Greetings, Family and Friends!

Mark your calendars! I’m stoked to personally invite you to One Alpharetta - 2025, our annual celebration of God’s faithfulness and leading in the Alpharetta Seventh-day Adventist Church. This year’s event will go down on Saturday, September 20, 2025, and you don’t want to miss it.

Not only will we take time to reflect on all that God has done since last year, but we’ll also introduce several exciting new ministries and share what we believe God has in store over the next three to five years. But it gets better—this year marks our 20th anniversary as a church! We’ll be honoring this milestone by inviting many of the original founders of our church to join us for this celebration.

Our day will begin with a prayer of dedication at 9:00 am, followed by a special worship service, a sack lunch, and a refreshing afternoon hike. We’ll then come back together for dinner and a powerful Christian concert.

Please mark your calendars now and plan to bring your family, friends, and neighbors. It’s going to be an incredible day of worship, vision, and fellowship—and I can’t wait to share it with you! RSVP here -

One Alpharetta - 2025

With joy and anticipation,


Pastor Michael

HEALTH EXPO

“It was an insightful session. I am sure these practical, healthy guidelines will empower us to maintain a healthy life.” Mrin Kalwal

Did you know that up to 80% of heart disease is preventable? That is encouraging news considering that every 34 seconds someone in the US passes away from heart disease, and every 3 minutes and 11 seconds someone dies from a stroke. The Love Your Heart workshop on March 15 focuses on the eight essential things you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. Look at the Life’s Essentials 8 graphic here and visit www.heart.org to learn more.

CHILDREN MINISTRY

SENIOR LIVING VISIT

Alpharetta SDA Church is constantly striving to be an outward-facing church. To nurture this belief, as part of our children’s ministry, we visited Cottonwood Estates Gracious Retirement Living in Alpharetta on March 22nd. There were fifteen children, along with their parents, who

joined us to spend time with the residents through songs and activities. Pastor Michael led us with an action song, and the children presented two songs for the group. Afterward, the children did Easter crafts with the residents. It was a joy to see their smiling faces. The people were happy to have us, and we had a fruitful day sharing Jesus’ love and kindness with the community. Keep an eye out for future Children’s Ministry events, where you can encourage your children to join us!

TESTIMONY AND

SEASON OF PRAYER

YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY

On March 22nd, the monthly Young Adult Ministry gathering took place right in our own backyard—at Avalon! The group enjoyed great conversation and even better food at Antico Pizza Napoletana. As Cristal, one of our YA leaders, put it: “It’s the best authentic pizza ever!”

Authenticity is at the heart of everything we do in Young Adult Ministry. While going out and having fun is a big part of it, building genuine, lasting connections is what matters most.

APRIL FAMILY FUN

Palm Sunday Hand Print Palm Instructions -

• Choose a few different shades of green card stock.

• Place your hand on the card and draw around it.

• Cut out the handprints so that you have 6 altogether.

• Take one handprint and lay it fingers up on the table.

• Next, lay two others on top of it at a slight outward angle and stick them together using super tacky glue.

• Repeat with the other two and then place the final hand at the top to create the top of the palm leaf.

• Once these are dry, take three wooden craft sticks and stick one as a handle and the next directly above it to steady the rest of the palm leaf.

• Place the third stick joining the two sticks together to create along wooden stick, make sure these are stuck on well.

• Once completely dry, you can lift your palm leaf and turn it over.

Bible Charades - Act out Bible stories or verses without speaking, encouraging kids to think creatively and learn through movement.

Praise and Worship Dance Party - Have kids sing and dance to Bible-themed songs, encouraging them to express their joy and faith.

Empty Tomb Rolls or Easter Morning Rolls -

The marshmallow: The marshmallow reminds us of the body of Christ, wrapped in special cloths as was the custom in ancient Israel. 

The roll of dough: the roll represents the tomb in which Jesus Christ was buried.

The spices: We read in the Bible that several women came early Sunday morning to the tomb where Jesus had been buried three days earlier. They planned to use the spices to anoint Christ’s body. Anointing a person’s body after they died was the custom in ancient Israel and was a way to show respect for loved ones who had died. 

The sugar: Christ’s death on the cross was a sad thing. It was God’s plan. God can create the darkest moment into something beautiful.

The time spent rising and baking the rolls: Even though Jesus had told his followers that He would rise from the grave, they didn’t understand and believe what He was telling them. After His death, they were filled with deep sadness, hopelessness, and fear. They didn’t realize that the most amazing thing was about to happen! 

The empty roll: On Sunday morning, three days after Jesus had died on the cross, the women came to anoint Jesus’ body with the spices. The stone was already rolled away, and the tomb was empty! An angel appeared and said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? Jesus has risen just as He said He would!” 

Empty Tomb Roll Recipe

Easter Story Scavenger Hunt - This fun Easter Bible story scavenger hunt is a great way to celebrate and explore the true meaning of Easter together!

Easter Story Scavenger Hunt

GOSPEL IN NUTSHELL

Iksha Kalwal

Proverbs 16:9 (Andrews Study Bible - NKJV) -  This verse highlights a key aspect of God’s plan for our lives. The Bible verse reads, “A man’s heart plans his ways. But the Lord directs his steps.” In our daily lives, we come across many challenges. Especially as a middle school student, the workload and extracurricular activities can be overwhelming sometimes. However, no matter how hard you try to plan your future or ways, God has already written it! Yet, we don’t know his plan for us.

For example, in the story of Saul, he thought that his path in life was to disrespect God and ban all forms of worshiping God, but God completely

changed his life path even though he did not see it coming. God’s promise of knowing your plans is also found in Psalms 139:16. It explains how even before you were formed in the womb, God had already planned out your days! Yet even though God has a purpose in our lives, this doesn’t mean

that we shouldn’t do our best at the task at hand. I am sure it is overwhelming to balance extracurricular activities and academics, but if I do not focus and work hard at it, I will never come to a healthy balance. I believe that I should put my best effort into everything I do because I trust that God will take care of the rest. So, next time you are having an overwhelming day or need a hopeful reminder, look to Proverbs 16:9, remember God has got you, and do your best!

“Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.” Psalms 139:16 (Andrews Study Bible - NKJV)