Dear Church Family,

Our family is being so blessed by these readings and I hope you are too.  Notice this counsel from inspiration regarding the importance of the Testimonies for the Church:

The testimonies to some have been several times repeated, but they have not thought them of sufficient importance to be carefully heeded. They have been to them like idle tales. Had they regarded the light given they would have avoided losses and trials which they think are hard and severe. . .

I referred them to ancient Israel. God gave them His law, but they would not obey it. He then gave them ceremonies and ordinances, that, in the performance of these, God might be kept in remembrance. They were so prone to forget Him and His claims upon them that it was necessary to keep their minds stirred up to realize their obligations to obey and honor their Creator. Had they been obedient, and loved to keep God’s commandments, the multitude of ceremonies and ordinances would not have been required. . .

I dreamed that, as I was speaking, the power of God fell upon me in a most remarkable manner, and I was deprived of all strength, yet I had no vision. I thought that my husband stood up before the people and exclaimed: “This is the wonderful power of God. He has made the testimonies a powerful means of reaching souls, and He will work yet more mightily through them than He has hitherto done. Who will be on the Lord’s side?” . . .

Then the Angel said to her:

. . . It is Satan’s special object to prevent this light from coming to the people of God, who so greatly need it amid the perils of these last days.

Your success is in your simplicity. As soon as you depart from this, and fashion your testimony to meet the minds of any, your power is gone. Almost everything in this age is glossed and unreal. The world abounds in testimonies given to please and charm for the moment, and to exalt self. Your testimony is of a different character. It is to come down to the minutiae of life, keeping the feeble faith from dying, and pressing home upon believers the necessity of shining as lights in the world.

Testimonies for the Church. (1855). (Vol. 2, p. 606-608). Pacific Press Publishing Association.

In the news:

1. Remember that tonight at 5:45 p.m. there will be a lite potluck supper at the Kretschmar home with a Testimonies for the Church discussion to follow for those who are participating in the reading program for the Testimonies. We will be discussing volume 2.  I hope you can come and enjoy the discussion.
2. This Sabbath, Pastor Marcus Bates, the speaker for our upcoming prophecy series, will be with us to share the morning message. He will also share during the Sabbath school preliminaries a little bit about himself to allow you a chance to get better acquainted.
3. There will be a fellowship lunch this Sabbath with the Myer team hosting.
4. This Sabbath there will be a special midterm reporting session at the Knoxville 1^st SDA Church with the conference administration sharing reports from around the conference. This will take place at 4 p.m. with a Q & A to follow. All are invited to attend.
5. AYA will be at 5 p.m. this Sabbath with a special “Guess Who?”  activity planned by the Neubrander family.
6. There will be a music committee meeting this Sunday evening with a lite potluck supper at 5 p.m. followed by the meeting. This will be at Amanda & Curtis Robinson’s home.
7. There will be a school board meeting this Monday evening at 5:30 p.m. at the school.
8. Please keep Lee Elliott and his family in prayer as Lee’s mother, Candy Elliott, passed away this morning after suffering complications with pneumonia and sepsis.
9. Next Saturday night, AYA and dinner will be given by the senior class at GAA. The dinner will follow AYA and will serve as a fundraiser for their class trip.  A volleyball game will follow supper.
10. There will be flyers and sharing cards in the foyer this Sabbath to share with friends and loved ones about the upcoming prophecy series set to begin on Monday, February 10 at the Crescent School. Please help us in getting the word out.
11. For those who would like to participate in our church camp out this summer, July 31-August 2, please reserve your campsite at Cades Cove beginning with the A and B sections.
12. We have the date now for the Waldensian tour andplay that I mentioned in last week’s Grapevine.   We will go after church for a picnic, tour and evening play in Valdese, NC after church on Sabbath, August 8 for those interested.  Pricing is $14 dollars for the play and the tour is $10 dollars for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for students.   There will also be a small fee for use of the bus.  Final pricing and details will be available along with a sign up sheet on February 1st.  We hope to order tickets in March.
13. Here is a sermon very worthy of your consideration as he reflects upon the current context in which we are doing ministry. He contrasts in a very helpful manner the difference between the social justice worldview of today and the Biblical worldview.  Please skip ahead to the 52 minute mark to view this important sermon:

In His Service,

Pastor Jeremy