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This Week at First

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June 15th: Our Companion

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    Trinity Sunday and Fathers’ Day: On Pentecost Sunday, we talked about anticipating the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, but that was last week. As you seek to have a personal relationship with God, to whom do you turn? Maybe we miss out because we are seeking the wrong person! This week, we will turn to Romans 5:1-5 and John 16:4b-15 and hear a message about who we should be seeking as “Our Companion.”


    See you Sunday.


    Grace and Peace,

    Pastor Jim


    Romans 5:1-5


    Results of Justification

    5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  2 through whom we have obtained access[b] to this grace in which we stand; and we[c] boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  3 And not only that, but we[d] also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.


    John 16:4b-15


    The Work of the Spirit

    “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.  5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’  6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.  7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate[a] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about[b] sin and righteousness and judgment:  9 about sin, because they do not believe in me;  10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;  11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

     

    12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.









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    June 8th: Anticipate

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      Pentecost Sunday: Each year on Pentecost Sunday, one of our readings is Acts 2:1-21. This year, we will pair the reading with John 14:8-17, 25-27. The passage from John is part of the final discourse of Jesus as he was telling the disciples to anticipate the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Since the days of the first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has been active in the lives of Christians. We too, as a part of Palmyra First and as individuals, have the Holy Spirit available to us. Are we ready to receive the gift? The message will be “Anticipate.”


      See you Sunday.


      Grace and Peace,

      Pastor Jim


      Acts 2:1-21


      The Coming of the Holy Spirit

      2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

       

      5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.  6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.  7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?  8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?  9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,  10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,  11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”  12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”  13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

       

      Peter Addresses the Crowd

      14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.  15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.  16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

       

      17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,and your young men shall see visions,    and your old men shall dream dreams.18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,    in those days I will pour out my Spirit;        and they shall prophesy.19 And I will show portents in the heaven above    and signs on the earth below,        blood, and fire, and smoky mist.20 The sun shall be turned to darkness    and the moon to blood,        before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’


      John 14:8-17, 25-27


      8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.  11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.  12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.  13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  14 If in my name you ask me[a] for anything, I will do it.

       

      The Promise of the Holy Spirit

      15 “If you love me, you will keep[b] my commandments.  16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[c] to be with you forever.  17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in[d] you.


      25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you.  26 But the Advocate,[a] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.  27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.  









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      June 1st: Watching and Waiting

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        The Seventh (and last) Sunday of Easter: The Ascension of Jesus took place 40 days after Easter, but we tend to celebrate the day on the following Sunday rather than on the 40th day, which is a Thursday. Our readings will be two different accounts of the ascension, both written by Luke. The first comes from Luke 24:44-53 and the second from the Acts 1:1-11. Our message will be “Watching and Waiting.”


        See you Sunday.


        Grace and Peace,

        Pastor Jim


        Luke 24:44-53


        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[a] 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[b] of these things.  49 And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

         

        The Ascension of Jesus

        50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.  51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.[c]  52 And they worshiped him, and[d] returned to Jerusalem with great joy;  53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.[e]


        Acts 1:1-11


        The Promise of the Holy Spirit

        1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning  2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.  3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.  4 While staying[a] with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me;  5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

         

        The Ascension of Jesus

        6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”  7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.  8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.  10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.  11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”










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