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This Week at First

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September 21st: Throughout the Bible, there are various accounts of healings. Some in the Old Testament, some in the New. Is there still a place for faith healings in the 21st-Century Christian Church? I believe so; therefore, this week we will hold a service for “Healing and Wholeness.” Our scriptures will be taken from 2 Kings 5:1-14 and Luke 8:42b-49 and the message will be “The Power of God.”


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


2 Kings 5:1-14


The Healing of Naaman

5 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy.[a]  Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.  She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”[b]  So Naaman[c] went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said.  And the king of Aram said, “Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”

He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments.  He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”[d]  When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?[e] Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”

 

But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.”  So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house.  10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.”  11 But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy![f]  12 Are not Abana[g] and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage.  13 But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”  14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.


Luke 8:42b-49


As he went, the crowds pressed in on him.  43 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians,[a] no one could cure her.  44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.  45 Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter[b] said, “Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.”  46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.”  47 When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.  48 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

 

49 While he was still speaking, someone came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.”  








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September 14th: Who should be welcomed in the church? Should we admit blasphemers and people of violence? Should we sully the reputation of the church by fellowshipping with sinners? This week, we will look at 1 Timothy 1:12-17 and Luke 15:1-10 for some biblical answers. Are we upholding the standards of the bible, or are we falling short? Our message is titled “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors – to Whom?”


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


1 Timothy 1:12-17


Gratitude for Mercy

12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,  13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,  14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  15 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.  16 But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.  17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.[a] Amen.


Luke 15:1-10


The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.  And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

 

So he told them this parable:  “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?  When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’  Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

 

The Parable of the Lost Coin

“Or what woman having ten silver coins,[a] if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’  10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”










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September 7th: Pastor Jim will be celebrating the 50 anniversary of the merger of Centenary UMC and Trinity UMC in Lebanon. He was there when the vote was taken and will return with his siblings to the successor church where they all spent some formative years. Millard Fisher will be our “guest” preacher and consecrate the elements for the sacrament of Holy Communion.


In today's gospel lesson, Jesus does a very unusual thing. He shows that he is much more interested in honesty than He is with getting the responses He wants. How might following His example change ourselves and our culture? Our Scriptures are Psalm 139:7-12 and Luke 14:25-33. The sermon title is "Honest Evangelism", and we will celebrate Holy Communion together.


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


Psalm 139:7-12


Where can I go from your spirit?    

Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;    

if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning    

and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

10 even there your hand shall lead me,    

and your right hand shall hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,    

and the light around me become night,”

12 even the darkness is not dark to you;    

the night is as bright as the day,    

for darkness is as light to you.


Luke 14:25-33


The Cost of Discipleship

25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them,  26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.  27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.  28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?  29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him,  30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’  31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?  32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.  33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.







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