Hello Folks,
This past week-end was very cold with some snow and our attendance showed it. Anytime East Tennessee gets just a little snow people will stay home and I have come to realize that. After having lived in Illinois for 21 years and being raised in Ohio I have been used to snow but folks around here just are not! Besides that some of the side roads around here are pretty narrow and have a lot of curves so that adds to the danger. We pastors hate to see a snowy week-end.
Sunday p.m. we had our True Love Waits ceremony where our youth who have completed about a 3 month series of training pledge themselves to sexual purity. We had about 15 youth who had never been through it and they committed themselves to being what God woud have them to be in their lives. They pledged in front of the congregation to wait until marriage to engage in sex. We always have a lot of visitors for that service and last Sunday p.m. was no exception. Anita Miller, our youth pastor, always does an excellent job in teaching the youth and in making that worship time special. Thanks to Anita for all her good work along with all of the other youth workers and counselors. What they do is of the utmost importance in the lives of those young people.
As part of the True Love Wait sermon we honored about 8 couples who were in attendance and who had been married over 50 years. We placed their wedding photo's on the screen and had them stand to be honored. I also read some of the information that we had about their lives. It was very insightful for me to look at those individuals and see how they have given their lives to each other and to the Lord through those years. God is really good and allowing us to have those kinds of role models is absolutely amazing.

May He Bless you today,

Pastor H. G. Rudd