Monday, October 21, 2013

OUR WEEK - OCTOBER 27TH TO NOVEMBER 2ND

REMINDERS —
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26TH —     

• FOOD PANTRY OPEN IN CASEY U.M.C.
FROM 9 A.M. TO 11 A.M.
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• JESSIE LEEPER BENEFIT AT 

ADAIR-CASEY SCHOOLS.
"COLOR RUN" WILL START AT 8:00 A.M.
• BREAKFAST AT 8 A.M. 

  - FREE WILL OFFERING
• BAKE SALE STARTS AT 8 A.M..
A-A-A-A-LL BEGINNING AT 8 A.M.
Items for the bake sale may be delivered 

on Friday, the day before, or left at the 
school on Saturday morning. Items will 
be priced by workers during the sale. 
Thank you all for your contributions and 
thank you for your attendance to 
Saturday's events.
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27TH, 2013
Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

COLOR: GREEN

FOURTH SUNDAY IN 

“A SEASON OF SAINTS.”
The global Christian saint featured this week 

is VIBIA PERPETUA, a third-century 
Christian martyr in Northern Africa 
(Carthage).     
• Saint Perpetua and her slave, Felicity, 
believed to have died 7 March 203, are 
Christian martyrs of the 3rd century. 
Perpetua (born around 181) was a 22 
year old married noblewoman and a 
nursing mother. Her co-martyr Felicity, 
was an expectant mother. They suffered 
together at Carthage in the Roman 
province of Africa, during the reign of 
Septimius Severus.
“The Passion of St. Perpetua, St. Felicitas, 

and their Companions” is said to preserve 
the actual account of her arrest and 
imprisonment.  According to this book, 
a number of those receiving instruction 
were arrested for their faith and executed at 
the military games in celebration of the 
Emperor Geta's birthday. This group 
consisted of  Perpetua, a slave named 
Revocatus, a female slave Felicitas, two 
free men Saturninus and Seculdulus.  
Perpetua’s account opens with conflict 
between her and her father, who wishes for 
her to recant her belief. Perpetua refuses, 
and is baptized before being moved to 
prison. Her child is able to stay in prison 
with her for the time being. Perpetua’s 
father visits her in prison and pleads with 
her, but Perpetua is steadfast in her faith. 
She is brought to a hearing before the 
governor where she will not deny her faith.  
On the day of the games, the martyrs are 
led into the amphitheatre.  They were then 
whipped, then set upon by wild animals. 
Finally they were pierced by swords.
• The United Methodist heritage saint this 
week is KANICHI MIYAMA, Japanese 
Methodist missionary to Japan.  Born into 
Japan's soldier-bureaucrat class, Miyama 
absorbed the classic Shinto tradition
before studying Western science and
philosophy, military strategy, and English.     

Arriving in San Francisco in 1875, Miyama 
heard Otis Gibson, superintendent of the 
Chinese Christian Mission, tell a story 
about George Washington, whose father 
had directed his attention to the will of 
God behind the order of the world. Miyama 
heard Gibson's sermon as a challenge to 
his egotism, an admonition to confess his 
sins, an invitation to accept Christ.
Kanichi Miyama’s capacity to offer Christian
ministry was deeply marked by aftermath, 

both in Hawaii and in Japan.      
One of the first Japanese American converts 
to Christianity, Miyama was sent to Hawaii 
to serve the Japanese immigrant workers 
who were suffering under exploitive working 
conditions. These people had their own 
condition of aftermath. First, his patient 
work among them helped to stabilize and 
reverse their life conditions, forming some of 
these people into the very first Japanese 
Christian Church in Hawaii.
Miyama was sent to return to his homeland 

of Japan in 1890, to serve in Nagoya, but 
found it a very difficult appointment. He was 
perceived as too Americanized for his native 
Japanese congregation and wider community. 
When an earthquake struck in 1891, however, 
killing his nephew and injuring both him and 
his wife, he stayed behind to help rescue the 
survivors. By coming into solidarity with 
those suffering in the midst of their 
suffering, he found his ministry suddenly 
accepted. Word of his actions spread, 
giving him a welcome among Japanese 
Methodists and many others he evangelized 
wherever he would serve after that.

SCRIPTURE READINGS:
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JOEL 2:23-32
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
The previous verses describe with graphic 

detail the destruction of Jerusalem and 
Judah.  These verses speak of restoration 
to come and later a time when God's Spirit 
would be poured out on all flesh with 
simultaneous prediction in heaven and 
earth - - while the sky is dark and the moon 
blood red, people of all ages and stations 
will prophesy, see visions, and dream 
dreams.  Today, from Joel, we have 
“Promises for After the Aftermath.” Joel 
may have been a pre-exilic prophet,  what 
we read from him today speaks forward 
(prophesies!) to a time when the future  
Babylonian invasion and exile would be 
over.  He foresees a time when people 
would begin to return to Judea and start 
to rebuild.The promise of God through 
Joel for such a new day was first, an 
abundance of crops. Second, the people’s 
honor would be restored. Third, the Spirit 
would be poured out on all of them, 
female and male alike, from the youngest 
to the oldest and across every stratum of 
the society, from the wealthiest to the 
bond servants.
THE TREES ARE BEARING FRUIT AGAIN
21-24
Fear not, Earth! Be glad and celebrate!
   God has done great things.
Fear not, wild animals!
   The fields and meadows are greening up.
The trees are bearing fruit again:   
       a bumper crop of fig trees and vines!
Children of Zion, celebrate!
   Be glad in your God.
He's giving you a teacher
   to train you how to live right —
Teaching, like rain out of heaven, showers of
   words to refresh and nourish your soul, just
   as he used to do.
And plenty of food for your body — silos full of
   grain, casks of wine and barrels of olive oil.

25-27 "I'll make up for the years of the locust,
   the great locust devastation —
Locusts savage, locusts deadly,
   fierce locusts, locusts of doom,
That great locust invasion
   I sent your way.
You'll eat your fill of good food.
   You'll be full of praises to your God,
The God who has set you back on your heels in
   wonder.
   Never again will my people be despised.
You'll know without question
   that I'm in the thick of life with Israel,
That I'm your God, yes, your God,
   the one and only real God.
Never again will my people be despised.
THE SUN TURNING BLACK AND THE MOON
BLOOD-RED

28-32
"And that's just the beginning: After that —
   "I will pour out my Spirit
   on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy,
   also your daughters.
Your old men will dream,
   your young men will see visions.
I'll even pour out my Spirit on the servants,
   men and women both.
I'll set wonders in the sky above
   and signs on the earth below:
Blood and fire and billowing smoke,   
 the sun turning black and the moon blood-red,
Before the Judgment Day of God,
   the Day tremendous and awesome.
Whoever calls, 'Help, God!'
   gets help.
On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
   there will be a great rescue — just as God said.
Included in the survivors
   are those that God calls."
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PSALM 65
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
A PSALM OF THANKSGIVING
FOR FRUITFUL TIMES.


A PSALM OF DAVID
1-2
Silence is praise to you, Zion-dwelling God,
   And also obedience.
      You hear the prayer in it all.

2-8
We all arrive at your doorstep sooner
      or later, loaded with guilt,
   Our sins too much for us —
      but you get rid of them once and for all.
   Blessed are the chosen! Blessed the guest
      at home in your place!
   We expect our fill of good things
      in your house, your heavenly manse.
   All your salvation wonders
      are on display in your trophy room.
   Earth-Tamer, Ocean-Pourer,
     
Mountain-Maker, Hill-Dresser,
   Muzzler of sea storm and wave crash,
      of mobs in noisy riot —
   Far and wide they'll come to a stop,
      they'll stare in awe, in wonder.
   Dawn and dusk take turns
      calling, "Come and worship."

9-13
Oh, visit the earth,
      ask her to join the dance!
   Deck her out in spring showers,
      fill the God-River with living water.
   Paint the wheat fields golden.
      Creation was made for this!
   Drench the plowed fields,
      soak the dirt clods
   With rainfall as harrow and rake
      bring her to blossom and fruit.
   Snow-crown the peaks with splendor,
      scatter rose petals down your paths,
   All through the wild meadows, rose petals.
      Set the hills to dancing,
   Dress the canyon walls with live sheep, 
    a drape of flax across the valleys.
   Let them shout, and shout, and shout!
      Oh, oh, let them sing!
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2 TIMOTHY 4:6-18 
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
"The time of my departure has come. I have
fought the good fight, I have finished the race."
6-8
You take over. I'm about to die, my life an
offering on God's altar. This is the only race
worth running. I've run hard right to the finish,
believed all the way. All that's left now is the
shouting—God's applause! Depend on it, he's an
honest judge. He'll do right not only by me, but
by everyone eager for his coming.

9-13
Get here as fast as you can. Demas, chasing
fads, went off to Thessalonica and left me here.
Crescens is in Galatia province, Titus in
Dalmatia. Luke is the only one here with me.
Bring Mark with you; he'll be my right-hand man
since I'm sending Tychicus to Ephesus. Bring the
winter coat I left in Troas with Carpus; also the
books and parchment notebooks.

14-15
Watch out for Alexander the coppersmith.
Fiercely opposed to our Message, he caused no
end of trouble. God will give him what he's got
coming.

16-18
At my preliminary hearing no one stood by
me. They all ran like scared rabbits. But it doesn't
matter—the Master stood by me and helped me
spread the Message loud and clear to those who
had never heard it. I was snatched from the jaws
of the lion! God's looking after me, keeping me
safe in the kingdom of heaven. All praise to him,
praise forever! Oh, yes!
————————————————————
LUKE 18:9-14
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
"God, I thank you that I am not as other people"
Tax collector: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
STORY OF THE TAX MAN AND THE PHARISEE
9-12
He told his next story to some who were
complacently pleased with themselves over their
moral performance and looked down their noses
at the common people: "Two men went up to the
Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax
man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this:
'Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other
people — robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven
forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and
tithe on all my income.'

13
"Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the
shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to
look up, said, 'God, give mercy. Forgive me, a
sinner.'"

14
Jesus commented, "This tax man, not the
other, went home made right with God. If you
walk around with your nose in the air, you're
going to end up flat on your face, but if you're
content to be simply yourself, you will become
more than yourself."
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Happy Birthday Lonnie Harris!
Happy Anniversary, Jim and Beth Rogers!
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• 1787 - The first of the Federalist Papers 

were published in the New York Independent. 
This series of 85 essays, written by 
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and 
John Jay, were written to promote the 
ratification of the United States Constitution, 
and were published under the pen name 
"Publius."
• 1858 - Roland Macy opened Macy's 

Department Store in New York City. It was 
Macy's eighth business adventure, the other 
seven failed.
• 1904 - The New York subway system 

officially opened. It was the first rapid-transit 
subway system in America.
• 1938 - Du Pont announced "nylon" was the 

new name for its new synthetic yarn. 
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 28TH —
THE OFFICE IS CLOSED TODAY

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Happy Birthday Ryan Elgin!
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• 1636 - Harvard College was founded in
Massachusetts. The original name was 

Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was 
the first American school of higher education.
• 1793 - Eli Whitney applied for a patent for 

his cotton gin.
• 1886 - The Statue of Liberty was dedicated 

in New York Harbor by U.S. President 
Cleveland. The statue weighs 225 tons and 
is 152 feet tall.
• 1904 - The St. Louis Police Department 

became the first to use fingerprinting.
• 1962 - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev 

told the U.S. that he had ordered dismantling 
of all Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
• 1965 - Pope Paul VI issued a decree 

absolving Jews of collective guilt for the 
crucifixion of Jesus Christ.   
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29TH —
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• 1618 - Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded 

under a sentence that had been brought 
against him 15 years earlier for conspiracy 
against King James I.
• 1682 - William Penn landed at what is 

now Chester, PA. He was founder of 
Pennsylvania.
• 1863 - The International Committee of 

the Red Cross was founded.
• 1929 - America's Great Depression began 

with the crash of Wall Street's stock market.
• 1945 - The first ballpoint pens went on 

sale at Gimbels Department Store in New 
York at the price of $12.50 each.
• 1966 - The National Organization for Women
was founded.
• 1969 - The U.S. Supreme Court ordered an
immediate end to all school segregation.     
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30TH —

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Happy Birthday Darla Martin!
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• 1735 - John Adams, the second President 

of the United States, was born in Braintree, 
MA. His son became the sixth President of 
the U.S.
• 1875 - The constitution of Missouri was 

ratified by popular vote.
• 1894 - The time clock was patented by 

Daniel M. Cooper of Rochester, NY.
• 1945 - The U.S. government announced the 

end of shoe rationing.
• 1961 - The Soviet Party Congress united
in approval to remove Joseph Stalin's body 

from Lenin's tomb.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31ST —
THIS IS HALLOWEEN!

This evening watch for little goblins 
Trick or Treating —
 Watch for ghosts carrying candy buckets —
Watch for a haunted scarecrow behind a tree —
       
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Happy Birthday Kay Jessen!
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• 1517 - Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses 

on the door of the Wittenberg Palace Church. 
The event marked the start of the Protestant
Reformation in Germany.
• 1860 - Juliette Low, the founder of Girl 

Scouts, was born.
• 1864 - Nevada became the 36th state to 

join the United States.
• 1941 - Mount Rushmore was declared 

complete after 14 years of work.
• 1941 - The U.S. Navy destroyer Reuben 

James was torpedoed by a German 
submarine near Iceland. More than 100 men 
were killed.  The U.S. had not yet entered 
World War II.
• 1956 - Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek became the 

first person to set foot on the South Pole 
when helanded an airplane there.
• 1999 - Leaders from the Roman Catholic 

Church and the Lutheran Church signed the 
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of 
Justification. The event ended centuries of 
doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and 
salvation.     
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST —
• YOUTH LOCK-IN •
AT INGATHERING-GREENFIELD UMC AT 7 P.M.     


NOVEMBER IS NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE
MONTH ON THE U.M.C. PROGRAM CALENDAR.      

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• 1512 - Michelangelo's paintings on the 

ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were first 
exhibited to the public.
• 1755 - At least 60,000 people were killed 

in Lisbon, Portugal by an earthquake, its 
after-shocks and the ensuing tsunami. 
• 1800 - U.S. President John Adams 

became the first president to live in the 
White House.
• 1864 - The U.S. Post Office began selling 

money orders. The money orders provided 
a safe way to make payments by mail.
• 1879 - Thomas Edison executed his first 

patent application for a high-resistance 
carbon filament (U.S. Pat. 223,898).
• 1936 - Benito Mussolini made a speech 

in Milan, Italy, in which he described the 
alliance between Italy and Nazi Germany as 
an "axis" between Berlin and Rome.
• 1950 - Charles Cooper became the first 

black man to play in the National Basketball
Association (NBA).
• 1989 - Tens of thousands of refugees fled 

to the West when East Germany opened its 
border with Czechoslovakia.   
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• SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND —
• INGATHERING AT GREENFIELD UMC

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• 1721 - Peter the Great (Peter I), ruler of 

Russia, changed his title to emperor.
• 1889 - North Dakota and South Dakota 

were admitted to the union as 39th and 
40th states.
• 1895 - In Chicago, IL, the first gasoline 

powered car race took place in America.
• 1948 - Harry Truman defeated Thomas 

Dewey for the U.S. presidency. The Chicago 
Tribune published an early edition that had 
the headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN."
• 1966 - The Cuban Adjustment Act allowed
123,000 Cubans to apply for permanent
residence in the United States.
• 1983 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan 

signed a bill establishing a federal holiday 
on the third Monday of January in honor of 
civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.   
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FUTURE FOCUS —

• SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3RD —
THIS IS ALL SAINTS SUNDAY.
• DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ENDS TODAY! •  
SET YOUR CLOCK BACK ONE HOUR PLEASE
• COMBINED WORSHIP AT CASEY U.M.C.- 9:30
• CASEY U.M.C. FALL DINNER  AT 11 A.M.
IN CASEY COMMUNITY BUILDING

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH —
• ADAIR U.M.C. FALL DINNER AT 11 A.M.
IN ADAIR COMMUNITY BUILDING

CHARGE CONFERENCE IN GREENFIELD 

U.M.C.BEGINNING AT 7 P.M.

The International Day of Prayer for
Persecuted Christians

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH —
THIS IS VETERANS DAY, 

A U.S. CIVIL HOLIDAY.
 
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Thank you for your many contributions 
this week.

God Bless and Keep You,
Donna K