Lansdale United Methodist ChurchApril 5, 2020

Palm Sunday Procession, Evans Yegon

300 N. Broad Street ●Lansdale, PA ●19446

Passion and Palm Sunday9:00 a.m. Live Stream Worship Service

Pre-Service Music Ruth Rineer

Greeting and Welcome Pastor Bill Lentz

We're glad you're attending our live stream service of worship. Your presence is a joy. We hope you feel welcome and essential to us. We pray that the Spirit of God will touch your soul as we worship. Please send an e-mail to office@lansdaleumc.org to let us know you “attended” today! Thanks!

Prelude Rays Koshy, Ruth Rineer, Wayne Wylie

Call to Worship

Song

Opening Prayer

Gospel Readings Matthew 21:1-11; 27:45-52, 57-61

Sermon Two Processions

Song

Offering Our Generosity

Your offering to God through Lansdale Church touches lives, heals brokenness, expresses trust in God to provide for your future, and praises God for all you have in this life. Thank you for giving generously! Send a text contribution to 73256 with the message LansdaleFirstUMC, or use the QR Code to donate electronically.

Song

Blessing

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Postlude

Happy Birthday to You!

Ryan Neild (4/1)Don Dietterich (4/4)Koshy John (4/4)Joseph Yard (4/5)Steve Miller (4/6)Donna Beausoleil (4/7)Jean Weaver (4/9)David DeLong (4/10)Ruth Dietterich (4/10)Frank Mensah (4/10Eric Beideman (4/11)Tony Fischer (4/11)Stephanie Ringbloom (4/13)Sandi DeLong (4/16)Chase Snyder (4/16)

Justin Filaferro (4/19)Tara Reinmiller (4/19)Don Vance (4/20)Stella Pitts (4/22)Pete Clelland (4/24)Rita Conaway (4/26)Shirley Eyre (4/26)Kerri Joyce (4/26)Timothy Kurtz (4/27)Gary Silknitter (4/26)Zachary Dasch (4/29)Patrick Sandahl (4/29)Lizzie Kosten (4/30)James Linde (4/30)

Happy Anniversary to You!

Jim & Stacey Spencer (4/9)Ed & Barb Hartmann (4/15)David & Lynn Whitman (4/22)

Dick & Louise Lehman (4/27)Nancy & Ron Fasano (4/29)

ALERT!The Good Friday afternoon event for children has been canceled!

ALERT!If there are any meetings scheduled through April 30, 2020. Please consider

holding them by teleconference or virtual meeting on Skype, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams. No meetings are to held in the church until after April 30th, if then!

Watch for more details.

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Mission Emphasis for April – 2 Annual Conference Camps

In April, we will support United Methodist Camps LUMC has had relationships with Camp Innabah and Pocono Plateau, we will designate the money for those two camps. The Website links are below. To support this emphasis, make checks payable to “LUMC,” memo: “UM Camps.” Use your blue boxed or a yellow pew envelope. You may also give online through our website (www.lansdaleumc.org) or text LansdaleFirstUMC to 73256 to give your gift electronically. Use these links: https://www.innabah.org/ and https://www.poconoplateau.org/ .

Pastoral Letter 6 from Bill Lentz and Covid-19 Devotion 5

Grace, mercy, peace, and good health to us all!

Today, I'm combining my Pastoral Letter and Covid-19 Devotion 5. So, first things first. My hopes and thoughts, as well as prayers, are with the people of LUMC. I pray for you every day as news of the virus' rapid spread and stories of people who succumb to it confront us. Feelings of uncertainty, unfamiliarity, and even doubt, may be prevalent in your life. I, too, feel their effect. They're all quite normal feelings to experience during this crisis. One less thing overall to doubt is God's presence among us and the world. Before the universe came into being, God was present. God's presence was there at the moment of creation. God's presence was with us every past moment and will be with us forever and always.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. -- Psalm 16:11

Here is the latest: The Commonwealth's directive to Montgomery County (among others) is to Stay-in-Place until April 6, 2020. LUMC will continue to produce online Sunday worship services at 9:00 a.m. through the official Facebook Page and website (www.lansdaleumc.org) until further notice. We should prepare ourselves for the cancelation of gathering for the Easter

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Sunday service at the church on April 12th. Easter Sunday will likely be an online celebration too. But then, on the first Sunday that we're able to gather together again in our Sanctuary, we will celebrate Easter!

I'll be leading the staff today in a Zoom Meeting. We will discuss Holy Week opportunities for worship and inform you when a plan is clear. It's wise to be prepared in the current fluidity of the novel coronavirus crisis and to alter our usual practices. Whether this "new normal" is temporary or not is yet to be seen. The day will come when we will worship together! Let that be our constant hope and our abiding prayer.

I want you to know I've been in contact with the leaders of the four "Anonymous" Groups that have regularly met in the church for some years. I'm glad to report their groups are meeting remotely and are well. They're eager to return to the church. They were delighted to know we care!

If you would like to volunteer temporarily in a Comfort Call Ministry, please text or call me at 484-767-2352 or email at pastorbill@lansdaleumc.org.

If you would like to volunteer temporarily in a Grocery Shop Ministry for staple items to deliver to church families who need help, please text or call me at 484-767-2352 or email at pastorbill@lansdaleumc.org.

Devotionally, let me address ways to cope during the pandemic physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This moment in time, called Covid-19 Pandemic, is merely one scene from the whole of your life. Your life is more abundant and fuller than this one moment. This moment will end, and new scenes will come. We have to act out this scene and ready yourself for future scenes. Your future may be different than you expected, but you will get through this moment.

Grieving is most likely the cause of any physical pain, fatigue, discomfort, or stress you're feeling. Grief is God's tool for healing your deepest hurts. It's like this: Life takes a turn for the worse when a loved one dies, or a job is lost, or safety and security evaporate. It would help if you worked through the feeling of

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loss. As you do, your heart will open for new encounters, relationships, and dreams. When grief is unplanned, it makes you more vulnerable and uncomfortable. You must acknowledge it, honor it, work with it, and choose to resolve it with prayer, conversation, and activities that produce hope.

Connecting is the fuel of your life. You thrive when connections are safe and healthy. You build life's foundations on your connections. I implore you to practice physical distancing during the crisis but allow social connections to thrive. Reach out to family and friends. Call vulnerable people, you know. Have conversations with people who have fallen off your radar. Call the people you hurt or misunderstood and apologize. Be in contact with all the people who give life and meaning to you.

Structuring links your brain to your physical systems and your surroundings. You need structure and order. Establish routines to ward off any sense you have of struggling. Your brain, heart, and soul find their balance in patterns. Pray without ceasing. Breathe without stressing. Think without anticipating. Rise early. Get dressed. Eat well. Take walks. Be kind to yourself. God made you for health and long life. Reflect on the ways you're cooperating with that gracious gift.

Jesus said, I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him is the one that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. -- John 15:5

Prayers continue,Pastor Bill.

Pastoral Letter 7 from Bill Lentz and Covid-19 Devotion 6

Grace, mercy, peace, and good health to us all!

I’m writing yet again to alert you of recent directives’ changes that influence our church. The Federal Government’s directive for the nation and the

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Commonwealth’s directive for Montgomery County (among 32 other counties) is to Stay-in-Place until Thursday, April 30, 2020. Though religious institutions deemed “essential” have guidelines that say a maximum of only 10 people may gather while practicing social distancing protocols. Therefore, we’ve suspended all church-related and non-church-related activities until after April 30, at the least. One directive’s exception is broadcasting weekly Sunday services at 9:00 a.m. and, next week, a Good Friday Tenebrae Service at 7:00 p.m.

Several people are working diligently to keep the church’s ministry on track. Their commitment is inspiring to me. Gratefully, two Zoom Meetings this week have resulted in a plan for Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Details will reach you in an e-mail tomorrow, April 2. Please be in prayer for the exceptional people who put themselves at some health risk to produce live stream services to keep our connection secure in this uncertain time.

One way you could express your gratitude for provisions and blessings is to keep your contributions and donations flowing to meet expenses. I sympathize with those who are currently laid off, furloughed, unemployed or underemployed and are not able to meet pledges or intentions to give. Reach me if you need assistance! We have limited resources to share on a case by case basis. Otherwise, please help your church.

Giving at https://www.lansdaleumc.org/tithe/ is quick and efficient! Thank you!

If you’ve accessed news sources recently, you’ve found stories of two pastors arrested for violating their states’ virus mitigation regulation to limit groups to 10 people by defiantly holding worship services. They each cite dubious understandings of constitutional law (neither pastor is a lawyer) as well as dangerous theologies (I could find no credentials for either pastor to suggest divinity or seminary training). People with influence must be held accountable for long-established norms, customs, laws, and traditions. The pastors’ actions will be judged by the law and the community--and by God. And so it is for all of us!

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I bring this up to reaffirm God’s preference for health in this life. The biblical witness on this point is vibrant and unequivocal. Let’s look at one vital text:

     “That thy way may be known upon earth,           thy saving health among all nations.”                --(Psalm 67:1-2 KJV)

The King James Version (1611) made a radical choice to assign the English word “health” to translate the Hebrew word “Yeshuah” (yeshu-ah), which is ordinarily rendered “salvation.” Some protestants use the word “salvation” to describe “winning souls.” Some Christians press people ardently, asking, “Are you saved?” “Have you found salvation?” But notice carefully that the KJV Bible--the preferred translation of many traditionalist and conservative Christians--opted to render the Hebrew word “health” and not “salvation” more than 500 years ago. 

That’s fascinating, at least to me.

Even more fascinating is that the Hebrew word “Yeshuah” has the same root as “Yehoshuah” (yehoshu-ah), which is the Hebrew word for the name “Joshua,” which is usually rendered as “rescue,” as in “God rescues.” The Aramaic form of the name “Joshua” is “Yeshua” (yeshu-a), “which in Greek is “Iesous,” which is rendered into Latin as “Jesus.” 

Christians could more accurately inquire into the status of someone’s soul by asking, “Are you healthy?” “Are you healed?” “Have you found health?” There is no single Hebrew or Christian conceptualization of “health.” The reason is that there’s no unique concept of health in the Scriptures. The Bible does not reveal prescriptions on how to live a healthy life in ways we might recognize in today’s “health market.” But if we take Psalm 67:2 seriously, then God’s way upon the earth is health! Health is the way! Perhaps in that sense, the entire collection of books we call the Bible is a book about health. The Bible, then, prefers health. The two defiant pastors could have preferred health over preening for admiration.

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They could have valued the health and lives of their flock before valuing their “rights.” LUMC is following the directives. We are keeping to a maximum of seven people. We value health at LUMC. We value the community. We value our witness to the community to be exemplars of healthy living. To do so, pleases God. And it pleases God when we seek to please God. Be healthy! It’s the way!

Prayers continue,Pastor Bill.

Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, Walworth, WI

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Passion and Palm Sunday Sermon Synopsis

All four gospels record a story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. His procession into the Holy City brought in Jesus' unique brand of politics. Palm Sunday is the day to recall dramatic politics: Jesus entered Jerusalem like he was a King. Ordinary people proclaimed him with “Hosannas,” as they did for all other. "Hosanna" is a political word. It means "Save Us!" Sometimes, that meant saving from Israel's enemies. Often, it meant saving from Israel's own corrupt political leaders. And some of those leaders were "religious!" Yes, there was politics all over the place in Jesus’ life, especially at the end of it. There was politics in his Passion. We can't escape that reality. Politics is about people. Where you find people, you find politics--and Jesus the Anointed too!   

Easter Sermon Synopsis

Recited in Christian Creeds as On the Third day, John’s story of Easter is the transformation of a Garden Tomb into the New Eden wherein Jesus and Mary Magdalene transform into the New Adam and the New Eve to “consummate” a new creation--the New Community--the Church, the Bride of Christ, and the visible presence of God’s love and mercy on earth. 

Here’s How to Contact Our Interim Pastor and Staff

Interim Pastor – Bill Lentz pastorbill@lansdaleumc.orgAdministrative Assistant – Becky Conrad office@lansdaleumc.orgDirector of Music Ministry – Rays Koshy rjnewkoshy@gmail.comOrganist – Ruth Rineer ruth.e.rineer@gmail.comChildren’s Education Director - Liz Bonner lumceducation@verizon.netBright Beginnings Nursery School Dir. – Liz Bonner BrightBeginnings5@verizon.netNursery Director – Donna Fritz clod21361@aol.com

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Youth Directors– Ian Bonner and Mike Richardson lumcyouthteam@gmail.comCustodian – Bill Scheetz wps80jr@gmail.com

Easter Sunday9:00 a.m. Live Stream Worship Service

Pre-Service Music Ruth Rineer

Greeting and Welcome Pastor Bill Lentz

We're glad you're attending our live stream service of worship. Your presence is a joy. We hope you feel welcome and essential to us. We pray that the Spirit of God will touch your soul as we worship. Please send an e-mail to office@lansdaleumc.org to let us know you “attended” today! Thanks!

Prelude Rays Koshy, Ruth Rineer, Wayne Wylie

Call to Worship

Song

Opening Prayer

Gospel Readings Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-10

Sermon On the Third Day…Empty Tomb

Song

Offering Our Generosity

Your offering to God through Lansdale Church touches lives, heals brokenness, expresses trust in God to provide for your future, and praises God for all you have in this life. Thank you for giving generously! Send a text contribution to 73256 with the message LansdaleFirstUMC, or use the QR Code to donate electronically.

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Blessing

Postlude

Lansdale United Methodist ChurchApril 12, 2020

Jesus and Mary Magdala in the Garden, Artist Unknown

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300 N. Broad Street ●Lansdale, PA ●19446

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