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This Week at First

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August 3rd: Priorities

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    What are you asking of Jesus? Sometimes our requests are inappropriate, and such is the case with our reading from Luke 12:13-21. With support from Colossians 3:1-11 we will explore the appropriateness of our priorities in life and in our relationship with Christ. The message will be titled “Priorities.”


    See you Sunday.


    Grace and Peace,

    Pastor Jim


    Colossians 3:1-11


    The New Life in Christ

    3 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth,  3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ who is your[a] life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

     

    5 Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).  6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.[b]  7 These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life.[c]  8 But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive[d] language from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices  10 and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.  11 In that renewal[e] there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!



    Luke 12:13-21


    The Parable of the Rich Fool

    13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”  14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”  15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”  16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly.  17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’  18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’  20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’  21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”







    9am Service:

    10:30am Service:



    July 27th: Stand Firm

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      Is your wood wet? Has your passion for Christ diminished? Did you quench the flame of the Holy Spirit? This week we look at Colossians 2:6-15, 16-19 and Luke 11:1-13 to see how they address our situation which is often a time of trial. Our message will be “Stand Firm.”


      See you Sunday.


      Grace and Peace,

      Pastor Jim



      Colossians 2:6-15, 16-19


       Fullness of Life in Christ

      6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives[a] in him,  7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

       

      8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe,[b] and not according to Christ.  9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,  10 and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.  11 In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision,[c] by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ;  12 when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.  13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God[d] made you[e] alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses,  14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.  15 He disarmed[f] the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.



      16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths.  17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.  18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling[a] on visions,[b] puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking,[c]  19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.


      Luke 11:1-1


      The Lord’s Prayer

      11 He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”  2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

      Father,[a] hallowed be your name.    Your kingdom come.[b]3     Give us each day our daily bread.[c]4     And forgive us our sins,        for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.    And do not bring us to the time of trial.”[d]

       

      Perseverance in Prayer

      5 And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;  6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’  7 And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’  8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

       

      9 “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for[e] a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish?  12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion?  13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit[f] to those who ask him!”








      9am Service:

      10:30am Service:


      July 20th: Reconciliation

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        This week we will be reading from both Colossians 1:15-28 and Luke 10:38-42. The reading from Colossians explains the nature of Jesus while the reading from Luke shows him in action. Our topic will be "Reconciliation."


        See you Sunday.


        Grace and Peace,

        Pastor Jim


        Colossians 1:15-28


        The Supremacy of Christ

        15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;  16 for in[a] him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.  17 He himself is before all things, and in[b] him all things hold together.  18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.  19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,  20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

         

        21 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,  22 he has now reconciled[c] in his fleshly body[d] through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him—  23 provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

         

        Paul’s Interest in the Colossians

        24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.  25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,  26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.  27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.  


        Luke 10:38-42


        Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

        38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.  39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.  40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.”  41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;  42 there is need of only one thing.[a] Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”








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