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This Week at First

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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

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

 

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.  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.”  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

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;  for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’  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.’  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.

 

“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!”








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10:30am Service:


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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.”








9am Service:

10:30am Service:


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See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


Amos 7:7-17


This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.  And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“See, I am setting a plumb line    in the midst of my people Israel;    I will never again pass them by;the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,    and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,    and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

 

Amaziah Complains to the King

10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.  11 For thus Amos has said,

‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,    and Israel must go into exile    away from his land.’”

 

12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there;  13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

 

14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am[a] no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am[b] a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees,  15 and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

 

16 “Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,    and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’17 Therefore thus says the Lord:‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city,    and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,    and your land shall be parceled out by line;you yourself shall die in an unclean land,    and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”


Luke 10:25-37


The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.[a] “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”  27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”  28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

 

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.  34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  35 The next day he took out two denarii,[b] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’  36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”  37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”








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