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This Week at First

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April 6: The Citizenship Test


    Fifth Sunday in Lent: While the nation may debate “Birthright Citizenship,” being a Christian is not a birthright! On this last Sunday before Palm Sunday, we will read from Philippians 3:4b-14 and John 12:1-8 as we hopefully begin to realize what we need to do to become a citizen of heaven. Our message will be “The Citizenship Test.”


    See you Sunday.


    Grace and Peace,

    Pastor Jim


    Philippians 3:4b-14


     4 If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:  5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;  6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

     

    7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.  8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ  9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ,[a] the righteousness from God based on faith.  10 I want to know Christ[b] and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,  11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

     

    Pressing toward the Goal

    12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal;[c] but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  13 Beloved,[d] I do not consider that I have made it my own;[e] but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly[f] call of God in Christ Jesus.  


     John 12:1-8


    Mary Anoints Jesus

    12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.  2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.  3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them[a] with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said,  5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii[b] and the money given to the poor?”  6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)  7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it[c] so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.  8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”









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    March 30: Do I Have To?


      Fourth Sunday in Lent: This week, we turn to a very familiar story we call the “prodigal son.” If you know the story, which character do you see yourself playing: the father, the older son, or the younger son? This week’s message will use the story found in Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 along with 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 and will be titled “Do I Have To?”


      See you Sunday.


      Grace and Peace,

      Pastor Jim


      Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32


      15 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.  2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

       

      3 So he told them this parable:  

       

      The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother

      11 Then Jesus[a] said, “There was a man who had two sons.  12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them.  13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.  14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.  15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.  16 He would gladly have filled himself with[b] the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.  17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!  18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;  19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’  20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.  21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’[c]  22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;  24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

       

      25 “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.  26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.  27 He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’  28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.  29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.  30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’  31 Then the father[d] said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.  32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”



      2 Corinthians 5:16-21


      16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view;[a] even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view,[b] we know him no longer in that way.  17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!  18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation;  19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,[c] not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.  20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.











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      March 23: You've Been Warned!



        Third Sunday of Lent: This week, we focus on some specific warnings from God concerning how we live our lives. Our scriptures will be taken from 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Luke 13:1-9, and Isaiah 55:6-9. The message is titled “You’ve Been Warned!”


        See you Sunday.


        Grace and Peace,

        Pastor Jim


        1 Corinthians 10:1-13


        Warnings from Israel’s History

        10 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,[a] that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,  2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,  3 and all ate the same spiritual food,  4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.  5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

         

        6 Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did.  7 Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.”  8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.  9 We must not put Christ[b] to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents.  10 And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.  11 These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.  12 So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.  13 No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

         


        Luke 13:1-9


        Repent or Perish

        13 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?  3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.  4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?  5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

         

        The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

        6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.  7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’  8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.  9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”




        Isaiah 55:6-9


        6 Seek the Lord while he may be found,    call upon him while he is near;7 let the wicked forsake their way,    and the unrighteous their thoughts;let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,    nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,    so are my ways higher than your ways    and my thoughts than your thoughts.









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