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This Week at First

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May 19: The Advocate



Pentecost Sunday: Pentecost is sometimes described as the birthday of the church. The disciples did as Jesus asked and were rewarded with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In a similar way, the founders of the churches, which became the United Methodist Church, were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Will the Spirit come again and fill us with new abilities and excitement? Our message will be titled “The Advocate,” based on both John 15:26-26, 16:4b-15, and Acts 2:1-21. Because this is the Sunday immediately preceding Annual Conference, Pastor Jim will have some historic items in the sanctuary and will celebrate Holy Communion using the chalice John Wesley sent to America in 1784.


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

John 15:26, 16:4b-15


26 “When the Advocate[a] comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.


 4 But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.


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.


 

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.’



 







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May 12: What's Next?



Ascension Sunday and Mother’s Day: In a troubled world, we need to remember what Jesus said to his disciples just before he ascended to heaven. We need to stop worrying and simply do the work we have been assigned by God, but that’s easier said than done. This week, we will look at the two accounts of the ascension of Jesus that Luke gives us. Our scriptures will be Luke 24:44-53 and Acts 1:1-11. Our message will be “What’s Next?”


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

Luke 24:44-53


44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.”  45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,  46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah[a] is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day,  47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  48 You are witnesses[b] of these things.  49 And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

 

The Ascension of Jesus

50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.  51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.[c]  52 And they worshiped him, and[d] returned to Jerusalem with great joy;  53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.[e]

 

Acts 1:1-11


The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning  2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.  3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.  4 While staying[a] with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me;  5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

 

The Ascension of Jesus

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”  7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.  8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.  10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.  11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”


 










May 5: The Exclusive Nature of God's Love



May 5th - The Sixth Sunday of Easter: This Sunday, we will be examining ourselves in terms of our love toward others. Are we living up to the standards God has set before us? We will look at 3 scriptures including Acts 10:44-48, 1 John 5:1-6, and John 15:9-17. Am I (and are you) willing to strive for the kind of love Jesus expects of his disciples? Our message will be “The Exclusive Nature of God’s Love.”


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

Acts 10:44-48


Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit

44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.  45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,  46 for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said,  47 “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”  48 So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.


 

1 John 5:1-6


Faith Conquers the World

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ[a] has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.  2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  3 For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,  4 for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.  5 Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

 

Testimony concerning the Son of God

6 This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.  


 

John 15:9-17


 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.  10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

 

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.  15 I do not call you servants[a] any longer, because the servant[b] does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.  16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.  17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.


 







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