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This Week at First

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August 11th: All in the Family


How is your family life? Is there a great relationship between the generations or is there animosity? Dysfunctional families are nothing new. The Bible has many stories of families who hadtrouble getting along. What can we learn from the families of King David (in 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33) and King Herod (in Mark 6:14-29)? Our message, “All in the Family” will delve into both the problems our families face and some potential solutions.


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33


 5 The king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders concerning Absalom.

 

6 So the army went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim.  7 The men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there was great on that day, twenty thousand men.  8 The battle spread over the face of all the country; and the forest claimed more victims that day than the sword.

 

9 Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging[a] between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.  


15 And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him, and killed him.


31 Then the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, “Good tidings for my lord the king! For the Lord has vindicated you this day, delivering you from the power of all who rose up against you.”  32 The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” The Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up to do you harm, be like that young man.”

 

David Mourns for Absalom

33 [a] The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”


 

Mark 6:14-29


The Death of John the Baptist

14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’[a] name had become known. Some were[b] saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.”  15 But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”  16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

 

17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod[c] had married her.  18 For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”  19 And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not,  20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed;[d] and yet he liked to listen to him.  21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee.  22 When his daughter Herodias[e] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.”  23 And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.”  24 She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.”  25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”  26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her.  27 Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s[f] head. He went and beheaded him in the prison,  28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother.  29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

   

 








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August 4th: Listen Carefully


Hearing the truth is not always easy. When the truth is bad, there is sometimes a tendency to want to shoot the messenger. Fortunately, for Nathan, he was able to deliver his message to the King without losing his head. Nathan was doing exactly what Jesus tells us to do, hold one another accountable. Our scriptures of the week will be 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a and Luke 17:1-4. The message will be “Listen Carefully.” In recognition of the 70th Anniversary of the Groundbreaking for Palmyra First Evangelical United Brethren, we will celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion using the service from the ritual used by the Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1954.


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a


26 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him.  27 When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son.


Nathan Condemns David

But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord,  12 1 and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.  2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds;  3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him.  4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.”  5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die;  6 he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

 

7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul;  8 I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more.  9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.  10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.  11 Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun.  12 For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.”  13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”


 

Luke 17:1-4


Some Sayings of Jesus

17 Jesus[a] said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come!  2 It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.  3 Be on your guard! If another disciple[b] sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive.  4 And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”

   

 







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July 28: One Thing Leads to Another


Inevitably, one thing leads to another. This has been true throughout history. This week, we will look at how one thing led to another for Israel and King David and how similar things happened to the followers of Jesus. Will we just let one thing lead to another or will be take control of situations so that one thing leads to the right thing? Our scriptures will be 2 Samuel 11:1-15 and John 6:1-21. The sermon is titled “One Thing Leads to Another.”


See you Sunday.


Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jim


 

2 Samuel 11:1-15


David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba

11 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

 

2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful.  3 David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”  4 So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house.  5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

 

6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David.  7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going.  8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king.  9 But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.  10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?”  11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths;[a] and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.”  12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day,  13 David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

 

David Has Uriah Killed

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.  15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.”  


 

John 6:1-21


Feeding the Five Thousand

6 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.[a]   2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.  3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.  4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.  5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”  6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.  7 Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages[b] would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.”  8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,  9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?”  10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they[c] sat down, about five thousand in all.  11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.  12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”  13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.  14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

 

15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

 

Jesus Walks on the Water

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,  17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.  18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.  19 When they had rowed about three or four miles,[d] they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.  20 But he said to them, “It is I;[e] do not be afraid.”  21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

   

 







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