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This Week at First

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10:30 AM Traditional

March 28th: Resisting Good



Mid-Week Holy Week Services: This year, Palmyra First Church is cooperating with the Gravel Hill Church to offer two special, joint services. While there are similarities, there will also be major differences. The Holy Thursday service will be held at Gravel Hill and the Good Friday service at First Church. Both Services will begin at 7:00 PM.


March 28th – Holy Thursday: You are invited to gather at Gravel Hill Church for a remembrance of the Last Supper as we relive some of the events of the night Jesus was betrayed. The service will take us on a journey through portions of the Old Testament, the Psalms, and the New Testament. The message will be offered by Pastor Jim based on John 13:1-20 and will be titled “Resisting Good.”


See you Thursday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

This Week's Scriptures

John 13:1-20


Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

13 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.  2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper  3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God,  4 got up from the table,[a] took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.  5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.  6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”  7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”  8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”  9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”  10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet,[b] but is entirely clean. And you[c] are clean, though not all of you.”  11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

 

12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?  13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am.  14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.  16 Very truly, I tell you, servants[d] are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.  17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.  18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread[e] has lifted his heel against me.’  19 I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he.[f]  20 Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”


 




March 24th: Is It Just for Show?



March 24th – Palm Sunday: Palm Sunday is becoming one of the top attended services for the Christian Church. Maybe it is because there is tangible evidence you have been to worship in the form of a palm frond. But the reality is, Palm Sunday begins the most important weeks in history – Holy Week. A week that is a roller coaster ride from the high of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the low of the execution on Good Friday, which leads to resurrection on Easter.


On Palm Sunday, we will focus on the crowd that cheered as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the disciples who accompanied Jesus, and the crowd that gathered at the palace on Good Friday. What happened to the disciples promises to Jesus? Why the radical change in the shouts of the people on Good Friday when Pilate asked, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” Our message, “Is It Just for Show?” will be based on Mark 11:1-11, 14:29-31, 66-72.


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

This Week's Scriptures

Mark 11:1-11

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples  2 and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it.  3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’”  4 They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it,  5 some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”  6 They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it.  7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it.  8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields.  9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna!    Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!10     Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

 

11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.


 

Mark 14:29-31, 66-72



 29 Peter said to him, “Even though all become deserters, I will not.”  30 Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.”  31 But he said vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same.


Peter Denies Jesus

66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by.  67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”  68 But he denied it, saying, “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the forecourt.[a] Then the cock crowed.[b]  69 And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.”  70 But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.”  71 But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about.”  72 At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.


 






9am Service:



10:30am Service:




March 17th: When Trouble Comes



March 17th, The Fifth Sunday in Lent: Some people, even preachers, believe that all faithful Christians live charmed lives. If we just have enough faith, God will be with us every step of the way and ensure life will be good, and trouble is only what someone else experiences. Based on our reading from John 12:20-33, Jesus is likely to disagree with this kind of thinking. Our message, “When Trouble Comes” will be based on the

reading from John and Hebrews 5:5-10.


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

This Week's Scriptures

Hebrews 5:5-10

5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,

“You are my Son,    today I have begotten you”;

 

6 as he says also in another place,

“You are a priest forever,    according to the order of Melchizedek.”

 

7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus[a] offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered;  9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,  10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.


 

John 12:20-33


Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.  21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.  23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

 

Jesus Speaks about His Death

27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.  28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”  29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”  30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.  31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.  32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people[a] to myself.”  33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.  


 






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