EPHESUS Preview Issue [April 2013]

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In This Issue Looking Back, Reaching Forward 4 Tiffiney Miles

Church Anniversary Celebration: What did YOU think? 12

Healthy Congregations: Check-Ups 13

Responsible Fatherhood 14 DaRon Barfield

Tri-State Youth Convocation 16 Tiffiney Miles

Charles and Brenda Bruce: Engine 2 Diet 20

Let’s support our women running in the

Divas Half-Marathon:

Gwen Preston

Olive Sease

Sonja Johnson

N’Zisa Barnes

Shelley-Ann Bowen

Teisha Hunter

Patty Thomas Sunday, 4/28/13

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“The Minor Prophets together have a power-

ful message, one that comes through again

and again, which is about God’s grace toward

undeserving sinners.”

Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide

Sabbath School lessons for all ages!

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Looking Back, Reaching Forward

Ephesus Celebrates 102 Years by Tiffiney Miles

Photos by Jessica Mayers

Right: Pastor John Pooler from the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church started the 102nd Church Anniversary Celebration on

Wednesday, March 13th. He uses the analogy of football to show how we need to be prepared to receive the blessings that God throws at

us.

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Left Page: Friday, March 15th, was the Memorial Service in which those who had passed away within the year were remembered. Pastor Victor Bartley from the West End Seventh-day

Adventist Church in Atlanta, GA spoke about “R.S.V.P.”: accepting the invitation of eternal life and preparing for eternal life with Jesus Christ. “I chose Victor [to speak] because he’s a young

person, and we have a lot of young people in our audience. And he’s also from the [Ephesus] church,” says Shirley Mayers, 2013 Church Anniversary leader.

Above: The Ephesus Mass Choir sings “I Go to the Rock” for Sabbath’s Anniversary service.

“It’s tempting to think that God needs my help at times in order for His goodness to be unending. But I

will remind you that if you take a look through the Scriptures, as soon as man got into trouble, God was

there looking for us. He’s able to keep us.”—Pastor Victor Bartley

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Left Page: Friday, March 15th, was the Memorial Service in which those who had passed away within the year were remembered. Pastor Victor Bartley from the West End Seventh-day

Adventist Church in Atlanta, GA spoke about “R.S.V.P.”: accepting the invitation of eternal life and preparing for eternal life with Jesus Christ. “I chose Victor [to speak] because he’s a young

person, and we have a lot of young people in our audience. And he’s also from the [Ephesus] church,” says Shirley Mayers, 2013 Church Anniversary leader.

Above: The Ephesus Mass Choir sings “I Go to the Rock” for Sabbath’s Anniversary service.

“It’s tempting to think that God needs my help at times in order for His goodness to be unending. But I

will remind you that if you take a look through the Scriptures, as soon as man got into trouble, God was

there looking for us. He’s able to keep us.”—Pastor Victor Bartley

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Above: Pastor Calvin Preston from the West End Seventh-Day Adventist Church expounds on the Sermon on the Mount during Sabbath

service on March 16th. “Calvin is from my time at Ephesus in Henderson Street, so there are a lot of people in that audience that could iden-

tify with us that’s been on Henderson Street.” Shirley Mayers states.

“I’m not sure whether I want God to clean up the church. ‘Why you say that, Calvin?’ Because God is fair...if God cleans up the church, He’s getting rid of all

sinners. So what does that mean? That means that tomorrow morning, let’s put Ephesus up for sale! Because by sunset, if God is cleaning up the church, by

sunset, the church will be empty!”—Pastor Calvin Prestion

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The Ephesus Seventh-day

Adventist Church celebrated its

102nd anniversary on March 13, 15,

and 16 2013.

The theme for the Anniver-

sary Celebration was “Looking Back,

Reaching Forward.” Shirley Mayers,

this year’s Church Anniversary lead-

er, talks about the mission behind

this year’s homecoming: “Our goal

this year was bringing everybody

forward and out of the past because

God wants us to live for today and

not tomorrow.”

The speakers for the event

were Pastor Pooler from the Ephe-

sus Seventh-day Adventist Church in

Columbia, SC; Pastor Victor Bartley

and Pastor Calvin Preston, both

from the West End Seventh-day Ad-

ventist Church in Atlanta, GA.

For 2014, the Anniversary

Committee has decided to let the

youth take over “because it’s their

time to shine,” says Shirley. The

2014 Anniversary Committee leader

will be Leslie O’Neal.

Commenting on whether the

Anniversary celebration was a suc-

cess, Shirley Mayers says, “I think

everyone went away with a full

heart and a Christ-like spirit.”

Above: Shirley Mayers, the 2013 Anniversary Committee leader.

Next Page: Ephesus church members take a group picture at the close of the Anniversary

Celebration weekend.

“I’m not sure whether I want God to clean up the church. ‘Why you say that, Calvin?’ Because God is fair...if God cleans up the church, He’s getting rid of all

sinners. So what does that mean? That means that tomorrow morning, let’s put Ephesus up for sale! Because by sunset, if God is cleaning up the church, by

sunset, the church will be empty!”—Pastor Calvin Prestion

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2013 Church Anniversary

Celebration

What did YOU think?

“I thought that there were a lot of great and inspiring messages, especially on Wednes-

day. It was a great reminder form the Bible about not to be held on by our past, but to

keep looking forward to the goal, which is heaven, ahead of us. That really encouraged

me. Then today’s message on Sabbath by Pastor Preston, I was really challenged to re-

member that I am always building, and I want to be sure that I’m building wisely and

that I’m building a building that’s going to help me withstand the storms of life.”

—Nina Nelson

“It was truly a blessing.

From the sermon, to the

praise team, to the music,

to the testimonies, to eve-

rything. From beginning to

end. From Wednesday

night when we started it

off , to Friday night with

Victor speaking. Even the

concert. It was amazing!

—Brook Williams

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Reposted from the South Atlantic Conference

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The favorable or prospe

rous termination of attempts

or endeavors; the accom-

plishment of one's goals is

the definition given for suc-

cess.

On March 9th success

was shown in the Responsi-

ble Fatherhood afternoon

program hosted by Ephesus’

Men’s and Family Life Minis-

tries. Problems and issues re-

garding men and family life,

were exposed and discussed.

Men and women were chal-

lenged to break through the

issues discussed and reach

workable resolutions.

Mr. Tracy Rogers, from

the Department of Social

Services (DSS) of South Car-

olina, gave necessary infor-

mation on the Responsible

Father Registry.

In most cases we talk

is on the road to being re-

sponsible and being an ac-

tive part of his child’s life.

For more information on this

registry, go to https://

dss.sc.gov/content/

customers/fr/index.aspx for

frequently asked questions.

For actual registration to the

Responsible Fatherhood Reg-

istry, go to https://

ssl.sc.gov/

DSSFatherRegistry/

FatherReg/RegIndex.aspx.

The Responsible Father Reg-

istry: A voice for putative fa-

thers!

Not only was the door

open for new information on

being responsible men, but

the initiative to becoming re-

sponsible fathers and men

came through personal testi-

monies.

Andrew Singleton,

about fathers being forced to

take responsibility by means

of court-ordered child sup-

port or some other means

that states the father is not

being responsible based on

his own merit.

The Responsible Father

Registry was created to aid

fathers that want to be a part

of their child/children’s lives,

but may not be given that

chance due to conflict be-

tween the mother and the

father that may lead to adop-

tion or other legal measures

without the father’s knowing.

This registry requires

that the father receives noti-

fication of adoption proceed-

ings. This notification gives

him an opportunity to main-

tain custody of his child.

Certainly to sign this

registry states that the father

A workshop was presented by Tracy Rogers

that looked at the challenges men are facing

in the world as they seek to parent their kids,

and the vital role fatherhood plays in the success

of the next generation.

Responsible Fatherhood

By DaRon Barfield

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open up about his former

gang life and reckless atti-

tude toward life. His choices

as teenager led him to prison

where thankfully he met God

and his love for Jesus Christ

and the truth changed his

life.

Kelvin Barnes, father of

three, shared insights of his

relationship with his father

and the life lesson of “RCC”

Responsibility . Choices .

Consequences.

DaRon, relayed how his

father left him and mother at

a young age and how it took

years for the anger to be re-

solved and for there relation-

ship to be restored. He

shared how his experience

spilled over into his relation-

ship with his children.

Dominique, youngest

to speak, shared his strug-

gles growing up with a father

that left him and his mother.

Each of these men,

even though may not have

always had the easiest walk

have dedicated themselves to

be a positive standard in so-

ciety and more importantly,

to be soldiers of God.

Kevin Cox, Ephesus

Men’s Ministries Assistant,

gave us the importance of

the theme “Preparing For The

Return Of The King” and it’s

two-fold meaning based on

the verse Mark 9:24. We as

men must believe that we are

who God says we should be!

Above (from left to right): Pastor John Pooler, DaRon Barfield (Men’s Ministry Leader), Samuel & Rachel Paschal (Family Life Leaders), guest

speaker Tracy Rogers, Deacon Kelvin Paxton

Continued on page 20

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Youth Convocation

Brings Three States Together by Tiffiney Miles

The South Atlantic Confer-

ence of the Seventh-day Adventist

Church hosted a Tri-State Youth

Convocation in Orangeburg, South

Carolina. From Friday, March 22nd

through Saturday, March 23rd, Sev-

enth-Day Adventist youth and young

adults from Georgia, North Carolina,

and South Carolina came together to

worship and learn more about God.

Pastor Patrick Carter, the

Youth and Young Adult Director for

the South Atlantic Conference, talks

more about the purpose of a youth

convocation. He says that it is “an

opportunity for our youth and young

adults to come together to worship

God, to fellowship, to meet new

friends, to learn ideas, to learn

Below: The three Youth Federation Presidents of the South Atlantic Conference (from left to right): Georgia President Lavar Hickerson,

North Carolina President Tye Vaught, South Carolina President Karen Thrower.

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different ways of expressing them-

selves through song, through dance,

and most importantly, through the

word of God. “

Pastor Carter also expresses

the importance of why a youth con-

vocation is needed. “It is an oppor-

tunity where our churches from all

three states...can come together and

put our young people on display.”

Below: TyQuan Reed introduces the main

speaker for Saturday’s worship service, Pas-

tor Helvis Moody.

Right: Pastor Helvis Moody uses an expen-

sive purse to illustrate how society puts val-

ue on material items and how we are price-

less in the eyes of God.

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The theme for the convoca-

tion was “Priceless: Jesus Paid it All,”

and there were plenty of opportuni-

ties for youth and young adults to

learn more about how priceless they

were through sermons, workshops,

and by displaying their talents

through performances. The goal of

the youth convocation was to help

youth and young adults to grow

leadership skills in order to become

better men and women in church,

but also in other aspects of their

lives.

Pastor Carter uses one word

to describe the future of the upcom-

ing youth convocations.

“Excitement!” He says, “Excitement

about the potential to come up with

new concepts and ideas that will

continue to meet the growing, di-

verse needs of the world that we live

in...The purpose and the future of

the convocations are to be proac-

tive, and they will be proactive in

helping our young folk and our

young adults, as well as our church

in general, to meet the various

things that are happening in the

world, and to meet the tricks of the

Devil, so that we can be prepared to

meet Jesus and to spread the Gos-

pel.”

Left page: The South Georgia Hispanic Pathfinder

Club from Atlanta, GA posting colors for the

Youth Convocation. Above: Pastor Patrick Carter

hosts a workshop called “Don’t Compromise to

be Recognized!” Below: The group Chosen sings

“Jesus, He Will Fix It” during Saturday’s talent

night. Group members (from left to right): Kelvin

Moore, Kaleb Paxton, Andrew Davis, Antonio

Bermudez, CJ Wells, Dominique Goudy

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We must lead in the

manner that God has shown

for us to

lead. We must reinstitute

the kingship of men, of Afri-

can American men, in the

home, community and

church as the charge was

given by Christ. Most im-

portantly, we must believe

God is who He said He is

and that His son, Jesus

Continued from page 15 Christ, is coming again …

SOON!!! Are we prepared?

Let us be, for great is

the reward of those that live

and depend on Jesus Christ

to forgive, cleanse, and save

us from our sins. Our Heav-

enly Father was responsible

and loving enough to send

His Son to give us a chance

to be with Him eternally.

What chances are we

giving those we have fa-

thered?

Brenda and Charles Bruce participated in the Engine 2 28-day Challenge, sponsored by Whole Foods Market. The

winner with the most improved BMI received a $200 voucher from Whole Foods Market. Charles and Brenda did

not win, but at the end of the challenge, they lost a combined total of 27 pounds!

VOTE NOW FOR

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Come Worship With Us!

Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church

7709 Wilson Boulevard

Columbia, SC 29203

803.786.2800

Pastor John Pooler, III

Service Times Sabbath Morning Praise and Worship 8:00am

Sabbath School 9:15am

Divine Worship Service 11:00am

AYS One hour before sunset

Wednesday Night Prayer and Bible Connection 7:00pm

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www.EphesusSDA.org

Every department,

Every ministry,

Every member,

has a story

for Christ.

Share it with us.