Friday, April 12, 2019

Dear Church Family,

Our nightly gathering this week at the church has been rich with blessings from God. Elder Skeete has delivered the Word at the prompting of the Holy Spirit each evening in a powerful manner. We hate that so many were not able to make it but remember you can catch some of what you missed by visiting our church Youtube channel. Here is a quote that I think summarizes nicely what is before us:

The third angel’s message is swelling into a loud cry, and you must not feel at liberty to neglect the present duty, and still entertain the idea that at some future time you will be the recipients of great blessing, when without any effort on your part a wonderful revival will take place. Today you are to give yourselves to God, that He may make of you vessels unto honor, and meet for His service. Today you are to give yourself to God, that you may be emptied of self, emptied of envy, jealousy, evil surmising, strife, everything that shall be dishonoring to God. Today you are to have your vessel purified that it may be ready for the heavenly dew, ready for the showers of the latter rain; for the latter rain will come, and the blessing of God will fill every soul that is purified from every defilement. It is our work today to yield our souls to Christ, that we may be fitted for the time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord—fitted for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.—The Review and Herald, March 22, 1892.

In the news:

Tonight we will continue our week of prayer/spring revival at the Oaks Retreat Center at 7pm. Remember, the Oaks requests no pets on the premises.
Tomorrow, there is a full day planned with Sabbath school planned for 10 am. Please click here to read more about the program and rules of the camp.
There will be a church-wide fellowship lunch this Sabbath at the Oaks. Remember to bring your food warm in a thermal wrap if it needs to be hot as there are no warmers at the Oaks.
Elder Skeete will share a message at 3pm tomorrow. If you have a question or topic that you would like for him to address, there will be a Q&A time following his afternoon presentation but he will only take questions from cards sent in ahead of time.
Supper will be provided Sabbath evening by the church.
The final presentation will be at 7 pm at the Oaks Lodge.
As part of the church’s mission trip to Peru, we will be conducting a medical clinic. Your help would be appreciated in collecting items for use at the clinic. We could use gloves, diabetic supplies, tape, gauze, ace wraps, emesis basins, bath basins, creams, blood pressure machines, alcohol wipes, ear thermometers, betadine, hydrogen peroxide, and hand sanitizer. There will be a box with a Peru flag on it by the front door of the church beginning next Sabbath. Of course, this isn’t a comprehensive list but would you please consider what you could do to contribute?
Remember that Messiahs’ Mansion will be in Gray, TN all next week. The church is offering to take the bus on Sunday, the 21st at 3pm for those who would like to go as a group. Dave Ondrejka would drive and there would be a suggested donation of $5 dollars a person to go. We will need a minimum of 22 to sign up in order to take the bus. The sign-up sheet will be at the Oaks this week if you are interested.
The International Food Fair is scheduled to take place at the Greeneville Adventist Academy gymnasium on April 23 from 5:00 until 6:30 P.M. Featured booths include food from Mexico, Japan, Sweden, Columbia, Austria, Belgium, India, Italy, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, and China. Proceeds will help fund the high school science trip next fall!
COMING TO AYA APRIL 20 – Does God have an interest in what is happening in this world? Does God still perform miracles in this world? Does God have something for each of us to do for Him in this sin sick world? Come to AYA at 7:00 p.m. to hear and see a report by Lyn and Gordon Marsa of God’s needy and precious children in Kajiado, Kenya. Here is a preview of what’s to come.
Last Sunday Ginger got to go to Lowes for the first time. She very much enjoyed her excursion. We picked up some lumber and later in the week made a stand for Tina’s beehive. The boys also spent some time preparing the garden for planting in a few weeks.