Monday, January 27, 2014

OUR WEEK-FEBRUARY 2ND TO FEBRUARY 8TH

REMINDERS —
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29TH —
ADAIR AND CASEY AD COUNCIL
MEETINGS IN ADAIR UMC AT 7:00 P.M.  

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 31ST —
JAN. 31 TO FEB. 2 —     

— YOUTH STRIKE FOR CHRIST  —
DES MOINES — IOWA EVENTS CENTER.
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• FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH
FEBRUARY 1ST —       

• 1865 - Ratification of the 13th Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished
slavery, was adopted by the 38th Congress.
• 1865 - First African American Before US
Supreme Court, John Sweat Rock
(1825-1866), a noted Boston lawyer, became
the first African-American to practice before
the U.S. Supreme Court and the first Black
person to speak before the U.S. House of
Representatives.
• 1870 - Jonathan Jasper Wright was elected
to the South Carolina Supreme Court. He was
the first African American to hold a major
judicial position.
• 1902 - Langston Hughes, one of the most
famous poets, was born. Hughes came from
the Harlem Renaissance, the early stages of
the Black Arts Movement. Hughes was one of
the greatest poets of all time. Before his death
he wrote fifteen collections.
• 1960 - Sit-in Movement in Greensboro,
North Carolina.  Four students form North
Carolina A and M College started Sit-in
movement at Greensboro, N.C., five-and-
dime store. By February 10 movement had
spread to fifteen Southern cities in five
states.
• 1965 - Actress Ruby Dee in Shakespeare
Festival.  Ruby Dee was the first African
American actress to play a major role in an
American Shakespeare Festival.
• 1965 - Selma Demonstration Ends in 700
Arrests.    More than seven hundred
demonstrators, including Martin Luther
King Jr., were arrested in Selma.
• 1967 - African American Poet Langston
Hughes dies.
• 1978 - The first stamp of the U.S. Postal
Service Black Heritage USA series honors
Harriet Tubman, famed abolitionist and
"conductor" on the Underground Railroad.
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND —
Happy Birthday Patsy Wood!
Happy Birthday Maxine Umbaugh!
Happy Birthday Jillian Stephenson!
Happy Birthday Lindsey Jepsen!
 

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany     
The Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas)

COLOR: GREEN 

SCRIPTURE READINGS —
————————————————————
MICAH 6:1-8
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
The Lord has controversy with Israel, and
the prophet asks what the Lord requires.
WHAT GOD IS LOOKING FOR
1-2
Listen now, listen to God: "Take your
   stand in court.
   If you have a complaint, tell the
   mountains;   

   make your case to the hills.
And now, Mountains, hear God's case;
   listen, Jury Earth—
For I am bringing charges against my
   people.
   I am building a case against Israel.

3-5 "Dear people, how have I done you
   wrong?
   Have I burdened you, worn you out?
   Answer!
I delivered you from a bad life in Egypt;
   I paid a good price to get you out of
   slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you—   

   and Aaron and Miriam to boot!
Remember what Balak king of Moab tried
   to pull,
   and how Balaam son of Beor turned the
   tables on him.
Remember all those stories about Shittim
   and Gilgal.
   Keep all God's salvation stories fresh
   and present."

6-7 How can I stand up before God
   and show proper respect to the high
   God?
Should I bring an armload of offerings
   topped off with yearling calves?
Would God be impressed with thousands
   of rams,
   with buckets and barrels of olive oil?
Would he be moved if I sacrificed my first
   born child,
   my precious baby, to cancel my sin?

8 But he's already made it plain how to
   live, what to do,
   what God is looking for in men and
   women.
It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to
   your neighbor,
   be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don't take yourself too seriously—
   take God seriously.
————————————————————
PSALM 15 (UMH 747)
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
A PSALM OF DAVID
1
God, who gets invited to dinner at your
   place?
   How do we get on your guest list?

2 "Walk straight,
      act right,
         tell the truth.

3-4 "Don't hurt your friend,
      don't blame your neighbor;
         despise the despicable.

5 "Keep your word even when it costs
   you,
      make an honest living,
         never take a bribe.

   "You'll never get
   blacklisted
   if you live like this."
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I CORINTHIANS 1:18-31
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
God's saving love confounds all sources
of human boasting. Let your  boasting
be in the cross of Christ. Paul says, we are
all to line up before the true Wisdom.  The
wisdom of the cross is our wisdom.   In
God’s wisdom, God chooses the foolish,
the weak, the low, even what seems to
have no value at all.  So how does that
wisdom get “in” us?  Through habits.     

18-21 The Message that points to Christ
on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to
those hellbent on destruction, but for
those on the way of salvation it makes
perfect sense. This is the way God works,
and most powerfully as it turns out.
It is written,

I'll turn conventional wisdom on its head,
I'll expose so-called experts as crackpots.
So where can you find someone truly wise,
truly educated, truly intelligent in this day
and age? Hasn't God exposed it all as
pretentious nonsense? Since the world in
all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when
it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom
took delight in using what the world
considered dumb - preaching, of all things!
To bring those who trust him into the way
of salvation.

22-25 While Jews clamor for miraculous
demonstrations and Greeks go in for
philosophical wisdom, we go right on
proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews
treat this like an anti-miracle—and Greeks
pass it off as absurd. But to us who are
personally called by God himself—both
Jews and Greeks—Christ is God's ultimate
miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one.
Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotent,
next to the seeming absurdity of God.
Human strength can't begin to compete
with God's "weakness."

26-31 Take a good look, friends, at who you
were when you got called into this life. I
don't see many of "the brightest and the
best" among you, not many influential, not
many from high-society families. Isn't it
obvious that God deliberately chose men
and women that the culture overlooks and
exploits and abuses, chose these
"nobodies" to expose the hollow
pretensions of the "somebodies"? That
makes it quite clear that none of you can
get by with blowing your own horn before
God. Everything that we have—right
thinking and right living, a clean slate and
a fresh start—comes from God by way of
Jesus Christ. That's why we have the
saying, "If you're going to blow a horn,
blow a trumpet for God."
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MATTHEW 5:1-12
THE MESSAGE (MSG)
The Sermon on the Mount begins with
words of blessing. Jesus begins his
Sermon on the Mount by announcing 

what the kingdom of God rewards, or 
blesses.  The good news Jesus began 
to preach throughout the region of 
Galilee, and especially in towns along 
the shoreline, is summarized by Matthew 
as “Repent! For the kingdom of God has 
drawn near.” This is identical to the 
message of John the Baptist, who is now 
in prison at Herod’s headquarters in 
Galilee.          
1-2 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing
huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those
who were apprenticed to him, the
committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a
quiet place, he sat down and taught his
climbing companions. This is what he said:

3
"You're blessed when you're at the end of
your rope. With less of you there is more
of God and his rule.

4 "You're blessed when you feel you've lost
what is most dear to you. Only then can
you be embraced by the One most dear to
you.

5 "You're blessed when you're content with
just who you are—no more, no less. That's
the moment you find yourselves proud
owners of everything that can't be bought.

6 "You're blessed when you've worked up a
good appetite for God. He's food and drink
in the best meal you'll ever eat.

7 "You're blessed when you care. At the
moment of being 'care-full,' you find your-
selves cared for.

8 "You're blessed when you get your inside
world—your mind and heart—put right.
Then you can see God in the outside world.

9 "You're blessed when you show people
how to cooperate instead of compete or
fight. That's when you discover who you
really are, and your place in God's family.

10 "You're blessed when your commitment
to God provokes persecution. The
persecution drives you even deeper into
God's kingdom.

11-12  "Not only that—count yourselves
blessed every time people put you down
or throw you out or speak lies about you
to discredit me. What it means is that the
truth is too close for comfort and they are
uncomfortable. You can be glad when that
happens—give a cheer, even!—for though
they don't like it, I do! And all heaven
applauds. And know that you are in good
company. My prophets and witnesses have
always gotten into this kind of trouble.
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• SUPER BOWL SUBS TODAY •
• SERVING SUBS AT CASEY U.M.C.     

Subs are $3.00 each or   
$2.50 each in packages of 6 or more. 
Each Sandwich comes with Chips,
Pickle, 
and a Cookie Bar.
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• 1862 - District of Columbia abolished
slavery.
• 1912 - Quartet Singer Herbert Mills, of the
original Mills Brothers Quartet, was born
in Piqua, Ohio. The very successful quartet
was known for its wonderful harmony.
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD —
THE OFFICE IS CLOSED TODAY.
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• 1874 - African American Blanche Kelso
Bruce was elected to a full six-year term in
the U.S. Senate by a Mississippi legislature.
• 1903 - Jack Johnson, heavyweight boxer
became the first African American Heavy-
weight Champion.
• 1989 - African American tennis pro Lori
McNeil defeated Chris Evert in the Pan
Pacific Open in Tokyo.
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH — ————————————————————
• 1794 - France abolishes slavery. A nation
with lukewarm commitment to abolition,
under Napoleon they reestablish slavery in
1802, along with reinstating "Code noir",
which prohibits blacks, mulattoes and
other people of color from entering French
colonial territory or intermarrying with
caucasians.
• 1913 - Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee,
Alabama.
• 1969 - MPLA began armed battle against
Portugal in Angola. The People's Movement
for the Liberation of Angola – is a political
party that has ruled the country since their
independence from Portugal in 1975.
• 1986 - A stamp of Sojourner Truth is
issued by the U.S. Postal Service.
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5TH — 

• AUMW MEETING AT 1:30 P.M.      
• SPRC MEETING IN ADAIR U.M.C. - 7 P.M.
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• 1934 - Henry (Hank) Louis Aaron was
born on this day.  
Aaron was born in Mobile, Alabama, and
had seven brothers and sisters.
Nicknamed "Hammer", or "Hammerin'
Hank", Sporting News ranked Aaron fifth
on the "100 Greatest Baseball Players" list.
On April 15th, 1974, Aaron hit home run
number 715, which broke Babe Ruth's old
record.  Hank was besieged with bags of
hate mail and hundreds of death threats.
Many sports writers said they received
death threats as well, contingent upon their
reporting on Aaron.
Broadcaster Vin Scully addressed the racial
tension in his call of the home run:
"What a marvelous moment for baseball;
what a marvelous moment for Atlanta and
the state of Georgia; what a marvelous
moment for the country and the world. It is
a great moment for all of us, particularly for
Henry Aaron."
Hank Aaron hit his 755th and final home run
on July 20, 1976.
• 1950 - Singer Natalie Cole, daughter of
legendary singer Nat Cole, born in Los
Angeles, California. Singing professionally
at age 11, by 1976 Cole had won Grammys
for New Artist of the Year,  and Best R&B
Female Vocalist.
• 1962 - Suit seeking to bar Englewood, N.J.,
from maintaining "racially segregated"
elementary schools was filed in U.S. District
Court.
• 1990 - Columbia University graduate and
Harvard University law student Barack
Obama became the first African American
named president of Harvard Law Review.
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH —
Happy Birthday Charles Slayton!
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• 1820 - First organized emigration back to
Africa begins when 86 free African
Americans leave New York Harbor aboard
the Mayflower of Liberia. They are bound
for the British colony of Sierra Leone,
which welcomes free African Americans as
well as fugitive slaves.
• 1820 - United States population: 9,638,453
Black population: 1,771,656 (18.4 per cent).
• 1867 - The Peabody Fund for Black
education in the South established.
• 1945 - Bob Marley, Jamacian reggae star
was born in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica.
• 1993 - Tennis player Arthur Ashe dies.
Ashe was the first African American to win
at Wimbledon.
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY  7TH —
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• 1872 - Alcorn A and M College for black
students opened in Lorman, Mississippi.
• 1883 - Eubie Blake, African American
pianist,was born in Baltimore, Maryland. 
Eubie was a composer, lyricist, and pianist
of ragtime, jazz, popular, military and show
music. 
He was bandleader with the United Service
Organizations (USO) during World War II.
He was awarded honorary doctorates from
Rutger's University, New England
Conservatory, the University of Maryland,
Morgan State University, Pratt Institute,
Brooklyn College, Dartmouth College,
and Howard University.  
On October 9, 1981, he was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, by
President Ronald Reagan.
On his tombstone is inscribed:
“If I'd known I was going to live this long,
I would have taken better care of myself.”
— Eubie Blake
• 1926 - Carter G. Woodson created Negro
History Week.
In 1976 it became Black History Month.
• 1946 - Filibuster in U.S. Senate killed
FEPC bill.
On June 25, 1941, President Roosevelt
created the Fair Employment Practices
Committee (FEPC) by signing Executive
Order 8802, which stated, "there shall be
no discrimination in the employment of
workers in defense industries or in
government because of race, creed, color,
or national origin."
Congress has never been able to agree on
the FEPC law. Several states have enacted
the law at state level.
• 1967 - Chris Rock, comedian, author,
recording artist, actor, and talk show host
was born in South Carolina.
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8TH —
• MISSION OPPORTUNITY AT
• HOPE MINISTRIES IN DES MOINES •
LEAVE CASEY U.M.C. AT 9 A.M.
This opportunity to serve is open to young 

and old alike.
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• 1944 - Harry S. McAlphin is the first
African American to attend a White House
press conference.
• 1968 - Actor Gary Coleman was born in
Zion, Illinois. Despite a childhood of grave
medical problems, Coleman went on to be
a popular television star in situation
comedies.
He underwent two unsuccessful kidney
transplants in 1973 and 1984, and required
daily dialysis.  Coleman was rated #1 on
a list of "100 Greatest Child Stars".
• 1986 - Woman's Singles Figure skater
Debi Thomas became the first African
American to win the Women's Singles of
the U.S. National Figure Skating
Championship competition.  She was a
pre-med student at Stanford University.
• 1986 - Ophrah's On!  Oprah Winfrey
becomes the first African American
woman to host a nationally syndicated
talk show.

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FUTURE FOCUS — 
February 12th — 
Food Pantry at Casey U.M.C.  
From 5:30 to 7:30 P.M.

Thank you for your diligent service during 
these cold, turbulent, blustery days. The 
motor would not hum without you.
God Bless and Keep You,
Donna