Ooltewah Seventh-day Adventist Church

All our material possessions can be lost because of natural disasters or wars. Lately I have talked to many refugees from Ukraine. Many of them lost everything. They came here with only a couple of suitcases. I am learning from them to look up even in the most challenging moments of our lives. We have the eternal inheritance prepared for us by Christ and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. With this assurance I can move forward. Illness, fires, or tornadoes may take away from me what I earned, but a gift of eternal inheritance is still mine because of what Christ earned for me on the cross. “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,  who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.” (Eph. 1:13-14)

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Last Sabbath morning our church was providing breakfast for the homeless in downtown Chattanooga. Here is a brief report from Richard:

Happy Sabbath Pastor Peter 
Happy to tell you that the breakfast burritos were a big hit, they ranted and raved about them and we were told this church serves the best breakfast. And Prince can’t stop thanking me for the new food serving deck. He almost broke down and cried. He made a comment that it was God sent. 
We had 16 helpers and fed 140 up from last week of only 118. 
We would have fed more but they turned them away so we snuck some out to them.”

Here are a few photos from that morning:

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On March 29, the Wednesday night Prayer meeting time will change to 7 PM. Please make a note of this time change. For the next few weeks the study will concentrate on the Steps to Christ book. Greg Leavitt will be introducing some new exciting elements to the Wednesday night meetings. I want to encourage you to participate in our midweek study.

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Pastor Sabo is recovering after open heart surgery. He is grateful for your messages, prayers, and a beautiful floral arrangement from his church family.

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When was the last time you checked our church website? There are many helpful resources available there for you. The church website address is www.ooltewahchurch.org

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I plan on worshiping with you this Sabbath. Happy Sabbath.

pastor Peter

” One who has been touched by grace will no longer look on those who stray as “those evil people” or “those poor people who need our help.” Nor must we search for signs of “loveworthiness.” Grace teaches us that God loves because of who God is, not because of who we are.” Phillips Brooks

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Eph. 2:8-9

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Last Sabbath we all were touched by the children’s performance accompanying the congregational hymn. Here is a short clip. It is so good to see our children and young people participate in worship services.

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On Wednesday afternoon I joined the Health Ministry committee meeting. We have a great team of leaders on that committee. They are planning several community seminars for this year. You’ll hear more in the next few weeks. Here is a photo of this wonderful team:

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Last Saturday night many of our church leaders featured their ministries. It was our annual Ministry Fair coordinated by the Connect Committee. Spirits were good and the organization of the event was just perfect. I only wished to see more of our members come and learn about various ministries where they can participate in the mission of our church. I hope to see more of you next time.

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A couple months ago the Discipleship Sabbath school class, led by Mike Harrell, agreed to raise some money for the Seventh Day Adventists still living in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. I contacted pastor Maxim in Kyiv and asked him to tell me their most pressing need. He asked for USB chargeable flashlights. Ukrainian cities are constantly being bombed and our church members, along with the millions of others, lose power for weeks. They cannot read their Bibles or help their children with studies and school activities. The Discipleship class raised enough money to purchase hundreds of flashlights. (The city provides mobile charging stations.) This week pastor Maxim sent me several photos of the families using these flashlights. Below is just one of these photos. Please continue your prayers for the suffering people of Ukraine.

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This Sabbath I am invited to speak at South Bay church. Pastor Matthew will be preaching at our church. I’ll miss worshiping with you. After church Galena and I are planning to get out of town for 36 hours to celebrate her 60th birthday!!!

Last Sunday morning Galena and I enjoyed a perfect walk on the Greenway with our two granddaughters.

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This week pastor John Sabo had to undergo major open heart surgery. His recovery is going well. We’ll continue to pray for John.

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Happy Sabbath.

pastor Peter

My father was a pastor. I loved watching him read and study for his Sabbath messages. I always believed that no one preached better than him. I wanted be be like him. At the age of five I told my Dad that I wanted to be a pastor. His example was definitive for me. I do not remember much from his sermons, but it was his life that made all the difference for me. Many parents do a great job teaching their children what is right. Unfortunately not so many demonstrate graceful living in their actions. Words are important. Actions are powerful. Can we say like Jesus, “Learn from Me… ” ?

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This week I had a nice visit with Bob and Charel Anderson. They shared several stories with me of God’s guidance in their lives. I was so impressed that I asked Charel to share the most recent story with the whole church. I hope your faith will grow stronger after you read it:

Never Forsaken!
Long ago and far away I was a horn player by profession. It was who I was and how I
served the Lord. I loved the Lord and I loved my family and we all loved music until one day I
couldn’t play anymore because of an evil villain by the name of focal dystonia. The doctors
knew it by name but said they didn’t know what caused it and that it couldn’t be fixed. I was
lost and broken. Who was I without music? I didn’t even know how to worship anymore. Music
was my gift and I had lost it. I prayed and prayed and then prayed some more. I even got
anointed. I was assured that God had not forsaken me, that He heard my pleas, and that He
would restore me in His own time. That time might be Heaven but His promise to hear and
answer was sure. I could trust God. By now I had had enough experience to know that was true
beyond any doubt.
When we came to Tennessee, we loved that the Ooltewah church had so much music to
offer and we loved the people and the pastor so we settled our membership here even though
we are here for only half of the year. Wes let me in brass on trombone even though I was shaky
at best and a couple of years later Mary allowed me in orchestra on French horn. It didn’t
happen overnight but gradually my playing got better and the muscle spasms decreased. I don’t
play as well as I used to but then I’m quite abit older than I used to be and haven’t practiced for
all those years but I am so thankful to have music back in my life! To God be the Glory!!!
My husband and I want to give a special thank offering for this miraculous restorative
gift that God has bestowed on us. The orchestra is outgrowing its current rehearsal room and in
order to rehearse elsewhere needs its own set of percussion equipment. We would like to
provide that for the church’s musical needs. It has already been purchased but some is still in
the process of being shipped. The orchestra chimes have arrived and are currently under cover
in the fellowship room to be heard from soon we hope!

Charel and Bob, thank you for your for your generous gifts and for your support of the Ooltewah church music ministry! Below is the picture of one of the instruments donated by the Andersons.

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This Sabbath is our monthly Potluck. I hope to see many of you eat and fellowship together. I am still struggling with a bad cough, but I plan on worshiping with you tomorrow.

Please continue your prayers for Julia Easter. She had major surgery this week. She is in a lot of pain. Your prayers are appreciated.

Please also keep John Sabo in your prayers. He is dealing with some serious heart issues.

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Stay safe. Our school is closed today because of the potentially severe storms. The weather forecast for tomorrow looks just perfect.

Happy Sabbath.

pastor Peter

“I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray; no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died.” (D.B., Life Together)

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Here are two pictures from the Chattanooga Community kitchen sent to me by Richard Johnson. Our church regularly helps the homeless with food preparation. However, this month we helped the Kitchen with a new steam deck. Richard sent these photos with a brief comment:

So here it is! Mission Accomplished! Thank you, church, so much for all your help and support for this ministry. 

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Our Pathfinder Club led during both services last week. Look how great they looked on the platform:

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Clifford Goldstien, adult Bible Study Guide editor and host of Hope Channel’s “CIFF!” will be our guest speaker this Sabbath. Clifford, who grew up a secular Jew in Florida, accepted the Adventist message in his early 20’s and has now worked at the General Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church Headquarters for 35 years as an editor of various church magazines. Goldstein has authored hundreds of articles and multiple books on religious liberty, prophetic interpretation, and creation vs. evolution, among other topics.

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Unfortunately, I will stay home as I have not fully recovered from the flu which has also caused me to lose my voice. I do not want anyone else to get sick. Thank you for your prayers and text messages. I appreciate each one of them.

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Our pre-nominating committee has not yet finished its task. Names, recommended for the Nominating committee will be in the bulletin next week.

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This week our children had an early (Stacey will not be here in March) celebration for Galena’s 60th birthday. Galena had a blast with all of her grandchildren at High Point in Chattanooga. See her jump off one of highest points in the kid’s section 🙂

Happy Sabbath, everyone!

pastor Peter

A new born baby comes into this world to grow and to learn. As Christians we are to be born of the Spirit of God. With this new birth comes our spiritual growing. We learn how to walk as the children of God. We learn how to act in a Christ-like manner. Our “new born” life is now controlled by the genes of the Spirit. We show kindness, love, and grace. These are the indicators that our old nature is gone. A new person is born. Babies fall as they learn to walk. They may have black bruises on their heads because of their painful learning lessons. However, they never stop learning. They keep growing and changing. Are you seeing the signs of the genes of the Spirit growing in you? “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor. 5:17)

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The Oaks seventh-grade classroom and the Discipleship Sabbath School Class had a wonderful time
celebrating Valentine’s Day together! Since our Sabbath School class meets in the 7 th grade classroom,
we have “adopted” these students as our prayer partners; sharing time together, getting to know them,
and encouraging them.
In the Fellowship Center today the Discipleship class members got together with the seventh grade class
for a fun time. We provided the supplies for the students to make special hand-made Valentine’s Day
cards. Each student selected a few individuals they felt would benefit from a special note of love and
encouragement, such as grandparents and some of our older members who are unable to come to
church. They made cards especially for them. It was great to be with our prayer partners as they had fun
making the cards.
After making the cards, we had haystacks, cookies, and cupcakes. There surely was not much food left
over! The Discipleship Class has had a grand time getting to know our prayer partners better. We hope
that each student knows that we care about their concerns and that we are praying for them. (Mike Harrell)

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Our ministry at the Chattanooga Community kitchen is active and growing with every month. I am excited to let you know that our church purchased a new steam deck for this ministry. Here is what Richard Johnson shared with me a couple of days ago:

So first of all, I received good news this morning that the steam deck is in and I have to figure out if it will be tomorrow or next Monday to deliver it to them. I want to thank the church for the strong support for this outreach to our community. They are just overwhelmed by this act of kindness and I pray it plants good seeds for the future. And I also distributed 10 blankets and 18 care packages and had to sadly turn people away. I also had a talk with a man and learned what they really need. He said any thing to repel rain like a shower curtain or any type of material to stay dry. 
… These people were so thankful for these gifts of which I put literature of love and hope with in. 

So I just left from going down and handing out rain ponchos and shower curtains. The Lord led me to two individuals. One was a worker who said that the service center there needed shower curtains. She needed 8 which I gave her. 
The other was a gentleman who was at one time on the streets but has a burden for them. He really gave me a lot of insight on what goes on there. 

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Last Sabbath we celebrated Don’s and Joshua’s baptism. It was truly touching to see a father and son joining the Lord’s family together. I forgot to mention during the service that the day before, Joshua celebrated his 17th birthday!

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Jack Phillips had a great seminar all day Sabbath. It was practical and Christ centered. The seminar continued last Wednesday and will go on for two more Wednesdays, February 22 and March 1.

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See you tomorrow.

pastor Peter

Many of us do not have friends or family living in Turkey and Syria. These two countries are far away from us. However, the events of these last few days made me feel very closely connected with the suffering people of these countries. From what we have heard so far the sudden earthquake killed close to twenty thousand people. Those who survived are devastated by the loss of their loved ones. Many of them lost their family members and their homes. This earthquake showed us once again how fragile this world is. We may be of different faiths, cultures and political systems, but the pain is the same for all of us. We have to learn to love, to support and to pray for each other. Politicians succeeded in dividing our world, but as God’s creation we need to learn how to stick together. Please, remember to pray for the suffering people of Turkey and Syria.

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The Widows Ministry had a wonderful event last Monday. Forty five ladies came together in the Fellowship hall of our church to eat, to talk and to encourage each other. I had the honor of speaking to the group about the power of God’s giving love. All the tables were nicely decorated with red and pink colors reminding us about the beauty of love. I wish I took a few more photos, but here is one:

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The Young at Heart group had their monthly lunch on January 31. Here is a brief update from Willis:

“We had 16 people at our luncheon today. I got some gift CDs and a book and the one thing that was requested for the future was witnessing tracks. Everybody thought that would be a really great gift to receive so we’ll pursue that. Thank you to the 16 people, we had a good time. Next month we are meeting at the Olive Garden just off of Gunbarrel”

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A big Sabbath is ahead of us. Our guest speaker from It Is Written, Jack Phillips, will preach two different sermons for our 9 AM and 11:30 worship services. You are invited to stay for Potluck after the second service.

An important practical seminar on friendship evangelism will take place right after potluck. I hope many of you will join the seminar and will benefit from it. Christ needs us as His disciples.

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This week our daughter Stacey, who lives in Arizona, is visiting us with her two precious sons. The photo below is just a glimpse of the great time we are having with all four of our daughters. (Not all grandchildren are in this picture.) I hope we’ll take a full family photo later this summer.

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Happy Sabbath. I plan on seeing you tomorrow.

pastor Peter

“The “show business,” which is so incorporated into our view of Christian work today, has caused us to drift far from Our Lord’s conception of discipleship. It is instilled in us to think that we have to do exceptional things for God; we do not. We have to be exceptional in ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, surrounded by sordid sinners. That is not learned in five minutes.”  (OCC)

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24)

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Crystal Janson, our Bible Instructor, is going full speed in her responsibilities. She has already engaged many of our church members into starting Bible studies with the people living in our local communities. This week she shared a story with me which I believe may encourage you to join our Evangelism ministry team. Here it is:

“I have a new prayer request. It is for a lady named Terri Moore. Jeanne Klinner and I went to her house last week and she told us she was Baptist and she wasn’t interested and she did not believe what Seventh-day Adventists believe, I was very pleasant with her, and gave her a book called “Four Winds” by Kenneth Cox, and I put my phone number in that book and said if she ever needed something or changed her mind to give me a call. She called me yesterday and said that she was very moved by my kindness, and Jesus told her that she needed to call me back and that I had something that she needed to hear, so Jeannie and I are going on Monday at 4 PM to start the first lesson with her.
Thanks, Crystal Jenson.”

This is not all…here is what Crystal shared with me a couple of days ago:

“… the next part of that story happened last night, Jeanie and I  went to Terri’s house last night and Terri was so open and friendly and genuine, we had a wonderful time together and she said that God had also reminded her that she had been asking Him for Christian friends, and He said to her “Well, I sent 2 to your door and you sent them away.” and then she said “I’m so glad you guys came back, see you next week!”

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I was honored to speak for the OAKS chapel this morning. We have a great school. Here is a couple of photos from this morning.

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Next weekend, February 11, we will have a guest speaker and our emphasis will be on Friendship Evangelism. There will be an afternoon seminar after the church potluck that Sabbath. Please note that there is NO POTLUCK tomorrow, February 4.

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Happy Sabbath,

pastor Peter

When you are tempted to give up, remember the words of the Psalmist: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;” (Ps 18:2). Everything is fragile in this world. Empires fall apart, borders move, constitutions are amended, but God remains our only constant. Illness takes away our joy, divorce turns our life upside down, betrayal by friends drags us into the abyss of dispare, but God is still with us as our only solid Rock. See Him today to not feel the emptiness tomorrow.

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Barbara Weimer sent me a brief update on the new class she started in January:

“The Group Strength Training Class is having fun and getting strong at the same time, building friendships and muscles. Already some members have reported greater mobility. Everyone’s at a different place in their exercise journey and yet somehow it all works as we “workout” together.  Join us, there is room for you!”

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Our Pathfinder Club started 2023 with a backpacking trip. Here are a few photos from that trip:

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Adventurer Club will be participating in our worship services this Sabbath. It is always great to see our children up front in church. I am looking forward to worship with the Adventurers tomorrow.

Emmanuel Quartet will be with us this Sabbath. They will sing during the worship services and will present a concert at 5 PM. Invite your friends. Their voices and their music is always inspiring and encouraging.

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Happy Sabbath, my friends.

Pastor Peter

A few years ago I re-read Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. When I finished reading my mind couldn’t think about anything but the spiritual battles of the main character, Raskolnikov. I started calling and messaging all of my family members and friends encouraging them to read this book. I didn’t care that I sounded a bit annoying … I just wanted them to read it. That’s the kind of passion that takes over the head and the heart of a Christian. When we find Jesus in the true light of the Gospel we cannot keep it to ourselves. We want everyone around us to find the same meaning in life as we did. Like the woman at the well we run to our neighbors and say:  “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.” The response in her community was fascinating. John says, “Then they went out of the city and came to Him.”

This Sabbath we will spend the whole day learning how to lead others to Jesus. Pastor Russ Jenson will preach two different sermons for our two worship services. Everyone is invited to stay for the potluck after the second service. After the potluck Chrystal and Russ Jenson will teach us the secrets of soul-winning for Jesus.

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See you tomorrow.

Pastor Peter

As we are starting a New Year let us remember the promise of the Lord: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” Psalm 32:8. There are many influential people in this world who claim they know where to lead us in 2023. They may be popular, experienced, convincing, but in the end they are still human. They make mistakes and change their agendas. There is only one sure guide that remains unchanged over the course of history, it is God’s Law given for our safe passage through the twisted labyrinth of this complex world.

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Congratulations to Andre Delgado, Elizabeth Zerne, & Emily Reynolds. They got baptized on December 31. I am sure there was a great celebration in heaven. There was definitely joy in our church.

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Seventeen volunteers came to the Community Kitchen downtown Chattanooga to feed the homeless on December 31. This is a powerful testimony to the priorities in the ministry of our church. We are here to serve! Thank you, everyone. I am sure it was a blessing to about 150 people who needed a hot breakfast on the last day of 2022. Thank you, Natalia Stillman, for the photos.

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We are just one week away from a major Evangelism training event. Next Sabbath, January 14, you are all invited to stay for the afternoon seminar which will be presented by Russ and Crystal Jenson. There will be a Fellowship meal after the second service before the seminar. Please plan to attend. It would be really helpful if you could bring your favorite dish.

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Our Cornerstone Building Fund is growing. We are very close to the 2 million mark. Wholehearted Thank You to all who contributed to this fund during our Christmas season. January gives us a fresh start in achieving the 2.2 mln goal.

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Please pray for the Reynolds family. Connie’s mother, Nellie, passed this morning in California. Connie and Edwin are driving to CA.

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pastor Peter