Lifeway VBS Clinic ** Date Change** May 9th at 6:30pm

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1 Volume 2, Issue April 2017 Our Mission The mission of the Mount Zion Baptist Association is to serve as a resource to the churches, engaging them, enabling them, and encouraging them to serve their community and the world and to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lifeway VBS Clinic ** Date Change** May 9th at 6:30pm First Baptist Alamance 4363 S. NC Hwy 62 * Burlington Gail Ledbetter with the NC Baptist State Convention and Lifeway will be presenting this clinic. Representatives from our local Lifeway will also be on hand. We will have some VBS treats to sample, craft ideas and more! There will also be some giveaways from the Association of Lifeway VBS Materials! Sign up early to get your spot! Call and register today! STAFF Dr. Terry Prichard Director of Missions Sandi King Ministry & Finance Assistant OFFICE HOURS M - TH 9AM - 2PM Administrative Leadership Team Meeting (ALT) May 16th at 7pm We are excited to have the following churches serve on our Leadership Team for 2017 Altamahaw Edgewood Kerr s Chapel Northside Antioch Fairview Kinnett Memorial Oak Grove Bethel Fellowship Mars Hill Ossipee Cross Roads Grove Park Moore s Chapel Riverside Eastlawn FBC Haw River Mount Zion Snow Camp Holly Hill North Graham Each church may have their Pastor along with 2 other church members to serve as members of the ALT. Your input is vital!

2 Five Keys to Renewing Evangelistic Growth in Your Church By Thom Rainer What can we do to help the churches in our state become more evangelistic? We need more good evangelism programs. Why aren t you providing them? Why are we reaching fewer unchurched people than we used to? Those three questions were asked of me in the span of a just a few days. Each of them came with hints of frustration, confusion, and anger. It is true. Most churches reach fewer lost and unchurched people than they did in the past. It is no longer necessary to be a part of a church to be culturally accepted. That pool of immediate evangelistic opportunities has been reduced dramatically. Is there hope? Absolutely! I am observing carefully churches in North America that are truly making an evangelistic impact. Most of them transitioned from evangelistic apathy to growth. Though there is no formulaic approach or magic-bullet program, here are five common themes I see repeatedly: 1. A small group of church members dedicated themselves to pray for an evangelistic harvest. Evangelism is not a human-devised program. It is a Spirit-led endeavor. I am saddened when I see churches with no intentionality about praying for evangelism and the lost in the community. It is absurd to think we can separate prayer from evangelism. And they devoted themselves to... prayer... And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved (Acts 2:42, 47). 2. Pastors make evangelism a personal priority. I have yet to find evangelistic churches where the pastors have not committed themselves personally to evangelism. It s not easy. Pastors are pulled in a multiplicity of directions. It is easy to respond to the tyranny of the urgent. Pastors must make time to make personal evangelism a priority. Church members must give them time to do so. Leaders in the church teach church members to invite people to church. Most church members do not realize what happens more than half the time when they invite an unchurched member to church. They show up at church! Such is the reason I encourage leaders to have a singular day focused on inviting people to church (We created a resource to help in that process called Invite Your One). Though a single day of inviting people is not another magic-bullet solution, it does typically create a positive ethos toward inviting people. 1. These churches love the communities in which they are located. I love the focus on the nations evident in many of our churches. I love the national church planting emphasis we see in many places. But churches that are evangelistic do not forget that the commission of Acts 1:8 begins with Jerusalem, the local community. What percent of your church s budget goes to direct ministry and evangelism in the community? 2. These churches have consistent, usually weekly, efforts to connect with unchurched people in the community. The efforts may be as simple as Facebook ads or communications with new residents. It may be a basic campaign to reach out to those who have visited the church. These efforts are not solutions in themselves, but they do help create an outwardlyfocused ethos in your church. What is your church doing to reach people evangelistically in your community? Page 2 Mt. Zion News

3 Sign up is required for ALL events NC Baptist Aging Ministry - July 13th, 11:00am with lunch at Noon at Holly Hill Baptist Sign Up is Open - Last Day to Register is July 6th Stretching your Budget - November 2nd, 11:00am with lunch at Noon at Eastlawn Baptist Senior Adult Banquet June 1st, 5:30-7:30pm at Riverside Baptist (Cost $7 per person) SIGN UP IS OPEN! Tweaking Your Memory Lunch and Learn held on March 30th with Dr. Hermang Shah, Neurologist at Kernodle Clinic. We had a great time with our speaker, and the meal was fabulous, and we had 65 in attendance. Thank you to our host church, First Baptist of Alamance, at to all of our lovely hostesses - Kathy Boyd, Glenda Carden, Pat Parks, and Ann Perry. FOCUS ON MISSIONS APRIL2017 As I look out my window, I see lovely flowers blooming and trees budding. Spring is here and God has painted the landscape in beautiful colors for our enjoyment! We are blessed! We had a wonderful WMU Annual Missions Celebration on Tuesday, March 21, 2017, at First Baptist of Haw River. The members of the church were great hosts and our Area II churches provided delicious refreshments. We thank each person for helping us have a wonderful night. We had 70 people in attendance. Our special music was Amazing Grace by Holly Hunter, soloist. Holly is a talented young lady and we thank her for sharing her talents with us. Our guest speaker for the evening was Amy Pardue Boone, the Executive Director/Treasurer of WMU NC. Amy shared with us the activities of WMU NC and told us of opportunities. She shared her life on the mission field with us also. She made us laugh and she also brought tears to our eyes. It was such a blessing to have Amy with us! WMU Missions Extravaganza was held March 24-25, 2017, at First Baptist of Greensboro. Our theme for this year in WMU is BY ALL MEANS and this was also the emphasis for this event. We had many great speakers and missionaries that made it a wonderful weekend. To keep from interfering with other events, it was voted on to move Missions Extravaganza to the last weekend in April starting in The Picnic for the Visually Impaired will be held this year on May 9, 2017 at 6 pm at Riverside Baptist. This event is always a blessing. Please plan to attend. This month as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I hope each of us will share the story of our Lord in greater ways than ever to the ones around us. In Christ, Pat Parks Volume 2, Issue Page 3

4 Beverly Lewis Christian Fiction Author Book Signing Event Wednesday, April 12th at 7pm Lifeway 1348 Java Lane, Burlington (Alamance Crossing) For more information contact Lifeway at (336) The Mt. Zion Association Office is blessed to help with this ministry by being a collection spot for your donations. Please feel free to drop off your boxed donations M-Th, 9am - 2pm FINAL DAY TO DROP OFF IS Thursday, April 20th **Please remember that the BCH asks that food donations be placed in sturdy boxes for easy handling, and that food has a long shelf life and is not expired.**

5 Monday, April 10th at 11:30pm Western Steak House Graham-Hopedale Road Come join us for a time of food, and fellowship! North Carolina Library Ministry Conference Saturday, April 29th Watkins Chapel Baptist Church Zebulon, NC If you can attend the conference please respond to: furrjudy@gmail.com. If you cannot attend the April Conference, but are interested in training, please respond also. We wish you a Happy Easter. Celebrate the King of Glory! Mt. Zion Association

6 Visit us on the web at Mt. Zion Baptist Association on N.C., Inc. Financial Statement YTD as of March 23, 2017 APRIL CHURCH PRAYER LIST Oak Grove Baptist Church Ossipee Baptist Church Riverside Baptist Church Pastor: Rev. Bob Stephenson Snow Camp Baptist Church Pastor: Rev. Kevin Byers Positions Available Mount Olive Baptist Church, Pittsboro, NC, is seeking a part-time Music Minister. We are a conservative, SBC church with an average attendance of 150 located in southern Alamance County. Looking for someone to plan and lead blended worship. Please send resume to Pastor David Crowther, 5043 Mt. Olive Church Rd., Pittsboro, NC or ministrysearch15@gmail.com. First Baptist Church of Elon is seeking a part time organist. Anyone interested in this position is asked to contact Gay Collins, Minister of Music, either by phone or . Church) , Cell) , or music@fbc-elon.org. Alamance [First Baptist of]... 0 * Altamahaw Baptist * Antioch Baptist Bethel Baptist... 0 Burlington [First Baptist of]... 0 Calvary Baptist... 0 Cane Creek Baptist City Lake Baptist * Cross Roads Baptist Crosslink Community Church... 0 * Eastlawn Baptist * Edgewood Baptist Elon [First Baptist of] Fairview Baptist... 0 * Fellowship Baptist Glen Hope Baptist... 0 * Glencoe Baptist Gospel Road Baptist... 0 Graham [First Baptist of]... 0 * Grove Park Baptist * Haw River [First Baptist of] * Holly Hill Integrity... 0 * Kerr s Chapel Baptist... 0 * Kinnett Memorial Baptist * Mars Hill Baptist Mebane [First Baptist of]... 0 * Moore s Chapel Baptist... 0 * Mt. Zion Baptist Church Nall Memorial Baptist... 0 New Life at Hocutt... 0 * North Graham Baptist... 0 * Northside Baptist Oak Grove Baptist * Ossipee Baptist * Riverside Baptist * Snow Camp Baptist... 0 Staley Memorial Baptist... 0 Swepsonville Baptist... 0 *Indicates Covenant Member Join us on Facebook and Twitter! Page 6 Mt. Zion News