Monday, March 25, 2013

OUR WEEK —
MARCH 31ST TO APRIL 6TH

REMINDERS —

THURSDAY, MARCH 28TH —  
MAUNDY THURSDAY SERVICE
AT ADAIR U.M.C. — 7:00 p.m. 

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FRIDAY, MARCH 29TH —

GOOD FRIDAY -
/  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /  /
Spring Break at A-C Schools begins.
Don't forget - back to school Tuesday, April 2nd.

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SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013
THIS IS EASTER SUNDAY
COLOR: WHITE

Historically, the service held in the morning of
Easter Day is the second service of Easter.
That's because The Great Vigil of Easter, is held
just after sundown on Saturday evening.


LOOSE CHANGE OFFERING FOR
RED BIRD MISSION

HISTORY OF RED BIRD MISSION -
CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS 
                  
Red Bird Mission was founded in 1921 in the
southeastern corner of Kentucky to provide
education and Christian evangelism ministries
to residents of the area. The Mission was begun 

by the Evangelical Church on a small piece of 
property, at the confluence of Cow Fork and the 
Red Bird River.
In 1919 the Illinois Branch Women's Missionary
Society was the first of three branches to ask 

that the Evangelical church begin work here. 
 After much prayer and study the Women's
Board established the Faith Fund, named thus
as they said, "in the faith that money will flow
into it and God will show us where to invest."                       
Meanwhile, God-fearing people in the mountains
of Southeastern Kentucky were praying that
someone would "come over and help us."
Miss Zelphia Roberts, a Presbyterian girl from
near Hyden, was one of those who prayed. She
taught in a little school at Phillip's Fork across
the mountain from Beverly. Once a week she
walked to Beverly for the mail. There she saw
intelligent boys doing nothing and receiving no
training. She also heard that Uncle Millard and
Aunt Myrtle Knuckles, a local couple, were
wanting a school for the youth. So, as she
crossed the mountain each week she regularly
stopped at a certain rock to pray that a Christian
school would be built at Red Bird.

So it was that God answered these prayers and
sent the Evangelical Church to the Cumberland
Mountains of Kentucky into the area called
Red Bird. The first workers arrived on July 1,
1921. Since its early days Red Bird Mission has
worked to meet the health care needs of people
in the Red Bird River Valley. Soon after teachers
came, nurses and doctors arrived. The Red Bird
medical work began in 1922. The first hospital
was built at Beverly in 1928 but for many years,
calls to mountain homes were made by medical
staff on horseback.

Aunt Carrie Knuckles prayed that her children
would have a chance to attend a school near
their home. Years later, when her children did
have this opportunity and later grew up into fine,
useful citizens, she said, "I cannot express in
words my appreciation for this school.

Sometimes we can't see our prayers answered
for a very long time, but we must never give up
for God is before us leading us gently over."

In 1968 the Evangelical United Brethren
Churches united with the Methodist Church to
become the United Methodist Church. Local
churches in the area were reorganized under
the name of the Red Bird Missionary Conference. 
In 1975 Red Bird Hospital, later to be renamed
Red Bird Mountain Medical Center, became the
third agency of Red Bird Missionary Conference.

In 1981 the school and gymnasium on the
Beverly Campus were destroyed by fire and
school was held in temporary facilities on the
Queendale Campus. 


The present school building was dedicated in 
1983. The School continued to operate as a 
Settlement school until 1988 when it became a 
Christian mission school funded by Red Bird 
Mission and income-based tuition.
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
ACTS 10:34-43 OR ISAIAH 65:17-25
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Peter goes to the household of Cornelius and
proclaims the resurrection of Jesus and his
appointment by God as judge of the living and
the dead.

 ACTS 10:34-43 (The Message)
34-36 Peter fairly exploded with his good news:
"It's God's own truth, nothing could be plainer:
God plays no favorites! It makes no difference
who you are or where you're from—if you want
God and are ready to do as he says, the door is
open.  The Message he sent to the children of
Israel — that through Jesus Christ everything is
being put together again—well, he's doing it
everywhere, among everyone.

37-38 "You know the story of what happened in
Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a
total life-change.   Then Jesus arrived from
Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit,
ready for action.   He went through the country
helping people and healing everyone who was
beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all
this because God was with him.

39-43  "And we saw it, saw it all, everything he
did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem
where they killed him, hung him from a cross.
But in three days God had him up, alive, and out
where he could be seen. Not everyone saw him
— he wasn't put on public display.  Witnesses
had been carefully handpicked by God before-
hand—us!   We were the ones, there to eat and
drink with him after he came back from the dead.
He commissioned us to announce this in public,
to bear solemn witness that he is in fact the One
whom God destined as Judge of the living and
dead.  But we're not alone in this.  Our witness
that he is the means to forgiveness of sins is
backed up by the witness of all the prophets."
———————————————————————
ISAIAH 65:17-25
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH

 17-25"Pay close attention now:
   I'm creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain
   are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy.
   Anticipate what I'm creating:
I'll create Jerusalem as sheer joy,
   create my people as pure delight.
I'll take joy in Jerusalem,
   take delight in my people:
No more sounds of weeping in the city,
   no cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle,
   or old people who don't enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered
   normal—
   anything less will seem like a cheat.
They'll build houses
   and move in.
They'll plant fields
   and eat what they grow.
 No more building a house
   that some outsider takes over,
No more planting fields
   that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees,
   my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their
   work.
They won't work and have nothing come of it,
   they won't have children snatched out from
   under them.
For they themselves are plantings blessed by
   God,
   with their children and grandchildren likewise
   God-blessed.
 Before they call out, I'll answer.
   Before they've finished speaking, I'll have
   heard.
Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow,
   lion and ox eat straw from the same trough,
   but snakes—they'll get a diet of dirt!
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
   anywhere on my Holy Mountain," says God.
———————————————————————
PSALM 118:1-24 (UMH 839)
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
These verses focus on victory and deliverance
from death.


    Thank God because he's good, because his
       love never quits.
   Tell the world, Israel,
      "His love never quits."
   And you, clan of Aaron, tell the world,
      "His love never quits."
   And you who fear God, join in,
      "His love never quits."

 5-16 Pushed to the wall, I called to God;
      from the wide open spaces, he answered.
   God's now at my side and I'm not afraid;
      who would dare lay a hand on me?
   God's my strong champion;
      I flick off my enemies like flies.
   Far better to take refuge in God
      than trust in people;
   Far better to take refuge in God
      than trust in celebrities.
   Hemmed in by barbarians,
      in God's name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;
   Hemmed in and with no way out,
      in God's name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;
   Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire, they
      hemmed me in;
      in God's name I rubbed their faces in the dirt.
   I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall,
      when God grabbed and held me.
   God's my strength, he's also my song,
      and now he's my salvation.
   Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs
      in the camp of the saved?
        "The hand of God has turned the tide!
         The hand of God is raised in victory!
         The hand of God has turned the tide!"

 17-20  I didn't die. I lived!
      And now I'm telling the world what God did.
   God tested me, he pushed me hard,
      but he didn't hand me over to Death.
   Swing wide the city gates — the righteous
      gates!
      I'll walk right through and thank God!
   This Temple Gate belongs to God,
      so the victors can enter and praise.

 21-25 Thank you for responding to me;
      you've truly become my salvation!
   The stone the masons discarded as flawed
      is now the capstone!
   This is God's work.
      We rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!
   This is the very day God acted—
      let's celebrate and be festive!
   Salvation now, God. Salvation now!
      Oh yes, God—a free and full life!
———————————————————————
1 CORINTHIANS 15:19-26
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Paul "sings " one of the early Christian hymns
celebrating the resurrection of Jesus to the
Christians of Corinth (verses 20-22), then
explains its implications for the resurrection of
Christians and the final victory of Christ at the
end of the age.

16-20  If corpses can't be raised, then Christ
wasn't, because he was indeed dead. And if
Christ weren't raised, then all you're doing is
wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It's
even worse for those who died hoping in Christ
and resurrection, because they're already in
their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little
inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty
sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been
raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who
are going to leave the cemeteries.

21-28  There is a nice symmetry in this: Death
initially came by a man, and resurrection from
death came by a man. Everybody dies in Adam;
everybody comes alive in Christ. But we have to
wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him
at his Coming, the grand consummation when, a
fter crushing the opposition, he hands over his
kingdom to God the Father. He won't let up until
the last enemy is down—and the very last enemy
is death! As the psalmist said, "He laid them low,
one and all; he walked all over them."   When
Scripture says that "he walked all over them,"
it's obvious that he couldn't at the same time be
walked on. When everything and everyone is
finally under God's rule, the Son will step down,
taking his place with everyone else, showing
that God's rule is absolutely comprehensive —
a perfect ending!
———————————————————————
JOHN 20:1-18 (OR LUKE 24:1-12)
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Peter and the beloved disciple verify Mary
Magdalene's story that the tomb of Jesus is
empty.   Mary Magdalene encounters the risen
Christ who sends her to announce his
ascension to the other disciples.
Resurrection!

1-2  Early in the morning on the first day of the
week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene
came to the tomb and saw that the stone was
moved away from the entrance. She ran at once
to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one
Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, "They took
the Master from the tomb. We don't know where
they've put him."

3-10  Peter and the other disciple left
immediately for the tomb. They ran, neck and
neck. The other disciple got to the tomb first,
outrunning Peter. Stooping to look in, he saw the
pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go
in. Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the
tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and
the kerchief used to cover his head not lying
with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded
by itself. Then the other disciple, the one who
had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took
one look at the evidence, and believed. No one
yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise
from the dead. The disciples then went back
home.

11-13  But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping.
As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and
saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white,
one at the head, the other at the foot of where
Jesus' body had been laid.
 They said to her, "Woman, why do you weep?"

13-14  "They took my Master," she said, "and I
don't know where they put him." After she said
this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing
there. But she didn't recognize him.
15  Jesus spoke to her, "Woman, why do you
      weep? Who are you looking for?"

   She, thinking that he was the gardener, said,
 "Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put
   him so I can care for him."

16  Jesus said, "Mary."
   Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew,
  "Rabboni!" meaning "Teacher!"

17  Jesus said, "Don't cling to me, for I have not
yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers
and tell them, 'I ascend to my Father and your
Father, my God and your God.'"

18  Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the
disciples: "I saw the Master!" And she told them
everything he said to her.
———————————————————————
OR LUKE 24:1-12
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
The women went to the tomb to anoint the body
of Jesus for burial, finding instead the tomb-
stone rolled away and the body missing. Upon
finding it empty, they ran to tell the apostles,
who thought their account was "an idle tale. "
LOOKING FOR THE LIVING ONE
IN A CEMETERY

1-3  At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women
came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they
had prepared. They found the entrance stone
rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But
once inside, they couldn't find the body of the
Master Jesus.

4-8  They were puzzled, wondering what to make
of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men,
light cascading over them, stood there. The
women were awestruck and bowed down in
worship. The men said, "Why are you looking for
the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but
raised up. Remember how he told you when you
were still back in Galilee that he had to be
handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and
in three days rise up?" Then they remembered
Jesus' words.

9-11 They left the tomb and broke the news of all
this to the Eleven and the rest. Mary Magdalene,
Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other
women with them kept telling these things to the
apostles, but the apostles didn't believe a word
of it, thought they were making it all up.

12  But Peter jumped to his feet and ran to the
tomb. He stooped to look in and saw a few grave
clothes, that's all. He walked away puzzled,
shaking his head.

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MONDAY, APRIL 1ST —
The office is closed today.

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3RD —
ADAIR U.M.W. WILL MEET AT 9 A.M.
• ADAIR AD COUNCIL MEETING IN ADAIR UMC 
• AT 5:30 P.M.                                                          
• CASEY AD COUNCIL MEETING IN ADAIR UMC
• AT 6:00 P.M.   
• JOINT AD COUNCIL MEETING IN ADAIR U.M.C.
• AT 6:30  P.M.
•   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •
SPIRITUAL STUDY
“CHRIST THE VICTOR” AND
“WHAT IF JUDAS HAD LIVED?”
 IN CASEY U.M.C. AT  7:00 p.m.

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  SATURDAY, March 30 —
FAMILY FUN NIGHT AT 6:30 P.M. 
IN CASEY U.M.C.
 FUN AND GAMES FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES
COME AND TEACH US A NEW GAME
WE MAY FIND A NEW FAVORITE!
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FUTURE FOCUS — 
SUNDAY, APRIL 7TH —
SPECIAL CHILDREN'S WORSHIP
AT BOTH CHURCHES


∆ RED BIRD MISSION TRIP ∆ 

Brief informational meeting at Adair U.M.C.
11:30 a.m.

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Thank you for keeping our church buzzing this
week.  Your care and contributions are vital 
to keeping the motor running you know.

God Bless and Keep You,
Pastor Melodee