Living Like Jesus

Spring reminds me of our spiritual growth. Galina and I planted a few boxwood shrubs last week. We couldn’t afford the large size plants, so we settled on the tiny ones. The next morning after planting these shrubs I went outside to see if they grew. Galina laughed at me. It takes years for these plants to grow, and that’s how we grow in Christ. It’s not about waking up one morning and being an awesome Christian. It is about a few kind words today, a smile tomorrow, and a helping hand next month. Don’t wait until the fall. Start today.

Once again, our volunteers spent several hours early Sabbath morning at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen feeding the homeless community. Richard Johnson reported that they fed 160 dear individuals who needed help that day. Here is a brief statement from Richard:

And I must say, praise God from whom all blessings flow, the Holy Spirit led the security guard to come and ask for my testimony which led into a spiritual sharing in which I could tell some seeds were planted. Also had some good encounters on the way out giving Steps to Christ out and people really thanking us for the good meal wanting to know where we were from and when we would be back. Praise God!

Last week I was preaching at the Slavic mini-camp meeting in Collegedale while our church had Clifford Goldstein as a guest speaker. During that service Owen McCormick was baptized by Ron Maloch! Congratulations, Owen!

The Church business meeting last Sabbath night was well attended. There were several reports and updates on a number of items. Aaron Brewer, building committee chairman, presented a report on the new building process of the Cornerstone project. The new sanctuary and the Sabbath school classes are shaping up according to schedule. We hope to move into the new sanctuary by the end of the year! The business meeting overwhelmingly voted to add $70,000 to the overall construction budget towards the additional Mothers’ room and an additional Sabbath school room (instead of the big storage room). It was so good to see that our church cares about young families. The church also reviewed the option of chairs vs. pews and the majority voted to go with the chairs. That will definitely help to offset the additional expense for the Mothers’ room and will go better with the modern look of the new sanctuary.

Let us continue to pray about the finances for this major project. So far we have raised close to 3.4 million dollars and have not borrowed any money. Wouldn’t it be great to finish the project with no debt? I hope all of us will continue to support this building project generously and faithfully. To finish the project debt-free we’ll need an additional $2.5 million. That amount includes a new driveway from Ooltewah-Georgetown Rd, repaving existing parking, providing new audio and video equipment, and furniture for the sanctuary and the Sabbath school classes.

Seventy volunteers signed up for the Feed My Starving Children event on April 20. That’s exciting. Eighty more are needed. I suppose some of you are not aware of this service opportunity. Please talk to Lucas Patterson, who coordinates this project. You’ll find Lucas in the church foyer before and after the worship services. Once again, below is a link to a video which will help you learn more about this event.

Next weekend, March 22 and 23, our church will host two big events. On Friday night the Forest Lake Academy choir will sing at 7:30 and the Gospel Outreach ministry will lead both services on Sabbath, March 23. My special friends, the Melashenko family, will sing and preach that morning.