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This Week at First

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June 16: Embracing the Good Change


Father’s Day: It has been said, “The only people who like change are babies with dirty diapers.” Sometimes, churches are reluctant to change, even when they know it is needed. This is not a new problem. In the Old Testament, the prophet Samuel knew a change was needed, but he was reluctant to be the agent of that change. In the gospel people saw a change and would not accept the change and missed out on a great blessing. How willing are we to change when change is needed? Our scriptures will be taken from 1 Samuel 15:34-16:6 and Mark 6:1-13. The message is titled “Embracing the Good Change.”


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

1 Samuel 15:34-16:6


34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.  35 Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.

 

David Anointed as King

16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”  2 Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’  3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.”  4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?”  5 He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

 

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.”[a]  


 

Mark 6:1-13


The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

6 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.  2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!  3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary[a] and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense[b] at him.  4 Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.”  5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.  6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.


The Mission of the Twelve

Then he went about among the villages teaching.  7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.  8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;  9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.  10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.  11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”  12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.  13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

   

 







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June 9: What is Best?


When your heart is troubled, do you pray? What are you praying for in times of distress? Are you dominating the conversation or do you give God a chance to speak? This week, we will look at two examples of prayer found in the Bible. The attitudes with which the prayer requests were made were very different and so were the outcomes. Our scriptures are taken from 1 Samuel 8:4-20 and Mark 14:32-36. Our message will be “What is Best?”


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

1 Samuel 8:4-20


4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,  5 and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.”  6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord,  7 and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.  8 Just as they have done to me,[a] from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you.  9 Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

 

10 So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.  11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots;  12 and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.  13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.  14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers.  15 He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers.  16 He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle[b] and donkeys, and put them to his work.  17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.  18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

 

Israel’s Request for a King Granted

19 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, “No! but we are determined to have a king over us,  20 so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.”  


 

Mark 14:32-36


Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

32 They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”  33 He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated.  34 And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.”  35 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.  36 He said, “Abba,[a] Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.”  

   

 







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June 2: Number 4



Second Sunday of Kingdomtide: Have you thought about the Ten Commandments lately? What do they really mean. How strictly must I follow them? This week, we will consider “Number 4” to discern what it means in today’s world. Our scriptures will be taken from Romans 14:1-13 and Mark 2:23-3:6.


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

Romans 14:1-13


Do Not Judge Another

14 Welcome those who are weak in faith,[a] but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.  2 Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.  3 Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them.  4 Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord[b] is able to make them stand.

 

5 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds.  6 Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

 

7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.  8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.  9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

 

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister?[c] Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister?[d] For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.[e]  11 For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,    and every tongue shall give praise to[f] God.”

 

12 So then, each of us will be accountable to God.[g]

 

Do Not Make Another Stumble

13 Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another.[h]  


 

Mark 2:23-3:6


Pronouncement about the Sabbath

23 One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.  24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?”  25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food?  26 He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.”  27 Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath;  28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

 

The Man with a Withered Hand

3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand.  2 They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him.  3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.”  4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.  5 He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.  6 The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

   

 









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