—— REMINDERS ——
Wednesday, January 7th —
Adair U.M.W. will meet at 1:30 in the church.
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CONFIRMATION GROUP will meet from
6 - 7:30 P.M. in Casey U.M.C.
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Saturday, January 10th— Bishop Robert Schnase will be
at Oakwood UMC,
400 NE 56TH ST,
Pleasant Hill to discuss
his book "Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations."
Start Time: 10:00 am
End Time: 2:30 pm
Let Pastor Lynn know if you would like a ride.
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It is time for the Annual Church Audit for 2008.
Please provide your checkbook and bank
statements ASAP to Ginger Spangler for Adair
UMC and JoAnn Morris for Casey UMC.
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January 11, 2009 —First Sunday after Epiphany (Baptism of the Lord) Color: White
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper today.
Last Sunday there was no service in Casey UMC
because of icy roads. We will cover some of that
service today, utilizing scripture from this week
and last week. Remember, that the Baptism of
the Lord was originally celebrated as part of
Epiphany, with the manifestation of God through
Jesus Christ to the world. The powerful creation
imagery in this week's text points to God's direct
activity in the world, in creation, destruction, and
re-creation, all of which are caught up in and
around the baptism of Jesus.
Our Scripture Readings today are:
GENESIS 1:1-5; (New American Standard Bible)
The first verse of the Bible gives us a satisfying and useful account of the origin of the earth and the heavens. The faith of humble Christians understands these simple straight-forward words better perhaps than the complicated, complex, convoluted, elaborate words of intellectual men. In the beginning there is disorder, confusion, and evil at work: it is empty of all good, for it is without God. From what we see of heaven and earth, we learn the power of the great Creator. Darkness, chaos, waters, and then the Word that brings order to them all; the emergence of light from the midst of darkness. In Hebrew it reads "Day 1." We are told that the world was made by him, and that nothing was made without him.
The Creation1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
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We see God's dominion in the kingdom of nature. Floods, tornadoes, lightning, devastation, and God reigning in the midst of it all. In the thunder, and lightning, we see and hear his glory. The effects of the Divine power, should remind us of the mighty power of God, and of man's weakness. The stoutest are made to tremble, the proudest are cast down, the secrets of the heart are brought to light, sinners are converted, the savage, and unclean, become harmless, gentle, and pure. There is beauty in holiness, and that puts beauty in all acts of worship.
A psalm of David.
1 Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings;
honor the Lord for his glory and strength.
2 Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea.
The God of glory thunders.
The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars;
the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf;
he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes
with bolts of lightning.
8 The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks
and strips the forests bare.
In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”10 The Lord rules over the floodwaters.
The Lord reigns as king forever.
11 The Lord gives his people strength.
The Lord blesses them with peace.
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Acts 19:1-7 (Amplified Bible)
This story is a reminder of the power and extent of the ministry of John the Baptist. Reaching from Judea to western Asia Minor (Turkey) by the mid-first century, probably some 25-30 years after his execution. John had taught people to live differently in light of the coming Kingdom; Jesus would give them the power of life. It is probably no accident that Luke tells us the number of these believers was about 12.
1 WHILE APOLLOS was in Corinth, Paul went through the upper inland districts and came down to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.
2 And he asked them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed on Jesus as the Christ? And they said, No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.
3 And he asked, Into what baptism then were you baptized? They said, Into John's baptism.
4 And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, continually telling the people that they should believe in the One Who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus having a conviction full of joyful trust that He is Christ, the Messiah, and being obedient to Him.5 On hearing this they were baptized again, this time in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And as Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke in foreign, unknown tongues and prophesied.
7 There were about twelve of them in all.
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Mark 1:4-11 (Amplified Bible)—
While John's baptismal ministry seems to unite folks from Judea and all Jerusalem in confession and repentance, his baptism of Jesus "splits the heavens" (think lightning). The announcement of the voice from the heavens speaks of the arrival of one chosen by God to pour out the Holy Spirit.
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism obligating repentance, a change of one's mind for the better, heartily amending one's ways, with abhorrence of his past sins in order to obtain forgiveness of and release from sins.
5 And there kept going out to him, continuously, all the country of Judea and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, as they were confessing their sins.
6 And John wore clothing woven of camel's hair and had a leather girdle around his loins and ate locusts and wild honey.
7 And he preached, saying, After me comes He Who is stronger more powerful and more valiant than I, the strap of Whose sandals I am not worthy or fit to stoop down and unloose.
8 I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And when He came up out of the water, at once John saw the heavens torn open and the Holy Spirit like a dove coming down to enter into Him.
We have scheduled a Prayer, Scripture, and Music Service this evening - The service will be hosted by Adair UMC. Don't forget, 5:30 to 6:30 PM in the Adair Fellowship Hall. ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
Monday, January 12th —
This is Pastor Lynn's and Naomi's day off.
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Tuesday, January 13th —
Adair Disciple Fellowship will meet from 9 to 11 A.M. in Adair U.M.C.
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Wednesday, January 14th —
Prayer Breakfast at Happy Chef - 7 A.M.
CONFIRMATION GROUP will meet from 6 to 7:30 P.M. in Casey U.M.C.
Pam Fisher is in charge of catering this evening. Thank you Pam
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FYI — Sally Hubbard has fallen and broken her
right wrist and her left arm, just below the shoulder
ball, and she has fractured a vertabrae. She is a
patient in the Washington County Hospital.
Washington is about 35 miles south of Iowa City.
This hospital has a website at wchc.org. The site has
a link called "Send an E-Card to a patient." Very easy
to use and the nursing staff will make sure she sees
the card. Isn't that nifty? She is there to be near her
son, Steve Messinger.
If you wish to send a card, her address is:
Sally Hubbard
Washington County Hospital
Room 2020
Box 909
400 East Polk Street
Washington, Iowa
Get well soon, Sally.
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We are beginning a brand new year and this
little dude holding up the world already has a
VERY full schedule. He can't take care of it all
by himself. He will call on us to take someresponsibility for the place, so I think we
should help him out. We never know where
that strategy might lead us.
One example I would like to recommend is
a book called "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg
Mortenson. He was born in St. Cloud,
Minnesota, and in some phenomenal, amazing
way, he was led to build 78 schools (so far) in
Pakistan and Afghanistan. Unbelievable!
Keep your eyes and ears open. You don'tknow what incredible, astounding path you
may be chosen to follow.
Thank you for stepping forward many, many
times to keep our church life vital. It takes
all of us, you know.
God Bless and Keep You,
Pastor Lynn