Last Sabbath Together

The most precious thing a church has... Young people! These fellows spent their last Sabbath together for a while.

They have been together Sabbath after Sabbath for sometime. Just last year, Kelvin Bidwell, on the far right, went off to college. In just 4 days, young Andrew MacLean, on the far left, will be off to college himself. Peter and Kendall are still in high school, but their day is coming.



I thought you might want to take a look at these fine strong young men. I told Andrew he already looks like a professor! May their lives be in God's hands in the days ahead.

Here is Ernie's Sabbath School class.



Yours truly preached this Sabbath. I preached on the Sanctuary. Perhaps the sermon will be up one day!

Adding Sermons

One of the things that we have been wanting to do for a little while has been to get some of our church sermons on the internet. While it has taken some time, we are now beginning to get some of them up. It does take some time, but it will be worth it when it is done. Kind of like our church paint job!

Actually, there should be some more photos of the church paint job project coming soon. Ernest, Deane, and some others have been repairing some of the clapboard, and there has been some powerwashing going on as well.

Back to the sermons... This next batch of sermons (not sure how many) will actually contain the entire worship service. It is actually nice to listen to the entire service when you have time. It really gives you a better feeling for the personality of the church. We may go to just sermons in the future, though.

In any case, enjoy!

Stay Tuned...

This blog began as a result of the church painting project. I hope to be able to post some interesting things related to the Athol Seventh-day Adventist Church in the future. So keep checking from time to time. I will try to update it each month at least.

One thing that occurred this week was the funeral of a young girl from Orange, Massachusetts. This precious young child drowned in Millers River the day after July 4th. It is such a tragedy...

Devon Wright was a special little girl of a mere 11 years. I was asked to play guitar and accompany a group of family friends and relatives for a song at the end of the funeral. The name of the song is "Angel" by Sarah Mclaughlin. It was a privilege to be able to play this song for Devon's mother. I pray that during the few moments that we played, she might have experienced the peace of God amidst this storm of life.

As I played, I looked into her eyes and could see that she was searching for meaning and peace through the music. It was the only time I saw her raise her head.

Later, at the cemetery, I was able to speak with Devon's uncle, who happens to be a church friend of mine. As I left, I thanked God for the doctrine of the state of the dead. It is something that many, even within Christianity, misunderstand.

If you would like to understand more about the state of the dead, read this:

The wages of sin is death. But God, who alone is immortal, will grant eternal life to His redeemed. Until that day death is an unconscious state for all people. When Christ, who is our life, appears, the resurrected righteous and the living righteous will be glorified and caught up to meet their Lord. The second resurrection, the resurrection of the unrighteous, will take place a thousand years later. (Rom. 6:23; 1 Tim. 6:15, 16; Eccl. 9:5, 6; Ps. 146:3, 4; John 11:11-14; Col. 3:4; 1 Cor. 15:51-54; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; John 5:28, 29; Rev. 20:1-10.)

Phase I Finished

After we got going on this project, I realized that there is still so much to do. May God give us the strength and cohesion to move forward. Here is a bit from Wednesday. We started on July 5th and finished Phase I (scraping) on July 7th.

Here are a few final photos and videos from Wednesday...















Project Manager's Report & Appeal




Pastor Ruf's Spiritual Application & Having Some Fun

A "Scrapy" Bunch from Athol

Welcome to this new blog. This is a good time to visit. We have undertaken a great big project, to paint our church. When you see the size of the church and the size of our membership, you will understand that it is a big project.

But it had to be done, and it had to be done by us. And it is really teaching us something. Later, we will understand exactly what that is. But for the moment, join us as we put some "sweat equity" into our little piece of heaven on earth.

We are having fun and our characters are surely being built for eternity!!!

Let's start with Ernest. He is on the top left of this photo. Ernest is the boss. He won't say that, but he is our leader and he leads by the example of his work ethic. He can work us all under the table.



to his right is Peter and on the bottom left with the hard hat is yours truly.

Now it is not very often you will find your pastor right there with you up on a ladder scraper in hand, but our Pastor Ruf in not your average pastor. Besides being a man of God and scholar, he is a hard worker, too! Thanks for being there, Pastor Ruf!



Next in line is our first elder, Ernie. In this shot, he is looking after our tools and keeping them in good shape, so the work can continue advancing. In the body of Christ, each one of us has a different, yet critical function. Ernie also gives a lot of encouragement when your bones are getting weary!



They say that behind every successful man is a strong woman. Well, here are two strong and lovely ones. First, we have Brenda, Ernest's better half. She has a great sense of humor and a genuine sensitivity to the needs of those around her. She is always looking our for my little ones! God bless you, Brenda.



Jane is Pastor Ruf's bride, and she was our July 5th barbeque queen. She roasted veggie dogs until we had all had our fill. She is also an excellent speaker, professional nurse, and diligent paint scraper!



Lourdes is another lady who enjoys working hard.



Kristine is a solid member and actually sort of brought us to Athol. It started with Sabbath morning rides for my mother-in-law. After we visited a time or two, we decided to join in all the fun, and now we are painting the church!



And here is Bill. He made quite an entrance when he showed in the big International flatbed. He did some welding to the fire escape stairs. Later, he joined the rest of us for some enjoyable paint scraping!



Kristine and Brenda like to talk... And why not?



Here is Deane not letting a few bushes stop us...



My favorite workers...













Hey, I'm a dad after all!

Some other photos of the festivities!













Now that you've had a look see, come on down and join in the fun! We will let you know when Phase II of the Church Paint Job will be...



"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" Philippians 4:13

VIDEO - DAY 1


VIDEO - DAY 2