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The following is from Don Rayno: PRAYER 2016 at Memorial Auditorium was indeed a remarkable night. All of us who were there can say, "Surely the Lord was in this place!" I have facilitated united prayer gatherings for 32 years, and I have never experienced such a time of prayer that we had Tuesday night, in such a unique setting. Over 130 churches participated, across the denominational and cultural spectrum in the area Body of Christ. But what made it so special is that as we were seated together cross-culturally with other churches, God inhabited our praise and received our prayers. We all sensed this. We felt great joy that night, and even more importantly, we felt God's pleasure in all that He saw and heard. Pastor Morgan and myself are so grateful for God's wonderful work among us at Memorial Auditorium. As Pastor Morgan said to me during the day on Tuesday: "Yesterday this was an auditorium, and tomorrow it will be an auditorium, ...

Thanks to all who attended yesterday's Theological Seminar on "The Doctrine of the Church".  If you missed it, you should go watch it from our archives on the church website.  What really stood out to me was when Walter Strickland made the point in 1 Corinthians 3:16: "Do you not know that you (plural) are God's temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?"  We together (the church) are the temple of the Lord where the Spirit dwells.  So when we neglect to gather with the saints, we remove ourselves from the move of the Spirit!  We must prioritize not only attendance but membership in the local church. Our next church-wide Elder-led Prayer is Wednesday from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.  Everyone is invited to join us as we focus on specific prayer needs.  If you are not able to attend but have prayer requests, you can submit them online . We still have some booklets, Depression: The Way Up When You Are Down by Ed Welch available. Please see me if you'd li...

Prayer 2016 is Tuesday, from 7-9pm at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium.  For those who registered, you should have picked up your tickets from Sis. Sandra Broadwater after church.  If not, please contact Sis. Broadwater to make arrangements to get your ticket. In a time when salvation is so individualized, how important is the church?  Does membership in a church really matter?  Register for our Theological Seminar on Saturday, 9/24 from 9:00am to 11:15am.  Walter Strickland from SEBTS will be teaching on "The Doctrine of the Church".  Light refreshments will be served.  Register online . Next Sunday, 9/25, I will be preaching at Christ First Christian Fellowship Center at 4pm for their Ushers/Greeters Anniversary.  Minister Brandi Hancock will also be the guest soloist. Today at 3pm, I preached at Little Zion M.B. Church in Youngsville for their Annual Homecoming Service.  I preached on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, "Come Home ...

September is a busy month. Please pray for me as I have a couple of speaking engagements. I would definitely appreciate your support. Prayer 2016 is 9/20 from 7-9pm at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. Don't forget to register  as we only have a few seats remaining. Next Sunday, 9/18, I will be preaching at Little Zion MB Church in Youngsville at 3pm for their Annual Homecoming Service. Sunday, 9/25, I will be preaching at Christ First Christian Fellowship Center at 4pm for their Ushers/Greeters Anniversary. Minister Brandi Hancock will be the guest soloist. Saturday, 9/24 is our next Theological Seminar from 9:00am to 11:15am. In a time when salvation is so individualized, how important is the church? Does membership in a church really matter? Walter Strickland , Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary , will be teaching on "The Doctrine of the Church". Come out and learn about this important topic. Light refreshments will be served. Please register for th...

Prayer 2016 is a triangle-wide gathering of churches for the purpose of worship and prayer. It will be held on 9/20 from 7-9pm at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. You can register online . My Hope Sunday is 10/9. All members are asked to commit to inviting at least one unbeliever/unchurched person to attend church with you. Confirmation cards are now available. We will collect them on September 25. Think about who you will invite and start praying for them. Sis. Claudette VanFoote, who is battling cancer, shared her testimony. Although the doctors are no longer giving her treatment and have called in hospice, her hope is in Jesus. She is still here and trusting in Jesus. I commented that Sis. VanFoote has been more faithful in her church attendance than many who are perfectly healthy. In these four years of her having cancer, I have not heard her complain once! False teachers say that to be blessed is to be healthy and wealthy. But Sis. VanFoote is a true example of being blessed....

As many of you are probably aware, there has been catastrophic flooding in South Louisiana , claiming 13 lives and causing the evacuation of 30,000 residents.  The flood has been called the worst US natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy in 2012 .  On Sunday, 9/11, we want to raise a love offering to help the flood victims.  We are looking to donate to the Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief .  Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are right now delivering clean, safe water, warm nutritious meals and the love of Christ as they seek to advance the gospel.  If you're ready to give before 9/11, please make a note indicating that it's for the flood. Prayer 2016 is a triangle-wide gathering of churches for the purpose of worship and prayer.  It will be held on 9/20 from 7-9pm at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium.  Mt. Zion has 22 seats reserved.  Please register online or see our prayer coordinator, Sis. Sandra Broadwater . My Hop...

Mark your calendar for Prayer 2016 on 9/20 from 7-9pm at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium . Mt. Zion has 22 seats reserved. We'll have online registration available this week but if you want to reserve today, please contact with our coordinator, Sis. Sandra Broadwater . Zone 4 members directed a service this afternoon at 2pm at Phoenix Assisted Care . The Fine Arts Ministry ministered and Bro. Jae Smith spoke on how to restore a relationship with God through faith in Jesus. On next Sunday, we're starting a new series addressing depression, called "Gospel Light in Deep Darkness". This series will be for everyone: those who struggle with depression, those who love someone struggling with depression, and how people in the church can love, support, and help those struggling with depression. Here are the topics that we'll cover in this series: 8/28: Types & causes of depression; how depression feels  9/04: Finding hope even when your soul is dow...

Praise Reports: Bro. Derrick Wiggins does not have to stay in jail but was released until his trial.  Sis. Ashley Hunter was admitted into hospital last week vomiting blood but she is now home.  Praise God for His grace and mercy!! Prayer Request: Pastor Maurice Wright's younger sister died unexpectedly so please pray for him and his family during this difficult time of bereavement. This afternoon at 4pm, Deacon James Warmack gave his Initial Sermon.  He preached from Gal. 5:1-14 on the subject "Who Hindered You?"  Thanks to all who came out to support him. Don't forget that we're collecting Back to School supplies until August 21st for West Cary Middle School and The Oxford Children's Home. Flyers are at the Welcome Center for the needed items by Zones. Oak City Academy has shared with us some needs they have.  Our liaison, Sis. Staci Torrence gave us the details on ways we could help. Deaconess Peggy Credle shared her testimony of how good...

I praise God for the courage of two young men who stood before the church to share their testimony and ask for prayer.  Kevin Gray shared how he had been struggling for a couple years with anxiety and depression.  But after telling his family who prayed for him and helped him get the help he needed, God has been faithful to deliver him! We prayed for him as he heads out to Appalachian State this week.  Kevin's testimony is so timely as we'll be starting a new series on August 28 on how the Gospel applies to depression. Derrick Wiggin shared about his current trouble and legal issues that he and his family are dealing with.  He admitted his weakness and asked for his church family to pray for him.  We expressed our love and support for him and prayed that God would how him mercy and favor before men.  We are trusting God to bring out the good in the midst of this situation! In Bible Study, we finished up "The Son of God" series and this Wednesday we s...

A big shout-out to our youth ministry for leading us in worship today! We had a couple of testimonies of God's grace and deliverance.  Sis. Karen Gray shared how her son, Kevin, got housing at Appalachian State University (where he'll be transferring to in the fall) even though he never applied after missing the deadline. Also, Gene Williams (Sis. Kim Jackson's son) & his wife were in Germany expecting a new baby when the doctors there projected deformity fluid in the brain.  They returned to the US where the doctors here saw the same thing that the German doctors did.  But when the baby was born on Thursday, the reverse occurred!  The baby is totally healthy! The doctors found nothing wrong! We are collecting Back to School supplies until August 21st for West Cary Middle School and The Oxford Children's Home.  We have flyers available for the items that each Zone can donate. All of our members were asked to stay after the service for Church Fa...

A lady named Tara Wilder is inviting people to join her in prayer for our community on Monday 07/25 at 5:30 PM. A non-denominational prayer event will be held at the flagpole in front of the Apex Police Department located at 205 Saunders Street. Everyone is welcome. Starting today, Mt. Zion is collecting Back to School supplies until August 21st for West Cary Middle School and The Oxford Children's’ Home. Our next Elder-led Prayer is this Wednesday, July 27th, from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. Everyone is invited to join us as we focus on specific prayer needs. If you are not able to attend but have prayer requests, you can submit them online . Next Sunday, all of our members are asked to stay after the service for our Church Family Meeting. We'll be announcing some important things coming up and update on our financials and the old church property.

If you haven't noticed, we are living in very interesting times. After the tragic shootings in our country, some terrorist drove a truck into a crowd in Nice, France killing dozens of people (including children) and there was a military coup attempt in Turkey resulting in at least 161 people dead and another 1,440 people injured across. And then I found out after church that there has been another shooting in Baton Rouge where police officers were shot and injured and three killed. It's time for the church to pray, worship and fellowship (encourage one another as the days are evil), spread the Gospel, and actively get involved in our communities. Congrats to newlyweds, Bobby & Tracy Dunn who were married yesterday! May God bless their union so that it truly reflects the relationship between Christ and His bride, the church. We launched our new church website this weekend! Have you seen it? It's a more modern design and it's mobile and tablet friendly. A...

This has been a tough week in our nation. Again, two black men were senselessly killed by police and then evil men targeted and killed 5 police officers and injured even more. Killing police officers is NOT the answer. As Martin Luther King Jr., said: "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."  As the days are getting evil, this is why I have continuously been saying that we don't have time to "play churc...

Please pray for Sis. Hattie Williams who was admitted into Wake Med Cary on Thursday. Thanks to all the members who participated in the security training on last Thursday. We pray that nothing like a shooting would ever happen here but it's better to be prepared than not. One of the points made by Cary PD is to have a plan. You should think about what you would do in certain critical situations. Wednesday Night Children's Summer Bible Studies Series, "Jesus is..." for children ages 3-12, continues this week. Parents can enjoy seeing Jesus in the OT in our Adult Bible Study, while our children discover more about Jesus. For lesson information or to volunteer, see Sister Daureen Richards. I want to encourage you to invite someone to church next Sunday. Maybe someone you invited to My Hope Sunday but didn't make it. The message will definitely be applicable to unbelievers and nominal Christians.

It has happened again. Another mass shooting. In Orlando, a man shot and killed 49 people and injured at least 53 people in a nightclub . As Christians, our response should be to pray for the victim's families and those injured and look for ways to love and serve our neighbors. Sadly, because this was a "gay" nightclub, some "Christians" are showing hate instead of love. I even heard a report of one Baptist pastor who rejoiced over this tragedy, saying more of "them" should have been killed. But this is not even God's attitude.  God said in Ezekiel 33:11 : "Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked , but that the wicked turn from his way and live ; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" How should we think about a disaster like this? Read Luke 13:1-5 . People often try to find a connection between disaster and iniquity (deeming victims of a d...

Registration for VBS has begun and will continue through June 19th. VBS will be June 22nd - 26th.  Today is Children's Day and our children led our worship service.  They called us to worship, prayed, signed, recited Scripture, and sang.  We also recognized those children who were promoted to the next class in Children's Church.  We are very grateful for our children and praise God that we have the opportunity to raise and disciple them. Sis. Gabriel Carr's daughter, Ashante Ramirez, brought the Word today. She spoke on our church theme, "Abide in Christ, Bear Much Fruit" from John 15:1-5 . Ashante reminded us that to abide in Christ means that we must trust Him. And we cannot bear fruit unless we are connected to Christ. She did great job delivering the sermon today.

Bereavement: Deaconess Shirley Smith's brother passed in Texas last week. Please be in prayer for Deaconess Smith and family during their time of bereavement. Registration for VBS has begun and will continue through June 19th. VBS which will be June 22nd - 26th. We'll have classes on Thursday through Friday.  On Saturday, we'll go out to serve our community at With Love From Jesus and the Helen Wright Center.  On Sunday, we'll finish up our VBS class during the Sunday School hour, have church service, and then food trucks will be available for lunch. Children's Day is next Sunday and our children will be leading the service. Normally we would acknowledge our High School graduates at that service but due to scheduling conflicts we recognized them today.   Congrats to our two graduates: Philip Credle and Braxton Payton.  Both will be going to college to further their education. Braxton is also the 2016 recipient of the J.A. Lewis Scholarship. Braxton graduat...

Praise Report: Last week, Elder Lucas had leg surgery for a blood clot. The surgery went well and he is home. Please pray for his recovery and physical therapy. Happy Memorial Day.  Memorial Day is the time to remember those who gave their lives in service to our country. Pray for family who have lost loved one. John 15:13 says "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends". Of course, Jesus demonstrated the greatest love that He gave His life for His enemies to make us His friends. Join us on Wednesday at 7pm for our new Bible Study series is "The Son of David: Seeing Jesus in the Historical Books" (like Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, etc.). Attention, Parents: Youth Day Service is on Sunday, June 12th. Many of our young people are participating in leading the service.  J Allen Lewis Choir rehearsal is scheduled on Saturdays, June 4th and June 11th, from 10:00am to 12:00pm, followed by presentation practice u...

We were grateful to have the Western Wake Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority worship with us today.  The next Elder-led Prayer will be held on Wednesday, May 25th, from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. Everyone is invited to join us as we focus on specific prayer needs. If you are not able to attend but have prayer requests, you can submit them online . After Elder-led Prayer, stay for Bible Study at 7pm. We'll be finishing our current series is "The Lamb of God: Seeing Jesus in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy". This Wednesday, we will be looking at seeing Jesus in Deuteronomy.

Zone 1 members will be directing a service this afternoon, at Brookdale Cary Assisted Living (Chapel Hill Road). The Male Choir will be rendering a mini-concert and service will begin promptly at 2:00pm. We are extending an invitation for everyone to attend and worship with the residents and staff.  These are great opportunities to get out into the community to spread the Gospel. Join us for Bible Study on Wednesdays at 7pm. Our theme this year is "Seeing Jesus in the OT". Our current series is "The Lamb of God: Seeing Jesus in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy". This Wednesday, we look at seeing Jesus in the wilderness from the book of Numbers. To our graduating HS Seniors: The J.A. Lewis Scholarship application packets are currently available from the church office. The submission deadline is May 29, 2016.