≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8TH —
A-C FOOD PANTRY - OPEN 5:30-7:30 P.M.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 12TH —
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
The two bookend Sundays of this season
are:
• BAPTISM OF THE LORD (TODAY) and
• THE TRANSFIGURATION (MARCH 2ND).
THIS IS BAPTISM OF THE LORD SUNDAY
COLOR: WHITE OR GOLD
• A-C FOOD PANTRY WILL BE OPEN IN
CASEY U.M.C. - FROM 9 TO 11 A.M.
• YOUTH GROUP WILL MEET IN CASEY
AFTER CHURCH, AT 11:30 A.M. 
————————————————————
ISAIAH 42:1–9
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
"Here is my servant . . my chosen . . I have
given you as . . a light to the nations."
The identity of the Servant seems to vary
from song to song, and has been a source
of ongoing scholarly speculation both in
Judaism and in Christianity. Some of the
servant songs even name Cyrus, the King
of Persia, who released the Judeans from
exile in Babylon, as that servant.
Today, we read this text as a reference to
Jesus, the Messiah.
GOD'S SERVANT WILL SET EVERYTHING
RIGHT
I'm backing him to the hilt.
He's the one I chose,
and I couldn't be more pleased with him.
I've bathed him with my Spirit, my life.
He'll set everything right among the
nations.
He won't call attention to what he does
with loud speeches or gaudy parades.
He won't brush aside the bruised and the
hurt
and he won't disregard the small and
insignificant,
but he'll steadily and firmly set things
right.
He won't tire out and quit. He won't be
stopped
until he's finished his work-to set things
right on earth.
Far-flung ocean islands
wait expectantly for his teaching."
The God Who Makes Us Alive with His
Own Life
5-9 God's Message,
the God who created the cosmos,
stretched out the skies,
laid out the earth and all that grows from
it,
Who breathes life into earth's people,
makes them alive with his own life:
"I am God. I have called you to live right
and well.
I have taken responsibility for you, kept
you safe.
I have set you among my people to bind
them to me,
and provided you as a lighthouse to the
nations,
To make a start at bringing people into the
open, into light:
opening blind eyes,
releasing prisoners from dungeons,
emptying the dark prisons.
I am God. That's my name.
I don't franchise my glory,
don't endorse the no-god idols.
Take note: The earlier predictions of
judgment have been fulfilled.
I'm announcing the new salvation work.
Before it bursts on the scene,
I'm telling you all about it."
————————————————————
PSALM 29 (UMH 761)
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
A PSALM OF DAVID
1-2 Bravo, God, bravo! Gods and all
angels shout, "Encore!"
In awe before the glory,
in awe before God's visible power.
Stand at attention!
Dress your best to honor him!
3 God thunders across the waters,
Brilliant, his voice and his face,
streaming brightness—
God, across the flood waters.
God's thunder symphonic.
5 God's thunder smashes cedars,
God topples the northern cedars.
colts,
The high ridges jump like wild kid goats.
God thunders, the wilderness quakes;
He makes the desert of Kadesh shake.
A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain
strips their branches.
We fall to our knees-we call out, "Glory!"
10 Above the floodwaters is God's throne
from which his power flows,
from which he rules the world.
11 God makes his people strong.
God gives his people peace.
————————————————————
ACTS 10:34-43
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Peter, preaching to Cornelius and his
household, summarizes the life and
ministry of Jesus, "beginning in Galilee
after the baptism . . ."
This reminds us the waters of baptism are
open to all, anywhere, everywhere.
This text adds that Jesus as Judge of the
living and the dead and Forgiver of sins
for all who follow his way.
Baptism holds for us, new creation, new
birth, adoption as children of God, means
of justice, a seal for the day of judgment
and cleansing from sin.
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 beforehand
—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 prophets."
————————————————————
MATTHEW 3:13-17
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Matthew's account of the baptism of
Jesus at the Jordan. Matthew’s account
is in two parts: John’s objection and the
baptism itself. Each is important to the
to record disapproval by John to the
baptism of Jesus. Jesus insists not only
that John should baptize him, but that he
should let go of his objection.
13-14 Jesus then appeared, arriving at the
Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John
to baptize him. John objected, "I'm the one
who needs to be baptized, not you!"
15 But Jesus insisted. "Do it. God's work,
putting things right all these centuries, is
coming together right now in this baptism."
So John did it.
16-17 The moment Jesus came up out of
the baptismal waters, the skies opened up
and he saw God's Spirit—it looked like a
dove—descending and landing on him. And
along with the Spirit, a voice: "This is my
Son, chosen and marked by my love,
delight of my life.
————————————————————
• 49 BC - Julius Caesar crossed the
Rubicon River signaling a war between
Rome and Gaul.
• 1882 - Thomas Edison's central electrical
station on Holborn Viaduct in London
began operation.
• 1915 - The U.S. House of Representatives
rejected a proposal to give women the
right to vote.
• 1915 - The U.S. Congress established the
Rocky Mountain National Park.
• 1998 - Tyson Foods Inc. pled guilty to
giving $12,000 to former Agriculture
Secretary Mike Espy. Tyson was fined
$6 million.
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
MONDAY, JANUARY 13TH —
THE OFFICE IS CLOSED TODAY.
————————————————————
• 1794 - U.S. President Washington made a
decision to add two stars and two stripes
to the American flag, after the admission
of Vermont and Kentucky to the union.
• 1928 - Ernst F. W. Alexanderson gave the
first public demonstration of television.
• 1957 - Wham-O began producing "Pluto
Platters." This marked the true beginning
of production of the Frisbee.
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
TUESDAY, JANUARY 14TH — ————————————————————
• 1639 - Connecticut's first constitution,
the "Fundamental Orders," was adopted.
• 1878 - Alexander Graham Bell displayed
the telephone for Britain's Queen Victoria
• 1943 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt
became the first U.S. President to fly in an
airplane while in office. He flew from Miami
Florida, to French Morocco where he met
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
• 2005 - A probe, from a Cassini-Huygens
mission, sent back pictures during + after
landing on Saturn's moon Titan. This
mission was launched October 15, 1997.
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15TH —
Happy Birthday Jeannie Larson!
Happy Birthday Kurt McCuen!
Happy Birthday Jerry Kopaska!
————————————————————
• 1559 - England's Queen Elizabeth I
(Elizabeth Tudor) was crowned in
Westminster Abbey.
• 1624 - Many riots occurred in Mexico
when it was announced that all churches
were to be closed.
• 1777 - The people of New Connecticut
(now the state of Vermont) declared their
independence.
• 1892 - "Triangle" magazine in Springfield,
MA, published the rules for a brand new
game. The original rules involved attaching
a peach basket to a suspended board. It is
now known as basketball.
• 1943 - The Pentagon was dedicated as the
world's largest office building just outside
Washington, DC, in Arlington, Virginia. This
structure covers 34 acres of land and has
17 miles of corridors.
• 1967 - The first National Football League
Super Bowl was played. The Green Bay
Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of
the American Football League. The final
score was 35-10.
• 1986 - President Reagan signed legislation
making Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a
national holiday to be celebrated on the
third Monday of January.
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
THURSDAY, JANUARY 16TH —
Happy Birthday Karen Ferguson!
————————————————————
• 1547 - Ivan the Terrible was crowned Czar
of Russia.
• 1896 - The first five-player college basket-
ball game was played at Iowa City, Iowa.
• 1944 - General Dwight D. Eisenhower took
command of Allied invasion forces in
London.
• 1982 - England and the Vatican resumed
full diplomatic relations after a break of
over 400 years.
• 1998 - It was announced that Texas would
receive $15.3 billion in a tobacco industry
settlement. The payouts were planned to
take place over 25 years.
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
FRIDAY, JANUARY 17TH —
Happy Birthday Laura Smith!
————————————————————
• 1773 - Captain Cook's Resolution became
the first ship to cross the Antarctic Circle.
• 1893 - Hawaii's monarchy was overthrown
when a group of businessmen and sugar
planters forced Queen Liliuokalani to
abdicate.
• 1912 - English explorer Robert Falcon
Scott reached the South Pole. Norwegian
Roald Amundsen had beaten him there by
one month. Scott and his party died during
the return trip.
• 1913 - All partner interests in 36 Golden
Rule Stores were consolidated and then
incorporated in Utah into one company.
The new business was the J.C. Penney
Company.
• 1994 - The Northridge earthquake rocked
Los Angeles, CA, registering a 6.7 on the
Richter Scale. At least 61 people were killed
and $20 billion in damage was caused.
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
SATURDAY, JANUARY 18TH —
• 1788 - The first English settlers arrived in
Australia's Botany Bay to establish a penal
colony.
• 1911 - For the first time an aircraft landed
on a ship. Pilot Eugene B. Ely flew onto the
deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San
Francisco harbor.
• 1964 - The plans for a World Trade Center
in New York City were disclosed.
• 1993 - The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday
was observed in all 50 U.S. states for the
first time.
• 1995 - A network of caves were found near
the town of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in southern
France. The caves contained paintings and
engravings that were 17,000 to 20,000
years old.
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
FUTURE FOCUS
A-C FOOD PANTRY - 9 TO 11 A.M.
JANUARY 26TH—
RED BIRD MISSION TEAM FUNDRAISER
• LUNCH AT CASEY U.M.C. AT 11:30 A.M.
WALKING TACO PLATES PROVIDED.
FREE WILL OFFERINGS ACCEPTED. • YOUTH GROUP FOLLOWING LUNCH
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8TH —
TODAY IS:
SERVICE OPPORTUNITY SATURDAYTransportation will leave Casey U.M.C.
at 9 A.M. this morning.
See you there.
Hope Ministries has a full program of
opportunities to help the less fortunate.
Their mantra is: GIVING HOPE AND CHANGING LIVES.
• They have the Encore Thrift Store at
4640 Merle Hay Road
Since July of 2000 Hope Ministries has:
• Served 1,605,764 Meals • Provided 602,096 Shelter bed nights
• Provided clothing and other personal
needs to thousands of people.
Website: http://www.hopeiowa.org/
SATURDAY SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
ARE LISTED FOR GIVING TIME AT:
• HOPE BARGAIN CENTER AND• DONATION DROP OFF CENTERS
• Check out the website for much more
information. There is much to learn!God Bless and Keep You,
Donna
