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Announcements Plus Devotional Aids

Let's Learn a Bible Verse!

"For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
--Philippians 1:21 (NIV)

October Newsletter is now online.

"My #1 job is preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, my #2 job is ensuring we have the Freedom to do job #1! --Charlie Kirk
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Contents

Announcements

Homecoming/$10,000 Sunday

It's time to come home to Ebenezer. Join us for worship at 10:30 a.m. as we proclaim the Good News about Jesus our Savior and how God has continued to bless Ebenezer throughout the year. This is our $10,000 Sunday in which we hope to raise $10,000 over our regular weekly offering of $3,131. Anything over that regular amount will go towards paying down our Disaffilation Loan.

After the service we invite you to join us for a covered-dish lunch in the Christian Life Center. Bring a favorite dish of food or dessert to share if you can. Sunday school classes will not meet. We return to a 9:00 a.m. worship time next week.

God bless you for you regular support and your generosity on this Sunday. See you there!

Supper Fundraiser, Oct. 4 - Report

We had a good turn-out again and raised over $1,800 from the meal (after expenses) to pay on our loan. Thank you for your support and generosity.

We are serving country style steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese, roll, and choice of homemade dessert on Saturday, October 4, 4-7:00 p.m. Eat in or take out for a donation to help us pay off our disaffiliation loan. We thank you for your continuing generosity and support.

Revival Coming, September 28-30

Ebenezer will have revival services every night starting at 7:00 p.m. September 28-30, Sunday through Tuesday. Pastor Simons' wife and fellow minister, Rev. Eunice Chigumira will be bringing the messages each evening. There will also be special singing: on Sunday, The Barnes Family; on Monday, Jill Morrison, and on Tuesday, Kristen Baker. Come and be blessed. Invite everyone you know to join us and learn about how good God is, and how much we all need Jesus in our lives today.

Women's Group Honor Sunday

On Sunday, September 21st we will honor and promote our Methodist Women's Group that does so much to help people in our community and helps our church to continue to spread the Gospel message. We invite all the women of Ebenezer to become a part of this active and vital ministry group in our church.

Supper Fundraiser, Sept. 6

Report: we took in over $2,800 for our retire debt fund with this event. We thank everyone who came to eat and donated money to our church. Thank you for all the comments on how good the meal was. May God bless you for your generosity.

Menu is now set: Barbecue chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes with choice of homemade dessert and coffee, tea or water. Take out or eat in.

Join us for a delicious Surprise! meal on Saturday, September 6, 4-7:00 p.m. The menu is not set yet, but whatever the main course, you know it will be good! Homemade desserts will be served, too. Donations will go towards paying down our Disaffiliation Loan. Our goal is to have this loan paid off by the end of this year.

We thank you for your support.

Pastor Simon Gives Us a New Mission Statement

Pastor Simon proposed that Ebenezer Methodist Church Dudley Shoals Mission Statement be that our core mission is about "Inviting all to become committed disciples of Jesus Christ." We will discuss this at our next Church Council meeting and vote on it.

Ebenezer is affiliated with The GLOBAL METHODIST CHURCH whose mission statement is: The Global Methodist Church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ and spread scriptural holiness across the globe.

Keep these core mission statements in mind as you pray for our church, and as we decide what ministries to support and do.

 

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Quote to Ponder

"Criticizing the church is like criticizing someone's bride...It's so detrimental to yourself when you begin to criticize the church because that's the bride of Christ. When you tell Jesus that His bride's ugly you're booing the bride..." --Pastor Perry Noble of New Spring Church in South Carolina on Christianpost.com

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For Meditation

"If you believe free speech is for you but not your political opponents, you’re illiberal.
If no contrary evidence could change your beliefs, you’re a fundamentalist.
If you believe the state should punish those with contrary views, you’re totalitarian.
If you believe political opponents should be punished with violence or death, you’re a terrorist."  –J. K. Rowling on X, September 11, 2025.

 

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Mini-Bible Lesson #100: Defection

References: Acts 1:15-20; NIV Application Commentary by Ajith Fernando, pp.78-84.

In those days Peter stood among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus—he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”  --Acts 1:15-17 NIV

Jesus felt the pain of betrayal and defection among his closest friends on earth. The Apostle “Paul expressed this pain when he said, ‘Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me…’ (2 Timothy 4:10).” “Such pain can leave us embittered and hinder our spiritual freedom and fruitfulness in ministry.” Peter looked at Judas’ betrayal as tied to God’s sovereignty. We can look at defections as somehow a part of God’s will—and learn to let our pain go to continue in our service to God and his kingdom.

Bitterness  due to betrayal by fellow Christians and church members can hinder our fruitfulness in our ministries for Christ. We may wonder “what did I do wrong?” or “how did I fail to cause that person to leave or betray me or the church?” Even Jesus was betrayed by one of his own. We know that the disciples, or some of them, knew before that night of betrayal that Judas was a thief (see John 12:4-6). When someone betrays a trust, we feel humiliation (thinking, “how could I have been so blind or stupid?”), and humiliation for the Church and Christ (it makes both look bad, hypocritical, or ineffective). There is the loss of friendship or fellowship, too. We can and must grieve at that loss but not hang on to it or let it turn into bitterness or resentment. Forgive one another! Forgive yourself for not being able to stop it. Turn them and the whole situation over to God. God is our defender. God is the one who “repays.” (See Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19) We do not. Be comforted in knowing that even Jesus had to deal with these types of situations. Lean on Jesus for comfort, strength, and the power to forgive and to carry on in the faith.

As we read in Romans 8:28 God works all things out for the good of those who love him. God is sovereign. He will redeem every sorrow, betrayal, and loss in your life. He will restore the years the locust have eaten (Joel 2:25). God has a plan that we are not privy to—a good thing! Our growth in the faith depends on our ability to increase daily in our trust of God, and our obedience to him even when everything seems to be going wrong. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes one day (Revelation 7:17, 21:4). Rest in that promise and that hope.

Many people like to hold onto anger and grudges to show those people how much they hurt us. Do not ignore God’s sovereignty and dwell in “the gloomy world of bitterness. The message to us is: Let ‘the experience of pain that Christ had comfort us and let the knowledge of God’s sovereignty enable us to look at the pain with gratitude and hope’ (p. 84).

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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