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This Week at First

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What makes our worship acceptable to God? This week, we will be reading form Hebrews 12:18-29 and Luke 13:10-17 to see if we can more fully understand what is acceptable to God and what is not acceptable. Our message will be “Acceptable Worship.”


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


Hebrews 12:18-29


18 You have not come to something[a] that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest,  19 and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them.  20 (For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.”  21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”)  22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,  23 and to the assembly[b] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,  24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

 

25 See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!  26 At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.”  27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.  28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe;  29 for indeed our God is a consuming fire.


Luke 13:10-17


Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.  11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.  12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”  13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.  14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.”  15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water?  16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?”  17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.







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While we all want peace and quiet in our homes, in our lives, and in our church, sometimes we need to take action on important issues. This week, we will refer to Hebrews 11:29-12:2 and Luke 12:49-56 for some advice on when we need to sit back and let things happen and when we need to be actively engaged with both God and the world around us. Our message will be titled “The Activist Christian.”


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


Hebrews 11:29-12:2


The Faith of Other Israelite Heroes

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.  30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.  31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient,[a] because she had received the spies in peace.

 

32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—  33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,  34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.  35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.  36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  37 They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two,[b] they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented—  38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

 

39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised,  40 since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.

 

The Example of Jesus

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,[c] and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of[d] the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.


Luke 12:49-56


Jesus the Cause of Division

49 “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!  50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!  51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!  52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three;  53 they will be divided:

father against son    and son against father,mother against daughter    and daughter against mother,mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law    and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

 

Interpreting the Time

54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens.  55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens.  56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"






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One our best churchy words is “faithful,” but want does it mean? This week we will look to Isaiah 1:1, 10-20, Hebrews 11:1-16, and Luke 12:35-38 for some clues to the correct answer. Our message will be titled “Being Truly Faithful.”


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


Isaiah 1:1, 10-20


1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.


10 Hear the word of the Lord,    you rulers of Sodom!Listen to the teaching of our God,    you people of Gomorrah!11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?    says the Lord;I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams    and the fat of fed beasts;I do not delight in the blood of bulls,    or of lambs, or of goats.

 

12 When you come to appear before me,[a]    who asked this from your hand?    Trample my courts no more;13 bringing offerings is futile;    incense is an abomination to me.New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—    I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals    my soul hates;they have become a burden to me,    I am weary of bearing them.15 When you stretch out your hands,    I will hide my eyes from you;even though you make many prayers,    I will not listen;    your hands are full of blood.16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;    remove the evil of your doings    from before my eyes;cease to do evil,17     learn to do good;seek justice,    rescue the oppressed,defend the orphan,    plead for the widow.

 

18 Come now, let us argue it out,    says the Lord:though your sins are like scarlet,    they shall be like snow;though they are red like crimson,    they shall become like wool.19 If you are willing and obedient,    you shall eat the good of the land;20 but if you refuse and rebel,    you shall be devoured by the sword;    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.


Hebrews 11:1-16


The Meaning of Faith

11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Indeed, by faith[a] our ancestors received approval.  By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.[b]

 

The Examples of Abel, Enoch, and Noah

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable[c] sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith[d] he still speaks.  By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.”  And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.  By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.

 

The Faith of Abraham

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised.[e]  12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

 

13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,  14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.  16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.


Luke 12:35-38


Watchful Slaves

35 “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;  36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.  37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.  38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.







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Palmyra First UMC

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520 E. Birch St., Palmyra, PA

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