Monday, February 4, 2013

OUR WEEK —
FEBRUARY 10TH TO FEBRUARY 16TH

REMINDERS —
Naomi will be out of town from Thursday through 
the weekend so she will work Monday, Tuesday 
and Wednesday this week. 
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH

SPRC MEETING IN CASEY U.M.C. AT 7 P.M.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH —
Naomi will be out of town today thru the 
weekend.
 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH —
There will be no Small Group Meetings in Adair 

for the time being.  We will begin again in the 
Spring
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH —

TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY
COLOR:  WHITE

SCRIPTURE READINGS:
EXODUS 34:29-35
† THE MESSAGE  (MSG)
Moses returns from Sinai with the two tablets 

of the covenant. His face shines in a way that 
frightens the people. He begins to wear a veil 
when he instructs the people. He takes it off 
when offering worship in the tabernacle.
29-30
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai 
carrying the two Tablets of The Testimony, he didn't 
know that the skin of his face glowed because  
he had been speaking with God.
 Aaron and all  the Israelites saw Moses; saw his 
radiant face, and held back, afraid to get close 
to him.

31-32
Moses called out to them. Aaron and the
leaders in the community came back and Moses
talked with them. Later all the Israelites came up
to him and he passed on the commands,
everything that God had told him on Mount Sinai.


 33-35
When Moses finished speaking with them,
 he put a veil over his face, but when he went into 
the presence of God to speak with him, he removed 
the veil until he came out. When he came out and 
told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 
they would see Moses' face, its skin glowing, and 
then he would again put the veil on his face until he 
went back in to speak with God.  
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PSALM 99 (UMH 819)
† THE MESSAGE  (MSG)
"The Lord reigns; let the people tremble!" A call 

to praise in response to reading from Exodus. 
God rules. On your toes, everybody! He rules
from his angel throne—take notice!
   God looms majestic in Zion,
   He towers in splendor over all the big names.
   Great and terrible your beauty: let everyone
   praise you!
      Holy. Yes, holy.


4-5
Strong King, lover of justice,
   You laid things out fair and square;
   You set down the foundations in Jacob,
   Foundation stones of just and right ways.
   Honor God, our God; worship his rule!
      Holy. Yes, holy.


6-9
Moses and Aaron were his priests,
   Samuel among those who prayed to him.
   They prayed to God and he answered them;
   He spoke from the pillar of cloud.
   And they did what he said; they kept the law
   he gave them.
   And then God, our God, answered them
   (But you were never soft on their sins).
   Lift high God, our God; worship at his holy
   mountain.
      Holy. Yes, holy is God our God.

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2 CORINTHIANS 3:12–4:2
† THE MESSAGE  (MSG)

Paul uses the "veiling motif" we see in the 
Exodus reading, and possibly also used it in 
some Jewish liturgical practices at the reading 
of the Law, to speak of the church's ongoing 
access to the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
and to describe the integrity with which he 
approaches his own mission.  
2 CORINTHIANS 12-15 
With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing
holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to 

hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore 
a veil so the children of Israel wouldn't notice that 
the glory was fading away—and they didn't notice. 
They didn't notice it then and they don't notice it now, 
don't notice that there's nothing left behind that veil. 
Even today when the proclamations of that old, 
bankrupt government are read out, they can't see 
through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they 
can see for themselves that there's nothing there.

16-18
Whenever, though, they turn to face God as
Moses did, God removes the veil and there they
are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that
God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of 

chiseled stone. And when God is personally
present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting
legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free
of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our
faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so 

we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives 
gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as 
God enters our lives and we become like him.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:1-2
TRIAL AND TORTURE
 
Since God has so generously let us in on what
he is doing, we're not about to throw up our hands 

and walk off the job just because we run into 
occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and 
play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate 
behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's Word 
to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do 
and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, 
so that those who want to can see and judge for 
themselves in the presence of God.
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LUKE 9:28-43
† THE MESSAGE  (MSG)
While Jesus was praying on a mountain, his face 

and clothing changed to dazzling white, Moses 
and Elijah appeared, and a voice from a cloud 
says, "This is my Son! My chosen. Listen to him!"

JESUS IN HIS GLORY
 
28-31 About eight days after saying this, he climbed 
the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John, and James 
along. 
 While he was in prayer, the appearance of his 
face changed and his clothes became blinding white. 
At once two men were there talking with him. They 
turned out to be Moses and Elijah—and what a 
glorious appearance they made! They talked over his 
exodus, the one Jesus was about to complete in 
Jerusalem.

32-33 Meanwhile, Peter and those with him were 

slumped over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing 
their eyes, they saw Jesus in his glory and the two 
men standing with him. When Moses and Elijah had 
left, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, this is a great 
moment! Let's build three memorials: one for you, 
one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He blurted this 
out without thinking.

34-35 While he was babbling like this, a light-radiant 

cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves 
buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of 
God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: "This 
is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him."

36 When the sound of the voice died away, they saw 

Jesus there alone. They were speechless. And they 
continued speechless, said not one thing to anyone 
during those days of what they had seen.
37-40 When they came down off the mountain the 
next day, a big crowd was there to meet them.
 A man called from out of the crowd, "Please, please,
Teacher, take a look at my son. He's my only child. 
Often a spirit seizes him. Suddenly he's screaming, 
thrown into convulsions, his mouth foaming. And then 
it beats him black-and-blue before it leaves. I asked 
your disciples to deliver him but they couldn't."

41 Jesus said, "What a generation! No sense of God! 

No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to 
go over these things? How much longer do I have to 
put up with this? Bring your son here."
42-43 While he was coming, the demon 
slammed him to the ground and threw him into 
convulsions. Jesus stepped in, ordered the vile 
spirit gone, healed the boy, and handed him back 
to his father. They all shook their heads in wonder, 
astonished at God's greatness, God's majestic 
greatness.
YOUR BUSINESS IS LIFE

43-44 While they continued to stand around 
exclaiming over all the things he was doing, 
Jesus said to his disciples, "Treasure and 
ponder each of these next words: The Son of 
Man is about to be betrayed into human hands."
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH —
Office is closed today. 

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH —
ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICES AT 6:30 P.M.
IN CASEY U.M.C.
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THIS IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Every resident, past and present has a story.
Some stories are good and some not so good.
Many stories from black history are unfortunate 
to heartbreaking. In our present environment we 
seem to be more cognizant of the similarities 
inherent in all of mankind but that can never
excuse the naivety and narrow mindedness that 
has existed down through the centuries.
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• FEBRUARY 3, 1956
Autherine Lucy became the first black student
to attend the University of Alabama. She was
expelled three days later "for her own safety" in
response to threats on her life from a mob. In
1992 Autherine Lucy Foster graduated from the
University with a master’s degree in education.
That same day, her daughter, Grazia Foster,
graduated with a bachelor’s degree in corporate
finance.

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• FEBRUARY 4, 1913
Rosa Parks is born in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Rosa was not going to give up her seat on a 
bus as had been required heretofore. 
December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama
Parks refused to obey bus driver's order that 
she give up her seat in the colored section to 
a white passenger, after the white section was 
filled.  Parks' act of defiance and the ensuing  
Montgomery Bus Boycott became important 
symbols of the Civil Rights Movement . 
She became an international icon of resistance 
to racial segregation.
FEBRUARY 4,1794 - France abolishes slavery.
The nation will have a lukewarm commitment to
abolition and will, under Napoleon, reestablish
slavery in 1802 along with the reinstitution of
the "Code noir", prohibiting blacks, mulattoes
and other people of color from entering French
colonial territory and intermarrying with whites.
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• FEBRUARY 5, 1990

Columbia University graduate and Harvard
University law student Barack Obama became
the first African American named president of
the Harvard Law Review.  It may have crossed 

your mind that he is now President of the 
United States.
FEBRUARY 5, 1934 -
“Hammerin Hank”, “Home Run King” 

Henry Aaron, baseball superstar was born in
Mobile, Alabama. He started his major league 

journey with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954.  
His most notable achievement was breaking 
the career home run record set by Babe Ruth.
He was the first player to get 3,000 career hits 
and 500 career home runs. 
He hit 24 or more home runs every year from 
1955 through 1973, and is the only player to hit 
30 or more home runs in a season at least 
fifteen times.  Aaron made 21 All-Star team 
appearances from 1955 through 1975. He holds 
records for the most career runs batted in (RBI) 
(2,297), and has the most career total bases 
(6,856).
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• FEBRUARY 6, 1993 -
Tennis Player, Arthur Ashe Jr. died.  He was
awarded a tennis scholarship to the University
of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1963.  

He won three Grand Slam titles, ranking him
among the best tennis players in the world. 
He was the only black man ever to win the
singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and
Australian Open. 
In the late 1980s, Ashe contracted HIV from a
blood transfusion he received during heart
bypass surgery.
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• FEBRUARY 8 -
1986 - Ophrah's On! 
• Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African
American woman to host a nationally syndicated
talk show. 

 Winfrey was born into poverty in rural 
Mississippi and was later raised in an inner-city
Milwaukee neighborhood.  Winfrey landed a job
in radio while in high school in Tennessee and
began co-anchoring the local evening news at
the age of 19.  Oprah Winfrey is now a media
proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer,
and philanthropist.
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FEBRUARY 9, 1971 - 

Leroy “Satchel” Paige is inducted into Baseball 
Hall of Fame.  Paige was among the most 
famous and successful players from the Negro 
Leagues. While his outstanding control as a 
pitcher first got him noticed, it was his bright
infectious, enthusiastic personality and his love
for the game that made him a star. Paige would
routinely have his infielders sit down on the 

ground behind him and then he would strike out 
the other side.
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FEBRUARY 10, 1992 - 

Alex Haley, renowned author, dies.  Haley was 
born in Ithaca, New York, on August 11, 1921. 
 American biographer, scriptwriter, author who 
became famous with the publication of his 
novel ROOTS, which traces his own ancestry 
back to Africa and covers seven American 
generations as they grew in the United States 
from the first generation of slaves.
• 1927 - 
 Leontyne Price was born in Laurel, Mississippi. 
Miss Price has achieved amazing success in 
the world of Opera. For many years she has 
performed world wide.  As a youth, she sang in 
church choirs. Later, she attended Central State 
College in Wilberforce, Ohio, then continued her 
training at the Juilliard School of Music in 
New York City.
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FEBRUARY 11 -
• 1990 - Nelson Mandela is released from prison.

Mandela's greatest pleasure, is watching the
sun set with the music of Handel or Tchaikovsky
playing. Locked up in his cell during all daylight
hours, and deprived of music, both these simple
pleasures were denied him for decades.

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Thank you for your contributions to your church 
life this week.  We couldn't carry on without you.

God Bless and Keep You,
Pastor Melodee  
  


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