The Greeneville Chronicles

Friday, January 15, 2021

Dear Church Family,

In my devotions this week, I read these words and it was so beautiful that I wanted to share it with you here:

I saw the lovely Jesus, and beheld an expression of sympathy and sorrow upon his countenance. Soon I saw him approach the exceeding bright light which enshrouded the Father. Said my accompanying angel, He is in close converse with his Father. The anxiety of the angels seemed to be intense while Jesus was communing with his Father. Three times he was shut in by the glorious light about the Father, and the third time he came from the Father his person could be seen. His countenance was calm, free from all perplexity and trouble, and shone with benevolence and loveliness, such as words cannot express. He then made known to the angelic host that a way of escape had been made for lost man. He told them that he had been pleading with his Father, and had offered to give his life a ransom, and take the sentence of death upon himself, that through him man might find pardon; that through the merits of his blood, and obedience to the law of God, they could have the favor of God, and be brought into the beautiful garden, and eat of the fruit of the tree of life. . .

Said the angel, Think ye that the Father yielded up his dearly beloved Son without a struggle? No, no. It was even a struggle with the God of Heaven, whether to let guilty man perish, or to give his beloved Son to die for them. Angels were so interested for man’s salvation that there could be found among them those who would yield their glory, and give their life for perishing man. But, said my accompanying angel, That would avail nothing. The transgression was so great that an angel’s life would not pay the debt. Nothing but the death and intercessions of his Son would pay the debt, and save lost man from hopeless sorrow and misery. SOP Vol 1 pp 45, 48

In the news:

This Sabbath we will be focusing our attention towards religious liberty in anticipation of the religious liberty offering that is to be taken on the 23^rd of January. These are momentous times we are living in and we must be vigilant to keep religious liberty before our leaders. This Sabbath I have invited Jonathan Cherne to speak to us on the subject of Religious Liberty. Jonathan works on something of a contractual basis with the Religious Liberty department out in California and has recently moved back to TN.
The church elders met this week as well as the church board and voted to collect the offering at the end of the service with the deacons ushering a row out at a time beginning from the back. Also, there will be a child beside the deacon to collect the lamb’s offering which goes to support our community services center and school.
Barbara Myers after many, many years of service resigned from serving as finance committee chair and so the board voted to recommend Ken Mathews which will received a first and second reading. We appreciate her many years of service in this role and if you see her, let her know.
We are beginning a new study this coming Wednesday on the book of Hebrews. Join us via ZOOM at 7 p.m. for this exciting new study into this rich treasure trove of truth.
The church is looking for a snow plow if anyone should have one to donate or know of one for a good price. Please contact Dan Thomas with any helpful info in this regard.
Evangelism Council will meet via ZOOM this week at 7 p.m. this Thursday, January 21.
The music committee will meet via ZOOM at 7 p.m. on Sunday, January 24.
Regarding COVID, I have heard from a couple of Adventist physicians now, one last week and one during the holidays that shared with me the promising information coming forth on Ivermectin. Here is an article about the promising information on Ivermectin as well as a press release. To be clear, I am not recommending anything, but simply passing along the info for your study and to possibly discuss with your physician. Also, here is a helpful article that was shared with me that deals with the conflicting studies on the use of masks.
At prayer meeting the other night, someone asked about vaccines and what the church’s stance was on this. I will simply direct you to this statement from the official church website.
We had a good turn out this week for Dinner with the Doctor. Lots of guests from the community came out to hear Walt Cross and Dr. Arvo Kanna present on how to build your immunity.
Each Tuesday for the next several weeks, you can visit our church Facebook page to see and share a short health presentation by Walt that is excellent for sharing with the community. Here is this week’s presentation that went out on Tuesday.