the Logos

Our Haiti Missionary Team is collecting items to take with them to Haiti next month and you can help. Pick up a flyer at the Welcome Center for a list of the items needed. They will be accepting donations until 1/13. Just a reminder that there is no Prayer & Testimony Service or Bible Study (Wednesday evening or Thursday morning) this week. Everything resumes the week of January 7th. Everyone is invited to attend our New Year's Eve Service at 10:00pm on Monday, December 31st. We will have brief remembrance of our members who passed away this year. Our church theme for 2013 will be "Multiply: Making Disciples who make Disciples". A disciple means being a student or learner. So if we are going to be disciples who make other disciples we must know God’s Word. So as a church we will be reading through the Bible again next year. This time we will follow the chronological Bible reading plan . We will read the Bible in the order in which the recorded events took plac

Merry Christmas!  Let us celebrate the birth and incarnation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Jesus came as the perfect God-man (God in flesh). But Jesus did not stay an infant. He grew, lived a perfect life, and with joy made His way to the cross. The perfect God-man endured the cross for wretched sinners like us. The great Savior died for great sinners! He paid our great debt of sin by His agonizing death. Three days later, Christ gloriously rises from the dead. His resurrection defeats sin, death, and Satan. His resurrection is proof that those who trust in Christ will rise from the dead to live eternally.  So may your joy this season not be in a Christmas tree but in the One who hung on the tree for your sins ! I want to praise God and thank everyone for their generosity for the Zone 3 sponsored coat drive. We were able to donate 24 adult coats and 14 children’s coats to the Salvation Army Homeless Shelter in downtown Raleigh. Soli Deo Gloria (all glory to God)! O

My heart is saddened as many of you by the recent shooting at an elementary school that claimed the lives of 27 people, many of them children .  A person has to be evil and depraved to premeditatedly shoot defenseless children.  This should make our mission as a church clear.  Humanity is reaping the effects of our rebellion against God. The wages of sin is death. So the solution is not gun control, medication, or legislation but the Gospel that changes hearts and prepares the way for Jesus to return and set up His Kingdom where there will be no more senseless killing of children, no more death, and no more sorrow.  In the meantime, we must give the Gospel to our children. Parents, in particular fathers, are responsible to share the Gospel with their children and train them in the admonition of the Lord.  We must spread the Gospel to our communities and the nations.  And we must also serve communities in particular the one in Connecticut by mourning with them and praying for them.  

Every Christian should understand the doctrine of justification. Believers stand justified or right before God because Christ’s righteousness has been imputed (given) to us. Check out this video of hip hop artist, Shai Linne as he breaks down justification and imputed righteousness in 1 minute. (Click here if you can't see the video) On Saturday, 12/15, Mt. Zion is having a Christmas Program and Buffet Dinner Social. Please come out and enjoy the Worship Ministry Christmas Presentation "Born to Die". A buffet dinner will be served following the presentation. Mt. Zion members are asked to bring their favorite home cooked dessert to share. We will also be wrapping Christmas presents that evening. You can bring your presents as early as 3:30pm to be wrapped. We are happy to announce that we will be ordaining a couple of deacons, Deacons Matt Darby and Corey Jerkins. Everyone is invited to join us for our Ordination Service on next Sunday at 4pm. Pastor Charle

Our mission is to worship Christ, spread the Gospel, and serve the community.  As we enter the Christmas holiday season, we have a few great opportunities for us to serve our community: Zone 3 is now sponsoring a Coat Drive until 12/9. We are asking members (all zones) to donate any coats that would help warm another this winter season. Please bring all CLEAN coats to the church and put in collection box that is marked. Thank you for your support! Our Missions Ministry is collecting toiletry items for the area nursing homes residents for Christmas gifts. Please bring all items to the church and place them in the marked collection boxes. All items will be collected until 12/7. Items needed: toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, socks, mouthwash, depends, all sizes hand sanitizer, tissue (Kleenex). Then on 12/8 at 4pm, we will be Christmas Caroling at the local area nursing homes. All participants are asked to arrive at the church no later than 3:15 for departur

I know that the map that I showed on Sunday was hard to see so here it is. Amos announces that the Lord roars judgment from Zion.  He starts by pronouncing judgment on the pagan nations surrounding Israel and Judah.  You can see the divided kingdom of Israel and Judah (highlighted with yellow) and the red stars are the nations addressed in Amos 1:3-2:3

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We all have much to thank God for! Grateful is what we are, but thanksgiving is what we do! Let us continually give thanks to our good and gracious Heavenly Father. For those who have not heard, Deacon Gibbons passed last week. His home-going service will be on Saturday, 12/1 at 11 a.m. There will not be a wake. Please keep Sis. Gibbons and family in your prayers. Ladies, you have a missional opportunity to join the Deaconess Ministry as they serve dinner to the ladies of the Helen Wright Center on Thursday, November 29th at 7pm. To sign up or make a monetary contribution, please see Deaconess LaDonna Bethea, Shebbie Coppage, Shirley Smith, or Erica Wilson. You can also contact the church office.

I'm asking everyone to continue praying for Deacon Gibbons and his health.  Also, pray for Sis. Gibbons' strength and encouragement as she cares for her husband. Today is Veteran's Day.  We remember and thank the veterans who helped maintain liberties all of us routinely take for granted. The freedoms we enjoy didn't come cheaply.  We should also reflect upon what God has done for us, as the price He paid for our freedom also didn't come cheaply.  If you know and love Jesus, it is because He did the impossible for you: He knew and loved you first, paid for your sin on the cross, and reconciled you back to the Father. For that, we should be eternally grateful! Once again, we are partnering with Mosaic Church for a Thanksgiving Outreach . We will gather on Saturday, Nov. 17th at 9am at Mosaic Church to assemble boxes of food for our adopted neighborhood (same one that we gave school backpacks to) and distribute them that same morning.  Here is what we need:  $

Since the election is Tuesday, I thought I would share a portion of this blog post. I'll be sending the whole thing out to our mailinglist on Monday. Jesus' mission is bigger than next Tuesday’s election. Way bigger.  The Great Commission summons to make disciples — both reaching out for more quantity and going deep for more quality — should relativize the stock Jesus' followers put in any political endeavor. Christians shouldn’t be dead-set on winning elections, but on making disciples. We put our best eggs in the disciplemaking basket, not the ballot box. We expect defeat in the short run, but triumph in the long haul. Lose the election, win the world.  The Christian's trust is not in politics. Our hope for the future isn’t in the incumbent or the challenger, but in the God-man who promises that he will build his church and that his gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations. And his final instructions before taking to th

Our Church Family Meeting is tomorrow at 7pm. We will be giving updates on the ministry realignment and our finances.  All members are asked to be present. Attention, All Zone 4 Families: Please join us on Saturday, November 3rd, from 9:00am-1:00pm, to serve at " With Love from Jesus " in Raleigh, to help those in our community who are in need.  Children & Teens are welcome and needed to participate if possible.  Sign up online by Wednesday so we can let "With Love from Jesus" know how many helpers will be coming. I'm excited to announce that Bro. Gerald Vinson will deliver his Initial Sermon on next Sunday at 4:00pm. Everyone is invited to join us for this special occasion! We were blessed to have Pastor John Lutaaya from Uganda in town and worshiping with us today.  Pastor John shared about his ministries and exhorted us to pray without ceasing.  He also encouraged us with Colossians 4:17 to fulfill the ministry that we have received in the Lord.  

Prayer 2012 was on Tuesday and it was amazing! 92 churches from different denominations and ethnicities came together for an evening of worship and prayer.  We pray confessed sins, repented, and prayed for God to move in the church and through the church to reach the lost and make disciples. We prayed that God would spark a revival in our churches! Thanks to the Children's Ministry for volunteering yesterday at St. Andrew's Brown Bag Ministry to make and distribute food to those in need.  Another opportunity to serve our community & spread the Gospel is this afternoon at 2pm when we minister at Cary Health & Rehab. We have Voter's Guides for the NC races. Pick one up at the Welcome Center. Be an informed voter.  And pray and seek wisdom from God so that you can vote for biblical principles. Remember, no matter who is elected as President, Jesus is Lord and His plan and purposes will be fulfilled.

For those who have signed up to attend Prayer 2012 on Tuesday: Sis. Tammy Larkins has your tickets. You will need your ticket to get in (no exceptions). If you are not able to attend, please let me or Sis. Larkins know and we can make your ticket available to others. Parking is $7 so carpooling is a good idea. I suggest meeting at Mt. Zion at 6pm to carpool to the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. This is the last quarter for our Radical Love initiative. This quarter will be a combination of all the previous projects: Know Thy Neighbor, Serve Thy Neighbor, Invite Thy Neighbor, and Witness to Thy Neighbor.  So from now until the end of the year, we will be challenged to get to know our neighbors, serve them, invite them to church, and share the Gospel with them. The Children's Ministry has planned an outreach opportunity for you and your children to serve the community. We will volunteer for the Brown Bag Ministry at St. Andrew's Church on Saturday. We will assemble bag lunche

We praise God for those who came forward on last Sunday.  We had 3 to join the church, 6 candidates for baptism, and a whole family of 4 to trust in Christ! Soli Deo Gloria! As we start a new sermon series on stewardship, we're glad to announce our next offering of FPU (Financial Peace University). The class starts Saturday October 13th from 8:30 - 10:00am.  It will last for 9 weeks until December 15th. Haven taken the course, I highly recommend it for singles, couples, and college age. It's biblically-based, practical, and a lot of fun!  The average family completing the course pays off $5,300 and saves $2,700 in just 90 days. That's an $8,000 change in position!  Whether you're struggling in debt or you're doing okay but want to be a better manager of your finances, FPU has something for you.  The cost is $89. You can register online at mtzioncary.org/fpu . If you are not sure, you can attend the first class for free.

We still have seats available for Prayer 2012: a City-Wide Prayer Rally on 10/16 at Memorial Auditorium. To reserve a seat with our group from Mt. Zion, sign-up online . We are nearing the end of Project: Witness To Thy Neighbor .  It can be difficult to share our faith. Sometimes when opportunities arise to share our faith, we shrink back because we don't want to be intolerant.  There are now two types of tolerance. The old tolerance is the belief that other opinions have a right to exist.  The new tolerance that has arisen, however, is defined as the belief that all opinions are equally valid or true. It is one thing to say something has the right to exist; it is quite another to say that two beliefs are equally valid.  I want to encourage us to share our faith despite the fact that we might be labeled "intolerant" with this new definition of tolerance.  Let's understand the difference between the two types of tolerance so that we can lovingly correct thos

We are nearing the end of Project: Witness To Thy Neighbor .  Don't forget to pray, pray, pray.  Pray for opportunities to share your faith.  And then look for them.  You can also use the Story booklet (pick some up at the Welcome Center) or point them to the Story website to share the God's grand story of creation, redemption, and restoration. Don't forget to reserve your seat online to join us for Prayer 2012: a City-Wide Prayer Rally on 10/16 at Memorial Auditorium. This Wednesday, we conclude our Culture and Theology series on Homosexuality. This will be Q & A. Join us and bring your questions. We will be streaming this session online at Zion Live . If our members can continue to give at least 5% or more above your normal giving, it will help us meet our budget. Thanks to all who sacrificed to give more.

I want to encourage you to join many Triangle churches including Mt. Zion for Prayer 2012: a City-Wide Prayer Rally on 10/16 at Memorial Auditorium. To reserve a seat, sign-up online . Don't forget to participate in Project: Witness To Thy Neighbor , where we are challenging ourselves to intentionally share the Gospel with a neighbor.  A book I highly recommend on sharing the Gospel is "The Gospel and Personal Evangelism" by Mark Dever.   We continue our Culture and Theology series on Homosexuality this Wednesday. We had a good discussion last week and look forward to engaging this topic some more as we answer some of the culture's objections to what the Bible says.  Everyone is invited to attend. And we will be streaming it on Zion Live . Our next Town Hall Meeting is Saturday, September 22nd, at 9:00am. The Town Hall will be an open forum for Q & A. All members are invited to come out and ask their questions and/or give their input.  We want

As most of our members know, Mt. Zion has experienced the passing of 5 members (Minister Candice Walden, Sister Alice Shorts, Minister Cynthia Whitney, Sister Barbara Stephens, and Deacon Jess Ward) all within 2 months.  How are we to understand so many deaths in a short amount of time?  This is where we must strap on our armor lest we fall for lies from Satan. Ephesians 6:16 (ESV) : In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one Satan can so easily send his "flaming darts" at us to get us to doubt God's faithfulness.  Satan can "whisper" to us that there must be something wrong at the church, we are being punished, or we are under a curse.  But we don't operate by our feelings.  We walk by faith NOT by sight ( 2 Cor. 5:7 ).  So we look to the Word of God. First of all, God is sovereign.  Death can't take one of God's children before God says so.  Neither can we stop or

Once again death hits our church family. Deacon Emeritus Jess Ward passed away on Wednesday. The Service for Deacon Ward will be here at Mt. Zion on Saturday, 9/8 at 11:00am. On Wednesday, 9/12 at 7pm, we will start a 3 week Culture and Theology series on Homosexuality. This series will feature teaching from Pastor Matt Chandler with a biblical and cultural examination of homosexuality. Everyone is invited to attend. Thanks so much for your consistent and generous giving during the summer months. If our members can continue to give at least 5% or more above your normal giving, it will help us maintain our budget. Thanks to all who have sacrificed to give more.

Prayer 2012: a City-Wide Prayer Rally on 10/16 at Memorial Auditorium. Many churches will be coming together for a night of prayer. Registration is happening now for churches to reserve a block (or blocks) for their people to sit together. To reserve a seat, sign-up online or use the Connection Card in the bulletins. If you have questions, contact Sis. Tammy Larkin or the church office. Ladies: The Deaconess Ministry will be serving the ladies at the Helen Wright Center on Thursday. Please volunteer to serve, assist with making the meal, or make a monetary donation. Contact Deaconess Angelique Cherry for details We held an awareness meeting for our Haiti Mission Trip today immediately after the church service.  Trip dates are Monday, January 14, 2013 to Sunday, January 20, 2013. Cost estimate: $1500.00.  Contact Deacon Rufus Credle for details or to join the mission trip.

Thanks to those who volunteered yesterday for our Back-to-School Outreach with Mosaic Church . We had a great group from both churches (including children) to assemble and distribute to a local neighborhood. We'll be delivering a percentage of the backpacks to West Cary on tomorrow. Project: Witness To Thy Neighbor is still active. Sincerely pray for opportunities to share the Gospel and then look for them.  Effective evangelism is the understanding and communicating the Gospel. If you don't understand the Gospel then you won't be able to effectively communicate it.  You may mistake some things for the Gospel that are not. Your personal testimony is not the Gospel. Your testimony is the effect of the Gospel and it contributes to evangelism. Social action is not the Gospel. Doing good for others commend the Gospel.  Our personal testimonies and good works for others are wonderful but in order for it to be evangelism, the Gospel must be clearly communicated, whether in w

We are partnering with Mosaic Church in Cary for a "School Backpack Outreach" on Saturday, 8/18. We're asking everyone to donate school supplies so that we can fill backpacks and bless some families who are less fortunate, including families at West Cary Middle School. Click here to see West Cary's school supply list. Supply donations can be dropped off at Mt. Zion any time prior to 8/18. Also, we need volunteers to assist with assembling and distributing the school supplies. Volunteers may sign up online for the School Backpack Outreach event by clicking here . We will meet at Mt. Zion at 8:45am and leave together to arrive at Mosaic Church by 9:00am. Sis. Linda Reynolds, (919) 612-6717, is our coordinator. If you have any questions, you can contact her or the church office, (919) 469-5323, ext. 3.

3rd Annual Cary Church of God Football Clinic/Camp/Auction Clinic date: August 18, 2012 Time: 1 to 4pm Location: Mt. Zion Church Address: 316 Allen Lewis Dr., Cary, NC Ages: 8 to 18 years Cost: FREE Wear workout gear including sneakers and/or cleats. Water will be provided. Contact: Phil Britt , Cary COG with questions @ 919-467-0537 X127 STAFFED by NFL Personnel and The Performance Academy Mickey Marvin, Oakland Raiders Darrell Moody, Buffalo Bills Frantzy Jourdain, New England Patriots Jay Mandolesi, NY Jets Steven Verderosa, NY Football Giants Bill Burniston, Performance Academy Opportunity to purchase officially licensed NFL gear at reduced prices during clinic. All proceeds go to our church mission in Ecuador. In case of inclement weather, the clinic will be held in the gym at the Cary Church of God@107 Quade Ave., Cary, NC 27513. Auction to be held on August 19, 2012 @ 1pm. Location: Cary Church of God , 107 Quade Av

On yesterday, we celebrated another homegoing with our Sister Barbara Stephens. Continue to pray for Sister Linda Spears and the Stephens family. Family, we have experienced another loss which is another reminder that there is no time for us to simply be engaged in "church busyness" and "religious activities". We must be actively engaged in spreading the Gospel ( Project: Witness To Thy Neighbor ), being missional , and making disciples . We are partnering with Mosaic Church of Cary for a School Backpack Outreach. Volunteers are needed to assist with assembling and distributing "Back to School" supplies on Saturday, August 18th, at 9:00am at Mosaic Church in Cary. Sign up online . Supply donations can be dropped off here anytime between now and August 18th. Copies of the supply list are available at the Welcome Center. If you have questions contact Sis. Linda Reynolds or the church office. God's mission will also take us to other countries. In

We are partnering with another church in Cary called Mosaic Church for a School Backpack Outreach on 8/18.  So we're asking everyone to donate school supplies so that we can fill backpacks and bless some families who are less fortunate including some families at West Cary Middle School .  Click here to see West Cary's school supply list.  Sis. Linda Reynolds will be our coordinator. If you have any questions, you can contact her or the church office. On Oct 16, there will be a City-Wide Prayer Rally called Prayer 2012 at Memorial Auditorium. Mt. Zion , along with many other churches, will be participating.  The purpose is to bring the Body of Christ together in prayer.  Another purpose is to join together and pray literally thousands of prayers, in one evening, for God to move in and through His Church.  Registration is happening now for churches to reserve a block (or blocks) for their people to sit together. Sis. Tammy Larkin is our coordinator for this event.  To reserv

The Church Family Meeting is tomorrow at 7pm. All members are asked to be present to get a critical update on our current financial situation. We had Ecuador Testimonies from Deacon Darby (University Team), Minister Coppage (Construction Team), and my wife, Anita Harris (Community Evangelism).  We look forward to also hearing from our first teen to take a mission trip, Bro. Derrick Wiggins, who was also on a Community Evangelism Team. For myself, I was on the prison team again this year.  For the event that I shared, you can watch this video blog post that I made while still in Ecuador. Next Sunday I'll be out again but just down Evans road at Cary First Christian Church . I'll be speaking for their Homecoming Service at 10:30am.  Your prayers are appreciated. Another thing that really impressed me from the Ecuador trip was the generosity of the people.  One day as we were out in a community, a family gave us plates of food .  It's amazing to see that those who ha

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Please keep the family of Sis. Alice Shorts in your prayers. We had her homegoing service on yesterday. Often churches measure their "success" by the number of new members and baptisms. That's good, but a better measurement might be the number of faithful saints buried who still professed and trusted in Christ.  That is a great testament to the faithful of our God and a church's fidelity to preaching the Gospel and making disciples. Next Radical Love project is Witness to Thy Neighbor . For the next quarter, the challenge is to intentionally share the Gospel with at least 1 person. It's important for us to know the Gospel so that we can share it. Even if you have to sing it or rap it, share the Gospel. Check out this video of Hip Hop artist, Trip Lee: "The Gospel in 2 Minutes" (Click here if you can't see the video)  BTW, Trip Lee is coming to Raleigh on 7/22. Get your tickets here ! Here are some practical things to help you share yo

God is the Alpha and the Omega.  He began everything and will complete it all.  Even when we feel like everything is out of control, God is still in control.  God has a definite plan!  (click here if you can't see the video) We have been getting to know thy neighbor, serve thy neighbor, invite thy neighbor, and now we want to do the most important thing: Witness to Thy Neighbor.  For the next quarter, I want to encourage all of us to intentionally share the Gospel with at least 1 person.  I know that this may be a challenge for many of us as it takes us out of our comfort zone but this is our mission, to spread the Gospel.  Throughout this quarter, I'll be sharing things about evangelism. Also, I highly recommend this book: The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever .

For those who have not heard, our own Minister Candice Walden passed away last week. It was sudden and took us by surprise. We saw her last Sunday presiding over the service.  But what takes us by surprise does not surprise God for He is sovereign over all things. Our lives are but a vapor and the death of a saint reminds us that we must be on mission for God "while it is day for when night comes, no man can work" (John 9:4).  We know that Minister Walden loved God and trusted Christ and is in His presence now.  Let us pray for her children and entire family.  The Homegoing service will be at Mt. Zion on Tuesday at 2pm.  It will be preceded by a viewing at 1pm. Last week, we talked about how the world's religions teach salvation by works.  By religion, we mean "false religion".  Man's self-righteous attempts to reach God.  But Christianity is about the Person and work of Jesus Christ.  We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads!  Fathers, may we strive to demonstrate (albeit imperfectly) unconditional love, grace, discipline, instruction to our children so that these concepts will not be foreign when we teach them about our Heavenly Father. Praise God for a wonderful VBS this year. And thanks to all the teachers, volunteers, and students for making VBS great! The next Bible Study series, "Restoring Our Vision of God," will start on Wednesday at 7:00pm.  How you view God will affect how you live. Join us for this new series. This month continues to be important for us to stay on budget. Thanks to all who sacrificed to give more. We are asking that you please continue to give at least 5% above your normal giving. If you are able to give more than 5%, please do so.

This is our last month for Project: Invite Thy Neighbor. The goal is to invite at least 1 neighbor to attend a service, event, or activity at Mt. Zion (preferably the neighbor that you got to know and served in the previous projects). There are church cards (size of business cards) that you can use to invite people at the Welcome Center. Next Sunday is our Children's & Youth Day. We will honor our high school graduates and our children will be leading us in worship and bringing the message. This is a wonderful opportunity to invite your neighbor. Another great opportunity to invite neighbors is our upcoming Vacation Bible School.  VBS is June 11 – 15th. Registration is underway. Cost: $10 Singles, $15 Couples, $20 Families. Join us to experience an exciting time of God's Word, fellowship, fun, and snacks. This month continues to be important for us to stay on budget. Thanks to all who have sacrificed to give more. We are asking that you please continue to give mor

Tomorrow is Memorial Day.  It is more than a day to shop or have off from work.  It is a day to remember those who have died in service to our country.  So let's pray for the families of those who have sacrificed their lives so that we may have freedom in this country.  We pray for their comfort and strength when remembering their loved ones.  And most importantly, we thank God for the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.  He died to free us from bondage to sin, death, and Satan.  But He not only died, He rose victoriously from the dead. Don't forget to sign-up for Project: Invite Thy Neighbor . Next Sunday, our Service Time changes. Sunday School will start at 9am and the Worship Service will start at 10am. Also in June, the Tuesday Prayer & Testimony service is moving to Wednesday at 6pm.  Now's the time to register for Vacation Bible School.  VBS will be held June 11-15.  This year's theme is "Sky...Everything IS Possible With God."  The cost is $

Don't forget to sign-up for Project: Invite Thy Neighbor . The goal is to invite at least 1 neighbor to attend a service, event, or activity at Mt. Zion (preferably the neighbor that you got to know and served in the previous projects) between April and June. There are church cards (size of business cards) that you can use to invite people at the Welcome Center. If you would commit to this challenge, please sign-up. The Deaconess Ministry thanks all ladies who donated clothing, shoes, & accessories for the Dorcas Closet outreach on yesterday. The ladies from the Raleigh Rescue Mission and the Helen Wright Center really appreciated it! This outreach is a great example of our mission and vision : "spread the Gospel & serve the community". Not only did we bring in the ladies to serve them with clothing but we gave them God's Word. Announcing Service Time Change starting in June: Sunday School will run from 9 to 9:45am.  We hope that this will give families

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers.  For those women who desire to be mothers and it has not happened yet, I pray that you will be encouraged by knowing that God is in control. Whether you become a mother or not, know that your identity is not in motherhood but in Christ! You are a child of God. Don't forget to sign-up for Project: Invite Thy Neighbor . The goal is to invite at least 1 neighbor to attend a service, event, or activity at Mt. Zion (preferably the neighbor that you got to know and served in the previous projects) between April and June. LifeWay Research reports that 82% of the unchurched would attend if invited by a friend or someone they knew. There are church cards (size of business cards) that you can use to invite people at the Welcome Center. If you would commit to this challenge, please sign-up.

The following is an excerpt from a post by Pastor Voddie Baucham when Iowa faced the homosexual marriage issue back in '09.  I wanted to share the part where he addresses the fallacy that homosexual marriage is a civil rights issue.  Click on the title link to read the entire article. Iowa: Homosexual Marriage Moves to the Midwest date Apr 6, 2009 author Voddie Baucham ERROR #1 HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE IS A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE     Right off the bat the Iowa decision jumps on the “Gay is the New Black” bandwagon.  They followed the logic of leading homosexual advocates who argue that homosexuality is not only a “Civil Rights” issue; it is morally equivalent to blackness.  As a black man, I am insulted by this line of reasoning.  As a thinking man, I a

Sis. Cynthia Whitney delivered her Initial Sermon on Sunday at 4pm. Her message was from Matt. 25:1-13, "Preparing to Meet the Bridegroom".  Thanks to everyone who came out to join us for this special occasion! Our the Church Family Meeting was Monday at 7pm. We gave updates on our financial situation, ministry realignment, and our weekly services. Starting in June, Sunday School moves to 9 to 9:45am and Worship Service starts at 10am. High School seniors: Applications are now available for the J.A. Lewis Memorial Scholarship. Check with the church office for the application packet. Applications are due on May 27, 2012. VBS is quickly approaching (see announcements for details). You can pay your registration via the offering by writing "VBS" on the special offering line on the giving envelope. We have a Mt. Zion family needing financial help with housing. The need is great so we're asking our church family to help through the love offering.  T

Missional opportunity: Zone 1 & Zone 2 members will be ministering at With Love From Jesus in Raleigh on Saturday, May 5th. We will be arriving around 9:00am and leaving around 2:00pm. I am happy to announce that Sis. Cynthia Whitney will deliver her Initial Sermon on Sunday, May 6th, at 4:00pm.  Everyone is invited to join us for this special occasion! Don't forget that the Church Family Meeting has been rescheduled for Monday, May 7th, at 7:00pm.  We will have an update on our financial situation and the ministry realignment.  All members are asked to be present. We are starting a new series next Sunday in Ephesians called "Christ Identity". Get prepared by reading the entire book of Ephesians. We will be tackling some "meaty" topics in Ephesians so come "hungry" and bring a friend.

Our Radical Love initiative for this quarter is Invite Thy Neighbor.  So for those neighbors that you have gotten to know and served, now invite them to church, Bible Study, and other church events.  I will be speaking at New Destiny Christian Fellowship (Pastor Maurice Wright) for their 8th Anniversary on Thursday, April 26th, at 7:30pm. Everyone is invited to join us. We are having a Family Fair Day on Saturday, April 28th; from 10am to 2pm. Parents, we're going to discuss important information for raising and discipling our children. Children will enjoy outdoor games and activities. Parents, bring your children and invite your friends. A picnic lunch will be provided. Our upcoming Church Family Meeting has been postponed to May 7th at 7pm.  Please mark your calendars.

Today we kick off our next Radical Love project for the quarter: Invite Thy Neighbor.  With Easter approaching, it's a great time to invite someone to join us for the Easter weekend. Here's what's happening for our Easter Celebration: We are having Good Friday service again this year starting at 6pm for 1 hour; on Saturday, there will be an Egg Hunt at 1pm (with hot dogs afterwards); and then on Sunday we'll celebrate the Resurrection of Christ at our Sunrise Easter service starting at 6am.  There's a Easter Celebration flyer that you can download from the church's family website for inviting friends, family, and neighbors. Also, during the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, we will be serving the neighbors who live next to the church by offering to wash their cars.  We need some volunteers that would like to serve in this capacity.  If you are interested, please contact the church office. Our youth are being missional on Saturday, April 7th, at 12:00pm by goi

Thanks to everyone that participated in the Spring Spruce Up on yesterday.   The savings we got from doing the clean up ourselves is in the thousands!  So your time and effort is greatly appreciated. And the winner of the zone challenge goes to Zone 4 (for the most participants and hours worked)! The Fish Fry scheduled for Saturday will be rescheduled to a later date. There's still time to participate in Serve Thy Neighbor before this quarter is over. Here's a great service idea: as the pollen settles, offer to wash your neighbor's car. In anticipation of next quarter's Invite Thy Neighbor, we have flyers for our Easter weekend celebration that you can use to invite neighbors. We have a few flyers available at the Welcome Center but I want to encourage most of you to download it from the church family website . All members have received an email to complete a skills profile. If you're a member and did not receive this email, update the church office with

The next Bible Study series, "Feeling Secure in a Troubled World," starts on this Wednesday at 7:00pm. Join us for this exciting new series! Don't miss the opportunity to be missional in your neighborhood by participating in Serve Thy Neighbor . Very shortly we'll send out an email to all members to complete a skills profile. By God's grace, He has blessed this church with a lot of talent and skills so we want to know what those skills are in order to utilize them for the benefit of our church body and to the glory of God. So I encourage everyone to please fill out the profile.

I hope that everyone's Lent is going well.  One of reasons we participate in Lent is that it's a great reminder that all of our Christian life is about denying self.  As our bodies desire that food or activity, we deny it.  Likewise, we are to deny our sinful and selfish desires daily to follow Christ.  May our fasts during Lent remind us of our daily need to deny self, take up our cross, and follow Christ. Don't forget to sign up and participate in Serve Thy Neighbor .  Don't miss the opportunity to be missional in your neighborhood by serving others. The next Ecuador Info Meeting is tomorrow (3/12) at 6:30 at Cary COG .  If you are even remotely considering going to Ecuador, then please plan to attend this meeting. You will need to bring your $100 deposit and copy of your passport.  Even if you decide later that you cannot go, the $100 deposit would go towards the mission trip (a worthy investment). Men, join us for a movie night on Friday.  We will fellowship

We only have 7 families signed up for Project: Serve Thy Neighbor. But God has called to serve others. So I want to encourage everyone to step up and sign up to support this initiative. Many of our long time members know Marche Smith (son of Sis. Sandra Smith). He's a member of Christ First Christian Fellowship Center and will be delivering his initial sermon today. Christ First will be having this service at Mt. Zion at 4pm. The next Ecuador information meeting will be 3/12 at Cary Church of God .  I would love to have a great team of people from Mt. Zion to go to Ecuador this year.  As you can see in this video , the hotel that we stay at in Ecuador is quite nice so you will not be "roughing it" while there.    We have a praise report that the church has gotten an extension from the bank. God answered our prayers!  Now the next three months are going to be critical for us to make budget.  Thanks to all who sacrificed to give more.  We are asking that you plea

We are now in Lent which started on Ash Wednesday and will end on Easter. Why do we fast during Lent? Fasting is a very helpful way to reduce distractions, focus on God, and cultivate a sense of dependence on Him. When giving up certain foods or drinks, fasting is a way of sacrificing physical nourishment to seek spiritual nourishment. It is also good to give up things or activities that might be feed our sinful desires. So I pray that our fasting and praying during Lent this year will remind us that we need God and we will draw closer to Him. Don't forget to sign-up for Project: Serve Thy Neighbor . Let's sacrifice of our time to serve our neighbors with the love of Christ.   Members: Help us improve our communication in the church we request that you make sure your membership record in up-to-date by using the Connection Card in the bulletin, contacting your Deacon, or calling or emailing the church office.

This afternoon, Sis. Angela Cody delivered her Initial Sermon. Thanks to all who joined us for this special occasion! This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday.  We will anoint everyone with ashes (as sign of mourning and repentance over sin) right after Bible Study.  Ash Wednesday is also the beginning of Lent (40 day fast until Easter Sunday). We do a partial fast by giving up something.  In light of our Make War series, I recommend that we should give up something that may be feeding our sinful desires. Sometimes non-sinful things can be sinful for us.  We may need to limit the practice of these things (by fasting from them) so they do not become weights that hinder us. Don't forget to pick up your Giving Statements at the Welcome Center for your taxes. We are calling all men to help us on Saturday starting at 8am to put down mulch.  Help us keep our church grounds looking good. 

I'm pleased to announce the appointment of Sean Cherry as an elder.  I know that Sean and his wife, Angelique would appreciate your prayers as he takes on this important role to help lead and shepherd Mt. Zion . We have a Town Hall meeting on Saturday at 9am to discuss and get your feedback on our proposed ministry realignment. All members should have received a copy of the proposal via email. If you did not receive it, make sure your email address is current with the church office. We want to send another team to Ecuador this year in July on a mission trip. We are calling on all members (adults, college-age, & teens) to consider sacrificing a week of your summer to spread the Gospel and love of Christ.

We presented our proposal for realigning our ministries to our Discipleship Model at the Church Family Meeting. We will email what was presented to all members this week. Make sure we have your current email address. Our Town Hall meeting on 2/18 at 9am will be devoted to discussing and getting your feedback on this ministry realignment. The next Bible Study series, "SERVICE ROOTED IN GRACE," will begin on this Wednesday at 7:00pm. We progress in the Christian life when we see our sin as first and foremost against a Holy God. We are sinners saved by grace. Join us for this exciting new series. I'm happy to announce that Sis. Angela Cody will deliver her Initial Sermon on Sunday, February 19th, at 4:00pm. Everyone is invited to join us. Don't forget that the Ecuador trip info meeting is tomorrow at Cary Church of God (on Evans Road) at 6:30pm. Pick up a brochure at the Welcome Center. As a reminder, we ask everyone to restrict movement during the Call to D

Project: Serve Thy Neighbor is happening now. We want to do at least one act of service for a neighbor. Check out the Radical Love website for different ideas on how to serve your neighbor. I'm asking all families to participate and sign-up on the website or use the Connection Card. Thanks to all parents who attended the "Upgrading Your Parental Software" seminar on yesterday.  It was a great success and I want to thank the youth directors, Deacon and Deaconess Jerkins, for their research and hard work with putting on the seminar. The Church Family Meeting is tomorrow (1/30) at 7:00pm. All members are asked to be present. This is an important meeting to attend as we want to share some ideas we're working on for realigning our ministries to our Discipleship Model. On Saturday, February 4th, a local chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity is sponsoring a blood drive by the American Red Cross here at Mt. Zion from 9:30am to 2:00pm. Since this is tied to the

Project: Serve Thy Neighbor is happening now.  Check out the Radical Love website for different ideas on how to serve your neighbor. I'm asking all families to participate and sign-up on the website. One of our objectives this year is to help equip parents so we are hosting the "Upgrading Your Parental Software" seminar on Saturday, January 28th, from 10am to 2pm.  Please register online . The next Church Family Meeting is January 30th, at 7:00pm. All members are asked to be present. This is an important meeting to attend as we want to share some ideas we're working on for realigning our ministries to our Discipleship Model . Next Sunday, we're starting a new series called "Make WAR".  As Christians we can't not be passive about sin but must fight it.  Don't miss the first sermon because it will be foundational for the rest of the series.  Invite friends, family, believers, & unbelievers to this series. One of the great privilege

Tomorrow is the MLK holiday to celebrate his birthday.  Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream was not just about black advancement but racial harmony and equality.  We can find this in the Gospel. Ephesians 2:11-16 (ESV):  Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the

The start of a new year is a good time for our members to update the church if your info (address, phone number, email address) has changed. You may use the "Connections" card in the bulletin, contact the church secretary at 919-469-5323 (ext. 3), or send an email to mzsectry@mtzioncary.org . We had a great start to our Wednesday Bible Study on Christ in the OT as the Angel of the Lord.  Christ was active in human history long before His incarnation in Bethlehem.  His appearance as the Angel of the Lord will increase our understanding of Christ's role in the OT and how the Bible really is all about Christ. Our Radical Experiment has concluded.  I hope many were able to read the entire Bible last year.  If not, make it a priority to read through the whole Bible this year . Our theme for 2012 is Missional: Sent by God on the Mission of God .  One of the key Scriptures is John 20:21: Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so

  Our theme for 2012 is "Missional: Sent by God on the Mission of God".  About 40 times in the Gospel of John, Jesus declares that the Father sent Him. The incarnation is the sending of the second Person of the Trinity into human history as a missionary.  Likewise, Jesus tells us that He is sending us as missionaries into different cultures by the power of the Holy Spirit.  As Christians, we are called and sent into the world to spread the Gospel in our communities and around the world. We must not shrink back and stay in our holy huddle. Christ did not stay in His holy huddle (with the Father and Holy Spirit) but He came into our world to redeem us. That means we must go out into the world where the lost are and tell them about a King who calls all men and women to repent and believe the Gospel.  Jesus dressed, spoke, and ate according to Jewish culture, participated in their holidays, and observed their customs without sinning. So Christians are to also live a