Friday, December 14, 2018

Dear Church Family,

A healthy reminder for all of us:

Intemperance commences at our tables, in the use of unhealthful food. After a time, through continued indulgence, the digestive organs become weakened and the food taken does not satisfy the appetite. Unhealthy conditions are established, and there is a craving for more stimulating food. Tea, coffee, and flesh meats produce an immediate effect. Under the influence of these poisons, the nervous system is excited, and, in some cases, for the time being, the intellect seems to be invigorated and the imagination to be more vivid.

Because these stimulants produce for the time being such agreeable results, many conclude that they really need them, and continue their use. But there is always a reaction. The nervous system, having been unduly excited, borrowed power for present use from its future resources of strength. All this temporary invigoration of the system is followed by depression. In proportion as these stimulants temporarily invigorate the system, will be the letting down of the power of the excited organs after the stimulus has lost its force. The appetite is educated to crave something stronger which will have a tendency to keep up and increase the agreeable excitement, until indulgence becomes habit, and there is a continual craving for stronger stimuli, as tobacco, wines, and liquors. The more the appetite is indulged, the more frequent will be its demands and the more difficult of control. The more debilitated the system becomes, and the less able to do without unnatural stimulus, the more the passion for these things increases, until the will is overborne and there seems to be no power to deny the unnatural craving for these indulgences. CH 124

I can’t help but think of the story of Eve under the tree. Her story seems similar to the last two sentences of the 1^st paragraph above.

In the news:

We will be sharing communion together this Sabbath. The brass will be sharing in the worship service and I will be sharing the morning message.
There will be no fellowship lunch this Sabbath due to the communion service.
Our Getting Acquainted segment this week will again feature the Hasting family as last week there was a strange glitch in the video preventing us from viewing it.
Greeneville Adventist Academy will be having its annual Christmas Concert for the AYA program this Sabbath at 5:00 p.m. Please come and enjoy the Christmas sounds and Scripture readings by all the Choirs, Bells, Strings, and Band. You will be greatly blessed.
The board met this past week as well as the church in business session. The board voted to recommend, and the church voted at the business session to renovate the church fellowship hall. The renovations will begin in February pending adequate funds come in from the Christmas offering. The sample design and colors will be displayed in the foyer for all to see. If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to the chair of the renovation committee, Amanda Robinson. The renovation project includes sound absorbing panels on the ceiling to help improve the acoustics in the room.
We shared reports at the business meeting. Here are three such reports: The first report is from me which highlights what we’ve done this year as a church and what we have planned for next year. Pastor Alex’s report highlights some of the youth and young adults initiatives that have taken place this year. Lastly, Randy Nomura wrote up a school report for the school and its recent accomplishments and future plans.
I pushed carts for a while up at the CSC this week and was again impressed with how well things are going up there. Of course, they could use a few more volunteers but what a joy to see the smiles and attitude of service that pervades the place. Thanks to all the fine volunteers that are serving up there.
We need to lift up in prayer Grace Baxter who broke her hip on Wednesday and had surgery to repair it on Thursday at Johnson City Medical Center. I saw her last night and she stated that she would appreciate the prayers from her church family.
The 7^th & 8th-grade students at GAA had the honor of laying wreaths on the graves at the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery.
We are soon to begin another full prophecy series for the community. The series will begin at the Crescent School on Monday, February 11. The meetings will be held on Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday evenings for five weeks. The meetings will begin with supper at 6 p.m. and the one-hour evening presentation beginning 6:30 p.m. Prayerfully consider who you would like to invite to the upcoming series. In January we will be asking for volunteers to serve as Table Hosts at the meetings.
The church mission trip to Peru is scheduled for June 9-23, 2019. Plans are to visit the city of Cusco & Machu Picchu while there. The evangelism site will be in the city of Cajamarca, an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes mountains. Participants are invited to either speak a full 10 part prophecy series with notes and slides provided or share health lectures, children’s programming, or singing. If you are interested in going, please email me.
Have you heard about the new online Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists? This resource will be released at the 2020 General Conference session. Read about it by clicking here.
Congratulations to Rachel Fields who recently finished her Nursing degree.
No doubt many of you enjoyed the snow on Monday. We took the opportunity to take the boys sledding and I snapped lots of pictures as it was Ginger’s first real snow!