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This Week at First

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10:30 AM Traditional

February 23rd: Patience

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    Life is precious and sometimes we have the opportunity to give the gift of life. One person who has received such a precious gift is Tyler Hicksenheiser who will be our guest speaker this week. Tyler, a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Palmyra, is a recipient of a kidney transplant. His sermon is titled “Patience” and is based on Luke 11:9-10, Psalm 37:7, and Galatians 5:22. His message of “Patience” is one we all need to hear.


    See you Sunday.


    Grace and Peace,

    Pastor Jim


    Luke 11:9-10


    9 “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  



    Psalm 37:7


    7 Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;    do not fret over those who prosper in their way,    over those who carry out evil devices.

     



    Galatians 5:22


    The Fruit of the Spirit

    22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness...

     










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    February 16th: Quit Making Excuses!

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      In the message originally scheduled for February 2nd, we will examine how, over and over again, God’s people don’t trust what God has to say. For example, we will read Jeremiah’s story of disbelief (chapter 1:4-10) and the people of Nazareth’s disbelief (Luke 4:21-30) in the words of the hometown hero, Jesus. Have we broken the cycle or are we continually repeating the cycle? Our message will be “Quit Making Excuses!”


      See you Sunday.


      Grace and Peace,

      Pastor Jim


      Jeremiah 1:4-10


      Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

      4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

       

      5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,and before you were born I consecrated you;I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

       

      6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”  7 But the Lord said to me,

      “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;for you shall go to all to whom I send you,and you shall speak whatever I command you.8 Do not be afraid of them,for I am with you to deliver you,says the Lord.”

       

      9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,

      “Now I have put my words in your mouth.10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,to pluck up and to pull down,to destroy and to overthrow,to build and to plant.”

       



      Luke 4:21-30


       21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”  23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’”  24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.  25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land;  26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.  27 There were also many lepers[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”  28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.  29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.  30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

       









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      February 9th: Willing Workers

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        Call stories in the Bible can be radically different. This week, we will look at two of these stories. The first is Isaiah’s story found in Isaiah 6:1-13 and the calling of Peter, James, and John found in Luke 5:1-11. As we hear these stories, pay attention to what was expected of each of these individuals – it’s probably not what you think! God may be calling you to do the unexpected! How will you respond to God’s call? The message will be titled “Willing Workers.”


        See you Sunday.


        Grace and Peace,

        Pastor Jim



        Isaiah: 6:1-13


        A Vision of God in the Temple

        6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple.  2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.  3 And one called to another and said:

        “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;the whole earth is full of his glory.”

         

        4 The pivots[a] on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.  5 And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

         

        6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.  7 The seraph[b] touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.”  8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”  9 And he said, “Go and say to this people:

        ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend;keep looking, but do not understand.’10 Make the mind of this people dull,    and stop their ears,    and shut their eyes,so that they may not look with their eyes,    and listen with their ears,and comprehend with their minds,    and turn and be healed.”11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said:“Until cities lie waste    without inhabitant,and houses without people,    and the land is utterly desolate;12 until the Lord sends everyone far away,    and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land.13 Even if a tenth part remain in it,    it will be burned again,like a terebinth or an oak    whose stump remains standing    when it is felled.”[c]The holy seed is its stump.

         



        Luke 5:1-11


         The Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard

        5 Let me sing for my beloved

            my love-song concerning his vineyard:My beloved had a vineyard    on a very fertile hill.2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,    and planted it with choice vines;he built a watchtower in the midst of it,    and hewed out a wine vat in it;he expected it to yield grapes,    but it yielded wild grapes.

         

        3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem    and people of Judah,judge between me    and my vineyard.4 What more was there to do for my vineyard    that I have not done in it?When I expected it to yield grapes,    why did it yield wild grapes?

         

        5 And now I will tell you    what I will do to my vineyard.I will remove its hedge,    and it shall be devoured;I will break down its wall,    and it shall be trampled down.6 I will make it a waste;    it shall not be pruned or hoed,    and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;I will also command the clouds    that they rain no rain upon it.

         

        7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts    is the house of Israel,and the people of Judah    are his pleasant planting;he expected justice,    but saw bloodshed;righteousness,    but heard a cry!

         

        Social Injustice Denounced

        8 Ah, you who join house to house,    who add field to field,until there is room for no one but you,    and you are left to live alone    in the midst of the land!9 The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:Surely many houses shall be desolate,    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,    and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.[a]

         

        11 Ah, you who rise early in the morning    in pursuit of strong drink,who linger in the evening    to be inflamed by wine,

          









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