the Logos

Thanks to all for your support for Deacon Whitney's Homegoing service yesterday. Christ was exalted and the Gospel was presented. Continue to pray for the Whitney family as well as others who have recent bereavement: Sis. Jaqueline Higgins - passing of her husband Sis. Ebone Mouzone - passing of her grandmother Deacon Johnson - passing of his sister Another reminder that our first Church Family Meeting of the year is tomorrow at 7:00pm. We will have an Ecuador presentation from Pastor Richard Dial and a few of his students. All members are asked to be present. Radical Experiment 2011 Update Today's Scripture Reading: Exodus 36-38 Today's Country: Malaysia (63% Muslim; 9% Christian) Your giving statement for 2010 will be available for pickup at the church starting on this Wednesday. You will be able to pick up your statement the next two Sundays and then we will mail out the remaining ones. If your address has changed recently, please let us know so that we can update ...

If I Was The Devil - TheDevilisReal.com from Denton Bible on Vimeo . If I was the devil, tell you what I'd do, I would try to deceive you and get you into error. I would get you off base. If you still stayed true, I would try to disqualify you. I would get you immoral. I would get you where no one would believe what came out of your mouth. I would make you a TABLOID, where nobody believed you. I would remove your confidence where you were afraid to speak because your life was such a shamble. I would get you into sin. I would prowl like a roaring lion to devour you morally and if I couldn't do that, I would try to make you successful and I would distract you if I couldn't disqualify you. I would get you BUSY. I would get you so distracted and disattracted from the Gospel that no longer would your prayers be about holiness and souls, they would only be about the bottom line in your business. I would get you MATERIALISTIC and no longer concerned about the spiritual nature of...

The Church Family Meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 31st, at 7:00pm. We will have updates on our mission trips planning. Pastor Richard Dial (from Cary Church of God ) along with some of his students will join us to give an Ecuador presentation. I'm asking all members (including our youth) to join us. Radical Experiment 2011 Update Scripture Reading: Exodus 16-18 Yesterday's Country: Haiti Today's Country: Hungary (88% Christians) Today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday Since humans are made in the image of God (the Latin term is Imago Dei ), all life is precious and has inherent value. In Exodus 1, we see the first government sanctioned killing of babies. Pharaoh ordered the midwives to kill Hebrews male babies but because they feared God, they refused. One of the babies who was saved was Moses who would later led his people out of slavery. In Matthew 2, Herod orders the killing of boys under age of 2. But Jesus survives this to willingly give His life on the Cros...

Many world religions say that you can never know God and have a personal relationship with Him. Although we can never fully know God now, He has revealed Himself to us. He has revealed Himself through creation. This is called general revelation. Psalms 19:1-4 (NLT) says... The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. God also reveals Himself through His Word. This is special revelation. As the J Allen Lewis Children's Choir sang this morning, "Yes, Jesus loves me...for the Bible tells me so!" The Bible tells us how God loves us and saves us through His Son, Jesus Christ. So we do not serve a God who has not revealed Himself to us or does not want to have a relationshi...

Pray for those involved and affected by the Arizona shooting . Six are dead (including a federal judge) and twelve are injured. This is more evidence of the sinful depravity of man. Events like this should add a sense of urgency for us to spread the Gospel to our community. Don't forgot the opportunities during week for spiritual growth: Prayer on Tuesday evening at 6pm; Bible Study on Wednesday evening at 7pm and Thursday morning at 9am; and of course, Sunday School right before the service. Today's Radical Experiment Update Scripture Reading: Genesis 27-29 Country: Cambodia (83% Buddhist; but an open door for ministry remains) Ecuador Trip: Leaving July 16 or 17 for 1 week; estimated cost: $1500-1600; we hope to get a presentation from Cary Church of God at our upcoming Church Family Meeting.

Since this is my first blog post for the year, let me say Happy New Year. Don't forget that the Mt. Zion FAMILY POWER HOUR kicks off next Sunday. It will be held on 2nd and 4th Sundays at 8:30am. Families of all sizes are welcome. Theme for 2011 is "Radical". On 1/1, we started the Radical Experiment . This Wednesday, 1/5, we start the 8-week Radical Bible Study series . I'm excited for us to dig deeper into the Radical message and then practically apply it through the Radical Experiment so that it becomes more than head knowledge but our hearts are transformed by the glory of God.

If you have completed the book Radical , then you will know that there is a year long radical experiment discussed at the end. Mt. Zion will be doing this radical experiment during 2011. There are five parts to the experiment: 1) Pray for the entire world. Pray for specific needs among the nations. We will be using Operation World as our prayer guide to pray for every nation. 2) Read through the entire Word. Get through the entirety of Scripture in one year. We recommend the following reading plan to take us from Genesis to Revelation: Canonical Reading Plan . 3) Sacrifice money for a specific purpose. We should put a cap on our spending so that we can give more. Give to the church for ministry, give more to love offering, give toward mission trips, etc. 4) Spend time in another context. Whether it's overseas for a short term mission trip or the soup kitchen downtown, we must go and be with people who aren't like us. We are planning two mission trips during 2011: Ec...

Download now or watch on posterous Radical Christmas.wmv (4489 KB) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV) Posted via email from willieharris's posterous

The day after Christmas is the time that many people take back gifts to return or exchange. But when you exchange a gift, you can only exchange it for something of equal or lesser value. You can't take those ugly socks and exchange them for a flat screen TV (now that would be nice)! But when Jesus went to the cross, the most amazing thing happened. There was a great exchange. At the cross, the exchange was in our favor! Jesus took our sins and gave us forgiveness! Jesus took our death and gave us life! Jesus took God's wrath for us and gave us peace! Jesus took our sinfulness and gave us His holiness! Jesus took our hatred and rebellion towards Him and gave us His love! Jesus took our stony hearts and gave us a regenerated heart of flesh! Jesus took our old life and gave us a new life! So don't let Christmas be merely about exchanging gifts, but place your trust in Christ whose exchange at the cross was a glorious work on our behalf to grant us eternal life!

Just a reminder, there is no Wednesday evening & Thursday morning Bible Studies for 2 weeks. This will give our teachers a break to spend more time with family during the holidays. Bible Study will start back up in January. Starting in January, we are having the Family Power Hour (Sunday School for families). It will be held on 2nd and 4th Sundays. Families of all sizes are welcome. Don't forget to pick up copies of The Story at the Welcome Center to give to family and friends during the Christmas holiday. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Did you know that you can "feel the power of the Word" while doing ordinary things? Have you ever wondered what could make Sunday School more fun? Did you know you can have get the Word, have quality family time, AND have fun? Well you can! Mt. Zion Church will wow you with the FAMILY POWER HOUR on the 2nd and 4th Sundays beginning January 2011. Come and explore God's Word as a family! See you there!

As always, Christ First Christian Fellowship Center put on an excellent Christmas program called "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year". One part of the program that I particularly enjoyed was a selection that showcased great diversity (including an Indian dance and someone signing for the deaf). Wonderful job, Christ First...keep up the great work! In January, our next Bible Study series will be based on "Radical". Make sure you pick up the book and read. Please register online to help us plan with materials. The deadline to sign up is December 18th. Thanks to all who gave generously to help the family in need. You gave enough to take care of getting the power turned on in their home.

Pastor Larry Snead and Christ First Christian Fellowship Center invites us to their 3rd annual Christmas program, "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" on next Sunday, December 12th, at 6:00pm. Unfortunately due to a lack of participation, we are canceling our Christmas Play (scheduled for this Saturday). But we are still going out that evening to sing Christmas carols at the area nursing homes. So meet us at the church at 6:30pm on Saturday, 12/11 and help us spread the love and majesty of Christ to our neighbors at the nursing homes. As Christmas is approaching, let's not try to live above our means but be good stewards over our money in a way that honors God. By not going into debt buying stuff we can't afford or don't really need, we can be more generous to give to the ministry and to those in need. So what kind of giver are you? We have a humorous video (see below) in the announcement but it contains a lot of truth. So carefully give some thoughts to whether...

Youth & College students: the next Ignite Rally is this Saturday, 12/4 at 6pm at Cary Church of God . The Ignite Conference will be a powerful time of worship and preaching. So bring a friend. To all members who live in ZONE 4, thanks for staying after the service today to meet your Deacons and learning how we can serve each other within the body of our church family. This is the first Sunday of the Advent season. Advent, which means "Coming", is the time to celebrate the first coming of Christ (His birth) as we also prepare for His Second Coming. Again, I remind everyone to not let the Christmas holiday be about excess consumerism but a time of rejoicing in the gift of God's Son and sharing that gift to family and friends.

We had a full schedule today. At 2pm, Mt. Zion is ministered at Chatham Commons nursing home. At 5pm, we are joined with Grace Bible Fellowship for a Thanksgiving Celebration. I had a great time speaking on the topic "A Pilgrim's Faith" from Hebrews 11:8-16 . We thank Grace Bible Fellowship for the great food and hospitality. We look forward to more fellowship in the future. We have a great outreach tool available called The Story . This little booklet is a great way to share the wonderful Good News of God's redemptive story. Pick up copies at the Welcome Center to share with family and friends during the holiday season.

Reminder: Our church family is reading "Radical" by David Platt before the end of the year. Also, I encourage and challenge our youth to read it as well. Also, a reminder to those who are sponsoring an orphan in Uganda: when sending your money, please indicate the child you are sponsoring. Make sure you read over all of the info you received in your information packet if you have any further questions. Next Sunday, Mt. Zion will be having a joint Thanksgiving service with our neighbor, Grace Bible Fellowship . I will be speaking and the Everready Gospel Choir will be singing. Service starts at 5:00pm followed by a time of food and fellowship. Everyone is invited to join the celebration.

Thanks to all parents and teachers who attended the DiscipleLand workshop. Parents that missed Friday's workshop really missed out on a lot of great info. I'll try to get some of that info to you via our parents mailing list. You can subscribe to the parents mailing list by sending email to parents-subscribe@mtzionmb.org. Please pray for Haiti and India. Haiti is being hit by Hurricane Tomas while Evangelist Sukumar reports a cyclone is devastating parts of India. At the end of this year, Sis. Phyllis Lewis will end her tenure as Director of the Children's Ministry. She will transition to working with the Youth Ministry. Sis. Daureen Richards will take over as director. We want to thank Sis. Lewis for 20 years of devotion and dedication to teaching and training children.

"Do you believe that Jesus is worth abandoning everything for?" I'm asking that all of our Mt. Zion church family read the book Radical before the end of the year. This book will convict, challenge, and prayerfully move all of us into radical obedience to the Gospel. "In Radical, David Platt invites you to encounter what Jesus actually said about being his disciple, and then obey what you have heard. He challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated a God-centered gospel to fit our human-centered preferences. With passionate storytelling and convicting biblical analysis, Platt calls into question a host of comfortable notions that are common among Christ's followers today. Then he proposes a radical response: live the gospel in ways that are true, filled with promise, and ultimately world changing." (Click here if you can't see the video) Order your copy of Radical today!

If you missed the Church Family Meeting, check out my entry about our model for ministry (which is Discipleship). Also, I'm asking the entire church to read the book, "Radical" by David Platt. This book will definitely challenge you but will transform your thinking and deepen your faith. We are hosting a DiscipleLand Workshop for parents on this Friday from 6 to 8:30pm and for teachers on Saturday at 9am to 12pm. For Friday's workshop, child care for ages 12 and younger will be provided and refreshments will be served from 5 to 6pm. Dick Crider from DiscipleLand will be our guest speaker so we're asking all parents and teachers to participate. We don't want Mr. Crider to come all the way from Texas and only a few people show up. Also, let's show our children that we care about their spiritual development. Today is Halloween. I'm actually actually that it's on Sunday this year because that's the day we celebrate the fact that Jesu...

Research has shown that the USA is the third largest country of lost people (behind China and India). This statistic is so surprising to me since we have freedom of religion and a large percentage of Americans call themselves Christians. I believe the reason for this is a lack of discipleship in the church. Making disciples is the primary mission of the church. Historically, Mt. Zion has always been good at solid Christian education and encouraging one another through fellowship. But as we face limited funds and the need for more volunteers, there is a need to refocus to make sure that we are accomplishing the mission that Christ gave us. Our vision and purpose continues to be "Worshiping Christ by Spreading the Gospel and Serving the Community". But we realize that the best way to do that is to make disciples. So we have developed the following "Discipleship Model" to show how we are going to accomplish that mission. This will be our philosophy for minist...