methodist church name and logo color placeholder

Announcements Plus Devotional Aids

Let's Learn a Bible Verse!

"And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck."
--Psalm 37:16 (NIV)

 

calendar icon Link to Ebenezer UMC's Calendar of Events

Click on calendar icon to link to Ebenezer's Google calendar.

 

 

Contents

Announcements

Community Fun Day! Aug. 23

Our annual day of fun and free food is coming on Saturday, August 23, 10:00-1:00 p.m. Activities include a bouncy house, water slide (bring your own towel!), petting zoo, reptile display (giant snake included), fire truck display, and more. We will serve hot dogs and chips, brownies and cookies, and for a special treat there will be an ice cream truck there! We will have some school supplies to give out. Everything is free! Have one more great day of fun before school starts. See you there!

(Young children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.)

Items We Are Collecting Now

August is our month to help resupply the South Caldwell Christian Ministry's Food Pantry. See Collections for Ministries below for a list of non-perishable items to donate.

We are collecting school supplies and backpacks to give away at our Community Fun Day event on August 23rd. Suggestions for donations include pencils, highlighters, color pencils, ear buds, notebook paper and notebooks, index cards, dividers with tabs, rounded scissors, glue sticks, pens, pencil pouch, erasers, etc.

We will need brownies and cookies for this event, also. You can bake them now, then bring them to the church so we can freeze them until needed.

We thank you for supporting these worthy causes.

Chaos, Noise, Liveliness, and Blessings Galore

Our church has had 51 guests residing in our church since Sunday, July 20th. Our guests came here from South Carolina and Ebensburg, Pennsylvania on a mission trip. All week they have been sending teams of (mostly) young people up the mountain side to help with the continuing Hurricane Helene recovery.

When this proposal to house the teams was brought before our church, we all knew it would be a wonderful cause to support. Though we had a fundraiser on the Saturday before and the Blood Drive on the Monday after they arrived, the Church Council still enthusiastically voted to accept our mission from God. And God has seen us through a little bit of chaos and noise, but given us many, many blessings from our guests.

Our joint worship service on Wednesday evening was an amazing event. Our members were blessed by having so many young people in our church again, and they gave us hope for our church and the Christian Church in general. These young peole were dedicated and passionate in their faith. They prayed with our members who were present, and one of their pastors also prayed over our church. May God make it so--everything that the pastor prayed for and the requests each group prayed over us individually.

We thank you, Lord, for giving us this opportunity to help, and ask that you watch over all these young people and their families, pastors, teachers, and their churches. May your blessings abound for all, and their faith continue to grow and remain strong. Amen and Hallelujah!

 

up circleUp to Contents

Quote to Ponder

"And yes, a literal Adam is essential to the gospel. Without a first Adam who really did sin against God and bring physical death into the world, why do we need the last Adam, Jesus, to die a physical death in our place? Denying a literal Adam denies Scripture, undermines the gospel, and puts fallible man as the authority over God and his clear Word." –Ken Ham, Answers In Genesis newsletter

up circleUp to Contents

For Meditation

"In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge stated in a speech on authority and religious liberty,

“Men do not make laws.  They do but discover them.”  He went on to say, “Laws must be justified by something more than the will of the majority.  They must rest on the eternal foundation of righteousness. ”

Coolidge was familiar with the concept of Natural Law, which says that just as there is a natural physical order to the universe, there is a natural moral order to the universe.  An inherent notion of morality is present in humanity as image-bearers of God.  But with free will, men may choose to defy what they instinctively know to be true.

Just as the physical laws of the universe, like gravity, were not written by men, but discovered, the moral order of the universe is not written by men.  And morality, like gravity, cannot be defied for long without dire consequences."

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/

 

up circleUp to Contents

 

Mini-Bible Lesson #99: Fire and Wind

References: Acts 2:1-13; Interpreter’s Bible: Acts Romans, pp.36-39.

Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”  --Acts 2:12-13 NIV

The first Pentecost aka Feasts of Weeks after the crucifixion of Jesus and what happened to the disciples at that gathering is considered to be the birth of the Christian Church. In John 20:19-23, Jesus meets with the disciples and tells them he is sending them out to tell the world about him. In vs. 22 we read: “And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.”  Though Jesus spent 50 days after his resurrection appearing to and teaching his disciples, we have no record of them increasing their numbers or going on mission trips.

Jesus told his followers that he had to leave them before the Counselor could come (John 16:7, 13). Did Jesus breathe on them to show them that he and the promised Holy Spirit were One? Were the fifty days preparation time for when the power of His Spirit would be poured out on them? And it was a POWERFUL pouring—like  a violent WIND and like FIRE (Acts:2-4). The aftermath of this power was the ability to speak in other languages they had not been taught; a powerful sermon by the once scared Peter; and the increase of the number of believers by 3,000 souls in one day.

Pentecost is the revelation of the supernatural, the unseen, non-material taking charge of a person who then does extraordinary things. An athlete catches the wind and runs farther and faster than he ever has before, a dancer gives the performance of a lifetime, a musician plays a piece with passionate perfection, a man lifts a car with his bare hands to save a trapped person, a warrior defeats a hundred men with the jawbone of an ass. There are times for all of us when we can be “in the zone,” when nothing goes wrong, everything falls into place, where we pull from inside ourselves power and strength and courage that we never thought we had. These people at Pentecost felt that kind of power when God’s supernatural Spirit took hold of them and they let that Spirit control them completely and freely.

They prepared for this by praying to God and worshiping together for days. They emptied their hearts and minds of themselves and invited God to come pouring in to give them power to do extraordinary things. Is this the problem of the church today—we are not willing to let God come in and take over everything? To let God be the owner of all we are and all we have?

Fire and wind are both uncontrollable and dangerous elements. Perfect representations of God, who is Spirit. Are we afraid to burn with the passion of the Spirit? To let the wind of the Spirit blow us where He wills? People may think we are crazy or drunk. God may burn up our belongings or us in service to Him and His kingdom’s work. God can use us when we hold back from giving him our all, but what wonderous things could He do with us and through us if we gave His Fire and Wind full control?

up circleUp to Contents

Special Resources

The picture below is our new Resource Room with books, dvds, videos, and a TV screen (not shown in photo). Individuals are encouraged to take resources home for Bible study or reading; and classes can use the room to show videos related to their studies. We would appreciate donations of books or dvds, especially for young children for this collection.

 

up circleUp to Contents

Ongoing Collections - Updated - 8/5/2025

CCC & TI Food Pantry Collection - Yearly in April

Throughout the month of April, we will be collecting single serve, microwaveable or ready-to-eat items for students at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute. Suggested items: single serve Ramen Noodles, macaroni and cheese, crackers with cheese or peanut butter, cookies, single serve canned meats, etc.

Oakhill Backpack Ministry

We are beginning to collect single serve, easy to microwave or use food items to send home with needy children, such as, fruit cups, mac and cheese, snacks, noodles, etc. The children will receive a backpack of these items to take home on the weekends, and use for themselves and their families. Put the items in the old fellowship hall. We thank you for helping.

Local Schools Supply Closet

We continue to collect items for our local teachers.This ministry provides items for teachers and their students that they cannot obtain through the regular budget.

They include the following: Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, hand soap, paper towels, facial tissues, sharpies, dry board markers highlighters, black/blue/red ink pens, colored pencils, glue sticks, composition books and notebook paper (wide and college ruled), crayons, scissors (children's type), index cards, construction paper, pencil sharpeners, sheet protectors, file folders, large and small legal pads, white out, paper clips, staples, pencil pouches, markers, rulers, ring binders, card stock white/assorted, 3 ring note books, large and small pencil top erasers, and post it notes.

South Caldwell Christian Ministries

August is our month to help resupply the SCCM Food Pantry. Canned meats and vegetables, rice and cereral, canned beans, soups, canned fruits, Instant Variety Packs of oatmeal or grits, peanut butter, crackers, and other non-perishable items.

We are collecting non-perishable food and clean used clothing in good condition that will be taken to South Caldwell Christian Ministries. You may leave the items at the church on Sundays or during normal office hours (8:30 to 1:00 p.m., Monday-Friday).

We thank you for helping us to minister to the needs of our community.

up circleUp to Contents
Contact Information: 828-396-2214 or emcdudleyshoals@yahoo.com;
4948 Burns Rd., Granite Falls NC 28630