Pastor s Corner Rev. Eric Lane

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1 Volume 9 Issue 2 Inside this issue: Meetings 2 Something to Pray About 2 Church Council, Jan. 13th 3 Wednesday Bible Study 3 Greeting Card Collection 3 Story Time (D. Campbell) 4 Hid in My Heart 4 Pastor s Corner, con t 4 Flavoring, Cookbook sales 4 Basketball Nights 4 Alzheimer s Meeting 4 February Celebrations 5 Acolyte & Nursery Lists 5 Military List 5 A Broken Water Pot 5 Events 6 February Fundraisers 6 New Church 6 Calendar 7 Sunday Services 8:30a Worship Service (Contemporary) 9:50a Sunday School 11:00a Worship Service (Traditional) 6:00p Jr. UMYF & UMYF (Grades 6-12) 6:00p Adult Choir Practice 7:00p Every FOURTH SUNDAY United Methodist Women Pastor s Corner Rev. Eric Lane Greetings in the name of our risen savior Jesus Christ! In January, we report our yearly statistics to the conference; so that they can gather and compare information concerning the many churches in our Western North Carolina Conference. While people and their lives are much more meaningful than simply a number, the numbers become a tool to measure our churches effectiveness. With that being said, let me share a few figures with you so that we may celebrate how God has blessed us in We recorded 7 professions of Christian faith this past year, which means that 7 individuals chose to accept Christ as their Lord and to follow Christ in their journey of life. Already this year we have celebrated the baptism of Michael Potts. What if we were to celebrate every month with a new profession of faith? I hope that you will pray that God will open doors and our hearts so that those who do not know Christ may experience his loving grace and come to know him as Lord of their lives. Additionally another 6 individuals transferred their membership to Ebenezer and became a part of our personal family. Again, what if each month we added another name to this list? To God be the glory! In January we welcomed Roy and Tina Hamby into our fellowship, and in December we celebrated as Nelson and Sarah Spencer became part of our family. We are well on our way!! We also pause to remember those whom we have lost that have gone on to the church triumphant. It was their prayers and dedication and efforts for the kingdom of God that shaped us and prepared us for the future. We must now take up the banner that they so faithfully carried, so that Christ s work will continue. Yet, we have not simply grown in numbers, but also in our average worship attendance, Sunday school attendance, and in ministries. We are not a church that gathers to celebrate the past, but a living church that is actively seeking Christ s direction to transform the world that we live in. TUESDAY ACTIVITIES 9:00a Prayer Meeting 3:00p Every Fourth Tuesday. Alzheimer s Support Group at Brockford Inn Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Matthew 28:19 WEDNESDAY ACTIVITIES 6:00p. New Life Rehearsal 7:00p Bible Study Adult, Children s. 7:00p. Youth (grades 9 12) (Continued on page 4) OFFICE HOURS: Monday Friday: 8:30a 1:00p Fri. 2:30-5:00p (if needed.) Phone:

2 Ebenezer United Methodist Church 2 Meetings United Methodist Men The UMM will meet on Sunday, February 10 at 3:30 p.m. All men of the church are invited to attend. Church Council Ebenezer s Council will meet on Sunday, February 10th at 4:30 p.m. All members of the church are invited to attend. Please contact Warren Bumgarner or Cindy Sears if you have something that needs to be discussed, so that it can be added to the agenda before the meeting. Ash Wednesday Service We will have a service on Wednesday, February 13th at 7:00 p.m. to mark the beginning of the season of Lent that commemorates the 40 days of prayer and fasting of our Lord Jesus before he began his public ministry. Join us as we dedicate ourselves anew to service to the Lord and his Church on earth. Acolyte Recognition Sunday We will recognize our Acolytes from 2012 on Sunday, February 17th during the 2nd Worship Service. Acolyte Training We encourage children from 12 years old and up to come for an acolyte training session on Sunday, February 17th at 4:30 p.m. Alaska Mission Info Meeting If you would like to know more about taking a mission trip to Alaska, come to the meeting on Sunday, February 17th at 5:00 p.m. Catherine Huffman will provide potential volunteers with information about what is involved and the cost of the trip. United Methodist Women The UMW will meet again on Sunday, February 24th at 7:00 p.m. Bleaka Hollar is in charge of the programming. Please bring a covered-dish food or dessert to share. All women of the church are invited to attend. Something to Pray About for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 NKJV Sin = a missing of the mark; a path, a lifestyle, or act deviating from that which God has marked out. To sin is to trespass, to pass beyond the limits set by God s law. (see Vine s, pp ) No one likes to be called a sinner. Those outside the church are particularly averse to being told that something they are doing is a sin. Yet sin by any other name remains sin. It means disobedience to the will of the Father, of our Creator. The One, Holy, and Righteous God cannot do other than to look upon sin in judgment and wrath. But why does sin bother Him so? Is it not because it causes us to experience so much pain and sorrow? Maybe the unbelievers and we who believe would be less averse to having our sins pointed out to us and better understand God s wrath toward and judgment of sin if we thought of sin the way it is used in the Bible a missing of the mark. God, our Creator, knows what is best for us. He has set boundaries before us to show us the best way to live. He set these boundaries because He loves us and does not wish to see us harm ourselves or others. When we sin, we miss the mark, we step over the boundaries; and we get hurt and other people get hurt, and our society and the culture suffer also. The more we violate the boundaries that God has set, the more harm occurs. But when we aim to follow God s will, there is less pain for everyone physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual even in a fallen world. Just as a good parent sets boundaries for his children to keep them from harm, so God gives us laws to live by that will keep us from harm. Even in a fallen world, living by God s standards is a step above all other standards, and helps us to cause less pain to ourselves and to each other. And through the grace of Christ our Savior, no matter how often or how broadly you have missed the mark, Jesus Christ stands before you with open, nail-scarred hands ready to cleanse you and to receive you into His Father s kingdom. by Cindy Sears Missing the Mark

3 Ebenezer United Methodist Church 3 Church Council January 13, 2013 Attendees: David & Linda Abernethy, Anthony & Sherry Austin, Ricky & Shawn Baker, Warren Bumgarner (Chair), Judy McCrary, David & Sonya Crouse, Kim Ellis, Boyd & Margaret Fairchild, Barbara Ferguson, Barbara Frye, Jo Nell Harrison, Keith Keener, Dwight Kelley, Shane Kelley, Joanne Knepp, Eric Lane (Pastor), Marsha McRary, Barbara Miller, Cindy Sears, Jimmy Stone, Lucas Teague, Keith Bradford, Hannah Abernethy, and Phyllis Minton. Warren opened meeting at 4:30 p.m. with reading from Mark 28:16-23, and then prayer. Minutes from last meeting accepted as written. Meeting was turned over to Jo Nell for budget report. We basically met our budget for last year within about $100. There is $734 left in the Chairs & Tables Fund to get some more tables. The Chairs and Tables Fund is now closed. We contributed about $10,000 more for the building fund than what was budgeted. Old Business Fundraising ideas: David Abernethy mentioned a fundraiser through Carabas. He will bring more information on this possibility. Warren mentioned the possibility of selling Ebenezer t-shirts. David Crouse had some prices from one business. Kim Ellis talked about a basketball tournament with hotdogs and hamburgers as a fundraiser. Ricky Baker suggested cook offs; Eric Lane brought up the possibility of a race (running). To raise large sums of money, we need to get people outside of the church to participate. Warren said that we would make a decision next month, once we had more information on the various ideas. Concerning back-up people for the staff: Jimmy talked with Kay Gilbert about doing the bulletin; Heather Stone can enter the contributions; Jimmy will be there to keep the website up if Cindy is out sick or gone for some reason. We are training two new contributions counters. The depression near the heat pumps problem is still in the process of being resolved. Keith Bradford will bring an orange cone to set there until the problem is resolved. Outreach committee is planning to do a mass mailing of the church brochure. Eric wanted to do a DVD of interviews, etc. and mail them out also. It could also be shown on Channel 14. Kim is still researching how best to clean the kitchen floor. Lucas is in contact with someone about signs; Cindy has written some things down. Kevin Simmons is working how best to add a covered area for loading and unloading of cars during inclement weather. He will address the issue when he returns from Costa Rica. New Business Kim Ellis would like to purchase a nicer-looking table for the hallway area, and make the area look a little better. David Crouse spoke as a representative of Pairs and Spares Class. He mentioned the visit from the Bethel Colony of Mercy men who are in the program there. David asked that the church match the amount given as a love offering that night, which was $250. This would be enough to sponsor two new residents. Warren made a motion that we match the fund. Shawn Baker made a second. Motion passed after general discussion. Relay-for-Life preparations: Barbara Ferguson took the floor. She requested $100 so that Ebenezer s name can be on the shirt for the event. Keith Bradford seconded. Motion passed. Poor Man s Supper on February 23 rd will help pay for the food to supply the booth we will have at Relay-for-Life. Chicken and dumpling meal will be set for the Saturday, March 9th. Details will be decided later. Shawn Baker asked to have a budgeted amount for the Food Ministry set aside each month of $100, if we plan to continue this service. Jimmy Stone seconded. Motion passed. There was general discussion about getting more in-depth Bible studies going through the church. Any member of the church can decide to do one. We need volunteers to do them. They can be done in the church or in someone s home. Please contact Eric or Cindy if you are interested in attending or leading a study. Warren then went over the information in the Book of Discipline about the Church Council chairperson s responsibilities, and the responsibilities of the church council. Keith Bradford made a motion to close; second by Sherry Austin. Kim Ellis closed the meeting with prayer. Minutes by Cindy Sears. Wednesday Bible Study We will be studying Thessalonians in the adult Wednesday Bible Study beginning on February 2nd. You do not have to be a member of Ebenezer to participate. Greeting Card Collection We are collecting all kinds of old greeting cards to send to St. Jude s Hospital for Children. Please place the cards in the box in the hallway. St. Jude s uses them to raise funds for their ministry. Thank you.

4 Ebenezer United Methodist Church 4 God s Morning Glories This past summer, I bought a pack of blue and pink morning glory seeds that I was going to plant on the bank at the highway, just as you enter our driveway. Every time I would get outside to do the least little thing about my flowers, my feet and ankles would start swelling; but I started fixing the ground to plant anyway. Penny s brother was staying with her and Billy Wayne. He was keeping everything looking nice outside by mowing for us. They thought I had planted the morning glories, and Penny told me that Eric, her brother, was not ready for me to plant them yet. Since I had not planted them, I kept on waiting for him to get ready to do so. That was when I looked out at the field that I had asked my neighbor to plow and saw almost the whole field full of not only blue and pink morning glories, but also white and navy, in a beautiful arrangement of colors with an orange flower what I think is called trumpet vine growing in front of the morning glory vines. It was as if God was showing me that I didn t have to worry about planting the seeds I had bought. I told Penny s aunt about what God had done, and she came one morning at eight o clock to see what I was talking about. She said that the sight almost took her breath away. She exclaimed that she would have noticed them even if I had not told her about them, because it was such a beautiful field of flowers. Wade Austin told me that I ought to take a picture of it. I tried, but the first time the sun was shining so brightly on the camera that the flowers turned out all white. Then, a Contributed by Delores Campbell few days later on a cloudy day, I tried again. This time I got color; but it was not like seeing it in person. I felt so happy that God loves me enough to do this for me. Also on January 6 th, 2013, I got to see another sight that I had never seen before. In Joan Pennell s beautiful green field, a flock of wild geese were standing and eating at about ten minutes to ten as we headed for church. Thank you, God, for all the beautiful things you do for us. Thank you all for loving us. I want to thank everyone who sent us the beautiful Christmas cards. Gwen Teague and Cleo Clark sent Gary Paul cards that he held onto for about half a day. Thank you so much. I was so swimmy headed from having an inner ear infection that I don t know whether I gave everyone a card or not. Please excuse me if I failed to give you one. I hope this will be the best year for everyone. How do I hide God s word in my heart? Memorize it! All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever. 1 Peter 1:24-25 NKJV Pastor s Corner, con t As we go through this year, may we continue to worship and serve Christ the risen Savior; so that the world will come to know that in Christ there is hope, in Christ there is peace, and in Christ lives can and will be forever transformed. I encourage you to be a friend, invite a friend, and bring a friend to worship with you. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for GOOD WORKS, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. Ephesians 2:10. Our mission is to serve God and to bring glory to his name. Thank you for your faithfulness and let us continue in the Spirit of Christ together. Blessings Rev. Eric Lane UMW Cookbooks/Flavoring Cookbooks are available for $10. Flavoring is $2.75 per bottle. See Cindy Sears or Kim Ellis to buy. Basketball Nights at Ebenezer We invite you to join us on Monday and Thursday nights to play basketball or ping-pong in the CLC. Wayne and Kim Ellis usually supervise this event, and young and old may attend. We especially encourage young people to come out for this time of good, clean fun and exercise. (Please note that sometimes this activity is cancelled due to other events being scheduled.) Alzheimer s Support Group Now meeting at Brockford Inn Resident Care Facility at 56 Highland Avenue in Granite Falls, NC. Anyone who is dealing with a relative with Alzheimer s is welcome to attend. The meeting begins at 3:00 p.m. The group usually meets on the 4th Tuesday of each month. Contact Bleaka Hollar for info.

5 Ebenezer United Methodist Church 5 Fe b r u a r y C e l e b r a t i o n s 7th Faye Stafford 10th Angie Miller 12th Chris Ellis 14th Brian Knepp, Kristin Settlemyre, Joe Sims 15th Hannah Abernethy 16th Bernice Burns 18th Kay Delahanty 19th Abby Triplette 20th Dylan Baker, Lucas Teague 21st Kennedy Behmer 22nd Jesse Barber 24th Nelson Spencer, Sara Spencer 26th Robert Mullinax Happy Anniversary! 14th Will & Arlene McRary 3rd 10th 17th 24th Acolyte Schedule - FEBRUARY 3rd Hannah Abernethy 10th Devon Lyda 17th Austin Teague 24th Payton Lyda Nursery Schedule - FEBRUARY 8:30 Teresa Simmons & Dawn Yount 11:00 Kay Gilbert 8:30 Cheryl Vosdingh & Tammy Adams 11:00 Joann Knepp 8:30 Heather Stone & Kim Ellis 11:00 Beth Lane 8:30 Keith & Susan Keener 11:00 Natasha Haas 8:30 11:00 A Broken Water Pot Contributed by Darren McCrary A man in Africa, who had to walk two miles to retrieve water from a well for his family, was making his daily journey. The two clay pots he carried were very heavy even when empty. Tied to either end of a five foot pole, the task was a struggle. One of the pots had a large crack down one side, which let a slow trickle of water leak from the pot. By the time the man made the return trip, the cracked pot was half empty. One day during the journey to the well, the cracked pot said, Master, why don t you throw me away and get a new pot? You labor so hard only to lose half of your water! I m only a burden to you. The Master said nothing for a while. Then, on the way back from the well, the Master said, My dear, broken pot, do you see that on the left side of the trail the ground is dry and lifeless? But look on the right side of the trail that I carry you on. See all the flowers that have sprouted and have begun to bloom! I ve always known you were broken. But I planted these Our Military Kyle Blair Anthony Coffey Ricky Garland Jason Gibson Trey Hefner Chris Kaisenski Shane McRary Please pray for the men and women who protect our freedoms. Eric Maynard Joey Moore Jamie Mullinax Jason Nichol James Starbuck Hunter Tolbert flowers last fall, so that you could water them for me as we walked along together. God can take our scars, our hurts, our brokenness, our fears, our failures, and our flaws and bring life, beauty, warmth, peace and love from them! We are all broken in some way, shape, or form. But if we let the faith, hope, and love the Master fills us with pour out on the world, we will fulfill his purpose, and bring new life to a dry, dead, lifeless, and hopeless world!

6 Ebenezer United Methodist Church 6 Events Sweetheart Banquet Coming! Saturday February 9th 6 8 PM Tickets go on sale on Sunday, Feb. 3rd for the annual youth fundraiser. Price of the tickets will be announced on Sunday. Menu Chicken Teriyaki Or Prime Rib With baked potato, salad, roll, and drink Funds support the youth s annual trip to Christian summer camp. Poor Man s Supper Saturday February 23 5:00 7:00 PM Join us for the traditional Poor Man s Supper of beans, cornbread, and cabbage, and help us raise funds for Ebenezer s booth at the annual American Cancer Society fundraiser, Relay for Life. We ask our members to help by bringing a dessert to share. We thank you for your generous donations. February Fundraisers Ham Biscuits! Yum! Yum! We will be selling ham biscuits, along with sausage and egg ones AND gravy biscuits AND fried fruit pies on Thursday, February 14th. We start at 6:00 a.m. and stop when they are all gone. It doesn t take long! So call early or pre-order on Wednesday by calling: (church office; Mon.-Fri. 8:30-1:00 pm) We deliver orders of 10 or more. Proceeds support our yearly mission trip to and work in Costa Rica. Yum! Yum! Senior Citizens Fellowship Meal On Friday, February 15th at 11:30 a.m., we will serve lunch to our senior citizens. Please join us for a time of fellowship and fun. Bring a dessert to share if you can. You do not have to be a member of our church to participate. Network Mission Meeting & Dinner On February 28 at 6:00 p.m. there will be a Network Mission Meeting and Dinner in the Christian Life Center. This meeting is for invited UMM Pastors, a chosen representative from their congregation, and the principals and social workers within the local school systems. The focus of the meeting will be to determine how we can be more effective in serving our communities. NO BASKETBALL THIS EVENING. Change The company that is the host of our website, also provides an service. We will be moving away from the Yahoo! mail service in February, and switching over to our website s service. With this service, there will be no ads popping up along with our , and we will only have to keep tabs on two addresses used by our members and people who access our website. Please change your main contact information to the following address: eumc@ebenezerum-church.org. People who access our website can also send with questions related to the website to the following address: info@ebenezerum-church.org. Thank you for your support and cooperation in this change over. Our Yahoo! account will close in March. Biscuit Sale Price List $2.00 Ham or Sausage $2.50 Ham or Sausage with egg $2.00 Egg $1.50 Jelly $2.00 Gravy $2.50 Gravy with Sausage $2.00 Fried Apple Pie

7 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Every Sunday: 8:30 a.m. Worship 9:50 a.m. Sunday school 11:00 a.m. Worship See p. 5 for Nursery and Acolyte Lists UMM 3:30 PM, p. 2 Church Council 4:30 PM, p Acolyte Recognition Sunday, 2nd service, see p. 2 Acolyte Training 4:30 PM 24 UMW 7 PM, see p. 2 Annual Membership Drive Ebenezer UMC Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors Food Ministry Delivery Date, 3-6 PM 26 February 2013 Every Wed.: 6 pm: Praise Band 7 pm: Adult, Youth, & Children s Bible studies Sweetheart Banquet 6-8 PM, see p Service at 7 PM 14 Ham Biscuit Sale 6 AM til gone!, p Senior Citizen s Meal 11:30 AM, see p Abernethy Party 2-4 PM Poor Man s Supper 5-7 PM, p Network Mission Meeting 6 PM, see p. 6 NO BASKETBALL! Ebenezer United Methodist Church 7