Month: August 2022

Everyone is invited to be part of the Kingdom of God, but not everyone will enter His Kingdom. Christ made a number of statements about the “separation” process. I remember a moment at the passport control booth in the Atlanta airport. A gentleman in front of me was escorted to the office of the border control officer. All I overheard was a short statement about a “fake visa.” I suppose he had a visa. It looked good enough. It looked almost real. I suppose it was hard to tell the difference between the authentic one and the counterfeit, but the officer was able to see the difference. The gentleman didn’t cross the border. Some of us may look almost like the followers of Christ. We may have many features of our character that resemble the ones of God’s children. However, there is chance Christ will say, “Stop! Your visa is fake.” How can I be sure I’ll enter His Kingdom? Let’s talk about it this Sabbath morning during our morning worship services.

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This morning I had a great time speaking for OAKS chapel. What a fine school we have! I hope you remember to pray about our teachers and students.

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After Chapel our church and school parking lot turned into a fun waterpark. Enjoy a few photos shared with me by the OAKS staff.

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Have you signed up for the “Feed My Starving Children” event scheduled for October 1? Please see Lucas Patterson this Sabbath morning in the church foyer. He’ll be happy to answer your questions and to help you get your name on the volunteer list. No fundraising is needed or expected. We raised all the needed funds in 2020. This time bring your caring hands. This will be all that is needed.

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I plan on seeing you this Sabbath morning.

Hugs,

pastor Peter

Jesus promised to come again. His words are thrustful and trustworthy. The day will come when we’ll see our Savior come back. However, God desires to live with us today. He wants to walk with us daily the same way as He walked with Enoch. The “coming of the Lord” can actually be our daily experience. Let Him in. Talk to Him today. Accept His Spirit now. Reflect His glory in your relationships and your attitude now, not only in the future when you hear the “trumpet sound.” If we live with God in our heart today, we’ll have no problem meeting Him at His second coming. “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20

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This morning I received a picture from our school principle, Shelly Caswel, with a simple, but powerful caption: “Full church.” This was a photo of OAKS weekly Chapel in our sanctuary. Praise God for the successful ministry of our church school.

We prayed for our teachers and staff last week. Let these prayers continue daily.

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Our Women’s Sabbath school class continues its vibrant ministry and fellowship. Jen Dempsey told me that last Sabbath they had 18 ladies in their class. This week they had their night out at Cracker Barrel. How fun!

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Our church is getting ready for the Feed My Starving Children program which was postponed because of the Pandemic in 2020. Here is an update from Lucas Patterson:

On October 1, our church will be involved in a special project with the nonprofit Feed My Starving Children. We are part of three-church team in the region, working alongside Ooltewah United Methodist Church and ChristWay Church, packing emergency rations to be sent all over the world to schools, orphanages, and other partner locations. Will you consider helping? Our church is responsible for providing 150 volunteers at the event. The jobs are really simple (watch this video to see), and it’s a fun activity for people of all ages. Invite your neighbor or co-worker to join you. Together, we’ll make a huge impact!

We’ve already raised the necessary funds for this project, and Feed My Starving Children brings the food … so all we need now is your participation. We will be packing the food just steps from our church campus at the neighboring Ooltewah United Methodist Church, and there are three sessions that day to accommodate your Sabbath schedule: 9-11 a.m., 12:30-2:30 p.m., and 3:30-5:30 p.m. OSDA has 50 volunteer spots reserved in each session, so pick whichever time works best for you and sign up online using those links.

If you would rather sign up in person, we will have a table in the church lobby for both services this week. Questions? Please reach out to Lucas Patterson, our project coordinator: (423) 582-1678 or lucaspatterson@southern.edu.

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Please continue to pray for our updated goal of raising an additional $65,000 by September 1. If we all contribute we’ll certainly reach this amount. God bless you for your faithfulness.

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This Sabbath afternoon you are invited to join a seminar on mental health presented by David Sherwood. The seminar starts at 4 P.M.

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This week I’d like to say a special THANK YOU to the leaders of the Cradle Roll class. Their program is spiritual, engaging and fun. Every day through out the week I hear my 3 year old granddaughter singing the songs from the SS class. What a blessing. You are making a lasting impact on these precious little lives.

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Hugs,

pastor Peter

 “He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all the dough had risen.” ” Matthew 13:33

The kingdom of God transforms those who receive the new life which Jesus Christ offers. When we yield our lives to Jesus Christ and allow his word to take root in our heart, we are transformed and made holy by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Paul the Apostle says, “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Do you believe in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit?

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Thursday was the first school day to OAKS. This school year we have a record number of students. This is certainly exciting. I invite you to pray for the students, teachers and staff. This Sabbath we’ll have a special prayer of dedication for the teachers and staff. This morning was the first OAKS chapel. All but four rows of the church were completely full with 170 in attendance counting students and staff. Pastor Matthew shared from the Word of God. Aaron Hall shared a couple photos with me.

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Last Sunday our community pool was full of young children from our church. It was just a perfect day. Lots of families, pizza, watermelon and gorgeous weather. Events like these help our children to develop friendships outside of their Sabbath school classes.

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An important seminar is coming up next weekend. See the flyer below:

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Thank you for the faithful support of the Cornerstone Building fund. It would be wonderful is we could raise an additional $65,000 by the end of this month. It’s a big number, but if ALL of us contribute we’ll reach this goal.

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The Light of Hope ministry supported evangelistic meetings in July in one of the Ukrainian cities near the war zone. The number of people who attended the meetings was so high that there were not enough chairs for everyone. The meetings concluded last Sabbath with a beautiful baptism.

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See you in the morning.

pastor Peter

On what do we place the highest value? Do friends, family, possessions, or anything else take the place of God’s kingdom in our hearts? Christ is challenging us to show faith and to invest our whole life into just one stock, the Heavenly Kingdom stock. ““Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold everything that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:45-46. This stock will never fail.

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Open Gym and Ice-cream social. Staci Rivera, the Adventurer’s club leader planned a great event for the children a couple of weeks ago. It was so good to see many families having a great time together.

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Women’s Sabbath school event. Ladies of our church regularly get together not only on Sabbath mornings, but also on some week nights. This time they had an art class. I wish I had enough space in this blog post to share more photos.

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Children’s Pool Party.

Last Sunday the weather turned out to not be as bad as was forecasted. Lots of children had a ton of fun at the pool social. Thank you, everyone who helped plan this activity for our church children. This Sunday we’ll have another party for the younger children. Bring your kids if they are 0-to 10 years old. 🙂 Contact Earl Sigsworth, Connie Reynolds, your SS teacher or one of the pastors if you have questions about joining this event.

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Chattanooga Community Kitchen.

On Sabbath morning, as we were preparing to start the communion service, a team of our church members were preparing breakfast and providing food for almost 150 dear souls downtown Chattanooga. Richard shared with me many photos. I am posting just a few here. Thank you, Richard and every member of your team for showing the caring spirit of our church in practical terms.

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Church Vespers, Social and a Business meeting.

Last Sabbath night members of our church came together for a business meeting. We had a good time signing hymns, sharing testimonies and praying about the future ministry of our church. After a brief update on the Cornerstone Fundraising the church voted on two important items:

A. To celebrate the already reached quarterly amount by setting the September 1st goal to $1,750,000. 

B. To be better prepared for the potential increase of construction cost in a hyperinflation environment by setting the overall fundraising goal to 3.3 mil. (The fundraising goal represents 50% of the expected building cost.) 

Thank you for your faithful and generous support of the church building project. We need to be prepared to meet the growing needs of our community. 

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Summer Potluck tomorrow.

Everyone is invited to stay for the Summer Potluck this Sabbath after the second service. This time it will be just salad, sandwiches, fruit and cookies. This is always a great time to connect with church members and to make new friends. Don’t feel shy. Join your church family for a Sabbath lunch.

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See you.

Pastor Peter