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How do you discover the Will of God? Is it based on having a tingly feeling down your spine? We are proud to announce our first Theological Seminar on the topic, "Finding the Will of God," on Saturday, March 26th, at 9:00am. Our speaker will be Dr. William Barber , Professor of Practical Theology at Shepherds Theological Seminary . Sign up online or at the Welcome Center kiosk today. Radical Experiment 2011 Update Today's Scripture Reading: Joshua 9-11 Today's Country: Bosnia (54% Muslim; 41% Christian) Ecuador Mission Trip: The 3/7 deadline has passed but you can still submit your application this week (after this week, the cost for the trip increases). Stop by Cary Church of God to pick up application form. By now, we have all heard about and seen some of the devastation in Japan from the 8.9-magnitude earthquake & resulting tsunami . It is said to be a 100 times worse than what happened to Haiti. So next Sunday's Love Offering will be for Japa...

Mt. Zion as a church family will be fasting for the Lent season which begins on tomorrow (3/9) on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday (before Easter). Fasting is the voluntary act of abstaining from something for the purpose of growing in self-discipline. As Christians, we find our security and satisfaction in Christ. Therefore, we can give up something because Christ means more to us than whatever we are giving up. We ask everyone to join us for a partial fast for Lent. There are 40 days in Lent (not counting the Sundays). A partial fast is where you choose to abstain from certain foods and drinks instead of complete abstinence. The Bible tells us that Daniel abstained from bread, water, and wine for 21 days ( Daniel 10:3 ). Others may choose to fast from television, computer, newspaper, and hobbies. This will help you free up some time to spend in prayer and reflection. Also, we will anoint with ashes for Ash Wednesday right after Bible Study tomorrow (around...

Radical Experiment 2011 Today's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 21-23 Today's Country: Belgium Ecuador Mission Trip: Monday, 3/7 is the decision meeting at Cary Church of God at 6:30pm. If you plan to go on this trip then you must attend this meeting. $100 non-refundable deposit due and you will register with the team you want to serve with. The Lent season begins on Wednesday ( Ash Wednesday ) and ends on Holy Saturday (before Easter). Right after Bible Study (around 7:50pm), we will anoint with ashes. We ask everyone to join us for a partial fast (give up something) for Lent. There are 40 days in Lent (not counting the Sundays).

Radical Experiment 2011 Today's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 1-2 Today's Country: Venezuela God answers prayer: Said Musa, the Afghan Christian we've been praying for, has been released from prison . Now pray for Shoaib Assadullah , another Afghan Christian arrested for giving someone a Bible, who may also be up for execution for his actions Ecuador Mission Trip: 3/7 is next meeting at Cary Church of God . A $100 non-refundable deposit will be due and you will register with the team you want to serve with. This afternoon we celebrated with Christ First CFC to dedicate their new church building. My message for this occasion was from 1 Peter 2:4-10 entitled "Living Stones for God's House". As believers, we are being built into a spiritual house. God's house is a spiritual house not a physical one. A physical house is not permanent; it ages, deteriorates, and wastes away but not God's spiritual house. The foundation of God's spiritual house ...

The Homegoing service for Sis. Anna Brown will be held at Haywood Funeral Home in Raleigh on Thursday at 12pm and will be preceded by the viewing at 11:30am. Radical Experiment 2011 Today's Scripture Reading: Numbers 21-22 Today's Country: Switzerland (76% Christian; 18% unreached, Muslim) Why we pray for other nations: Afghan Christian to be executed for his faith Spend time in another context: Mt. Zion ministered at Chatham Commons Nursing Home today at 2:00pm. Our first Town Hall meeting is Friday, 2/25 at 6:30pm. Town Hall will be an open forum for Q & A. You may submit your questions in advance . Mt. Zion is invited to celebrate with Pastor Larry Snead & Christ First Christian Fellowship Center for their Church Dedication Service at their new location ( 100 Jones Franklin Road, Raleigh ) on Sun., Feb. 27th, at 4:00pm. I will be delivering the message.

Mt. Zion is having its first Town Hall Meeting. It will be an open forum for Q & A. You may also submit questions anonymously: Place your question (make sure it is readable) in the new Prayer Request/Suggestion box at the Welcome Center this week. Please label it for Town Hall. Use the Contact Us form on the website. Enter your question in the Comments box. You can enter bogus info in the Name and email address fields.

I was sadden to hear that our longtime member, Sis. Anna Brown passed away this morning. I will let everyone know about funeral arrangements as I find out. Please keep the family in your prayers. Radical Experiment 2011 Update Today's Scripture Reading: Numbers 5-6 Today's Country: Saudi Arabia (92% Muslim; 5% Christian) Spend time in another context: 2 opportunities to minister at area nursing homes. This afternoon at Claire Bridge and next Sunday afternoon at Chatham Commons . Our first Town Hall meeting is 2/25 at 6:30pm. Town Hall will be an open forum for Q & A. You may submit your questions in advance in 3 ways. Twitter: @mtzioncary and use #mztownhall Facebook: inbox me Email to townhall@mtzionmb.org

Giving statements are now available for pickup at the Welcome Center. We have information on both the Haiti and Ecuador Mission Trips on the Radical website . You can also pick up the Ecuador info at the Welcome Center. If you are interested in either trip, please sign up at online or at the kiosk. Cary Church of God is hosting an Ecuador Informational Meeting tomorrow at 6:30pm. They are located at 107 Quade Drive , right off of Evans Road. Radical Experiment 2011 Today's Scripture Reading: Leviticus 16-18 Leviticus can be a bit dry to read (with all the entrails, blood, skin diseases, etc). So it's helpful to read Leviticus with these major themes in mind: God is holy; rituals & codes deal with sanctification (holiness affects how we live); & the different sacrifices (burnt, sin, guilt offerings) deal with forgiving people's sins. All point to Christ who forgives our sins and sanctifies us by His atoning grace. Today's Country: North Korea (69% non-religiou...

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.