Dear Church Family,

The only hope for us if we would overcome is to unite our will to God’s will and work in co-operation with Him, hour by hour and day by day. We cannot retain self and yet enter the kingdom of God. If we ever attain unto holiness, it will be through the renunciation of self and the reception of the mind of Christ. Pride and self-sufficiency must be crucified. Are we willing to pay the price required of us? Are we willing to have our will brought into perfect conformity to the will of God? Until we are willing, the transforming grace of God cannot be manifest upon us. . .

There are persons who believe that they are right, when they are wrong. While claiming Christ as their Lord, and professedly doing great works in His name, they are workers of iniquity. . .

Obedience is the test of discipleship. It is the keeping of the commandments that proves the sincerity of our professions of love. When the doctrine we accept kills sin in the heart, purifies the soul from defilement, bears fruit unto holiness, we may know that it is the truth of God. When benevolence, kindness, tenderheartedness, sympathy, are manifest in our lives; when the joy of right doing is in our hearts; when we exalt Christ, and not self, we may know that our faith is of the right order. “Hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” 1 John 2:3.

White, E. G. (1896). Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing (pp. 143–147). Pacific Press Publishing Association.

In the news:

1.This Sabbath we will continue our series in Genesis with a message entitled, “What’s on Your Mind?” GAA will be sharing lots of beautiful music with us as well.

2. The school will also be providing our vespers tomorrow with a spring concert at 7 P.M. at the school gym. The program will be followed up with fresh strawberries!

3. This Sunday at 8:30 A.M., there will be another men’s Bible study & breakfast in the church fellowship hall. All men are invited.

4. Remember that if you have been asked to serve as a delegate, you will need to be at the Georgia-Cumberland Academy campus by 9:30 A.M. to register and be present for the Georgia-Cumberland constituency session.

5. Here is a valuable opportunity that has come up for those interested. There will be a FEMA CERT (COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM) 20-hour training course offered May 18-22 at Bee Well Outpost, 3845 Houston Valley Rd., Greeneville. For more information and to register email Jim Ingersoll at jci143@icloud.com.

6. International Sabbath is just a little over a week away. This is sure to be a special Sabbath with a parade of nations and an international flavor in our worship hour. Then following the service, we will enjoy a fellowship dinner with various international cuisine represented from all over the world.

7. Ministry leaders, we need your help. Each of you should have received an email as well as a letter in the mail regarding your ministry position. So far about half of you have responded. If you have not, please submit your responses as soon as possible.  Here is the letter which includes the link to the survey. If you are a ministry leader, please review the letter and your current job description and complete the survey by Sunday evening, May 1. Thank you for your help with this and for your service as a ministry leader.

8. It is interesting, I have spoken with two different Adventist families just this week who are hoping to move to this area and are looking for a home with some property. Of course we have families in our church who are also looking for property and a home. Let us pray that God will continue leading these families as to where they should make their home.

9. Our mid-week Bible study in Zechariah continues this Wednesday at 7 P.M. via ZOOM with a look at Zechariah 6.

10. Remember that next Friday, at 6:30 P.M., the GAA mission team who recently returned from the Bolivia mission trip, will share their report. All are invited to attend.

11. It’s time to begin transplanting your tomato plants. It’s often been a rule of thumb I thought to wait until after mother’s day to avoid frost but based on the forecast, I hear some are moving ahead. Here’s a video we did last year with Carl Ashlock on how to transplant your tomato plants. Check it out for some helpful tips.

12. LOOKING AHEAD:

• Sabbath, May 14 – Youth Sabbath (Jenna Felan preaching)

• Sabbath, May 14 – AYA Old Timey Musical

• Wednesday, May 18 -8th Grade Graduation

• Thursday, May 19 – Senior Graduation

• Sabbath, May 21 – Baccalaureate

• Sabbath, May 21 – AYA will feature a choral sing-a-long.

• Sunday, May 22 – Live Stream (50-69 yr olds)

• May 29-June 4 – Carolina Camp Meeting

• June 1-June 4 – Georgia-Cumberland Camp Meeting

• Sunday, June 5 – Men’s Ministry Breakfast / Bible Study

• Sabbath, June 11 – Pastor Nate’s first Sabbath

• Sabbath June 11 – AYA will feature AFM Missionaries

• Sunday, June 12 – Live Stream (70+ yr olds)

• Tuesday, June 14 – Dinner with the Doctor

• Sabbath, June 25 – AYA Old Timey Musical

• Sunday, June 26 – GAA Yard Sale

• Sunday, July 3 – Men’s Ministry Breakfast / Bible Study

• July 18-22 – Vacation Bible School

• July 29-31 – Church Camp Out Make your reservations now.

• Sabbath, August 6 – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Blessings as you prepare for the coming Sabbath!

In His Service,
Pastor Jeremy