OUR WEEK - DECEMBER 4 TO DECEMBER 10

REMINDERS —
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH —
• Advent Study - “What I Want for Christmas.”• 4-week study held in two sessions each week.
• • FIRST SESSION -
WEDNESDAY, November 30, Casey UMC, - 2 PM.
IF YOU CAN ATTEND, PLEASE CONTACT
PASTOR BOB OR NAOMI, TO REGISTER.
• BRING YOUR BIBLES! •• ABC AD COUNCIL MEETING THIS EVENING —
IN CASEY U.M.C. AT 7 P.M.
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1ST —
— WORLD AIDS DAY —• Advent Study - “What I Want for Christmas.”
• • SECOND SESSION -
THURSDAY, December 1st, Adair UMC, - 7 PM.
IF YOU CAN ATTEND, PLEASE CONTACT
PASTOR BOB OR NAOMI, TO REGISTER.
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3RD — 1 TO 8 P.M. &
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4TH — 10 A.M. TO 2 P.M.
ADAIR FESTIVAL OF TREES — ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4TH —
ADAIR-CASEY SCHOOL CHOIR WILL SING AT
BOTH SERVICES THIS MORNING.
CASEY U.M.C. CHRISTMAS POTLUCK
AFTER MORNING SERVICE.HOSTED BY ALL OF THE CIRCLES
EVERYONE IS WELCOME ! !
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— HOLY COMMUNION TODAY —
SCRIPTURE READINGS —
ISAIAH 40:1-11
(The Message)
Four brief prophecies arranged in dramatic
form declare the hope of God's coming to
rescue the exiles from captivity.
• In verses 1-2, the prophet is called by God:
"Comfort my people in exile!"
• In verses 3-4, a voice cries, "Prepare God's
way," as a highway forms across the desert
from Babylon to Judea.
• In verses 5-8, the prophet announces, "Life
is ephemeral; God's word is eternal."
• In verses 9-11, those keeping watch in
Jerusalem, a city in ruins, are called to declare
from the highest height the victory of God
because God will bring the exiles home and
sustain them.
1 "Comfort, oh comfort my people," says your God.
2 "Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem, but also
make it very clear That she has served her sentence,
that her sin is taken care of - forgiven! She's been
punished enough and more than enough, and now
it's over and done with."
3 Thunder in the desert! "Prepare for God's arrival!
Make the road straight and smooth, a highway fit for
our God.
4 Fill in the valleys, level off the hills, Smooth out the
ruts, clear out the rocks.
5 Then God's bright glory will shine and everyone will
see it. Yes. Just as God has said."
6 A voice says, "Shout!" I said, "What shall I shout?"
"These people are nothing but grass, their love fragile
as wildflowers.
7 The grass withers, the wildflowers fade, if God so
much as puffs on them. Aren't these people just so
much grass?
8 True, the grass withers and the wildflowers fade,
but our God's Word stands firm and forever."
9 Climb a high mountain, Zion. You're the preacher of good news. Raise your
voice. Make it good and loud, Jerusalem. You're
the preacher of good news. Speak loud and clear.
Don't be timid! Tell the cities of Judah, "Look! Your
God!"
10 Look at him! God, the Master, comes in power,
ready to go into action. He is going to pay back his
enemies and reward those who have loved him.
11 Like a shepherd, he will care for his flock,
gathering the lambs in his arms, Hugging them as
he carries them, leading the nursing ewes to good
pasture. The Creator of All You Can See or Imagine.
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PSALM 85:1-2, 8-13 (UMH 806)
(The Message)
A response of thanks and trust in God's
deliverance.
PSALM 85:1-2
1 God, you smiled on your good earth! You brought
good times back to Jacob!
2 You lifted the cloud of guilt from your people, you
put their sins far out of sight.

PSALM 85:8-13
8 I can't wait to hear what he'll say. God's about to
pronounce his people well, the holy people he loves
so much, so they'll never again live like fools.
9 See how close his salvation is to those who fear
him? Our country is home base for Glory!
10 Love and Truth meet in the street, Right Living
and Whole Living embrace and kiss!
11 Truth sprouts green from the ground, Right
Living pours down from the skies!12 Oh yes! God gives Goodness and Beauty; our
land responds with Bounty and Blessing.
13 Right Living strides out before him, and clears a
path for his passage.
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2 PETER 3:8-15
(The Message)
• The best scientific consensus on the future
of our planet today says that unless we are
able to reduce carbon emissions to a
sustainable level, by 2050 nearly thirty percent
of the species on earth may be endangered, and
billions of humans living near coastal waters
may be displaced by flooding.
• This isn't Red State or Blue State, liberal or
conservative views. This is the best scientific
consensus that world climatologists on our
planet have achieved presently. We are way
past trying to pin this on anyone. Where human
beings can alter these results or at least slow
their occurrence, we must do so. Most human
animals have an instinctive desire to protect
our children and our grandchildren. The lives
of our future generations demand our attention
to the earth's environment.
Scientists predict our sun will continue to
expand until it becomes a Red Giant, literally
dissolving the first three inner planets, including
earth, with its heat —— in about 5 billion years.We must sustain a living environment on this
planet in this century.With God's grace, we can do it.
• The coming circumstance of the world as we
know it, means that we now must strive for lives
of holiness. We are called to make the present
age a place where righteousness is at home,
even as we wait for changes of the future.
8 Don't overlook the obvious here, friends. With God,
one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand
years as a day.
9 God isn't late with his promise as some measure
lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you,
holding back the End because he doesn't want
anyone lost. He's giving everyone space and time to
change.
10 When the Day of God's Judgment does come, it
will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will
collapse with a thunderous bang, everything will
disintegrate in a huge conflagration, earth and all its
works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment.
11 Since everything here today may well be gone
tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a
holy life?
12 Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival.
The galaxies may burn up and the elements melt
down that day -
13 but we'll hardly notice. We'll be looking the other
way, ready for the promised new heavens and the
promised new earth, all landscaped with
righteousness.
14 So, my dear friends, since this is what you have
to look forward to, do your very best to be found
living at your best, in purity and peace.
15 Interpret our Master's patient restraint for what it
is: salvation. Our good brother Paul, was given
much wisdom in these matters.
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MARK 1:1-8
(The Message)
The gospel begins with the ministry of John
the Baptizer, calling all to repentance and
baptism for forgiveness to get ready for the
kingdom of the one to come, the one who
baptizes not simply with water, but with the
Holy Spirit.
• In Mark's gospel we learn this age is passing
away. God's kingdom is breaking in, changing
the rules of power, breaking what keeps people
in bondage, forgiving sins, healing the sick,
raising the dead, casting out demons, setting
all kinds of bound-up folks free. There would
be no going back to the former ways.

We hear it loud and see it clear in the prophecy
and manner of life of John, known as
"The Baptizer." The opening of this text recalls
the second scene of Isaiah, the call for the
construction project in the desert. John
embodied that call by where he placed himself -
- in the Judean desert, near the Jordan River,
the last place on the highway from Babylon to
Jerusalem the exiles would encounter before
returning to their homeland.
1 The good news of Jesus Christ - the Message! -
begins here,
2 following to the letter the scroll of the prophet
Isaiah. Watch closely: I'm sending my preacher
ahead of you; He'll make the road smooth for you.
3 Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God's arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!4 John the Baptizer appeared in the wild, preaching
a baptism of life-change that leads to
forgiveness of sins.
5 People thronged to him from Judea and Jerusalem
and, as they confessed their sins, were baptized by
him in the Jordan River into a changed life.6 John wore a camel-hair habit, tied at the waist with
a leather belt. He ate locusts and wild field honey.
7 As he preached he said, "The real action comes
next: The star in this drama, to whom I'm a mere
stagehand, will change your life.
8 I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old
life in for a kingdom life. His baptism - a holy baptism
by the Holy Spirit will change you from the inside out."
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— CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS PROGRAM —
Good Shepherd Sunday School Program at the
Presbyterian Church — at 6:30 P.M.
Children from all denominations go to this.
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7TH —
TODAY IS PEARL HARBOR DAY.
WE COMMEMORATE ALL OF THE LIVES LOST
WHEN PEARL HARBOR WAS ATTACKED IN 1941
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CHRISTMAS PARTY AT ADAIR U.M.C.
HOSTED BY ADAIR U.M.W. AT NOON• ADVENT BIBLE STUDY —“What I Want for Christmas.”
In Casey U.M.C., - at 2 PM.
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8TH —
• ADVENT BIBLE STUDY —“What I Want for Christmas.”
In Adair U.M.C., - at 7 PM.
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10TH —
— CHRISTMAS MALL —
Casey U.M.C. — East Wing, Social Room
IDEAS ———
ON DECEMBER 17TH, ADULTS MAY SHOP
FROM NOON TIL 1 PM
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God Bless and Keep You,
Pastor Bob