FEBRUARY 24TH TO MARCH 2ND
REMINDERS —
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST —
DEBORAH-MARY CIRCLE WILL MEET AT 2 P.M.
in Casey U.M.C.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD —
• FAMILY GAME NIGHT •
• FAMILY GAME NIGHT IN CASEY U.M.C.
• AT 6:30 P.M.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2013
SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT
COLOR: PURPLE
LOOSE CHANGE OFFERING TODAY FOR
RED BIRD MISSION 
SCRIPTURE READINGS
GENESIS 15:1-18
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
God establishes a covenant with Abram to make
him a "father of many nations."
The Hebrew phrase for "making a covenant" is
"berith kathav" - literally, "I cut a covenant."
Cutting a covenant generally involved the literal
"cutting" of one or more animals and passing
between the cut animal pieces as a sign that
should the promises made be violated, the
same fate would befall the one who defaults.
GENESIS 15:1-12
1 After all these things, this word of God came
to Abram in a vision: "Don't be afraid, Abram.
I'm your shield. Your reward will be grand!"
2-3 Abram said, "God, Master, what use are
your gifts as long as I'm childless and Eliezer
of Damascus is going to inherit everything?"
Abram continued, "See, you've given me no
children, and now a mere house servant is
going to get it all."
4 Then God's Message came: "Don't worry, he
won't be your heir; a son from your body will
be your heir."
5 Then he took him outside and said, "Look at
the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count
your descendants! You're going to have a big
family, Abram!"
him "Set-Right-with-God."
7 God continued, "I'm the same God who
brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave
you this land to own."
8 Abram said, "Master God, how am I to know
this, that it will all be mine?"
9 God said, "Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a
ram, each three years old, and a dove and a
young pigeon."
10-12 He brought all these animals to him, split
them down the middle, and laid the halves
opposite each other. But he didn't split the birds.
Vultures swooped down on the carcasses, but
Abram scared them off. As the sun went down
a deep sleep overcame Abram and then a sense
of dread, dark and heavy.
GENESIS 17-21
17-21 When the sun was down and it was dark,
a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved
between the split carcasses. That's when God
made a covenant with Abram: "I'm giving this
land to your children, from the Nile River in
Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria—the
country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites,
Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."
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PSALM 27 (UMH 758)
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
When we embrace the covenant God makes
with us in baptism, we can sing
"The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?"A PSALM OF DAVID
1 Light, space, zest— that's God!
So, with him on my side I'm fearless,
afraid of no one and nothing.
2 When vandal hordes ride down
ready to eat me alive,
Those bullies and toughs
fall flat on their faces.
3 When besieged,
I'm calm as a baby.
When all hell breaks loose,
I'm collected and cool.
4 I'm asking God for one thing,
only one thing:
To live with him in his house
my whole life long.
I'll contemplate his beauty;
I'll study at his feet.
5 That's the only quiet, secure place
in a noisy world,
The perfect getaway,
far from the buzz of traffic.
6 God holds me head and shoulders
above all who try to pull me down.
I'm headed for his place to offer anthems
that will raise the roof!
Already I'm singing God-songs;
I'm making music to God.
7-9 Listen, God, I'm calling at the top of my
lungs:
"Be good to me! Answer me!"
When my heart whispered, "Seek God,"
my whole being replied,
"I'm seeking him!"
Don't hide from me now!
9-10 You've always been right there for me;
don't turn your back on me now.
Don't throw me out, don't abandon me;
you've always kept the door open.
My father and mother walked out and left
me,
but God took me in.
11-12 Point me down your highway, God;
direct me along a well-lighted street;
show my enemies whose side you're on.
Don't throw me to the dogs,
those liars who are out to get me,
filling the air with their threats.
13-14 I'm sure now I'll see God's goodness
in the exuberant earth.
Stay with God!
Take heart. Don't quit.
I'll say it again:
Stay with God.
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PHILIPPIANS 3:17–4:1
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
In Paul's letter, it is important to be clear about
who "we" refers to in this text. "We" are not
citizens of any political nation, but citizens of
God's kingdom.
Our citizenship (the strongest Roman analog to
covenant) is in heaven, and the power of God
manifest in Christ's resurrection will transform
us to be conformed to the body of Christ's glory.
The still fairly young community of Christians in
Philippi is called into perseverance in the way of
Jesus in face of real opposition. These words:
— enemies, citizenship, Savior, standing firm —
were highly charged political terms.
you see running this same course, headed for
this same goal. There are many out there taking
other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to
get you to go along with them. I've warned you
of them many times; sadly, I'm having to do it
again. All they want is easy street. They hate
Christ's Cross. But easy street is a dead-end
street. Those who live there make their bellies
their gods; belches are their praise; all they can
think of is their appetites.
20-21 But there's far more to life for us. We're
citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the
arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ,
who will transform our earthy bodies into
glorious bodies like his own. He'll make us
beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill
by which he is putting everything as it should be,
under and around him.
PHILIPPIANS 4
1 My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do
want the very best for you. You make me feel
such joy, fill me with such pride. Don't waver.
Stay on track, steady in God.
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LUKE 13:31-35
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Jesus laments over the resistance of
"Jerusalem" to the word of God.
As a "character," Jerusalem represents a form
of institutional power and authority that
establishes and defends standards for God's
people and silences or marginalizes all who
criticize it or offer a different way —
as had the prophets and as did Jesus. Jesus
does not just "feel for" Jerusalem. He acts for
Jerusalem and Galilee, precisely in the face of
the reality that such action can lead to his own
suffering and death.
31 Just then some Pharisees came up and said,
"Run for your life! Herod's on the hunt. He's out
to kill you!"
for him right now. Today and tomorrow I'm busy
clearing out the demons and healing the sick; the
third day I'm wrapping things up. Besides, it's not
proper for a prophet to come to a bad end outside
Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killer of prophets,
abuser of the messengers of God!
How often I've longed to gather your children,
gather your children like a hen,
Her brood safe under her wings—
but you refused and turned away!
And now it's too late: You won't see me again
until the day you say,
'Blessed is he
who comes in
the name of God.'"
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH —
Lenten Study in Casey U.M.C. at 7 P.M.
entitled “Condemned by the Righteous”.
FRIDAY, MARCH 1ST —
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER.
Christian women of many traditions who come
together to observe a common day of prayer
each year. It is a movement carried out by
women in more than 170 countries and regions.
• The 2013 host country for this global annual
event is France.
Through World Day of Prayer, women affirm that
prayer and action are inseparable and that both
have immeasurable influence in the world.
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SATURDAY, MARCH 2ND —
MOVIE NIGHT IN CASEY LIBRARY @ 6:30 P.M.
This movie is a new one; “Argo”by Ben Affleck.
A true story about an escape from Iran: A
Canadian escapade. I hear it's really good.
FUTURE FOCUS —
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6 —
ADAIR U. M. W. WILL MEET AT 1:30 p.m.
LENTEN STUDY WILL MEET IN CASEY U.M.C.
TO STUDY “JESUS, BARABBAS, AND PILATE”
AT 7 P.M.
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SUNDAY, MARCH 10TH —
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS BEGINS —
SET YOUR CLOCK AHEAD ONE HOUR.
SUNDAY, MARCH 17TH —
•Spring Chicken Dinner at Community Centre
with Worship Service the evening before.
SUNDAY, MARCH 24 —
PALM - PASSION SUNDAY
This "dual celebration" begins Holy Week.
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH - concludes this week.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
FEBRUARY 24TH —
1864 - First Black Woman to receive an M.D.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes the first black
woman to receive an M.D. degree. She graduated
from the New England Female Medical College.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler was born in 1833. She
worked from 1852-1860 as a nurse in
Massachusetts.
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FEBRUARY 25TH —
1998 - “I Believe I Can Fly” -
Best Male Vocalist, Best Song Written for TV
or Movie and Best Song Grammy Awards.
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1964 - Muhammad Ali defeats Sonny Liston for
world heavyweight boxing championship.
1928 - "One-Man Show of Art by Negro, First of
its Kind Here, Opens Today," read the headline
of a front-page article in 'The New York Times'
on this day. Announcing the opening of
Archibald J. Motley, Jr's show at the New Gallery
on Madison Avenue. The first time in History that
an artist had made the front page of 'The New
York Times' and it was the second one-person
show by an African-American artist. The first
being Henry O. Tanner.
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1870 - Hirman R. Revels of Mississippi sworn in
as first Black U.S. senator and first Black
representative in Congress.
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FEBRUARY 26TH —
1985 - On this day at the Grammy Awards
ceremony, African-American musicians won
awards in several categories. Lionel Richie's
'Can't Slow Down' won best album of 1984. Tina
Turner's 'What's Love Got to Do With It' took the
best record slot and earned her the title Best
Female Pop Vocalist. The Pointer Sisters won
best Pop Group for 'Jump.'
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1928 - Today singer "Fats" Domino was born.
FEBRUARY 27TH —
1988 - Figure skater Debi Thomas became the
first African American to win a medal (bronze) at
the winter Olympic Games.
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1872 - Charlotte Ray graduated from Howard
Law School.
Charlotte is the first African American lawyer in
the U.S.A.
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1869 - Congress adopted the 15th constitutional
amendment, making it illegal for the US or any
single government to deny or abridge the right
to vote "on account of race, color or previous
condition of servitude."
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FEBRUARY 28TH —
1984 - Musician and entertainer Michael Jackson
won eight Grammy Awards. His album, "Thriller",
broke all sales records to-date, and remains one
of the top-grossing albums of all time.
1977 - Death of comedian Eddie ("Rochester")
Anderson (71).
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1943 - Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway
with Anne Brown and Todd Duncan starring.
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1932 - Automatic Gear Shift
Richard Spikes invented/patented the automatic
gear shift.
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Thank you for all of your attention to our
church life this week. If it weren't for you,
it would not happen.
God Bless and Keep You,
Pastor Melodee
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