The Church at Zemuly

Do you know what’s wrong with America today?

Well, only 55% of American adults believe in God…. Even fewer are devout Christians. 27% attend church at least twice a month. Pray, pray, pray and stand your ground. We have let our communities fall away from God. 💔 ~ Fred

See below info about Myles Branch’s Service.

It saddens me to report that we lost another member today… Mr. Myles Branch passed away unexpectedly this afternoon. Please remember the Branch family in your prayers.

Mike Branch of the Zemuly Community has passed away. There will be a memorial service at a later date. Please keep the Branch Family in your prayers.

Thank you to all of our friends who continue to support us and follow our page!! I haven’t given any updates lately, but I’ll share what we’ve been up to in Zemuly. We were able to leave the United Methodist Church and acquire the deed to the Church property in Zemuly. The property is safe and is now simply, The Church at Zemuly. The actual building is in much worse shape than it appears from the outside. It was built in 1924 and time has taken its toll on this building and it’s really not safe to use. To be completely honest, there’s not much that could save this old building without completely rebuilding it from its foundation…, but it’s just a building. There are many lives that were touched in that building so it has a legacy reaching far beyond its 4 walls. We are continuing to meet weekly at 9:00 at my Grandmothers home, so feel free to join us any Sunday morning in Zemuly! Having another building on the property at the crossroads is definitely a desire for us, but we have to be realistic in what we can do and God’s will, will be done in His time. I would ask that you continue to pray for our ministry and our community. Also, consider visiting us in Zemuly every Sunday morning at 9:00 and every 2nd and 4th Sunday at 10:30, in Newport, at Salem Church. May God Continue To Bless Us All!! ~ Fred Grantham

As you can see, I (Fred Grantham) titled this page “The Church at Zemuly”. Our ministry is so much more than a little white building at the intersection...
As some of you may know, but for those that don’t, it became impossible for the folks left at church to continue fulfilling all of the requirements of being a “United Methodist Church”. If you don’t know how a UMC works, I’ll try to explain in terms that the average citizen can understand, but know there are more details that I won’t delve into. We (a UMC Church) are appointed a pastor from the conference, we pay portions of their salaries and a portion their benefits. We also pay other fees to the conference to cover administrative costs and benefits, etc. It simply became the “more going out than coming in” scenario. With this being said Bethel United Methodist Church, of the McAdams Charge, of the Starkville District, of the United Methodist Conference of Mississippi, has ceased operations as a United Methodist Church. Because of title, we had to relinquish the physical property to the UMC Church, with the understanding, and promise made, that the property at Zemuly will be returned to the Trustees of the church at the time it was closed. We are currently waiting on the UMC’s request/proposal offer to the trustees. This could be a simple $10 deed transfer or a request for money, we (“I” on behalf of the trustees) simply don’t know what will be asked for the return of our property. We are very adament that the property belongs to the folks of “Zemuly”. The land was donated by Zemuly folks, the material was donated by Zemuly folks and the Labor was donated by Zemuly folks. So in my opinion, it rightfully belongs to Zemuly Folks. I wanted to share this so that our friends were aware of the current situation. We will continue our ministry, as we are currently meeting at my Grandmother’s home in Zemuly. We are no longer affiliated with the UMC, we are simply “The Church At Zemuly”. Feel free to join us, I feel that when you have no financial obligations, you can be much more effective at spreading God’s love. You can look it up for yourself, Jesus never used debt to spread his gospel. Don’t be chained, and don’t be afraid or anxious, he will lead us to where HE wants us to be. I will update further as we go farther along. Pray for God’s will to be done and for us to be faithful followers to where HE leads us. God Bless You All ~ from, The Church at Zemuly.

We have started back meeting for our weekly Bible Study! We met on Tuesday night this week and started a new book about the signs of the times, authored by Dr David Jeremiah. We have plenty of room for anyone who may be interested in joining us, so if you wish to participate send me a message and I’ll provide all of the info. Thanks for your support and God Bless!

Today is the day that we celebrate the single most important event in Christian history, the resurrection. Without this, we would have no assurance, but this solidifies our faith and our future. We serve a Risen Lord! Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus!!

Maundy Thursday of Holy Week: Well many things took place on Thursday of Passion Week. One of the last things Jesus did before he was arrested was pray at The Garden of Gethsemane. We are told by scripture that this was an agonizing time of prayer from the Son to the Father. A time when Jesus asked if there was any other way. He did not want to “drink this cup”. Some folks may think that this statement refers to being tortured and killed by crucifixion, but that’s not it at all. JESUS WAS MORE THAN WILLING TO DIE FOR YOU, that’s not what he was afraid of. In order for the death to be meaningful, Jesus had to do something that he had never done, Jesus had to take on SIN. Follow me closely, Jesus did not sin, never ever, not once, but to die for our sins, he had to bear them all. Jesus didn’t want to be the bearer of sin, he despised sin. Do you realize that when Jesus “drank that cup”, he took on all sins that Christian believers have ever made or will ever make. Jesus bore the load for us, there’s no wonder that Cross was so heavy on that Friday morning. Jesus was introduced to murder, r**e, adultery, lying, cheating, stealing, etc, etc, etc. He didn’t want to be associated with our behaviors, he truly was better than that. In his humility he accepted OUR punishment and took those sins away, forever. He didn’t want to drink out of our cup, because we are dirty and our sins are repulsive to him! He was pure, he was an unblemished lamb, until we blemished him. WE caused the agony, agony that we should’ve been forced to bear. But God So Loved The World, That He Gave Us a Way Out!! Praise Him for this, and remember Jesus wasn’t agonizing over his death, he was agonizing over the thought of being covered with OUR sins... God Bless You All!! ~ Fred Grantham

I can’t take total credit for this idea, it came from a friend.
Everyone is wanting to get back to normal, but maybe that’s not the way we should look at it. Our old normal wasn’t really that great, we were neglecting important things by living selfishly in some cases. We have the opportunity to have a new normal, one that is better than before, one we can create, almost from scratch! Let’s not get back to normal, let’s do much better than that! God Bless Y’all , Fred Grantham

March 31, 2020-April 01, 2020

As I’m sending a “will not meet” note to my Wednesday night Bible Study group, I realize the gravity of what we are facing. We are a very resilient people as we deal with a variety of things from time to time. We trek on through ice and snow, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, and even some earthquakes here in central MS, but we can usually see some type of end to the threat. That’s where it’s all different today though. We don’t have a meteorologist showing us a picture, tracking the storm per se, so we don’t know what we are dealing with. As a matter of fact, we can’t see the storm at all and that worries us, panics us, intimidates us, un-nerves us, and just plain out scares us.
We are afraid of what we don’t know. I’m right there with you, the uncertain future shakes me to my very core, my human core. I also have my spiritual core, and you better believe Satan tries to shake it everyday too. Just as quickly as I panic, I remember and realize that I accepted Jesus as my savior, I was baptized and washed in the blood, my sins were forgiven and my future was solidified through his grace and salvation. Jesus paid my price so I can Rest In Peace when that time comes.
I can’t tell you the worst is over, I can’t even tell you if the worst of this virus has even begun. There’s a whole book in the back of my bible that tells us about more bad things to come, but it also tells us not to worry. We will go through trials, sadness, and hard times, but be assured, if you trust in Jesus, your future is very bright. John 5:24 says: ”Truly, truly, I say unto you, he who hears my word and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life and does not come into judgement, but has passed out of death into life.” Be assured, there is life beyond an earthly death! These words of Jesus should surely comfort us in times of turmoil and for that matter, at all times!
Isaiah 41:10 “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not anxiously look about you for I am your God, I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Folks there is nothing you have ever done that you can’t be forgiven for, just ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. He’s there ready to welcome you to the family and what a fine family it is! If you need some help with this decision feel free to contact me or a local pastor, even a Christian friend whom you trust. We are all in this together and there’s comfort in Jesus Christ’s Salvation!
Pray with me please.
-Lord, we can’t know what the earthly future holds, but we know who holds it. I ask that each of my friends receive a blessing from studying your word with me. I pray that each of us will gain a greater understanding of your word and your love for us. I also pray for the ones who don’t know you as their savior, I pray that a burden of yearning to know you will be placed on their hearts, a burden that can only be eased by a relationship with you. Father I know the burden sins can place on a life and I also have experienced the total relief of it being lifted from my shoulders. Father I thank you for the opportunity to spread your message to others and I pray that you use my friends and I in a mighty way to further your kingdom. Thank you for our blessings, because even in the worst of times, we are still blessed by you daily. Lead, guide, direct, and protect us as we go about our daily tasks. It’s in Jesus name I pray.
-Amen
God Bless You All, and stay safe. ~ Fred Granthan

I hope to use this page as an avenue to share the great news of the Salvation provided through a relationship with Jesus Christ.