Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Dear Church Family,

Here is how inspiration suggests we remember this Thanksgiving holiday:

Our Thanksgiving is approaching. Will it be, as it has been in many instances, a thanksgiving to ourselves? Or will it be a thanksgiving to God? Our Thanksgivings may be made seasons of great profit to our own souls as well as to others if we improve this opportunity to remember the poor among us.…
There are a hundred ways that can be devised to help the poor in so delicate a manner as to make them feel that they are doing us a favor by receiving our gifts and sympathy. We are to remember that it is more blessed to give than to receive. The attentions of our brethren are most liberal to those whom they wish to honor, and whose respect they desire, but who do not need their help at all. Custom and fashion say, Give to those who will give to you; but this is not the Bible rule of giving. The word of God declares against this way of gratifying self in thus bestowing our gifts, and says, “He that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.”
Now a season is coming when we shall have our principles tested. Let us begin to think what we can do for God’s needy ones. We can make them through ourselves the recipients of God’s blessings. Think what widow, what orphan, what poor family you can relieve, not in a way to make a great parade about the matter, but be as a channel through which the Lord’s substance shall flow as a blessing to His poor.…
But this does not embrace all your duty. Make an offering to your best Friend; acknowledge His bounties; show your gratitude for His favors; bring a thank offering to God.… Brethren and sisters, eat a plain dinner on Thanksgiving Day, and with the money you would spend in extras with which to indulge the appetite, make a thank offering to God.
Let not any more Thanksgiving days be observed to please and gratify the appetite and glorify self. We have reason for coming into the courts of the Lord with offerings of gratitude that He has preserved our lives another year.… If a feast is to be made, let it be for those who are in need.

White, E. G. (1952). The Adventist Home (pp. 474–475). Review and Herald Publishing Association.

In the news:

Randy and Kathy Nomura were making plans for this Thanksgiving break and were planning to run in the Greeneville Turkey Trot. When they discovered it was $30 per person and the proceeds are going to Greeneville City Schools they decided they would have their own turkey trot. So come join them Thanksgiving day at 8:30 a.m. at the middle school track for the GAA Turkey Trot run. The proceeds will go to support the school mission trip to Kenya. If they get enough paid participants, they will design and order a t-shirt. They will have water and some bananas for snacks.
I will be sharing the message this Sabbath. Our choir and brass ensemble will be sharing as well.
We will not have a fellowship meal this week due to the holiday.
Pastor Alex will lead out in AYA this Sabbath with a theme of thankfulness.
Carolyn Gudger-Pierce began training this week to serve as our new church secretary at the beginning of the year. Carolyn is no stranger to this community and has been a member for many many years. We will miss Brenda’s energy and enthusiasm in the office after all her many years of faithful service but are thankful that God has led us to Carolyn to serve in this important role. Carolyn will be training with Brenda for the remainder of this year.
Kevin Finley, Holly Carter, Ken Horton, & myself shared at the local jail last night. Such a blessing to minister to these men. If you are interested in volunteering some time, let us know.
The CSC had a special appreciation dinner catered by Scott Felan this past Sunday. We are so blessed and thankful for an amazing team of volunteers at our community services center. Here’s a picture from this past Sunday’s meal. Sadly, Kathy Bumgardner, our director had to miss it due to being sick.
Tuesday we had a Thanksgiving Grandparents dinner at the school. There was a nice turn out with great food donated by the hospital. A big thanks to Ann Andrus for coordinating the music and meal. During the program, we learned that over $6000 dollars were collected last Saturday night for the Kenya mission trip. We also learned that the Iowa Test scores for our school were phenomenal. Here’s a picture of the students performing their final piece during the music program on Tuesday.
This video was created by lay members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and was produced in partnership with the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Well done and well said!
For more information on this important matter in our church, click here to visit this page put up by our General Conference to address your questions.
I meant to share this a while back but forgot to mention it. The final section of the Foothills Parkway was recently finished and opened to the public earlier this month. Here’s the story for those interested.
Be safe if you are traveling this holiday season. May we carefully ponder our blessings, giving thanks for what God has done, and prayerfully ask Him to use us to relay those blessings to others.