NOVEMBER 4TH TO NOVEMBER 10TH
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REMINDERS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31ST—
HAVE AN EXHILARATING HALLOWEEN!!!
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST —
WORLD COMMUNITY DAY
• World Community Day focuses on justice and peace for all, around the world.
• Many cultures in our world insist upon being
the driving force for all cultures. In this
Information Age of the 21st century, that is
quite selfish - and impossible. If a culture
is humane, compassionate, and benevolent, to
its citizens and to the outside world, we must
have respect for it. Knowing this, it still seems
that greed blooms and spreads more easily than
compassion. Greed is rather like that weed
called Kudzu that is so prolific in our southern
states.
must be more intensely cultivated. Church
Women United, an ecumenical organization of
Christian women is doing just that with
World Community Day.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3RD —
• Silent Auction will begin at 8:30 A.M.
• Worship Service begins at 10:45
• Lunch will begin at 12:00 noon.
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH —
AT THE ADAIR COMMUNITY CENTRE:
ADAIR U.M.C. FALL DINNER AT 11 A.M.
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ALL SAINTS SUNDAY
TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
COLOR: WHITE OR RED
• Two different sets of readings available
to use this Sunday.
• One set is for the "regular" Sunday —
(23rd Sunday after Pentecost).
• The other is for All Saints Day —
(November 1 or November 4).
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In the life of the church, ALL SAINTS DAY is
considered a "major feast day."
ALL SAINT'S READINGS IN OUR HYMNAL ARE:
• Canticle: UMH 652, "Canticle of Remembrance"
• Canticle: UMH 734, "Canticle of Hope"
SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR ALL SAINTS DAY
ARE:
ISAIAH 25:6-9
† New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Isaiah prophesies a day when the temple mount
would be host to a lavish feast with rich foods
and the best wines for all peoples of the earth.
6 On Mount Zion the Lord who rules over all
will prepare a feast for all of the nations.
The best and richest foods
and the finest aged wines will be served.
7 On that mountain the Lord will destroy
the veil of sadness that covers all of the
nations.
He will destroy the gloom that is spread
over everyone.
8 He will swallow up death forever.
The Lord and King will wipe away the tears
from everyone's face.
He will remove the shame of his people
from the whole earth.
The Lord has spoken.
9 At that time they will say,
"He is our God.
trusted in him, and he saved us.
He is the Lord. We trusted in him.
Let us be filled with joy because he saved us."
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PSALM 24 (UMH 755)
† New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
"Who shall stand in God's holy place?
Those who have clean hands and pure hearts.
They shall receive blessing from the Lord."
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 The earth belongs to the Lord. And so does
everything in it.
The world belongs to him. And so do all
those who live in it.
2 He set it firmly on the oceans.
He made it secure on the waters.
3 Who can go up to the temple on the hill of
the Lord?
Who can stand in his holy place?
4 Anyone who has clean hands and a pure
heart.
He does not worship the statue of a god.
He doesn't use the name of that god when
he makes a promise.
5 People like that will receive the Lord's
blessing.
When God their Savior hands down his
sentence, it will be in their favor.
6 The people who look to God are like that.
God of Jacob, they look to you.
Selah (Stop and listen)
7 Open wide, you gates.
Open up, you age-old doors.
Then the King of glory will come in.
8 Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, who is strong and mighty.
The Lord, who is mighty in battle.
9 Open wide, you gates.
Open wide, you age-old doors.
Then the King of glory will come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory?
The Lord who rules over all.
He is the King of glory.
Selah (Stop and listen)
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REVELATION 21:1-6
† New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Revelation seems to move us beyond any
current histories into the fullness of the age to
come, a reformatting and reboot of all creation.
Another vision of salvation — God lowers the
new Jerusalem from the new heaven to the new
earth, a new order in which the sea, sorrow,
pain, and death are all no more. "Behold, I make
all things new!" What Revelation describes as
our promise as saints emphatically isn't heaven.
It is Earth 2.0, and it is a city on this planet that
animates life for all. It is the new Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven, and God coming
among us to dwell with us here.
• THE NEW JERUSALEM
1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first
heaven and the first earth were completely gone.
There was no longer any sea.
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem. It was
coming down out of heaven from God. It was
prepared like a bride beautifully dressed for her
husband.
3 I heard a loud voice from the throne. It said,
"Now God makes his home with people. He will
live with them. They will be his people. And God
himself will be with them and be their God.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or sadness. There
will be no more crying or pain. Things are no
longer the way they used to be."
5 He who was sitting on the throne said, "I am
making everything new!" Then he said, "Write
this down. You can trust these words.
They are true."
6 He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the First and the Last. I am the
Beginning and the End. Anyone who is thirsty
may drink from the spring of the water of life.
It doesn't cost anything!
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JOHN 11:32-44
† New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Salvation enacted — Jesus calls Lazarus forth
from the dead and orders the bystanders to
unwrap his grave clothes and let him go free.
John declares Christ’s victory over physical
death. Everything in this story indicates that
Lazarus was truly dead. His sisters and the
neighbors mourn. Martha notes the smell of his
decaying flesh emanating from the tomb where
his body had been laid to dry. Mary and Martha
(in earlier verses) each tell him if he had been
there Lazarus would not have died. Skeptical
onlookers consider his death proof positive that
Jesus is not as powerful as his reputation might
make him seem.
32 Mary reached the place where Jesus was.
When she saw him, she fell at his feet. She said,
"Lord, I wish you had been here! Then my
brother would not have died."
33 Jesus saw her crying. He saw that the Jews
who had come along with her were crying also.
His spirit became very sad, and he was troubled.
34 "Where have you put him?" he asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied.
35 Jesus sobbed.
36 Then the Jews said, "See how much he loved
him!"
37 But some of them said, "He opened the eyes
of the blind man. Couldn't he have kept this man
from dying?"
JESUS RAISES LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD
38 Once more Jesus felt very sad. He came to
the tomb. It was a cave with a stone in front of
the entrance.
39 "Take away the stone," he said.
"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the
dead man, "by this time there is a bad smell.
Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days."
40 Then Jesus said, "Didn't I tell you that if you
believed, you would see God's glory?"
41 So they took away the stone.
Then Jesus looked up. He said, "Father, I thank
42 I know that you always hear me. But I said
this for the benefit of the people standing here.
I said it so they will believe that you sent me."
43 Then Jesus called in a loud voice. He said,
"Lazarus, come out!"
were wrapped with strips of linen. A cloth was
around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the clothes he was
buried in and let him go."
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READINGS FOR THE 23RD SUNDAY AFTER
PENTECOST
There are good reasons to include Ruth as the
first lesson today even if we keep this day as
All Saints Sunday.
RUTH 1:1-18
† New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Ruth is a short story composed to remind a
post-exilic people keen on removing “foreigners”
and people of mixed heritage that their fondly
remembered king, David, was great-grandson of
a Moabite woman.
POST-EXILIC: relating to the period of Jewish
history following the Babylonian captivity
(time after 586 b.c.).
A Moabite widow, Ruth, determines to continue
to live with and support the household of her
Judean mother-in-law, Naomi, who had lost her
husband and both of her sons.
Sometimes this text is used to criticize Orpah
for returning to “her own people and her gods”
and praise Ruth by comparison. But, in fact, the
story itself never does this. Naomi begs both of
her daughters-in-law to return to their homeland
and to the people among whom they may be more
likely to find a possibility of marriage and children.
And it is clear that both Orpah and Ruth deeply
respected and loved Naomi. There were no easy
choices here for Ruth or Orpah.
Each choice meant a loss - - either of the
relationship with Naomi they had known for ten
years, or of a future among their own people.
To some, Orpah’s choice may have seemed the
most reasonable, and Ruth’s may well have been
understood as problematic. The Hebrew verb
describing Ruth’s action toward Naomi is davaq.
(davaq means “cling,” verse 14). It was perfectly
acceptable for a woman to “cling” to a husband
and offer to take his people and gods as her own
people and gods.
Yet here, Ruth gives a clinging attachment
and commitment to her mother-in-law. She was
in fact honoring the woman who had become a
mother to her.
This story may provide an opportunity for
examining ways that God may be working in and
through any “outsider” or “marginal” people to
strengthen rather than threaten or undermine
our own identity.
RUTH 1:1-18
RUTH GOES TO BETHLEHEM WITH NAOMI
1 There was a time when Israel didn't have kings
to rule over them. But they had leaders to help
them. This is a story about some things that
happened during that time.
There wasn't enough food in the land of Judah.
So a man went to live in the country of Moab for
awhile. He was from Bethlehem in Judah. His
wife and two sons went with him.
2 The man's name was Elimelech. His wife's
name was Naomi. The names of his sons were
Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from
Bethlehem in Judah. They went to Moab and
lived there.
3 Naomi's husband Elimelech died. So she was
left with her two sons.
4 They got married to women from Moab. One
was named Orpah. The other was named Ruth.
Naomi's family lived in Moab for about ten years.
5 Then Mahlon and Kilion also died. So Naomi
was left without her two sons and her husband.
6 While Naomi was in Moab, she heard that the
Lord had helped his people. He had begun to
provide food for them again. So Naomi and her
daughters-in-law prepared to go from Moab back
to her home.
7 She left the place where she had been living.
Her two daughters-in-law went with her. They
started out on the road that would take them
back to the land of Judah.
8 Naomi spoke to her two daughters-in-law.
"Both of you go back," she said. "Each of you
go to your own mother's home. You were kind to
your husbands, who have died. You have also
been kind to me. So may the Lord be just as
kind to you.
9 May he help each of you find a secure place in
the home of another husband. May he give you
peace and rest."
Then she kissed them good-by. They broke down
and sobbed loudly.
10 They said to her, "We'll go back to your
people with you."
Why would you want to come with me? Am I
going to have any more sons who could become
your husbands?
12 "Go home, my daughters. I'm too old to have
another husband. Suppose I thought there was
still some hope for me. Suppose I got married to
a man tonight. And later I had sons by him.
13 Would you wait until they grew up? Would you
stay single until you could get married to them?
No, my daughters. My life is more bitter than
yours. The Lord's powerful hand has been
against me!"
14 When they heard that, they broke down and
sobbed again.
Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by.
But Ruth held on to her.
15 "Look," said Naomi. "Your sister-in-law is
going back to her people and her gods.
Go back with her."
you and go back. Where you go I'll go. Where
you stay I'll stay. Your people will be my people.
Your God will be my God.
17 Where you die I'll die. And there my body will
be buried. I won't let anything except death
separate you from me. If I do, may the Lord
punish me greatly."
18 Naomi realized that Ruth had made up her
mind to go with her. So she stopped trying to
make her go back.
———————————————————————
PSALM 146 (UMH 858)
† New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
We praise God as one who is compassionate to
widows, orphans and strangers.
1 Praise the Lord.
I will praise the Lord.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life.
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Don't put your trust in human leaders.
Don't trust in people. They can't save you.
4 When they die, they return to the ground.
On that very day their plans are bound to fail.
5 Blessed are those who depend on the God of
Jacob for help.
Blessed are those who put their hope in the
Lord their God.
6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth and the
ocean.
He made everything in them.
The Lord remains faithful forever.
7 He stands up for those who are beaten down.
He gives food to hungry people.
The Lord sets prisoners free.
8 The Lord gives sight to those who are blind.
The Lord lifts up those who feel helpless.
The Lord loves those who do what is right.
9 The Lord watches over the outsiders who live
in our land.
He takes good care of children whose fathers
have died.
He also takes good care of widows.
But he causes evil people to fail
in everything they do.
10 The Lord rules forever.
The God of Zion will rule for all time to come.
Praise the Lord.
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HEBREWS 9:11-14
† New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Hebrews continues to identify Jesus as the great
high priest whose life, death, and resurrection
have superseded all human systems of ritual
sacrifice.
Christ's self-offering delivers us from sin and
ts power, while the temple's sacrifices could
only deal with ritual impurity.
Blood from a bull and a goat were used for the
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The role of the
blood in the Yom Kippur rite was to “clean out”
or, more literally, “cover over” (“kippur” means
“cover”) the spiritual "gunk" that had
accumulated on the implements of the
tabernacle/temple as a result of the sins of the
high priest (bull's blood) and the sins of the
whole people (goat's blood).
• THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
11 Christ came to be the high priest of the good
things that are already here. When he came, he
went through the greater and more perfect holy
tent. The tent was not made by people. In other
words, it is not a part of this creation.
12 He did not enter by spilling the blood of goats
and calves. He entered the Most Holy Room by
spilling his own blood. He did it once and for all
time. He paid the price to set us free from sin
forever.
13 The blood of goats and bulls is sprinkled on
people. So are the ashes of a young cow. They
are sprinkled on people the Law called unclean.
The people are sprinkled to make them holy.
That makes them clean on the outside.
14 But Christ offered himself to God without any
flaw. He did this through the power of the eternal
Holy Spirit. So how much more will his blood
wash from our minds our feelings of guilt for
committing sin! Sin always leads to death. But
now we can serve the living God.
———————————————————————
MARK 12:28-34
† New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
A scribe asks Jesus to state the most important
instruction in Torah. Jesus replies with love of
God above all and love of neighbor as oneself.
The scribe agrees, adding that this is more
important than anything the sacrificial system
can do or requires.
“The Great Commandment”: Love God with all
you are and your neighbor as yourself.
The effect of Mark’s telling is to show that
everyone, from the radical Jesus to the most
conservative scribe, agrees about how basic
this teaching is. It is simply not possible to be
spiritual (daily and personal) but not religious
(as a gathered worshiping community),
nor religious but not spiritual, if we are to live
out the great commandments of our Lord.
It must always be both.
• THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMANDMENT
28 One of the teachers of the law came and
heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that
Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer.
So he asked him, "Which is the most important
of all the commandments?"
29 Jesus answered, "Here is the most important
one. Moses said, 'Israel, listen to me. The Lord
is our God. The Lord is one.
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul. Love him with all your
mind and with all your strength.'
—(Deuteronomy 6:4,5)
31 And here is the second one. 'Love your
neighbor as you love yourself.'- (Leviticus 19:18)
There is no commandment more important
than these."
32 "You have spoken well, teacher," the man
replied. "You are right in saying that God is one.
There is no other God but him.
33 To love God with all your heart and mind and
strength is very important. So is loving your
neighbor as you love yourself. These things are
more important than all burnt offerings and
sacrifices."
34 Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely.
He said to him, "You are not far from
God's kingdom."
From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any
more questions.
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH -
Pastor Melodee will be leaving for Israel.
We pray the journey will be sensational and safe.
◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
• AUMW meeting in Adair U.M.C. at 1:30 P.M.
• Martha Circle will meet in Casey U.M.C.
at 7 P.M.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8TH —
Deborah-Mary Circle will meet in Casey
U.M.C.at 2:00 P.M.
FUTURE FOCUS —
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11th —
CASEY U.M.C. FALL DINNER
AT CASEY COMMUNITY BUILDING.
• Combined Worship at 9:30 A.M. in Casey U.M.C.
• Bazaar at 10:30 A.M., Dinner at 11:00 A.M., and
Auction at 1:00 P.M. will be in the
Casey Community Building.
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Keep the east coast people in your prayers.
and realize hundreds of thousands of people
need to find some place to stay. 7,000,000 + are
without electricity - and will be for days to come.
The infrastructure fails and several states have
serious flooding.
arcing electric wires have started 80 + houses
on fire, so far.
It's a sight to watch the thousands of rescue
workers picking up stranded people with boats,
with big trucks, with helicopters . . . anything
that moves. Our Mark scripture reading today
entreats us to love our neighbors. Can there be
any greater love than to try to get thousands of
strangers to safety - from roof tops - from
flooded streets - from burning homes?
The rescue workers deserve praise, honors and
accolades for their bravery and diligence.
God Bless and Keep You,
Pastor Melodee
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