Month: November 2020

MESSAGE.

On Thanksgiving Day we usually talk about the blessings that we receive from God. This is definitely the right thing to do, but how often do we consider the Giver of these blessings? Let me invite you to talk more about our God Himself. He is truly an awesome God. 

O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary.
The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people.
Blessed be God!

Psalm 68:35

MINISTRY.

Last Sabbath our church celebrated baptism of Stephan Hirwa. It was a special day for Stephan’s family. He was studying with pastor Matthew for the last several months and was very excited about giving his life to Jesus. 

Women’s Ministry report shared by Sharon Harrell: “Many of the members in our congregation are lonely and unable to attend church or visit their families. So last week, three members of the Women’s Ministries Team got together to plan and prepare gift packages to share with several of our members who are not able to attend on a regular basis. Eileen Lezeau, Christy Bartlett, and Sharon Harrell baked banana nut muffins and several varieties of cookies. Then they met at Eileen’s home to assemble decorated candles, fruit, baked goods, and cocoa mix all placed on a decorative autumn-colored plate. The following two days were spent delivering the packages to 13 church members and families. It was a lovely and meaningful experience for everyone! We have missed one another, and it was a joyful time — for those giving, and for those receiving the gifts. We pray for each of our members who are unable to attend and encourage all our members to reach out to one another in our church.”

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The Pathfinder Food Drive was a great success thanks to the generosity of our church family! With your help we were able to supply an abundance of food for 20+ families. What a tangible way to express God’s love this holiday season. Special thanks to those who came out and helped sort, pack, and even deliver the huge boxes! What a huge blessing! – David Reynolds 

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Last Sabbath during both services we were blessed with the outstanding and uplifting music of the orchestra conducted by Mary Wilcox. It was a wonderful treat for the pre-Thanksgiving worship service. 

PRAYERS.

I invite you to pray for Dr. David Hartman who had a very complicated surgery last week and now is in recovery.

Please pray for Sharon Harrell’s upcoming surgery.

Prayers for Elsi Penagos who is battling cancer. 

RESOURCES. 

No 5 PM Service this Sabbath, November 28

Starting December 5 the “mask required service” will be taking place in the Fellowship Hall at 9 am. Don’t be late 🙂 as the service starts with a sermon followed by the other parts of the worship experience.

No changes to the regular 9 AM  (Sanctuary) and 11:30 AM (Fellowship 2) services. 

Church Weekly bulletin.

Online Giving; Tithe and Offerings. 

FROM MY HEART.

This Thanksgiving our daughter Stacey, her husband Javan and their two boys, Pierce and Caspian, gathered with Javan’s brother’s family in Flagstaff, AZ. Our second daughter Dasha and her husband Kevin and their daughter Mila celebrated Thanksgiving in Eugene, OR. Galina and I were invited by our youngest daughter Barby and her husband Jared to Nashville, TN. Our daughter Dasha V. joined us there also. We had delicious food together, remembered the blessings of 2020, talked about how to be a blessing for others in 2021, walked along the river in Nashville, and drove back home later that night. Thank you, God, for the gift of family. 

MESSAGE.

It is quite natural for us to be grateful for the blessings that we receive. We are thankful for food, stable income, peace and freedom. We are thankful for good people around us. However, apostle Paul invites us to be a blessing for someone else, “when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.” (2 Cor. 9:11-12) Pray to become a blessing for someone else during this beautiful Thanksgiving holiday. 

MINISTRY.

November 7 was our day to help at the Samaritan Center.  Ten volunteers signed up to help. As I arrived at the dock right after sunset I was a little nervous. There were delicious home-made cookies, provided by Connie Reynolds; there was ice-cream, but I counted only six volunteers. It was actually hard to see our volunteers behind the mountain of donated goods. After prayer our faith strengthened! Church members kept coming. Ten minutes into the project there were forty volunteers, of course including sweet and hard working children! What an awesome church family we have. A heartfelt Thank You to all who came that night!

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Every first and third Monday of the month our church continues to prepare sack lunches for the homeless in Chattanooga. I am grateful for the OAKS students’ support. Here is a photo from last Monday:

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On Sunday afternoon our church Health Ministry department presented an excellent seminar on Healthy Menu Options for the Holidays. I was impressed with the hard work of the ladies and a few men in the kitchen. It looked like a beehive in there. Sylvia Hyde was the main presenter for the program. She was demonstrating live, on-stage cooking of various meals for the holidays. She looked like a professional TV show chef. Thank you, everyone who made this seminar a success. I was glad to see participants not only from our church, but also from the community. I am looking forward to many more health seminars in the coming months. 

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A good number of men from our church participated in a retreat planned by Blue Print for Men. Here is an update from Edymar Penagos:

“Ignite the Fire Men’s Retreat:

• Everyone that I have talked to said they had a great time. The Spirit was clearly with the group, and I personally left blessed by the fellowship and rest. Events like this are important. They help forge bonds between brothers, foster worship and shift our attention to what matters most. It was great seeing all the guys from Ooltewah and other churches come out and worship our Father together. See attached photos.
• Thank you Marty Miller and the Blue Print for Men team for a wonderful, God filled retreat. As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another Proverbs 24:17.

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“The Pathfinder Food Drive is ongoing.  Wish to thank everyone who have already participated with us in this ministry. We will be sorting the food on Sabbath at 3pm in the fellowship hall.  We invite you to come between 3-5 pm and fill a bag for someone you know of in the church or community. Please take advantage of this great opportunity with us.  You can also text names and addresses to (423)505-6658″ –
from David Reynolds, Pathfinder Club Director. 

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The church elders met on ZOOM last week to coordinate their ministry to church members during the holidays. We are blessed to have a team of church leaders who are united in spirit and always willing to serve. At that meeting we agreed to move the Sabbath Evening (masks required) Worship service to a different time. Here is the full announcement:

“NEW TIME FOR THIRD WORSHIP SERVICE – Beginning on December 5, our 5 pm service is moving to a new time. We will now have two services at 9 am, one in the sanctuary, and one in the fellowship hall. This will continue to be a full worship service, with live music and a sermon from the pastor. However, to accommodate two simultaneous services, the order will be changed. The sermon will be first, followed by the rest of the service. To summarize, here are our three worship services:

Sanctuary, 9 am; 

Fellowship-1, 9 am (masks required; sermon first); 

Fellowship-2, 11:30 am. 

We hope this will better accommodate the needs of our church family during this challenging time.  

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PRAYERS. 

Sharon Harrell, upcoming surgery 

Dr. David Hartman, surgery. 

Elsi Penagos, physical and spiritual help from above in the battle with cancer. 

God’s blessings and guidance upon our nation during the time of Pandemic and presidential elections. 

RESOURCES. 

Weekly Church Bulletin

Online Giving: Tithe and Offerings

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Happy Thanksgiving week!

pastor Peter

 

MESSAGE.

People may disappoint us.  We naturally want to turn away from them or treat them the way we think they deserve. This seems to be the logical way to act.  This may be the fair way to feel. Not so in God’s Kingdom. This is why God’s grace is not fair. The Pharisees were upset with Christ; Rulers of Israel were mad at Christ. His grace toward people was not making sense. It is not making sense even today, but it is this “unfairness” that makes me want to be a different person, a better person. I do not deserve God’s love or forgiveness, but He still is running towards me when He sees me from far away in the ugliness of my human nature. 

MINISTRY.

ELECTION WINNER – is the Ooltewah SDA Church. On election night, November 3, 1,731 community members and 29 election workers passed through our church. Election workers told me they specifically requested to work here because we are a very friendly church. Many community members thanked our church for hosting the elections and were very appreciative of the free water and Little Debbie’s. A special thank you to Richard Johnson, Sue Wiley, Edymar Penagos, Pastor Peter, and Sarah Bremner for your hours of dedicated service.  ~ Steward Director: Steven Bremner   

The above paragraph was submitter by Steven Bremner, our church elder and Office Manager. He humbly omitted his name from the list of those who made Tuesday a success. I award 5 STARS to Steve for planning that event, providing water and snacks, managing every step of the process, and being there for almost twenty-four hours! Thank You! 

Here are a couple of pictures from that day:

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Sack Lunches for the Homeless once again was a wonderful experience for the volunteers who came to help last Monday morning. This ministry helps us all concentrate on the priorities of our Christian calling. What a wonderful church we have! A church that cares about the needs of the people in our community. Special Thank You to Edwin Reynolds for coordinating this effort and for delivering the lunches to Chattanooga Community Kitchen. 

Continue reading “Grace Is Not Fair” →