MESSAGE.
All Mothers are beautiful. I’m grateful for my mother. She is weak. She needs continuous care, but she is still my Mom who dedicated her life to raising her children in love to God and people. I’m thankful for Galina, the mother of our children. She’s been a great inspiration for our daughters. They learn from her how to be always beautiful and caring. I’m blessed to see how our daughters metamorphose into sweet young mothers. Their passionate dedication to motherhood is a powerful reminder of our Creator/Parent love. Call your mother. Visit your mom. With all their earthly imperfections, they are perfect in their love.
MINISTRY.
During the last few weeks I see again and again that our church is not a building, but a caring family of Christ’s disciples. Here is a brief report from Lucas Patterson on a new wonderful ministry in which our church engaged: “On Monday morning, seven members of our church came together in the fellowship hall and packed 150 sack lunches for the homeless. It took less than 90 minutes to assemble the emergency meals, which consisted of turkey and cheese sandwiches, chips, fruit, and Little Debbies. After finishing, the group prayed over the food before dropping it off at Chattanooga Community Kitchen for distribution. Our church will repeat this community service effort again on May 18, June 1, and June 15. Volunteer spots are limited. To sign up, call 423-582-1678 or email lucaspatterson@southern.edu .”
CEREAL BARREL MINISTRY. The Samaritan Center is open for business. For our church it means helping them with cereal for the needy families in our community. Throughout the month of May we’ll have the Cereal Barrel outside the main doors on the side of the church office. The barrel will be outside only on weekdays during office hours. Thank you for remembering and helping those who are less fortunate than we are. God bless you for your contributions.
OAKS. This week I personally experienced the new format of the OAKS educational program. I was invited to join a book discussion with the 7th graders over their ZOOM class. It was so good to see how engaged they all were. Thank you, Janel Jensen, for sharing with me this blessing. Our school is doing a wonderful job continuing its ministry in this new reality of a COVID19 world. Please remember to support the Student Assistance fund. Your help is needed and appreciated!
IN-PERSON WORSHIP. Pastor Matthew and I are actively working on the guidelines for the in-person worship services. We are engaging ministry leaders and healthcare experts in the discussion of the draft of this document. After it is approved by the church board we will have it posted on the church website. The exact date of the first in-person worship service will be officially voted on by the church board on May 18. Please continue to pray for God’s guidance in this important matter. We all long to worship together.
PRAYERS.
We are saddened to share the news that our church member, Ken LeuPhang, passed away this morning. Please keep his wife, Julia, and his family in your prayers.
Please pray for a new precious boy born into the Hall family. “Will”, officially William Dean Hall, born 5/5/2020 at 1:43 a.m., 7 lb. 13 oz and 20.25″ long. (See the featured photo above.)
Let us continue praying for healing in our community after the last devastating tornados. Pray also for the healing to be granted to our nation.
Don’t forget to send your prayer requests to my cell phone number.
RESOURCES.
Thank you for your generous and faithful giving. I was so encouraged to see that we met our local church budget goal in April. Your support means that you love your church. We’ll be able to fulfill our obligations and support our ministries. The online giving is available at www.ooltewahchurch.org
The digital church bulletin is available right here.
Sabbath morning worship service starts live at 9 am on Sabbath morning. Go to the home page of our church website 5 minutes before 9 am and click on the blue box “SERMONS AND ONLINE WORSHIP SERVICES” at the bottom of the page. Don’t click on it too early 🙂 If you click on that link before 8:55 am you’ll access last week’s service.
FROM MY HEART. Our oldest daughter’s husband is having tests and exams this week and next week. Galina and I made a quick trip to Florida and brought Stacey and her two precious boys to our home to help them during the next two weeks. What a blessing it is to have them with us! See for yourself 🙂
Happy Sabbath! “See” you tomorrow on YouTube 🙂
Ooltewah Seventh-day Adventist Church 