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This Week at First

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June 22nd: Accepting Help


    Second Sunday of Kingdomtide: Even the best people have bad days, but do we let our bad days get the best of us? Elijah was having a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day,” but he didn’t move to Australia, he got up and did as God directed him. Maybe we should too! This week we look at 1 Kings 19:1-15a to see what it has to say to us that can help us with life’s issues. Our message will be “Accepting Help.”


    See you Sunday.


    Grace and Peace,

    Pastor Jim


    1 Kings 19:1-15a


    Elijah Flees from Jezebel

    19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.  2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”  3 Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

     

    4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”  5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.”  6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.  7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.”  8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.  9 At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.


    Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

     

    Elijah Meets God at Horeb

    11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;  12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”  15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus."










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    June 15th: Our Companion


      Trinity Sunday and Fathers’ Day: On Pentecost Sunday, we talked about anticipating the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, but that was last week. As you seek to have a personal relationship with God, to whom do you turn? Maybe we miss out because we are seeking the wrong person! This week, we will turn to Romans 5:1-5 and John 16:4b-15 and hear a message about who we should be seeking as “Our Companion.”


      See you Sunday.


      Grace and Peace,

      Pastor Jim


      Romans 5:1-5


      Results of Justification

      5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  2 through whom we have obtained access[b] to this grace in which we stand; and we[c] boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  3 And not only that, but we[d] also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.


      John 16:4b-15


      The Work of the Spirit

      “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.  5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’  6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.  7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate[a] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about[b] sin and righteousness and judgment:  9 about sin, because they do not believe in me;  10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;  11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

       

      12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.









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      June 8th: Anticipate


        Pentecost Sunday: Each year on Pentecost Sunday, one of our readings is Acts 2:1-21. This year, we will pair the reading with John 14:8-17, 25-27. The passage from John is part of the final discourse of Jesus as he was telling the disciples to anticipate the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Since the days of the first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has been active in the lives of Christians. We too, as a part of Palmyra First and as individuals, have the Holy Spirit available to us. Are we ready to receive the gift? The message will be “Anticipate.”


        See you Sunday.


        Grace and Peace,

        Pastor Jim


        Acts 2:1-21


        The Coming of the Holy Spirit

        2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

         

        5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.  6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.  7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?  8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?  9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,  10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,  11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”  12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”  13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

         

        Peter Addresses the Crowd

        14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.  15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.  16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

         

        17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,and your young men shall see visions,    and your old men shall dream dreams.18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,    in those days I will pour out my Spirit;        and they shall prophesy.19 And I will show portents in the heaven above    and signs on the earth below,        blood, and fire, and smoky mist.20 The sun shall be turned to darkness    and the moon to blood,        before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’


        John 14:8-17, 25-27


        8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.  11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.  12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.  13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  14 If in my name you ask me[a] for anything, I will do it.

         

        The Promise of the Holy Spirit

        15 “If you love me, you will keep[b] my commandments.  16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[c] to be with you forever.  17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in[d] you.


        25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you.  26 But the Advocate,[a] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.  27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.  









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