Friday, February 9, 2018

Dear Church Family,

From the responses, it looks as though we have 9 who have stated they would like to prepare for Bible baptism. Also more than that who stated they wish to keep all of God’s 10 commandments. This is indeed exciting! I was visiting with a mother and daughter last night who have been coming to the meetings and they asked for a tour of our church. The daughter also showed interest in our school when I shared with her what we offer. It was exciting to see their enthusiasm and interest. While we had a little setback in the beginning with a delayed mailing and such, our guest attendance has held remarkably well which we praise God for. We would ask that those who have been attending to please keep coming as it is especially important to maintain a strong attendance as we come to the final week and a half. The children’s meetings sadly experienced a dip in attendance last night but all those who did attend, including one guest from the community, responded to the appeal made last night and stood to accept Jesus as their Savior. Normally there are around 30 kids at the children’s meetings which we are happy for. Resized_20180208_192116

In the news:

The next two Sabbaths will be special in that the worship hour will be dedicated to the evangelistic meetings. So our service will not have a typical format but will consist primarily of a welcome and offering and then a message. Tomorrow’s topic is “The Mark of the Beast.” Here are some special items we would ask that you take note of as they pertain to the meetings:
1. IMPORTANT: We are asking that all those who have been regularly attending the meetings, along with the table hosts and guests, to please sit in the two middle sections of the church and those who haven’t been able to attend regularly to please sit on the side sections. This will mean a shift for many from where you normally sit but we are trying to keep the guests connected with their hosts and comfortable. Your cooperation with this small matter is helpful and appreciated.
2. At the request of our evangelist Eric, we will not be having bulletins this Sabbath due to the fact that we are dedicating the worship hour to the evangelistic program. We will also have a simplified service that is dedicated to the sermon. We plan to resume with church bulletins and a traditional worship format on the 24^th.
3. We would invite you to join us for fellowship dinner this Sabbath as we anticipate many guests from the meetings to attend. This will offer a good opportunity for our guests to get acquainted with new faces at the church. We will be dismissing by tables this Sabbath so as to keep the guests connected with those with whom they end up sitting with. Also please help us ensure that all guests are seated at a table and not left to sit along the wall.
AYA will be at 5pm this week and will feature Eric Flickinger. His theme will be, “The Fearless Faith of Youth!”
Imitators have a special event planned for this Saturday night at the Miller Home. At 6:30pm there will be a Valentine’s dinner at the Millers home for youth in grades 7-12.
We had many respond to the survey on Sabbath! We had 12 respond stating they are open to exploring the notion of serving as a host for a small group and 8 showed interest in possibly leading a small group while many others showed interest in participating in a small group. We are currently working with leaders to explore the initial steps in forming these groups. More details will be forthcoming
Winterfest has been canceled for now and will not take place on Sunday.
We would like to invite 8th grade through high school students to Greeneville Adventist Academy on February 12th for Academy Days, 8:00 to 3:00. Enjoy learning about G.A.A. high school through our chapel, P.E., academic, and music programs. Lunch will be provided. Come and experience a day at GAA!
Tom Culler, James Forney, and Sandra Lawing’s mother were laid to rest this week. Please remember these families in your prayers
Ok, you will have to forgive me but couldn’t help myself. Sunday we were in Crossville to speak at a memorial service for a member that passed away there. While there we saw this picture of Jason still on the wall in their fellowship hall and were reminded of how fast time goes by. May we savor every moment we have with our children for they grow entirely too fast.