WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH —
• THIS IS ASH WEDNESDAY
DORCUS/RUTH CIRCLE - PAT HOUGH'S @ 1:30PM• ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE —
CASEY U.M.C. AT 7 P.M.
FOCUS:
A JOURNEY TO HOPE: RISKING ADVENTUREScripture Reading:
MARK 8:32-37
(The Message) TMV
by Eugene Peterson - copyright 2002.
32 He said this simply and clearly so they
couldn't miss it.
33 Turning and seeing his disciples wavering,
wondering what to believe, Jesus
confronted Peter. "Peter, get out of my way!
Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God
works."
34 Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he
said, "Anyone who intends to come with
me has to let me lead. You're not in the
driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering;
embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how.
35 Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is
the way, my way, to saving yourself, your
true self.
36 What good would it do to get everything
you want and lose you, the real you?
37 What could you ever trade your soul for?
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH —
ANGEL FOOD DISTRIBUTION IN CASEY U.M.C.FROM NOON 'TIL 1 P.M.
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST —
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
"A JOURNEY TO HOPE"
FOCUS:
CHOOSING YOUR TRAVELING COMPANIONS.
Our readings focus on the temptation of Jesus and
reminds us that we are on a journey in which
temptation is both a companion and a factor
we must deal with.
Our Lenten Scripture is: MARK 10: 13-16:
(The Message) TMV
13 The people brought children to Jesus, hoping
he might touch them. 14 The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was
irate and let them know it: "Don't push these
children away. Don't ever get between them
and me. These children are at the very center of
life in the kingdom.
15 Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom
in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." 16 Then, gathering the children up in his arms,
he laid his hands of blessing on them.
he might touch them. 14 The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was
irate and let them know it: "Don't push these
children away. Don't ever get between them
and me. These children are at the very center of
life in the kingdom.
15 Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdomin the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." 16 Then, gathering the children up in his arms,
he laid his hands of blessing on them.
Our other Scripture Readings are:
DEUTERONOMY 26:1-11
(The Message) TMV
Copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson.
This offering would have occurred several times in
a year, depending on the crop being harvested
at the time. This ritual was more than simply words
and gestures. It was a concrete, lived confession
that connected the labor and fruits of each harvest.
The life and livelihood enactment of who these people
were, because of who God is. Each family carried the
offerings in baskets of peeled willow, or palm leaves,
and they were brought to the sanctuary.
GIVE THE LORD HIS SHARE
1 Once you enter the land that God, your God, is giving
you as an inheritance and take it over and settle down,
2 you are to take some of all the first fruits of what you
grow in the land that God, your God, is giving you, put
them in a basket and go to the place God, your God,
sets apart for you to worship him.
3 At that time, go to the priest who is there and say,"I announce to God, your God, today that I have
entered the land that God promised our ancestors
that he'd give to us."
4 The priest will take the basket from you and place it
on the Altar of God, your God.
5 And there in the Presence of God, your God, you willrecite, A wandering Aramean was my father, he went
down to Egypt and sojourned there, he and just a handful
of his brothers at first, but soon they became a great
nation, mighty and many.
6 The Egyptians abused and battered us, in a cruel and
savage slavery.
7 We cried out to God, the God-of-Our-Fathers: He
listened to our voice, he saw our destitution, our trouble,
our cruel plight.
8 And God took us out of Egypt with his strong hand
and long arm, terrible and great, with signs and
miracle-wonders.
9 And he brought us to this place, gave us this land
flowing with milk and honey.
10 So here I am. I've brought the firstfruits of what I've
grown on this ground you gave me, O God.
11 And rejoice! Celebrate all the good things that God,
your God, has given you and your family; you and the
Levite and the foreigner who lives with you.
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PSALM 91:1-2, 9-16 (UMH 810)
(King James Version) KJV
This psalm offers a way to pray confessing God's
continued promise of protection for God's people.
If you sing a response, consider using
"On Eagles' Wings" (UMH 143) as the response.
PSALM 91:1-2 1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my
fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
PSALM 91:9-16
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my
refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any
plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to
keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou
dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young
lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will
I deliver him: I will set him on high , because he hath
known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be
with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my
salvation.
THIS IS A COMPLETE VERSION OF THE HYMN
FOUND IN "THE OTHER SONGBOOK" COMPILED
BY DAVE ANDERSON.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––ROMANS 10:8b-13:
Confession is the foundation to salvation. We both
"believe in our hearts" and "confess with our lips."
Speech without the commitment of our deepest
values also gets us nowhere. It's always both, each
reinforcing the other. Paul declares God's intention
to save all who believe upon and confess Jesus as
Lord, with particular focus on the act of confession.
Jesus is Lord, not the political parties.
Jesus is Lord, not the global marketplace.
Jesus is Lord, not my personal preferences.
Jesus is Lord, not my employer.
Jesus is Lord, not the fashionable trends.
Jesus is Lord.
ROMANS 10:8-13(The Message) TMV
8 So what exactly was Moses saying? The word
that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in
your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest.
9 Say the welcoming word to God - "Jesus is my
Master" - embracing, body and soul, God's work
of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from
the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything;
you're simply calling out to God, trusting him to
do it for you. That's salvation.
10 With your whole being you embrace God setting
things right, and then you say it, right out loud:
"God has set everything right between him and me!"
11 Scripture reassures us, "No one who trusts God
like this - heart and soul - will ever regret it."
12 It's exactly the same no matter what a person's
religious background may be: the same God for all
of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to
everyone who calls out for help.
13 "Everyone who calls, 'Help, God!' gets help."
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
LUKE 4:1-13 (The Message) TMV
TEMPTATIONS OF CHRIST
Jesus' 40 day fast in the wilderness is at the
heart of all the readings for today. These 40
days of Lent are an invitation the church has
taken for centuries to spend such time with God.
Luke's story makes clear that the temptations do
not take place in the wilderness or desert proper.
The first of them takes place just as Jesus is
emerging from the wilderness. The second is on
a mountain. The third in Jerusalem, at the pinnacle
of the temple. Luke recounts the temptation of
Jesus following his baptism and a period of fasting
in the wilderness prior to the beginning of his public
ministry. Jesus consistently confesses his identity
responding to temptations to choose another way.
1 Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and
was led by the Spirit into the wild.
2 For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested
by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and
when the time was up he was hungry.
3 The Devil, playing on his hunger, gave the first test:"Since you're God's Son, command this stone to turn
into a loaf of bread."
4 Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: "It takesmore than bread to really live."
5 For the second test he led him up and spread out
all the kingdoms of the earth on display at once.
6 Then the Devil said, "They're yours in all their
splendor to serve your pleasure. I'm in charge of them
all and can turn them over to whomever I wish.
7 Worship me and they're yours, the whole works."
8 Jesus refused, again backing his refusal with
Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God and only
the Lord your God. Serve him with absolute
single-heartedness."
9 For the third test the Devil took him to Jerusalem
and put him on top of the Temple. He said, "If you are
God's Son, jump.
10 It's written, isn't it, that 'he has placed you in thecare of angels to protect you;
11 they will catch you; you won't so much as stub
your toe on a stone'?"
12 "Yes," said Jesus, "and it's also written, 'Don't you
dare tempt the Lord your God.'"
13 That completed the testing. The Devil retreated
temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity.
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND —
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY
This is Pastor Lynn"s and Naomi's day off.The office is closed today.
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD—
Women of the Bible Study @ Senior Center - 1 P.M.
ADAIR AD COUNCIL MEETING AT 6:30 P.M.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH —
LENTEN SERVICES AT GOOD SHEPHERD CHURCH AT 7 P.M.
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH —
T.T.T. #2 at 9:30 A.M.
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Lent is a 40 day liturgical season that begins
Ash Wednesday and concludes at the Great Vigil of
Easter. We traditionally think of it as a recollection of the
40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. We may think of
it as a time of fasting, resisting temptation, doing penance
and practicing self discipline. This will mean different
things to different people, as we are all pursued by our
own demons. Take this time to be kind to yourselves, as
well as others.
God Bless and Keep You,
Pastor Lynn
