Room In The Inn

Written on December 29, 2021. Posted in Church Life, General. Leave a Comment

Sign up link : https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e49a9aa23a13-room

We missed Room in the Inn last year, but it is back – with a few changes. We hope you will participate.

Per Roof Above’s guidelines, all neighbors participating in RITI who are 12 & up will have to show proof of vaccination to be assigned to a church. volunteers in the presence of our RITI neighbors must also be fully vaccinated. It’s how we love our neighbors in return of them being vaccinated.

We will be using a Sign Up Genius, ((click here to sign up), for all volunteers this year, look for the positions marked [ALL]. Please understand that if we reach a week and we can’t fill all thevolunteer positions, we will inform Roof Above we won’t be able to continue to offer RITI at Advent on Monday nights for the rest of the 2021-22 season. If you need help signing up, please contact Megan at 704-287-6680.

We will need volunteers each Monday night for: Set up, Help in the kitchen to serve and clean up, Transportation Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, Provide Dinner, Hot To Go Breakfast& Bag Lunches, Pillow Treats, Underwear & T-shirt Distribution, Sleepover, Transportation of Laundry, Washing Blue Blankets, & morning clean up.

We will host 10 neighbors each week and as we have in years past we will welcome anyone assigned to us; men, women & children.
We will limit the number of people in the building so only those who sign up will be who we expect to be there.
We will have all volunteers sign in as you enter the gym, for contact tracing purposes.
We will not sit at the tables and join our neighbors for dinner and conversation. While everyone is eating and masks are off Roof Above suggests we not have social time, but after dinner when masks are back on — yes.
We will not offer a prayer service but will continue to put out prayer requests at the table.

Our church is also responsible for a women’s underwear drive. Underwear of all sizes is appreciated. Please put any donated underwear in the drawers in the room behind the sanctuary.

Thanks for your continued support of this mission.

Being the Body of Christ – Guest Speaker Corey Gaston

Written on December 22, 2021. Posted in Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

January 23th Guest Speaker – Corey Gaston

Sermon 9 a.m

Sermon 11 a.m.

Corey Gaston, author of Proximity: A Practical Devo to Bridge Chasms of Culture Between Communities of Faith and native of Harrisburg NC, is the Director of Discipleship at Christ Central Church in Charlotte, NC and a professor at Catawba College in Salisbury NC. He has served in full-time education for 14 years and in full-time ministry over 20 years! Corey also serves on the board of directors for Make Your Mark Intl., a 501c(3) Non-Profit Organization whose focus is remedying systemic poverty cycles and providing educational opportunities to families and students in urban centers in the US, as well as in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Corey has an earned Master of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership from Clarks Summit University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Theology from Freedom Bible College. Corey is currently writing his dissertation for his Doctor of Strategic Leadership degree from Liberty University on the topic, THE CHRISTIAN WITNESS IS AT STAKE: SOUTHERN EVANGELICALS AND THEIR RESISTANCE TO RACE AND CULTURAL RECONCILIATION. This work seeks to aid Christian leaders in strategizing ways to help them disciple their congregations in a more comprehensive fashion that helps strengthen the Christian Witness. Corey, a United States Marine Corps veteran, served his country faithfully prior to going to college where he met his bride, Laura. They have been married 20 years and have 4 children.

Corey has a deep passion to see God’s people live a life that exudes the full gospel of Jesus. His call is to create and cultivate “curious community” by building bridges of reconciliation so we can be credible witnesses of the gospel for the watching world.

Grace and Peace, Rev. Wes Smith

What was the best Gift you’ve received?

Written on December 17, 2021. Posted in Devotions. Leave a Comment

What was the best gift you received this past Christmas? Was it an expensive present? Was it something that was very thoughtful from a friend who knows you well? A great friend of mine gave me two cozies that had the logo of one of my favorite hockey teams and I use them every chance I get! Maybe your best gift was a little more intangible, like a note from a loved one or maybe you were able to spend time with family you have not seen in a while. For me it was great spending time with my step brother and his family that we do not get to see very often.

Gifts come in all shapes, sizes and varieties. They can be acts of love and kindness. They can be unexpected presents and presence. Sometimes the greatest gifts are just gifts of your time. Gifts are great, they are meant to build up another person. Gifts tell us we mean something to someone else. They are so important, and they do not always have to be stuff.

Do you realize that God gives us gifts? Sure, He gives us the air we breathe, sunshine, and yes even snowy wintery weather that allows us to take a break! He meets our needs and gives us the greatest gift of all, His Son Jesus! Yes, God is a very generous giver, and we can learn so much by recognizing and thanking God for all His precious gifts.

There is even more. God gives special gifts to all who believe in Him, we call them spiritual gifts. These gifts are special in the fact that their whole purpose for us to use and build up God’s Kingdom. In other words, these gifts He gives us allows and equips us to help each other participate fully in living out God’s call in our lives. I know of two friends whose gift is generosity and they are such a blessing to so many people. Our pastors’ have gifts they use every Sunday morning. I have gifts that help me to work with children and teenagers.

You also have gifts and they are incredibly important. We are starting several groups in the church that are focusing on discovering and using your spiritual gifts. I would love to see you begin to explore or deepen that part of your walk with Christ. When we as a body begin to use our gifts, incredible things happen! We are given the opportunity to accomplish things for God that we have not even dreamed of yet. Even if you are not a part of our congregation, there are lots of resources out there that can help you begin to see those gifts God has given to you and wants you to use to shine for Him!

Next week I will tell a story of someone who had a gift and was very practiced at using it.

Pastor Richard

Christmas Eve

Written on October 6, 2021. Posted in General. Leave a Comment

We invite you to join us for

Christmas Eve Worship, Dec. 24th

5:00 pm Worship around the Manger – A service for families with preschool aged children, this 30 minute services invites us into the story of Christmas in word and song that any age will enjoy. We share the Lord’s Supper together and lift the glowing light of God’s love to the world.

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7:00 pm A Service of Candlelight and Communion – This traditional service of worship invites the whole family to hear and celebrate the Christmas Good News. We celebrate communion and sing with the Heavenly Hosts!

Nursery care is provided for those under 3.

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11:00 pm Quite Candlelight Communion All the hubbub is stilled, children are tucked in bed, and the silence of this night descends. This quiet service invites you to ponder the mystery of this holy night as we hear the story and break bread together.

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Christmas Eve Offering

The Missions Committee has designated $2,500 toward the Christmas Eve offering. Missions has challenge us to match these funds.

Niner United and Kentucky Tornado Recovery through the United Methodist Committee on Relief will be the recipients of this offering.

Our Money Story

Written on September 29, 2021. Posted in Church Life. Leave a Comment

Pledge Form 2022

Week three 10/17/21 — Our MONEY Story — Release

Worship Service 9 a.m

Worship Service 11 a.m.

Yesterday I talked about the invitation from God’s word to reimagine our economies (household rules/ the way we do things) in light of God’s call for us to radically trust him and to care for the most vulnerable. I shared John Wesley’s advice around money:

Make all you can

Save all you can

Give all you can

In this advice is an invitation for you to take some time to reimagine your economy around these matters.

As you prepare to offer your pledge to ministry in 2022 we encourage you to prayerfully reimagine your money story. Where might God be calling you to reimagine your story in light of God’s Money Story? What do you need to rememberabout who God is? What do you need to release in order to know God’s freeing grace? Where might you reimagine what can be? How might God be able to restore your broken places around money and possessions through your life in him?

At the start of all this we challenged you to tithe for just one month to see how it feels. If you have done that, what have you discovered? If you have not yet made that one month commitment we encourage you to give it a try and see how God works through your faithfulness.

As we come toward the end of October, please take time to fill out and return the pledge card we sent you or, even better, complete your pledge online through Realm using the link below. Thank you so much for your faithfulness and your generosity! We pray God will draw you ever closer to His boundless grace in this and every season!

Week two 10/10/21 — Our Money Story — Reflect

Worship Service 9 am

Worship Service 11 am

This past Sunday, we continued this month’s stewardship series Our Money Story by looking at what it means to release our money stories to God. We saw in our first reading from Deuteronomy 15 that God commanded the Israelites to release all debt every seven years. This is similar to the manna in the desert story in that if anyone tried to hoard their manna, it would rot. God is adamantly opposed to greed and selfishness among His people, whether its daily bread or money and debt. This is radically different from the values we see every day in our world. We live in a culture that far too often encourages and even celebrates greed.

This disconnect is not unique to 21^st century America, however, as we saw in the Gospel reading from Matthew 19. The story of the rich young man vividly illustrates how money and possessions can pull us away from Jesus and from fellowship with other believers. We know all too well the very human tendency to seek meaning, value, and security in our money and our possessions.

We shouldn’t simply hear judgment or rebuke in these stories, but rather an invitation to a better way to live – the way of Jesus. God calls us to release our grip on those things we cling tightly to, so that we might be freed to cling to Jesus. God calls us to release the grip that money and possessions has on our hearts so we might be freed to be generous to our neighbors. God calls us to release our fears and anxieties to Him so that we might be freed to find our security in God’s steadfast love and abiding presence. God calls us to release one another from debts, to forgive one another as we have been forgiven.

God calls us to release our money stories – especially those parts of our stories that move us away from God’s love and from generosity. We release our stories so that God can begin writing new stories in our lives that reflect the values of the Kingdom of God and the reality of God’s abundant grace given to us in Jesus Christ. This week, I pray that God would open our eyes to new opportunities to live into new story of forgiveness and generosity.

Week One 10/3/21 — Our Money Story– Remember

Worship Service 9 a.m

Worship Service 11 a.m.

On Sunday, I shared part of my money story and shared some reflection of the good and bad of some lessons I learned about money and possessions in my childhood. This week, we want to encourage you to use your “Our Money Story” Journal (either picked up on Sunday or mailed to you this week) to begin reflecting on your own money story. You can find the questions to guide you on pages 1-6 of your journal. The remembering is helpful, but even more helpful is the invitation to reflect on how the things you learned in your life are impacting you today. What parts of your story are good, helpful, and Biblical? What parts of your story might bear untruths and unbiblical ideas that have kept you from the freedom that God offers us?

Being honest about our story is the beginning point of God’s redemptive work. Here’s a hard truth: unredeemed history repeats itself. In other words, holding on to lies (like mine around productivity and personal value), mistakes of the past, false narratives about the role of money and possessions in our lives, will continue to keep us locked in cycles of unhealthy behavior and belief. Our deepest prayer for each of you this month is that God will help you to see the places that need his redeeming touch, the infusion of God’s Money Story of enough for all, trust in God’s provision, generosity, sharing, and sacrificial love that we see so clearly in the life of the Lord Jesus. We pray for your courage and vulnerability to ask these questions and have the conversation for the sake of your following of Jesus in greater wholeness.

Pastor Toni Ruth

As Rebecca Douglass, Chair of the Finance Team, mentioned on Sunday, we encourage you to bring your pledge card at any point this month. For your convenience we do have an online pledge card. This card can we accessed at on our website and connects directly to Realm so that you can not only set up your pledge but also set up recurrent gifts if you would like to do so. Filling out the pledge card online is very simple, so we encourage you to use this tool.

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Intro to our Money Story

We all have a money story, whether we recognize it or not. Perhaps we are living from a story of fear or shame. Or a story that the church is dying and no longer relevant. Or a story that our actions won’t have an impact. Or a story that we don’t have enough. Where might God be speaking a new narrative into the limited ones we have told ourselves? This theme invites us to discover and tell our money stories in light of God’s money story of liberation and justice. This series encourages us to transform our stewardship practices into more full expressions of who we are and what we believe.

This theme is intentionally direct—it invites us to name exactly what we’re talking about and not skirt around it. To speak of money is to invite tension into the room. We so quickly want to avoid it. But it’s time we reframe this. Money and possessions are one of the most common topics in scripture, and Jesus talked about money more than faith and prayer.

Our money story, therefore, is a spiritual story. Thinking about God’s money story should be liberating, inviting, and transformative.

This stewardship season, we invite you to remember, release, reimagine, and restore your money stories so that we can write the one God is begging us to live into.

News & Events

Author: Shirley Luce