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WEDNESDAY, MAY 18TH —
Dorcus/Ruth Circle — 9:30 A.M. with Louise Arter.
Martha Circle @ 7 P.M. at Casey U.M.C.
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Deborah/Mary Circle at 2 P.M. in Casey U.M.C.
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FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
TODAY IS HERITAGE SUNDAY, the date closest to
"ALDERSGATE DAY" (MAY 24, 1738)
COLOR: WHITE OR GOLD
SCRIPTURE READINGS ARE:
ACTS 7:55-60
(The Message)
How could Stephen, in the council-chamber, see
heaven at all? As the sight was witnessed by
Stephen alone, the opened heavens are to be
viewed as revealed to his bright beaming spirit.
While Stephen sees Jesus, the crowd sees stones.
Saul stands by, holding the cloaks of those who
stoned Stephen.
55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, hardly noticed.
He only had eyes for God, whom he saw in all his
glory with Jesus standing at his side.
56 He said, "Oh! I see heaven wide open and the
Son of Man standing at God's side!"
57 Yelling and hissing, the mob drowned him out.Now in full stampede,
58 they dragged him out of town and pelted him with
rocks. The ringleaders took off their coats and asked
a young man named Saul to watch them.
59 As the rocks rained down, Stephen prayed,"Master Jesus, take my life."
60 Then he knelt down, praying loud enough for
everyone to hear, "Master, don't blame them for this
sin" - his last words. Then he died. Saul was right
there, congratulating the killers.
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PSALM 31:1-5, 15-16 (UMH 764)
(The Message)
The prayer of a believer in time of deep distress.
In the first part, cries for help are mingled with
expressions of confidence. Then the detail of
grief engrosses his attention, till he relates joyful
trust and encourages others to confidence in God.
PSALM 31: 1-16
1 I run to you, God; I run for dear life. Don't let me
down! Take me seriously this time!
2 Get down on my level and listen, and please - no
procrastination! Your granite cave a hiding place,
your high cliff aerie a place of safety.
3 You're my cave to hide in, my cliff to climb. Be mysafe leader, be my true mountain guide.
4 Free me from hidden traps; I want to hide in you.
5 I've put my life in your hands. You won't drop me,
you'll never let me down.
6 I hate all this silly religion, but you, God, I trust.
7 I'm leaping and singing in the circle of your love;
you saw my pain, you disarmed my tormentors,
8 You didn't leave me in their clutches but gave me
room to breathe.
9 Be kind to me, God - I'm in deep, deep trouble
again. I've cried my eyes out; I feel hollow inside.
10 My life leaks away, groan by groan; my years
fade out in sighs. My troubles have worn me out,
turned my bones to powder.
11 To my enemies I'm a monster; I'm ridiculed by
the neighbors. My friends are horrified; they cross
the street to avoid me.
12 They want to blot me from memory, forget me like
a corpse in a grave, discard me like a broken dish in
the trash.
13 The street-talk gossip has me "criminally insane"!
Behind locked doors they plot how to ruin me for good.
14 Desperate, I throw myself on you: you are my God!
15 Hour by hour I place my days in your hand, safe
from the hands out to get me.
16 Warm me, your servant, with a smile; save me
because you love me.
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1 PETER 2:2-10
(The Message)
Cast off the old as an outward thing, so that the
Christian can exhibit himself as a new man. A
play on Peter's name -- the baptized are living
stones with Christ our cornerstone, being made
into a holy and royal priesthood, a holy nation,
God's own people.
2 Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God's
pure kindness. Then you'll grow up mature and whole
in God.
3 You've had a taste of God.
4 Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life.
The workmen took one look and threw it out;
God set it in the place of honor.
5 Present yourselves as building stones for the
construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which
you'll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved
lives up to God.
6 The Scriptures provide precedent: Look! I'm setting
a stone in Zion, a cornerstone in the place of honor.
Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation will never
have cause to regret it.
7 To you who trust him, he's a Stone to be proud of,
but to those who refuse to trust him, The stone theworkmen threw out is now the chief foundation stone.
8 For the untrusting it's . . . a stone to trip over, a
boulder blocking the way. They trip and fall because
they refuse to obey, just as predicted.
9 But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for
the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy
people, God's instruments to do his work and speak
out for him, to tell us of the night-and-day difference
he made -
10 from nothing to something,
from rejected to accepted.
————————————————————————
JOHN 14:1-14 (The Message)
They had run along with their whole nation in that
common expectation, that the kingdom should be
restored unto Israel through the Messiah.
They had expected all imaginable pomp and
magnificence, splendor and triumph. They found,
alas! all things to the contrary; they had got little
by following him but poverty, contempt, reproach,
and persecution: and now that their Master was
to leave them, they could have no prospect or
hope of better things.
Is this the kingdom of the Messiah?
"Let not your heart be troubled: Ye believe
in God, believe also in me."
1 "Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you?
Trust me.
2 There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home.
If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my
way to get a room ready for you?
3 And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll
come back and get you so you can live where I live.
4 And you already know the road I'm taking."
5 Thomas said, "Master, we have no idea where you're
going. How do you expect us to know the road?"
6 Jesus said, "I am the Road, also the Truth, also theLife. No one gets to the Father apart from me.
7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father
as well. From now on, you do know him. You've even
seen him!"
8 Philip said, "Master, show us the Father; then we'll
be content."
9 "You've been with me all this time, Philip, and youstill don't understand? To see me is to see the Father.
So how can you ask, 'Where is the Father?'
10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the
Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren't
mere words. I don't just make them up on my own.
The Father who resides in me crafts each word into
a divine act.
11 "Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is
in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see -
these works.
12 The person who trusts me will not only do what
I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my
way to the Father, am giving you the same work to
do that I've been doing. You can count on it.
13 From now on, whatever you request along the
lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's
how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son.
I mean it.
14 Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.
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MONDAY, MAY 23RD —
This is Pastor Lynn's and Naomi's day off.
The office is closed today.
Our Bible Study groups are finishing the focus on
"Easter From the Backside" this week.
• Monday Evening Bible Study is canceled for
the rest of the month of May.
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TUESDAY, MAY 24TH —
• Tuesday Morning Bible Study is canceled for
the rest of the month of May.
"ALDERSGATE DAY" (MAY 24, 1738)
The day when John Wesley's heart was, as he
recounts it, "strangely warmed" while attending
a meeting of a Moravian Society. This was not a
congregational worship, but a separate meeting
designed for Bible Study.
"In the evening I went very unwillingly to a societyin Aldersgate street, where one was reading Luther's
preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter
before nine, while he was describing the change
which God works in the heart through faith in Christ,
I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in
Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance
was given me that he had taken away my sins, even
mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."
——— John Wesley
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 25TH —
Adair AD Council Meeting at 6:30 P.M.
Rev. Ed Kail will attend to discuss consultations.
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T.T.T. Bible Study at Casey U.M.C. is canceled for
the rest of the month.
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FRIDAY, MAY 27TH —
Office will be closed today.
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FUTURE FOCUS —
I have purchased the book entitled
"Heaven Is For Real". It is for both Adair & Casey
United Methodist Churches to make the rounds.
It is a quick read and very good. It might be fun tospend an evening talking about the book with all
those who read it — — maybe in June?
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• • Casey UMC Vacation Bible School will be held
starting Sunday night, July 10th to Thursday night
July 14th from 6 to 9PM. This year our VBS is
"Pandamania, Where God is Wild about You!"
Chadder Theater will be back again this year. • • We need a supply of PAPER TOWEL TUBES
or empty LONG WRAPPING PAPER TUBES.
When you save a supply, please bring them to
the church for our craft projects. Carol Weston
will be posting a list of other items we will need
at that time.
• • We still need a person to be "Craft Leader"
this year. We will have all the supplies for you
and we will provide you with instructions. YOU
will need to be available all 5 nights of VBS.
• • Please let Carol Weston know if you would
like to be a VBS helper. Young Adult and Adults
are needed to help with small groups that will
move from station to station when we learn
about our lesson each night.
• • BRING A FRIEND! Registration forms will
soon be available. Everyone attending needs
to register and have permission to participate.
CHILDREN FROM 3 YEARS OLD TO 6TH GRADE
WELCOME.
YOUTH OLDER THAN 6TH GRADEMAY BE HELPERS.
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Have your kids registered for
church camp yet?
We have more scholarships available. Would youlike to send your grand kids or a neighbor kid to
church camp this year? Now is your chance.
It is easy! Call the church office for more details.
• • June 12th will be Pentecost Sunday.
Please plan to wear red, yellow, orange
or any bright, warm color to church on
this day.
THANK YOU for all of your contributions thatkeep us rolling along. When we all pull together,
we are a formidable bunch.
God Bless and Keep You,
Pastor Lynn