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This Week at First

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10:30 AM Traditional

November 3rd: Who Shall Stand in God's Holy Place?


    All Saints’ Sunday: Psalm 24 asks, “Who Shall Stand in God’s Holy Place?” This will be our question too as we celebrate All Saints’ Sunday and remember those who have gone before us. Our Scriptures will be Psalm 24 and Revelation 21:1-6.


    See you Sunday.


    Grace and Peace,

    Pastor Jim


     

    Psalm 24


    Entrance into the Temple


    Of David. A Psalm.

    1 The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,    the world, and those who live in it;2 for he has founded it on the seas,    and established it on the rivers.

     

    3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?    And who shall stand in his holy place?4 Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,    who do not lift up their souls to what is false,    and do not swear deceitfully.5 They will receive blessing from the Lord,    and vindication from the God of their salvation.6 Such is the company of those who seek him,    who seek the face of the God of Jacob.[a] Selah

     

    7 Lift up your heads, O gates!    and be lifted up, O ancient doors!    that the King of glory may come in.8 Who is the King of glory?    The Lord, strong and mighty,    the Lord, mighty in battle.9 Lift up your heads, O gates!    and be lifted up, O ancient doors!    that the King of glory may come in.10 Who is this King of glory?    The Lord of hosts,    he is the King of glory. Selah


     

    Revelation 21:1-6


    The New Heaven and the New Earth

    21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

    “See, the home[a] of God is among mortals.He will dwell[b] with them;they will be his peoples,[c]and God himself will be with them;[d]4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.Death will be no more;mourning and crying and pain will be no more,for the first things have passed away.”

     

    5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.  


     









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    10:30am Service:



    October 27th: What Is Real Love Like?


      “What Is Real Love Like?” Not the romantic kind of “falling in love”, but the intentional kind of love that cares for others. This week we will investigate God’s command to love as stated in both the Old and New Testaments. Our scriptures will be taken from both Ruth 1:1-18 and Mark 12:28-34.


      See you Sunday.


      Grace and Peace,

      Pastor Jim


       

      Ruth 1:1-18


      Elimelech’s Family Goes to Moab

      1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons.  2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.  3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.  4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years,  5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

       

      Naomi and Her Moabite Daughters-in-Law

      6 Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his people and given them food.  7 So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah.  8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.  9 The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud.  10 They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”  11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?  12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons,  13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.”  14 Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

       

      15 So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”  16 But Ruth said,

      “Do not press me to leave you    or to turn back from following you!Where you go, I will go;    where you lodge, I will lodge;your people shall be my people,    and your God my God.17 Where you die, I will die—    there will I be buried.May the Lord do thus and so to me,    and more as well,if even death parts me from you!”

       

      18 When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.


       

      Mark 12:28-34


      The First Commandment

      28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”  29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;  30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’  31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’;  33 and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.


       







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      October 20th: Why Do We Serve?


        “Why Do We Serve?” will be the topic for us to consider as Bill Hassenfritz puts his new Christ Servant Minister training to good use. Bill will be using texts from Isaiah 53:4-12 and Mark 10:35-45 as he crafts his sermon. Please come to support Bill in his service to God and Palmyra First as our “guest” speaker.


        See you Sunday.


        Grace and Peace,

        Pastor Jim


         

        Isaiah 53:4-12


        4 Surely he has borne our infirmities    and carried our diseases;yet we accounted him stricken,    struck down by God, and afflicted.5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,    crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the punishment that made us whole,    and by his bruises we are healed.6 All we like sheep have gone astray;    we have all turned to our own way,and the Lord has laid on him    the iniquity of us all.

         

        7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,    yet he did not open his mouth;like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,    so he did not open his mouth.8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away.    Who could have imagined his future?For he was cut off from the land of the living,    stricken for the transgression of my people.9 They made his grave with the wicked    and his tomb[a] with the rich,[b]although he had done no violence,    and there was no deceit in his mouth.

         

        10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.[c]When you make his life an offering for sin,[d]    he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.11     Out of his anguish he shall see light;[e]he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.    The righteous one,[f] my servant, shall make many righteous,    and he shall bear their iniquities.12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;because he poured out himself to death,    and was numbered with the transgressors;yet he bore the sin of many,    and made intercession for the transgressors.


         

        Mark 10:35-45


         The Request of James and John


        35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”  36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?”  37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”  38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”  39 They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;  40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

         

        41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.  42 So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.  43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,  44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.  45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”


         








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