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Announcements Plus Devotional Aids

Let's Learn a Bible Verse!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...
--1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)

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Contents

Announcements

Easter Sunrise Service, 7:00 AM

Please join us for our annual Easter Sunrise service on April 5. Our worship service begins at 7:00 a.m. Don't worry about eating breakfast before you come because we feed you for free in the Christian Life Center after we worship and praise God for the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again!

(Sunday school classes will not meet. Our regular schedule resumes on April 12th.)

Maundy Thursday, 7:00 PM

Our Holy Thursday service begins at 7:00 p.m. on April 2nd. Foot washing will be offered and we will also celebrate Holy Communion. All are welcome.

April Newsletter is now online

Red Cross Blood Drive, Report

We thank everyone who participated in this event. The Red Cross collected 10 Power Red products and 20 Whole Blood products for a total of 30 products collected. Praise God! May God bless you for your generosity.

Our re-scheduled winter blood drive is on Monday, March 30, 2:30-7:00 p.m. Homemade soup and toasted cheese and other sandwiches will be served, along with desserts and snacks to our donors and workers.

You may register online at www.redcrossblood.org and search for our drive by zip code "28630" or the code "EbenezerUMC." We thank you for your support of this worthy cause.

Easter Egg Hunt & Party, March 28

Our annual Easter Egg Hunt and Party is on Saturday, March 28th starting at 9:00 a.m. We will serve you and your children breakfast and later open an ice cream Sundae bar! Activities include the egg hunt, of course, plus storytime and crafts. Everything is free! Lots of candy included. Bring your family and friends for a morning of joy and celebration!. We can't wait to see you there!

(Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.)

Other Fundraisers to Support

If you like barbecue, you can eat to your hearts content this weekend and the weekend before Palm Sunday.

Our friends at Dudley Shoals Baptist Church are serving up barbecue plates to raise funds on March 13th (4-8:00 p.m.) and 14th (11-2:00 p.m.). Dine-in or take-out. Call 828-396-7300 for more information.

On March 27-28, Wayne and Jeff Yount are having another fundraiser for Bleaka and Monte Hollar to help with their medical bills. The address is: 4680 Burns Road, Granite Falls. Signs with balloons will show you the way. Plates are $12.00 each. They are selling whole Boston Butts for $45 each and chopped BBQ at $12 per lb. both of which must be pre-ordered by March 23rd. Call or text Trey Hefner at (828) 502-3793 or Jeff Yount at (828) 896-7368. If you order 10+ plates, they can deliver.

Times for the Yount fundraiser are Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, 11:00 a.m. 'til sold out.

We thank you for supporting these worthy causes.

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Quote to Ponder

The things that matter most--marriage, work, calling, creativity, faith--rarely begin with a surge of joy. They begin with a decision. And often, that decision is made in the presence of resistance...Jesus said, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." Happiness is not the starting point. It is the fruit. The action comes first; the feeling comes later.

American Thinker, The Joy Comes After: Why Obedience Must Lead, and Feelings Follow by Christian Vezilj, March 22, 2026

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For Meditation

How many times have you heard someone say, "There is no evidence for God’s existence" or "You can’t prove that God exists." After 38 years of litigation, I know a thing or two about evidence and proof, and in the book, I show how both of these claims are demonstrably false. You may not be persuaded by the overwhelming evidence for God’s existence. That does not mean that evidence does not exist. And while the existence of God cannot be proved to an apodictic certainty, the totality of the evidence proves his existence to a high degree of certainty. God permits doubt. He does not permit reasonable doubt.

–Barry Arrington, interview "Skepticism as a Solution" in note bene, June 11, 2025 newsletter from Discovery Institute.

 

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Mini-Bible Lesson #103: Meeting Together

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. –Ephesians 5:19-20 NIV

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. –Hebrews 10: 24-25

There are believers that say that they do not need to go to church to be a follower of Christ; then they point to the man on the cross whom Jesus said would be in paradise with Jesus that very day. But is this a good analogy or comparison? The thief on the cross was saved for believing in Jesus, but he died that day. He would never have to deal with temptation, distractions, sorrows, pains, persecution, or doubts. Most people who become Christians do not immediately die. They are left here to deal with the slings and arrows of fate. They face temptation daily. They face doubts. They face evil daily because they continue to live in a fallen world.

In Hebrews 10:24-25, we are admonished to “not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing.” Why are we to meet with one another regularly? In those same verses, we read “let us encourage one another—all the more as you see the Day approaching.” That is one purpose in our meetings. That Day that approaches is the day that each of us meets the Lord face-to-face, and there is one Day coming when the whole world will see Jesus and experience either his wrath or his redemption. So, we need the church for encouragement because life can be difficult and persecution will come to us who profess Jesus and live by his standards and not the world’s.

There are other reasons to not forsake church attendance. We can “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (see Hebrews 10:24a). When Christians pray together, great things can happen. It happened at Pentecost (Acts 2) and in Acts 4, after Peter and John were persecuted by the Sanhedrin, they returned to their fellow believers and prayed and “the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31). We can share reports about what God has done. “On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles" (Acts 14:27). We can avoid being “carried away by all kinds of strange teachings" (Hebrews 13:9). As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 15:32, “so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed.” Our faith is renewed and we are refreshed by being with our fellow believers in a worship service and in a Bible study group.

When we come together to “[s]peak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:19-20), we reaffirm our faith and our commitment to the Lord and to one another. We are reminded of how much we have received from God and Jesus, creating gratitude in our hearts that gives us peace even when all is chaos around us.

And though we no longer have “everything in common” (see Acts 2:44-45), we can “bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13). In a world filled more and more with lonely people, being an active member of a local church helps you to avoid loneliness and gives you opportunities to relieve the loneliness of fellow believers and others who need to know about Jesus.

Read these descriptions of the Body of Christ, the Church. Reflect on them until you understand what church is really all about—it is not a social club, though you can find and make friends there; it is not just a fall back when something goes wrong, though it can help you through hard times; it is not for entertainment, though you can be entertained there. The church is here to help us to grow into the people God has always wanted us to be and to help grow the kingdom of God. Be a church goer and doer not just a member.

Ephesians 4:12-16 (emphasis added):

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge f the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Colossians 3:12-17(emphasis added):

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of the one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 

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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.

 

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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.

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