to approve these renovations. The board also reviewed the proposal to replace the existing Fellowship Hall chairs with folding chairs. The Board agreed to acquire a few sample options before a final decision is made.

The Board also approved the initiative to explore the option of a church Day Care Center. Shelly Turkenkopf, Becky Denton, pastor Matthew and pastor Peter were asked to serve on the research committee.

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With the expansion and growth of our church ministries I’m asking you to consider your personal participation in the financial support of the local church budget. If we all contribute at least $15 a week we will all be meeting our local church budget goal. We will be able to fund our school needs, Pathfinders and Adventurers, Evangelism and Sabbath school department. I pray we will see a considerable increase in local giving this Sabbath and every Sabbath in March.

PRAYERS. Over last weekend Carole Darmody and Jerry Lastine were taken to ERs with serious health concerns. After a couple days of observation both Carole and Jerry were allowed to return home. Thank you for your prayers, church! Jerry Lastine is now at the Bridge Assistance Living center in Ooltewah.

Leland Zollinger was moved to Syskin Rehab center, next to Erlnager hospital. He may stay there for the next week or so. Leland celebrated his 89th birthday last Monday 🙂

Renee Recchia’s surgery was successful. A big thank you from Dan and Renee for your thoughts and prayers.

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