February 2026 Newsletter
February 2, 2026
Dear Brethren & Friends:
Greetings in the wonderful name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who is worthy of our praise and worship!
The weather over the last couple of weeks in January definitely let us know that it is winter here in the United States, especially for those of us in the eastern half of the country! In Georgia we were very fortunate that the first winter storm was not as severe as forecasted. We got some freezing rain and the ice persisted through the following week. Others further north had it much harder, with some being out of power for half a week. The second storm had wind and snow and was very cold. Both storms came on the weekend, so that we held church services for two Sabbaths on Zoom. While Zoom is not as good as meeting in person, we are happy to have the technology so that we can still be in touch and worship together.
On the first Sabbath of January 2026, Berean Church met in the modular building on the Good Shepherd property, instead of the large sanctuary that we had been using for the last 10 years. There was some learning as we adjusted to the new location, and the audio/video department had to work on the sound system and video setup to make the necessary settings for the modular environment. By the second Sabbath the other church that worships there on Sundays cleared out the extra stuff that was in the modular, such as the couches and game table, and organized the cabinets. For this we were very happy as it gives more space and allows us to maintain a divide between the worship area and the lunch eating area. We will be using this worship location until the church moves onto the Hoschton property sometime in spring or early summer.
If you have not already done so, you may download the calendar for 2026 from the Free SDA website at www.freesda.org; go to the website and click on Download Calendar for 2026. It will download as a PDF file with two pages, which you can print back-to-back (front and back). It has six months on each side, which makes it easy to see multiple months for long-range planning.
If you move or change your mailing address, please let us know your updated address so that you can continue receiving the monthly sermons. If you prefer the sermons in a digital format instead of CD, please let us know and provide your email address and you will be notified via email of the link when it is ready, and you will receive the newsletters as an attachment to the email. If you would rather receive the sermons on DVD, please also let us know. Because of the shift in usage by many people away from CDs and DVDs, we plan to make some additional options available for receiving or accessing the monthly sermons digitally. Finally, if you have been receiving the monthly sermons through the regular mail, and you do not receive one or more months of the mailing, please let us know. Over the last few years, the post office has been returning more mail as “Undeliverable,” when it is not really undeliverable. We cannot know if it is really undeliverable or not, but you can help us by contacting us when you do not receive your monthly sermon as expected. Finally, the donation receipts for 2025 have been mailed out. If you have not received yours by the time you receive this, please let us know. THANK YOU to all those who have supported the monthly sermons, the work of Free SDA, and the Berean Church building project.
The Campmeeting dates for 2026 have already been set for September 24-27, 2026, on the property in Hoschon, Georgia. I encourage you to make your plans early, as 2026 promises to also quickly go by—we are already about a tenth of the way through the year! So make your plans for the year from now! The South Central Free SDA Campmeeting will be held on March 26-29, 2026, in Livingston, Texas. If you are in Texas or the surrounding states, please plan to be there. Other Regional Free SDA Campmeetings will be announced as the information becomes available.
The sermon for this month is entitled The Firstfruits Banner. Revelation, chapter 14, talks about the firstfruits, who they are, and the high standard that they will attain. They will also have a banner that fits their profession. Please listen to this message, and may you be inspired to be a part of this group of special people.
Yours to be one of the firstfruits,
Pastor P. Herbert
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