Friday, October 8, 2021

Dear Church Family,

May we remember the counsel given us:

The Lord does not move upon His workers to make them take a course which will bring on the time of trouble before the time. Let them not build up a wall of separation between themselves and the world, by advancing their own ideas and notions. There is now altogether too much of this throughout our borders. —Special Testimonies to Ministers and Workers, Series A 3:33, 34 (Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 202). (1895)

Now we want to act like individuals who are redeemed by the blood of Christ; we are to rejoice in the blood of Christ and in the forgiveness of sins. That is what we are to do, and may God help us to get our minds off the dark pictures and think on those things that will give us light.
Now I want to read another Scripture: “Be careful for nothing.” What does that mean? Why, don’t cross a bridge before you get to it. Don’t make a time of trouble before it comes. You will get to it soon enough, brethren. – 5LtMs, MS 7, 1888, par. 32-33

May God help us to navigate the days ahead with wisdom and prudence.

In the news:

1.This Sabbath we will look at the longest recorded prayer of Jesus in John 17. The title of the message is, “The Mystery Revealed in Unity.”

2. AYA will begin at 6 p.m. this Sabbath with Dan Sanford and friends sharing good gospel music. If you would like to play, please contact Dan Sanford.

3. The school will be off for fall break next week.

4. The church finance committe & church board meetings that were scheduled for this coming Monday have been rescheduled for Tuesday, October 26 at 6 p.m. & 7:15 p.m. respectively. Please make note of the change.

5. The CSC is sponsoring a toy drive for this Christmas. You can participate by placing a new toy in one of the bins at one of the entryways to the church. The deadline for this is November 6.

6. We were sad to anounce the passing of Jerry Krentz this week. He and Dawn Krentz were active leaders of our Pathfinder club for many years. We had thought Jerry was doing better after a fierce battle with COVID, but evidently blood clots still lingered or returned and suddenly on Sunday morning, they had to rush him to the hospital and sadly he passed away that afternoon at 3:01 p.m. If you would like to send a card to Dawn, the address is PO Box, 278, Day Creek, OR, 97429 Also, here are his funeral arrangements: Funeral service for Jerry Krentz will be October 23 at 3pm in the Ardmore Oklahoma SDA church. This will be a time to celebrate Jerry’s life and all he gave to others of himself. In lieu of flowers we would like to ask that donations be made to the Greeneville SDA Pathfinder Club, 710 Asheville Hwy, Greeneville TN 37743

7. There will be a memorial service for JL Gudger on Sunday, October 17, at Kiser-Rose Hill Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. There will be a sharing of memories at 2:15 p.m. with service to follow at 3 p.m.

8. Our upcoming prophecy series is set to begin 3 weeks from tonight. Our flyers will be available to share with friends next Sabbath. Please be praying for those you would like to invite to the series.

9. We are looking for volunteers to help with the prophecy series. Our primary need is for row hosts who will welcome guests and share materials as needed. There will be a volunteer sign up insert in this week’s bulletin. Please consider how you would like to serve and please consider signing up.

10. Remember that next Sabbath we will have Sabbath school & church under the new pavilion. Children’s Sabbath Schools will be held in the usual classrooms but there will be one joint Sabbath School class under the pavilion. Everyone is asked to bring their own chairs. This will also be a youth Sabbath and Ellie Rose Emde will be speaking for the worship hour. Also, please plan to join us for a fellowship meal after the service. Please bring food ready to serve as we will not be warming food up this time. The menu is soup, salads, and sandwiches and dessert.

11. Our mid-week Bible study via ZOOM will be at 7 p.m. this Wednesday and our study will pick up with chapter 3 verse 19.

12. Erin Smith is in need of some volunteers for Sunday, October 17 at 9 a.m. as a work bee is planned to rake and seed her front lawn / hill. Please bring a garden rake and together, let’s help her get this prepped and established before winter sets in. Any questions can be directed to Pastor Jared.

13. We recieved the following announcement from our religious liberty director at the Southern Union and I wanted to pass it along to you. She writes: “What is trending in religious liberty is the Covid vaccine mandates. Religious liberty continues to protect and defend religious liberty in the workplace as we have always done. However, there are a lot of misconceptions and misinformation floating around regarding this issue. You will want to share this webinar info with other members. . . . You do not have to register to be a part of the event.” The broadcast will be tomorow at 5 p.m. and can be viewed by clicking here. Remember, that even though the Adventist church is supportive of vaccines, it recognizes this to be a personal choice based on one’s own consience and the Southern Union religious liberty department is avialable to help you should you need to craft a personal letter for a religious exemption based on a personally held religious conviction on the matter. The Southern Union Department has been rather successful I understand with helping members find exemption when the member’s concern was indeed based on a religious conviction.

14. Perhaps you heard about this joint declaration but wanted to share with you in case you haven’t. These are certainly interesting times we are living in. Let us prepare our hearts and minds by abiding in Jesus and stick to the mission we’ve been given. Now is the time to herald the 3 Angels Messages.

15. As I was walking into the church this week, I noticed again the pots in front of the church and it made me think of Jean Odell and how faithfully she takes care of these every year. When you see Jean next time, let her know how much you appreciate her taking the time to tend to these throughout the year. It’s when we collectively do little things like this, that it makes such a difference in a church. Thanks Jean and each of you for the part you play in making Greeneville special.