the Logos

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 correc...

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 ...

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...

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 t...

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 ...