MESSAGE. “What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.” 1 Peter 1:3-5 MSG
Pandemic kills; Jesus brings life! This is the message that we need to affirm today. As a caring parent by the bedside of a sick child, Christ is right next to each one of HIS children during this time of pain and suffering. He knows how to heal. He has the power to resurrect! Share this hope with one another today.
MINISTRY.
The April 4 Sabbath worship service united our church again in the spiritual reality of our online services. Lots of phone messages were going back and forth sharing praises and prayer requests. Pastor Matthew had an excellent children’s story based on his personal experience of God’s faithfulness during tough times. Wonderful songs by the Highlanders group reminded us about heaven without tears. Thank you, Larry! Greg and Arlene Leavitt blessed us all with a thorough Sabbath School lesson study. There were several other ZOOM studies going on at the same time. Hear a short message from the Herrell’s: “Hi Pastor Peter, we enjoyed your sermon so much yesterday! It was very meaningful to us. Thank you! I wanted to tell you that my mother’s favorite Bible verse in the whole Bible was Titus 2:13. My maiden name was Titus. My mother always clung to that wonderful blessed hope. I know I will see her again someday! We had our own Sabbath school class on Zoom yesterday. That was our Discipleship Class. Mike was the facilitator as usual. Fifteen of us met together on there! It was wonderful. We plan to do it every Sabbath from now on until we can meet back at church.”
Jenny Spicer and Pastor Matthew led the Youth Sabbath school class. Their class will meet again this Sabbath at 10:15 am. Cory Goss is planning on starting a ZOOM Sabbath class for the Primary age group tomorrow at 11:15, after the Adult Sabbath study is over. How exciting that we can still study God’s Word and worship Him at this time.
April 11 Worship Service will go live at 9 am at http://www.ooltewahchurch.org . Let the Spirit of God keep us together in worship and in study through this new Sabbath day.
HOPE AWAKENS. We are exactly a week away from the opening night of the It Is Written online evangelistic meetings. Our church registered to be a part of this virtual outreach. Please visit the It Is Written resources available online, and share the news with your friends and family.
Click here to register and to learn more about the upcoming seminar.
Light of Hope Ministry. COVID19 is hitting every possible nation of the world and is wreaking financial and economic havoc. The Euro-Asia Division based in Moscow, Russia asked me to present a series of evangelistic meetings starting April 17. I will be preaching in Russian from Ooltewah, and the Hope Channels Russia and Ukraine will be broadcasting it across Eastern Europe and Asia. People living in those countries need hope and encouragement. I am humbled by this request and solicit your prayers. Steve Darmody and Jaimy Jorge graciously agreed to be a part of this unprecedented global evangelistic event. We are just a few days away from the opening night of the meetings. Please keep the Light of Hope Ministry in your prayers. Below is a 40 second promotional video in the Russian language used by our churches and satellite networks in preparation for the event.
PRAYERS. I invite you to pray for our church and our community. Pray for those who lost their income. Pray for the healthcare professionals from our church as well as around the globe. They are on the battlefield of a real war. Pray for the young couples with little children. Pray for our OAKS students and the school teachers. Pray for those volunteers who help with food and household supply deliveries. Pray to find your place in the ministry to the discouraged and the struggling souls around us.
Pray for Pastor Matthew as he’ll be sharing the message of hope tomorrow.
God bless you for your faithfulness in bringing your tithes and offerings. Last week many drove by the church and dropped their tithe envelopes into the “secure offerings mail box” by the office door. Others used the online Adventist Giving option. COVID19 will not stop us from supporting the work of God’s Church! Here is a link to the Online Giving
Church bulletin is also updated every week and you can access it at anytime by visiting our church website www.ooltewahchurch.org
FROM MY HEART. This weekend was planned a year ago as a time to celebrate our youngest daughter’s wedding. COVID19 closed the doors for a big event. Our family members cannot travel to attend the ceremony, but the wedding is still taking place. We agreed to pray over this new union of hearts right at the sundown time this Sabbath night. The ceremony will take place in our back yard. We cut a couple of trees, set a few stumps (for 10 people 🙂 ), put together an arch made of our of own tree branches. Please remember our daughter Barby and her fiancé Jared in your prayers as they will be joined in marriage by the end of the day tomorrow.
Ooltewah Seventh-day Adventist Church 
We are sure this will be a blessed time for your family. You will make it so exciting and fun for them. God bless their new home.
Boy will they ever have and interesting message and fun talk in the years to come telling about when they got married.
Wish we could be there and watch it all.
I have never done this before, so not sure it will get there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Sharon 😇
LikeLike