Month: February 2021

Every life is important. Every soul is needed. It is for this reason apostle Paul compares church to a living body. My body would  be incomplete even without the most tiny part of it. Let us learn how to treasure one another. We find our wholeness is belonging to one another. As the cells of our body live only by being connected with each other, our spiritual life depends on the unity with all the other souls of our church. 

To illustrate this crucial concept I’d like to share with you men’s ministry updated shared with me by Edymar Penagos: “On Sunday February 21st, the Love in Action arm of the Men’s Ministry department swung back into action…but first…breakfast! Before heading the worksite, a small group of the men joined together to fellowship and fuel up for the day with a Hardy Hardees breakfast!  Now off to work!

Thank you, gentlemen, for showing to us an example of the spirit of love and service.

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Please remember in your prayers Leone Peden. Her husband, Arthur, is at the final days of his earthly journey.

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Don’t forget to check out the church website http://www.ooltewahchurch.org for the additional resources and links.

Happy Sabbath and hugs,

pastor Peter

Greetings,

God’s Law is given not only as a safety railing to keep us from from falling, but as a “delight” (Ps. 119:47) after a successful climb to the top of the mountain. Join our worship services tomorrow morning and we’ll study more together about the importance and the blessing of the Law of the Lord. 

This morning I had a joyful experience of speaking for the OAKS chapel. Most of the students were in their classrooms participating over YouTube, but the Kindergarten class was in the sanctuary. They sang a few songs before the message. Their engagement during my short sermon was outstanding. They all had something to say or to share. What a bright group of students! 

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A couple of days ago I got a phone call from Iris Morgan. Iris is the one who started a “meal train” for the Bremner family. For those of you who may be new to our church Steve Bremner was diagnosed with cancer, recently had two surgeries and currently is in radiation treatment. Iris had an excellent system of food deliveries to the Bremner’s. I was absolutely impressed how Iris thought through every detail. There are a number of church families who prepare meals and deliver them to the Bremner’s porch every day of the week. Iris mentioned that there may still be one or two spots available for those who would like to join this wonderful ministry. Please contact Iris directly at 248-202-9111. A heartfelt Thank You to all who are helping this dear family. 

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Men’s Ministry is going full steam in various directions. Here is an excerpt from Edymar’s weekly update:

” Love in action: We will be at Barbra Smith’s house this Sunday replacing deck boards. We have plenty of help for this Sunday but still need more volunteers for the next two projects. Please text or email me if you are available to help on 2/28 and or on 3/7. We will be replacing deck boards on 2/28 and building a deck on 3/7. 

Guys Time out (GTO): Put it on the calendar! We had so much fun the last time that we decided to do it monthly. Please plan to come out for a no agenda meal with some brothers in Christ on 2/25. We will meet at Molcajete at 630pm. Hope to see you there!  

Haney Hungry Hombres: We are approaching the end of February and you know what that means! It will soon be time to grub with some hungry hombres. Mark your calendars and I’ll see you on 2/28 at 8:30am in the Ooltewah SDA Church’s fellowship hall.” 

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Here is a link to the latest Light of Hope blog post right here. 

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For the church bulletin and Online Giving visit our website at www.ooltewahchurch.org

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Happy Sabbath, my friends.

pastor Peter

Pathfinders. Thank you, David Reynolds and the Pathfinder Club leaders for the excellent Sabbath morning program. It was so good to see our children and youth actively participate in the ministry of our church. It was a special treat to have Pastor Ron Whitehead with us that Sabbath. He shared an engaging message. The night before one of the club members, Ashley Herren, got baptized by Elder Ron Malloch. On Sabbath morning the church accepted  Ashley into the fellowship of our church. Congratulations to Ashely and her family.  Here are a few photos from the Pathfinder Sabbath. 

Women’s ministry is active in sharing love and care. Last Sunday I received several photos from Avril Williams and the following report from Sharon Harrell: “Over the past few weeks, the ladies from the Women’s Ministries Team (Christy Bartlett, Eileen Lezeau, Robyn Wilson, Avril Williams, and Sharon Harrell) have been busy putting together gift bags for the girls in the Ooltewah Church ages 12 to 18.  We were able to assemble 40 bags with cookies, stationery, a book, and other small gift items for our girls. We want our teens to know how valuable they are to our church and how happy we are that they are a part of our church family! Thank you so much to Sue Wiley, Nancy Smiley, and Marlene Keaton for also helping to distribute the gifts to our girls. 

God is blessing this ministry, and we are thankful to Him for every woman and girl in our church. Each one of you is important to God. We look forward to more projects and more ministry opportunities in the year ahead. Thank you for your prayers for this ministry and for each other.”

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The Samaritan Center event was a blast! Last Sabbath evening the weather was miserable. One had to be really committed to leave their warm homes that night. Once again my weak human nature kept me stressed throughout the day. Some of our regular Community service champions were out of town. What if only a few show up? That night I learned another lesson of trusting God! About sixty volunteers came to help with the project. Some of them were under the age of eight, some were over eighty five. Whole families and single individuals all came together moved by the spirit of service. The Samaritan Center deck was absolutely packed with the donated items. A miracle happened that night. The deck was cleared in less than 45 minutes. This is what joining hands in service is all about. What a church we have! Praise God! Thank you, volunteers. Pastor Matthew shared these photos with me:

Light of Hope Ministry. Due to pandemic travel restrictions public in-person evangelistic meetings are not an option in Ukraine, Russia and other countries of Eastern Europe. Once again I received a request from the Euro-Asia Division church leadership to conduct a series of evangelistic meetings over the satellites used by Hope Channel Ukraine, Hope Channel Russia, and the Russian branch of the 3 ABN. We expect hundreds of thousands of viewers across that vast region of the world. The Light of Hope is joining hands with the It Is Written team for this international outreach event. Can you imagine that as the Ooltewah Adventist church we’ll be the platform for this Gospel proclamation? Social unrest is spreading across Russia. We live in a very special time. People need to hear about the second coming of Christ. Please pray for me as I need to work on the new series of sermons for the next two weeks. I am also praying for funds needed for this project. The total needed budget is 25,000$. There is nothing impossible for the Lord.

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Please continue to pray for Julia and Jim Easter’s health and soon recovery. Prayers go up for Steven Bremner as he is in the first week of radiation treatments. Please also remember Fred Cornell, he is at LifeCare of Ooltewah. 

I plan to worship with all of you tomorrow in person or virtually. The Spirit of God unites us all as one family of God’s children. For additional resources visit our church website @ www.ooltewahchurch.org 

Happy Sabbath,

pastor Peter

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Each one of us is a living cell in the body of Christ. In the physical body each cell needs to be connected to the other cells. Without this connection there is no life and no growth. This is one of the main reasons Paul compares church to a living organism. If you want to live as a Christian; if you want to contribute to the growth of the whole body you need to stay connected with the other church members. Did you find this connection? “As the human body, which has many parts, is a unity, and those parts, despite their multiplicity, constitute one single body, so it is with the body of Christ.” (1 Cor. 12:12). 

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This afternoon, Friday, February 5, @ 4 P.M. you are invited to attend a service in memory of Dale Smith. Dale passed in early December. The service will be streamed on the church YouTube channel. 

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Last Sabbath night Evan Spicer’s father, Harold Spicer, fell asleep in the Lord. On behalf of the Ooltewah SDA church I extend our sincere condolences to the Spicer family. The service is planned for February 20 @ 5 P.M. Here is a link to Harold’s obituary page. 

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On January 27 OAKS Celebrated the 100th day of life at school! The Kindergarten and 1st-2nd grade classrooms spent the day using the number 100 in 100 ways through hands-on learning opportunities and group activities. Grades 5-6 collected 200 can goods and planted 226 vegetable plants and marigolds. With the help of the 3rd-4th grade the students colored 150 cards of encouragement for our community lunch bags in the Feed the Homeless program directed by the church. We are truly thankful for 100 days of in-person education and for the health and wellbeing of our staff and students. Our teachers did a great job celebrating such a tremendous pandemic milestone.

OAKS is also celebrating the end of our fundraiser for the Technology Giving Tree Fundraiser. As of Monday more than $12,500 has been raised, which is a little more than what was needed. Thank you so much church family for your incredible support to meet this growing need.

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Tomorrow, February 6, @ 6:30 P.M. we’ll unite our hands in service to our community. The Samaritan Center needs our help. For the last several months volunteer participation has been steadily growing. This is happening because of YOU choosing to come. Thank you for your spirit of service. 

Thank you for your generous support of the Cereal Barrel ministry. The barrel is overflowing! Praise God! More families in our community will have food for breakfast. This is how we fulfill the words of Jesus: “I was hungry and you gave Me food.” 

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Worship services this Sabbath will be led by the Pathfinder’s club. Pastor Ron Whitehead will be speaking for all three services. 

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Prayers continue for Steven Bremner. Steve’s surgery went well. He is back at home. Next week Steve will start radiation treatments. God is strong to help. Please remember to pray for his wife Sharon and the girls.

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Additional resources are always available on the church website.

See you tomorrow morning. Happy Sabbath.

pastor Peter