Dear Church Family,

As we  share in the festivities that this season brings, we wanted to say again how much we appreciate our church family.  When we celebrate communion, when we pray for one another in times of joy and sadness, when we share meals together and share the love of Jesus with our community,  we are reminded of what a special congregation we are a part of.  Together, we share in the conviction that Jesus is coming soon and that we are assigned to a very special mission as an end time people.  Thank you for all you do to make our church what it is.

So from our family to yours, Merry Christmas. Whatever
circumstance this holiday finds you in, may we collectively offer our Lord & Savior the praise He so deserves.

In the news:

1. The last Tator Salad for the year will be tonight from 6:30-8:30pm at the Kameneski home. Their address is 3765 Houston Valley Rd,  Friday, December 23.
2. I will be sharing the morning message tomorrow. We will also have two baptisms this Sabbath.  Nicole Murray & Clarice Diaz will be baptized during the worship hour.
3. Remember that this year’s special Christmas offering is being directed to help replace the community services center roof as well as to finish the upgrade to the video portion of our A/V system. Any additional funds collected will go toward upgrading the audio portion of our A/V system.
4. There will be no fellowship lunch this Sabbath due to the Christmas holiday.
5. Elesia Gallimore will host the AYA this Sabbath evening at 5pm at the church. There will be sharing, singing, and stories.
6. I would invite you to read this very relevant and insightful article in the Adventist Review on why members leave the church.
7. We are in great need for more volunteers to assist with our fellowship dinner program. This important ministry allows for guests and members to enjoy fellowship each week after church around the table. We only have 6 teams and we need volunteers to cover more weekends. A team is responsible for set up and clean up for the Sabbath that their team is in charge. If you would be willing to serve on a team that typically hosts a dinner once a quarter, please contact our church office at 423.638.5014. We ideally would have 9 to 10 teams.
8. A few weeks back I shared a message in which I quoted a large portion from this article on the effects of complaining on the brain. Someone requested the link so here it is.
9. Veteran children’s ministries leader and workshop presenter, Lynn Carpenter, will speak in a short workshop hosted at the Greeneville SDA Church Jan 7 from 2-4:30 pm. Lynn has been a prolific writer of SS materials, and created the child evangelism series “Let’s Discover Jesus” for the Australian Division of our church. Lynn is a gifted SS teacher across all ages, and will share age appropriate ideas on how to dynamically draw our children into the SS program and closer to Jesus. Sample materials will be shared.
10. Please note that the church office will only be open on Tuesday next week due to the holidays.

In light of the season, here is a beautiful quote regarding Luke 2:52 about the young life of Jesus and the choices he made.

For a period of time the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, was only a Babe in Bethlehem and could only represent the babe in its mother’s arms. In childhood He could only do the work of an obedient child, fulfilling the wishes of His parents, in doing such duties as would correspond to His ability as a child. This is all that children can do, and they should be so educated and instructed that they may follow Christ’s example. Christ acted in a manner that blessed the household in which He was found, for He was subject to His parents and thus did missionary work in His home life. It is written, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him.” “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”   AH 290

Blessings as you prepare for the coming  Sabbath.
In His Service,

Pastor Jeremy