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This Week at First

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April 21st: The Good Shepherd



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    April 21st, The Fourth Sunday of Easter: In the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, a shepherd was a common occupation, but I for one have known very few people who keep sheep or goats as an occupation. The front to Palmyra First’s sanctuary has a statuary image of the Good Shepherd and this will be the focus of our attention. The message “The Good Shepherd” will be based on both the familiar words of the 23rd Psalm and John 10:11-18.


    See you Sunday.


    Grace and Peace,

    Pastor Jim


    This Week's Scriptures

    Psalm 23

     The Divine Shepherd

    A Psalm of David.

    1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

    2     He makes me lie down in green pastures;

    he leads me beside still waters;[a]

    3     he restores my soul.[b]

    He leads me in right paths[c]    

    for his name’s sake.

     

    4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[d]    

    I fear no evil;for you are with me;    

    your rod and your staff—    

    they comfort me.

     

    5 You prepare a table before me   

     in the presence of my enemies;

    you anoint my head with oil;    

    my cup overflows.

    6 Surely[e] goodness and mercy[f] shall follow me    

    all the days of my life,

    and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord    

    my whole life long.[g] 


    John 10:11-18


    11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.  13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.  14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,  15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.  16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.  17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.  18 No one takes[a] it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”








    9am Service



    10:30am Service



    April 14th: Doubts



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      April 14th – The Third Sunday of Easter: There is no getting around it. Doubt is a part of the human experience. You would think the early disciples, who witnessed first-hand the miracles of Jesus and who heard him say on several occasions he would rise form the dead, would be anticipating his resurrection. But NO! They doubted. But Jesus himself came to them to reassure them of the truth of his resurrection. Do you doubt? Can you receive the same kind of reassurance the disciples received? Our message will be “Doubts,” based on 1 John 3:1-7 and Luke 24:36b-48.


      See you Sunday.


      Grace and Peace,

      Pastor Jim


      This Week's Scriptures

      1 John 3:1-7

       3 1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he[a] is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.  3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

       

      4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.  5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.  6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.  7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.  


      Luke 24:36b-48


      36 Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”[a]  37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost.  38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”  40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.[b]  41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”  42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,  43 and he took it and ate in their presence.

       

      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[c] 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[d] of these things.  








      9am Service



      10:30am Service




      April 7th: Let the Past be the Past



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        April 7th – Second Sunday of Easter: This week, we will focus on the instructions Jesus gave his disciples concerning forgiveness. How do we live out a life of forgiveness and grace when there is so much hate all around us? For answers, we will look to two different Johns, 1 John 1:1-2:2 and John 20:19-31. Our message will be “Let the Past Be the Past.”


        See you Sunday.


        Grace and Peace,

        Pastor Jim


        This Week's Scriptures

        1 John 1:1-2:2

        The Word of Life

        1 We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—  2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—  3 we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  4 We are writing these things so that our[a] joy may be complete.

         

        God Is Light

        5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.  6 If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true;  7 but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

         

        Christ Our Advocate

        2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;  2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.


        John 20:19-31


        Jesus Appears to the Disciples

        19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

         

        Jesus and Thomas

        24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin[a]), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

         

        26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”  28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”  29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

         

        The Purpose of This Book

        30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.  31 But these are written so that you may come to believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah,[c] the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.








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