I am confident that God wants every family to be happy. That’s the reason He created family. There are many ways you can create joy in your home for your spouse and your children. It is so easy to concentrate on our own headaches, to feel stressed and overwhelmed. Eventually we snap, ignore each other and try to escape the pressure. There is actually a rewarding joy in forgetting about ourselves and concentrating on those around us. Our smile can change the mood for the whole evening. Our kind words may extinguish the sparks of a potential tantrum. Our hug may warm up the soul of an exhausted spouse. It all starts with me being intentional in making my home, my marriage, my parenting experience a joyful one.
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On Thursday night Ann Weeden reported that there was a good turn out for the health seminar. She shared a few photos with me. We all appreciate our Health Ministry team. Their efforts bring positive change in our lifestyle and create awareness in our community. There will be three more sessions of the Choose Immune Vitality seminar.
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Last Sabbath our volunteers got up super early and drove to the Community Kitchen in downtown Chattanooga. Richard Johnson had a perfect system in place. The regular volunteers were all busy preparing breakfast for the hundreds of homeless. The number of those willing to help kept growing with every minute. This is the spirit of a caring church! God bless all of you who came that early in the morning to show your love to the less fortunate in our community.
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On Sabbath afternoon the Fellowship Hall was full when two churches, Ooltewah and McDonald Rd, came together for the joint Gospel Hymns Vespers. What a great way to celebrate our spiritual unity with the local Adventist churches in our community. This is the second time we have had this kind of a joint vespers. I hope this will be our annual tradition.
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On Wednesday night Patricia and Matt Geraghty shared several photos with me from the Pathfinder Investiture Service. Another year completed! Great job, Pathfinders! Thank you, David Reynolds and your team, for providing leadership to our children and youth! We hope the Club will continue to grow after a short summer break.
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I am grateful to all of you for your consistent and generous support of the Cornerstone building Fund. The Building committee is working closely with the architect to finalize the bidding process. We are all praying that this year we’ll see some heavy equipment on our property preparing the site for the new sanctuary! Every dollar is needed and has a great value for the project. Wouldn’t it be great to have the full amount raised by the time the project is completed? I pray that we all continue to support the future ministry of our church.
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Wednesday night Bible study turned into a vibrant spiritual experience. Don’t miss the blessing of praying and studying with your brothers and sisters. Here is a photo Greg Leavitt shared with me from the ‘engage time’ during the study last Wednesday.
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This Sabbath you are invited to two Youth-led worship services. You’ll participate in a totally unique worship experience where our youth will join hands with the elderly members of our congregation. Don’t miss the blessing.
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Next week is my official vacation week 🙂 Galena and I will travel to Flagstaff, AZ to spend time with our daughter Stacey, her husband Javan, and their two precious boys, Pierce and Caspian. Stacey already planned every hour of my vacation at her house. She brought a bunch of lumber from the Home Depot! She expects a new greenhouse built by Thursday night 🙂 ! Fun! I’ll be sharing photos on my Facebook and Instagram while we are there. If you call or text me don’t expect a quick reply… You can always call the church office or pastor Matthew.
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Pastor Peter
Ooltewah Seventh-day Adventist Church 