Friday, January 10, 2020

Dear Church Family,

Oh that we might serve as selflessly as the angels do for us. I love this quote:

The angels of glory find their joy in giving,—giving love and tireless watchcare to souls that are fallen and unholy. Heavenly beings woo the hearts of men; they bring to this dark world light from the courts above; by gentle and patient ministry they move upon the human spirit, to bring the lost into a fellowship with Christ which is even closer than they themselves can know. DA 21

In the news:

This Sabbath we officially welcome Pastor Jared & his family to our church family. Pastor Jared’s family arrived this week to join him. They now have a house they are renting in Afton and are settling into it. Pastor Jared will be presenting the morning message this Sabbath and Pastor Rick Greve will be with us to officially introduce him to the congregation.
Fellowship lunch this Sabbath will be hosted by the Cover / Lowry team but it is a church-wide potluck as we want to invite everyone to join us in welcoming Pastor Jared and his family during this time.
AYA this Sabbath will be at 5 p.m. and will feature Ole Timey Music with Dan Sanford and friends. Bring your instrument and join in.
There will be basketball in the Gym this Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. following AYA. All are welcome.
The finance committee will meet this Monday at 6 p.m. at the church.
The church board will meet this coming Monday at 7:15 p.m.
Starting January 13, 2020, Eastview Eye Care (EVEC) is hosting an 8-session Diabetes Undone program as part of its “Focus on Health” lecture series at the EVEC Conference Center on the lower floor of their building. Brad Emde will facilitate the program. All are welcome. The cost includes 2 free meals and materials. For more information, exact dates, registration information, cost, and how patients of EVEC can attend for free, visit www.eastvieweyecare.com.
I was able to spend a little time with Jesse Felan Sr. this past Thursday afternoon. He has been in ICU at Fort Sanders in Knoxville for some time now and Becky and Scott (Jesse’s children) have been busy making trips back and forth. Due to the ventilator, Jesse couldn’t talk and due to sedation, didn’t open his eyes while I was there but he did squeeze my hand to assure me he heard. I prayed with him and assured him the church was praying. Please keep in him in prayer.
Bill Bumgardener also needs your prayers as he recently learned he has an aggressive form of prostate cancer but the good news is they have caught it early. So he will have the cancer removed surgically on Feb 11. He also has a prosthesis that has failed in his knee from a previous knee replacement so he is going to have to have that replaced again on March 30. So Bill needs your prayers and encouragement.
Gideon Dietrich, the little blond boy that spoke during the baby dedication Sabbath is back in Chad now but came down with a severe fever of a 104 and while it has improved some, they covet your prayers. They don’t believe it to be Malaria as they just returned from the states.
In light of the above regarding Bill, the CSC could use some extra hands to help out in the warehouse at the CSC as Bill said it is very tough to do some of this work given his situation.
We had a great crowd at Dinner with the Doctor on Tuesday night with around 70 in attendance. There were lots of familiar faces from the community including some who came to our previous prophecy meetings. Dr. Kanna gave a great presentation on the brain and how to protect it. Here is a picture of the evening.
The Optimize the Brain seminar began last night. We had around 50 attend the class last night. While I couldn’t be there, Tina was and said it went great.
I attended Walt Cross’s New Start class down at the Mustard Seed again last night and was encouraged to see that the group has more who have joined. One of the ladies who came to our last prophecy series as well as Diabetes Undone signed up for the class as well. While not all were able to report in, we had a collective weight loss of 170lbs with amazing testimonies. One lady said she can finally smell again and another said their back pain is now finally gone. Another said he’s reducing his blood pressure medicine and the enthusiasm was thrilling. One man told me he would like to visit our church and asked about our service times. Please keep this in your prayers. We have numerous people at his class from Greene County. Here’s a picture of most of the group from last night.
Looking ahead:
1. Sunday, January 19 at 2 p.m. – Charlie Palm Memorial
2. Sunday, January 19 at 5:30 p.m. – Elder’s Meeting at Pastor Jeremy’s home.
3. Friday, January 24 at 5:45 p.m. – Potluck & Testimonies Discussion at Kretschmar’s.
4. Sabbath, January 25 at 11 a.m. – Pastor Marcus Bates will speak for worship hour.
5. Sunday, January 26 at 5 p.m. – Potluck and Music Committee Meeting
6. Saturday, February 1 at 5:30 – AYA, Supper (for purchase) & Game night at GAA
7. Monday, February 10 at 6:30 – Prophecy series begins at Crescent School with Pastor Marcus Bates. Continues Mondays, Tuesdays, & Thursdays for 5 weeks.