FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK: "THow Jesus is Made Known"

  May 1, 2026

    From The Pastor’s Desk:

   “How Jesus is Made Known”

”When He (Jesus) was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and He disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:30-32)

     How has Jesus been made known among us? We have seen Jesus at a lot of events at Mt. Carmel in these last couple of months. We celebrated Palm Sunday with a cantata, gathered around the table for Maundy Thursday, and worshipped the risen Christ on Easter. But perhaps the most remarkable event I witnessed where Jesus has been made known was during our Community Fun Day, on March 28. Our Evangelism and Youth Ministry Committees teamed up to plan this event to reach our neighbors, and to share the love of Jesus with them. We set aside a prayer meeting at 3pm for six Sundays leading up to this event. These were powerful moments where many who attended were given a word from the Lord, a Bible verse, or a vision of what may happen here.

     What happened at our community event was even beyond what we could have asked or imagined. I want to thank everyone who helped to make this a great success. We had around 50 volunteers from our church help with this event. We are grateful to everyone who came out and volunteered as well as those who gave generous gifts that enabled us to put on such a big event. We had around 1200 children and adults from our community attend. Our Methodist Men shuttled guests in golf carts down to the softball field where they were greeted at the registration tent. On the field there were twelve inflatable bounce houses, yard games, a craft tent, and a prayer area. We also had a food tent and gave away free hot dogs, chips, and drinks along with gift bags and pocket testaments for each family. We invited Evangelist Dwight Haynes from Virginia to come and share the Gospel. He did an amazing job sharing the Good News by having the audience learn to do chalk art drawings. He didn’t just tell them about Jesus. The evangelist invited them to draw themselves into the story. Barry Newberry took a drone video of the event. It was amazing to see how full our parking lot was as well as the field that day.

     This was a great start, but we need to continue to offer events where Jesus can be made known to others in our community. We hope to plan 2-3 more outreach events this year to get to know our community; and more importantly, to let the community get to know us. We can’t simply sit on the hill and expect people to come. We have to go out into our neighborhood.

      Jesus gives us an example of what that looks like on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24). After Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus went into the neighborhood. He meets two confused and distraught disciples on the way home from Jerusalem. He walks with them and listens to their stories along the road. He is genuinely interested in their journey. In their discussion, Jesus opens the scriptures up to them. When they reach their home, these disciples invite Jesus into their home. In the breaking of the bread, their eyes are opened and they recognize the stranger walking with them is Jesus. This encounter is so impactful that the two disciples return to Jerusalem that very night to tell others that Jesus Christ is risen! Now that’s relational evangelism!

     Has the risen Christ made a difference in your life? If so, I invite you to do something that will help others know about Him. Our Evangelism Team will be meeting at 7:00pm on May 13.  A representative from Crossroads Kids Club will be present to tell us about how we can start a weekly Bible Club at our local elementary school. Some other ideas the Evangelism Team are hosting a mobile Vacation Bible School to local parks this summer, starting a church bus ministry, and having a Revival this Fall.

  We will also be having another Prayer Meeting at 3:00pm on May 31. We will be focusing on being “Called and Sent” in our May worship series, and focus on “Equipping the Saints” for ministry in our June worship series. Our NC Global Methodist Church will be teaching on the same theme at our Annual Conference at 7:00pm each night on June 17-19 at the Benton Convention Center in Winston Salem. It is free to attend. You are welcome to come to any or all of these events and share your prayers and ideas.. Pray that the Lord will use us to invite others to have a life changing encounter with the risen Christ.

     The Gospel is not meant to be buried: it’s meant to be carried. Jesus has commissioned us and given us the authority “to go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19-20). Let’s be the church that carries the Good News so the risen Christ will be made known in our community!

In Christ Alone,

Pastor Mary Miller