Lunenburg United Methodist Charge

 

Antioch UMC                                                           Williams UMC

 

On our walk. . . . .                 

April 21, 2009

 

Act 3:12-19

When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.  You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.  You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.  You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead.  We are witnesses of this.   By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.  It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

 "Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.  But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.  Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

Now, what do you expect a preacher to do when a crowd begins to gather?  You are right.  Peter knows it is time to preach a sermon.  It really helps your sermon when you have a miracle in your presence to show the people.  We have been born again.  We were at one time lost and on our way to the Devils hell.  We repented of our sins, trusted Jesus and it changed our destination from hell to heaven.  We have passed from death to life.  That folks, is a miracle.  So, here is an opportunity for Peter when a crowd gathers, to preach a sermon.  Now I know Peter was a good preacher because he turns the attention of the people from himself to Lord Jesus.  John the Baptist said of Jesus, “he must increase but I must decrease.  Preaching ought to magnify and glorify Jesus.  That is gospel preaching. The people were amazed at what had just happened to a crippled man but Peter makes a bee line to the cross.

 

 Now if you want to know what Peter’s sermon was about, Hebrews 13: 8 gives a good summary ….  “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.”
Now look at verse 13.  Jesus is mentioned 3 times.

 

Peter talks about the Jesus of the past. “The God of our fathers.”

He talks about Jesus of the promise. “Hath glorified His Son.”

He talks about the Jesus of the present. “You denied the Holy One.”

 

I want you to think about the Jesus of the past, Jesus of the promise and Jesus of the present.
In a very clear sentence Peter brings before them their part in the death of Jesus.  Peter made it clear that they had a part in the crucifixion.  They denied him and rejected him when the chief official Pilate did all he could to release Jesus.  Pilate said on a number of occasions I find no-fault in Jesus.  You know something folks, that is the general consensus of human history.  I have never found anybody who found fault in Jesus.  I have gone into homes and people blame church members and find fault with them but no one could blame Jesus.  You remember what happened that day.  They brought Jesus out before the mob.  They also brought out Barabbas who was a murderer.  Pilate asked which one of these do you want me to set free?  The mob said set Barabbas free and crucify Jesus. The lost world will always choose Barabbas over Jesus

 

Peter said you are guilty of the death of the Holy One, “And killed the Prince of life.”  The word means the originator of life.  They were looking for life.  They were trying to find the solution and the source of life. And here the very life lived in their presence.  The life, true life, eternal life.  And yet they put him to death.


Peter said I know you did it out of ignorance. You didn’t realize who Jesus was. You did not know that he was the Messiah.  They did not know he was Prince of life. They did not realize the magnitude of their crime.  Now we know the Roman government had a part in the death of Jesus.  The Jews had a part in the death of Jesus.

 

But what about you and me?


Now what happened on the cross?  Before Jesus died he said it is finished.  He did everything in order that we might be forgiven and go to heaven when we leave this world.  Let me give you a simple illustration here.  In Romans 3:23, the Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Jesus knew no sin.  He never committed any sin.  Then in Romans 5: 8 the Bible says “God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”  The left hand represents you and me.  We are loaded with sin.  The right hand represents Jesus. Look what he did. He took our sins and laid them upon himself.  You mean the words of anger I spoke yesterday were laid upon Jesus when he died?  That’s right.


When you understand your part in the death of Jesus on the cross, you can never be the same.  Even though Jesus died, death had no hold on Jesus.  The Bible says he rose from the tomb very much alive. The story doesn’t stop at the death and the burial.  If that was all then we would still be without hope and peace.  He rose from the tomb and is alive.  That same Jesus is coming again for his people.  Are you counted in that number?  I want you to meet this Jesus Peter preached of.  You can know him as your savior.

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!

 

The Walkathon for the Lunenburg Ministries is scheduled for May 2 @ 9:00 a.m. starting at Central High School.   If you would be interested in taking part in this event, please contact Brenda Barnes.

 

UMW Asks for Support of Madeline’s House

 

The Antioch UMW is asking for everybody’s support for Madeline’s House.  There will be boxes for donations of needed items to help Madeline’s House in their endeavor to supply a place for those who have suffered from domestic abuse.  These boxes will be in the church office along with information on the programs offered and a list of the needs of Madeline’s House.  Madeline’s House has been on the verge of closing during the past year and their situation both materially and financially is tenuous.  Please open your hearts to this important program.  A special offering was taken for Madeline’s House on April 19. Your generosity is overwhelming as a monetary donation of $125 will be forwarded to Madeline's House.  Madeline's House is a home for the mentally and physically abused women and their children in South Side Virginia.  Let us support this wonderful program further by filling the boxes in the church office. They will be there until Mothers Day, May 10.  Please support this much needed program. 

Walk-a-thon. May 5th members of Williams UMC will have a “walk-a- thon” to support the Air Conditioning fund.  They will walk from Williams to Victoria, and back.  If you would like to sponsor them please sign up on the sign up sheet.

 

Williams Stew  On May 15th Williams will be cooking a stew.  We are requesting that all ingredients be donated by the church family and friends.  If you would like to make a donation or would be able to help with the stew, please contact Barbara Reese or Thomas Taylor.

 

The Lord’s Acre. If you are interested in helping the church family develop a “victory” garden to be used for the church family please join us for a meeting to plan what will be grown and how the care will be handled.  We will meet on April 29th at 5:00 PM in the fellowship hall.  If you would like to help, but can’t make the meeting please forward your ideas to Rev Ed, Barbara Reese, or Tom Taylor. The produce raised will be used to help supply stews with vegetables, supply thr least of us in the church and community, and possibly a fund raiser.  Get your green thumbs dirty and join us!!! 

 

Worship This Week April 26:

 

Hebrew Text: Psalm 4

 

Gospel Text:   Luke 24: 36-48

 

Hymns: UMH 349 Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus

               UMH 367 He Touched Me

               UMH 666 Shalom to You

 

Sermon: When the Son Came Out

 

Sunday School is available each Sunday morning.  The importance of Sunday School is that, though you may think hearing the word will suffice for you, you really need to be in attendance at Sunday School to gather all the information that you can in an open discussion classroom.  Jesus’ word cannot be totally understood just by listening to a sermon.  You have to interact with it and with other Christians to learn what He was saying to us.  This is a life long study and you should take part.  There is a class for every age so please plan on joining us to learn more about our Lord, Jesus Christ.   Sunday School at Williams begins at 10:45 AM and at Antioch at 10:00 AM.

 

Evening Bible Study   Evening Bible study will continue on April 28 at 7:00PM at Antioch.  We will be reviewing chapters 41-50 of Isaiah. We will discuss the events depicted in the book.  If you are looking for a study of God’s word join us not only for the study, but good fellowship.

 

Morning Bible Study. Morning Bible study will meet Tuesday April 29 @ 10:00 AM at Audrey Smith’s house when will be reviewing chapters 21-30 of Isaiah. If you are looking for a study of God’s word join us not only for the study, but good fellowship.

 

Picture of Events.

If you would like to see pictures of recent events at Antioch please go to antiochmethodistchurch.org. This is the address for our webpage and it is updated as information becomes available.  The video “One Pair of Hands”, from the Palm Sunday service is now available for viewing.

 

        

 

                                                             

Prayer List 

Please keep the following families in your prayers:

Becky Eades & boys

Edna A. Bagley

Dee Welch

Harry & Margaret Smith

Edith Parham

Bernard Bottoms

Family of Walter B.Moseley

Tommy Cage

Bertha Bottoms

CV & Agnes Thompson

Grace DiStefano

Betty Reese

Nathan Hendricks

Gertrude Hite

Betty Yerby

Hazel Taylor

Ernie Schultz

Bertha Arthur

Sgt Christopher Thompson

Danny Horne

Allen Alcock

Elizabeth Biggerstaff 

Elizabeth Crowder

Tommy Hubbard

Mary Hawthorne

Miranda Eley

Layton Powell

Fred & Denise Harper

Barbara Evans

Alicia Clary

Lori, John , Braden McDaniel

Ruthie Turner

Laura Dutzman

Dorothy Ann Irby

Jo Anne Doty

Justin McDaniel

Barbara Bentley

Cindy Manning

David King

Marjorie Thompson

Hazel Ozlin

Tommy Connor

Frances Hawthorne

Ronnie Pennington

Lisa Robinson

The Family of RonnieLeistra

Sheila Cage

Tom Fowler

Kathy McReynolds

Hilda Ozlin

Jeff Hendricks

The Thelma Kennedy Family

Red Tanner

Mae Overby

Lilly Grace Coleman

Samantha Folsom

Danny King

Kay Thompson & girls

Doug Winn

Maria Kay

Earl "Chucky” Barnes

Dorothy Driskill

Dennis Chumney

Bobby & Virginia Overby

David Jones

Jessica Taylor

Edward Thompson

Justine Mc Henry

Betty Roegge

 
 
Prayer Gram.
Please, when putting somebody’s name on our prayer list, PRINT their names and addresses if you have them.  This will help us get the prayer grams out sooner and it will also make it easier to read during services.

 

A Final Word:   Life is Hard …… Afterlife is Harder!

Have blessed week!!