OUR WEEK - JUNE 26TH TO JULY 2ND

REMINDERS —
JUNE 20 THROUGH JUNE 24TH —
Pastor Lynn will be on vacationJUNE 21ST — FIRST DAY OF SUMMER
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SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2011
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
COLOR: GREEN
There are three different journeys for focus today:
• • • Abraham and the ancestors in Genesis.
• • • Paul's theological reflections in Romans.
• • • The ministry of Jesus in Matthew.

SCRIPTURE READINGS ARE:
GENESIS 22:1-14
(The Message)
We begin our journey in Genesis with a profound
and disturbing story propelling us into the heart
of religious violence. The attempted sacrifice of
Isaac. This text is powerful, evocative, and easy
for us to misunderstand, being far removed from
ancient cultures.
1 After all this, God tested Abraham. God said,
"Abraham!" "Yes?" answered Abraham. "I'm listening."
2 He said, "Take your dear son Isaac whom you
love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there
as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I'll
point out to you."
3 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled
his donkey. He took two of his young servants and
his son Isaac. He had split wood for the burnt offering.
He set out for the place God had directed him.
4 On the third day he looked up and saw the place
in the distance.
5 Abraham told his two young servants, "Stay here
with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there
to worship; then we'll come back to you."
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and
gave it to Isaac his son to carry. He carried the flint and the knife. The two of them
went off together.
7 Isaac said to Abraham his father, "Father?" "Yes,
my son." "We have flint and wood, but where's the
sheep for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham said, "Son, God will see to it that there's
a sheep for the burnt offering." And they kept on
walking together.
9 They arrived at the place to which God had
directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood.
Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood.
10 Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill
his son.
11 Just then an angel of God called to him out of
Heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Yes, I'm listening."
12 "Don't lay a hand on that boy! Don't touch him!
Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn't
hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the
altar for me."
13 Abraham looked up. He saw a ram caught by its
horns in the thicket. Abraham took the ram and
sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.14 Abraham named that place God-Yireh
(God-Sees-to-It). That's where we get the saying,
"On the mountain of God, he sees to it."
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PSALM 13 (UMH 746)
(The Message)
A Psalm of lament.
1 Long enough, God - you've ignored me long
enough. I've looked at the back of your head
2 Long enough I've carried this ton of trouble, lived
with a stomach full of pain. Long enough my
arrogant enemies have looked down their noses
at me.
3 Take a good look at me, God, my God; I want
to look life in the eye,
4 So no enemy can get the best of me or laugh
when I fall on my face.
5 I've thrown myself headlong into your arms -
I'm celebrating your rescue.
6 I'm singing at the top of my lungs, I'm so full of
answered prayers.
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ROMANS 6:12-23
(The Message)
When we are baptized, buried, and raised with
Christ by water and the Holy Spirit, we are
given new life and a new master. Sin no longer
reigns and drives us to death, but God and
righteousness lead us to life.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord"
(Romans 6:23).
In Paul's day, any idea of a separation between
ritual actions in community and the life of that
community was unthinkable. Ritual life was real
life. The ritual in Paul's letter to the Romans is
baptism.
12 That means you must not give sin a vote in the
way you conduct your lives.
Don't give it the time of day.
13 Don't even run little errands that are connected
with that old way of life. Throw yourselves whole-
heartedly and full-time - remember, you've been
raised from the dead! Into God's way of doing things.
14 Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not
living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living
in the freedom of God.
15 So, since we're out from under the old tyranny,
does that mean we can live any old way we want?
Since we're free in the freedom of God, can we do
anything that comes to mind?
16 Hardly. You know well enough from your own
experience that there are some acts of so-called
freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to
sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer
yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom
never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you
what to do.
17 But thank God you've started listening to a
new master,
18 one whose commands set you free to live
openly in his freedom!
19 I'm using this freedom language because it'seasy to picture. You can readily recall, can't you,
how at one time the more you did just what you
felt like doing - not caring about others, not
caring about God - the worse your life became
and the less freedom you had? And how much
different is it now as you live in God's freedom,
your lives healed and expansive in holiness?
20 As long as you did what you felt like doing,
ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with
right thinking or right living, or right anything
for that matter.
21 But do you call that a free life? What did you
get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now.
Where did it get you? A dead end.
22 But now that you've found you don't have to
listen to sin tell you what to do, and have
discovered the delight of listening to God telling
you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together
life right now, with more and more of life on the way!
23 Work hard for sin your whole life and your
pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal
life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.
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MATTHEW 10:40-42
(The Message)
Rules for Mission: Expect, look for, and bless
those who offer welcome. The mission Jesus
sent these disciples on was: proclaim God's
kingdom, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers,
cast out demons (Matthew 10:7-8). 40 "We are intimately linked in this harvest work.
Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the
One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do
accepts my Father, who sent me.
41 Accepting a messenger of God is as good as
being God's messenger. Accepting someone's help
is as good as giving someone help. This is a large
work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed
by it. It's best to start small.
42 Give a cool cup of water to someone who is
thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or
receiving makes you a true apprentice.
You won't lose out on a thing."
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• The Adair-Casey United Methodist Churches
will hold
• OPEN HOUSE FOR PASTOR LYNN •
TODAY - CASEY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH.
Please stop in from 2 TO 4 P.M. — share a time
of fellowship. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!Pastor Lynn will be moving to Jesup, Iowa
on June 30th.
Her new mailing address will be:
455 6th St.
PO Box 271
Jesup, IA 50648-0271———————————————————————
JOYCE WRIGHT'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
IS THIS AFTERNOON - FROM 2 P.M. TIL 4 P.M.
— IN HER HOME.
SHE WILL BE 85 YEARS OLD.
IT TAKES QUITE AWHILE TO GET TO BE 85.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOYCE!≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
MONDAY, JUNE 27TH —
This is Naomi's day off.
Pastor Lynn is on vacation until June 29th.
The office will be closed today.
No bible Study this evening.
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TUESDAY, JUNE 28TH —
Morning Bible Study is canceled today.
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29TH —
This will be Pastor Lynn's last day in the ABC
Parish office.
No Dorcas-Ruth Circle this week.
No Esther Circle this week.
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THURSDAY, JUNE 30TH —
Pastor Lynn is moving out today.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
FRIDAY, JULY 1ST —
This is Pastor Bob Dvorak's first day with us in
ABC Parish. He is coming to us from nearby
Stuart - Mount Vernon U.M. Church.
Welcome Pastor Dvorak!
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FUTURE FOCUS —
MONDAY, JULY 4TH IS INDEPENDENCE DAY!≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
JULY 9TH —THE TOWN OF CASEY WILL HAVE
IT'S ANNUAL FUN DAYS! CASEY U.M.C. WILL BE
SERVING DINNER THAT DAY. WE WILL HOLD A
"NO BAKE" BAKE SALE AS WELL.
— MORE INFORMATION NEXT WEEK. —
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JULY 10TH—
• CASEY U.M.C. VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
WILL BE IN SESSION FROM SUNDAY NIGHT,
JULY 10TH THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT,
JULY 14TH FROM 6 TO 9PM. OUR THEME IS:▶The organizers still need supplies.
Honey Nut Chex Cereal
Gold Fish Crackers
Skittles
Frozen Blueberries
Chocolate Cupcakes
White Cupcakes
Vanilla Yogurt
And much more . . . . . . . . .
• • • There is a sign up sheet near Pastor's
Office in Casey United Methodist Church.
CHECK IT OUT!
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
OUR VACATION BIBLE SCHOOLS
STILL NEED HELPERS.
ADAIR'S V.B.S. WILL BE IN AUGUST.
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There will be some adjustments for us all to make this
week. Adjustments of leaving, adjustments of arriving,
adjustments of meeting new friends, adjustments of
letting old friends go. We are a flexible bunch, so I
predict it will go well. Our church has been in
constant metamorphosis since it's inception, so we
know it will not be what it was fifty years ago - or even
twenty years ago. We must see what it is now, today.

God Bless and Keep You,
Pastor Lynn