We invite you to this musical event presented by the Aptos High and Aptos Junior High School choirs!
Aptos High School Auditorium
100 Mariner Way, Aptos
Watsonville First United Methodist Church
Watsonville, CA
We invite you to this musical event presented by the Aptos High and Aptos Junior High School choirs!
Aptos High School Auditorium
100 Mariner Way, Aptos
Please join us for in-person worship this Sunday, March 13 at 10:00 am! The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE.
Second Sunday of Lent
Sunday, March 13, 2022, 10 am
Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday, March 13th !
Turn your clock 1 hour forward before you go to bed on Saturday.
Please join us every Sunday for in-person Worship at 10 am wearing masks and social distancing. You can also worship online by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click Facebook or YouTube. It will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.
Children’s Time: A Sufi Story: The Diamond in Your Pocket by Pastor John
For Special Music, Brandon and Trisha Kett will offer a beautiful song “The Wayfaring Stranger.”
Special Music: The Wayfaring Stranger by Brandon and Trisha Kett
“The Wayfaring Stranger” is a well-known American folk song originating in the early 1800’s about a plaintive soul on the journey through life. The lyrics were originally published in 1858. The songwriter is unknown. During the Civil War in 1862, the lyrics were found on the wall of a Confederate prison, inscribed by a dying Union soldier.
Message: Jesus as a Template for Transformation Part 2) “Deny Yourself”
by Rev. John Song
The Seven Week Lenten Sermon Series continues with Part 2) “Deny Yourself.” This commend is the first of three commands that Jesus required for transformation. Eckhart Tolle said, “If all there is in your life is ‘me,’ then suffering is inevitable.” Jesus’s first command of “deny yourself” is a portal out of the state of obsession with the self which leads to liberation. What does it entail to do the work of self-denial?
Ephesians 1:2 (The Message)
“It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.
Long before we first heard of Christ, he had his eye on us,
had designs on us for glorious living,
part of the overall purpose he is working out
in everything and everyone.”
Please join us for in-person worship this Sunday, March 6 at 10:00 am! The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE.
First Sunday of Lent with Holy Communion
Sunday, March 6, 2022, 10 am
Please join us every Sunday for in-person Worship at 10am wearing masks and social distancing. You can also worship online by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click Facebook or YouTube. It will be uploaded in Sunday afternoon for your viewing.
Giving to the Ukraine Aid
During Offering, you have an opportunity to give a donation to:
UMCOR: Support the humanitarian assistance in Ukraine
United Methodists and others wishing to provide humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people in the wake of the Russian invasion of their country may contribute to UMCOR International Disaster Response and Recovery. This fund will provide direct assistance to those in Ukraine as well as assistance to Ukrainians fleeing to neighboring countries. Unlike the other charitable organization, 100% of all Advance contributions go to the designated cause because the General United Methodist Church has established and fund the operational system.
You can make check out to “Wats1st UMC” or cash in the envelope with the memo “UMCOR Ukraine.”
Message “Jesus as a Template for Transformation” Rev. John Song
The Evolutionary Journey: The Shift from Ego to Essence
Transformed people transform others. This Seven Week Lenten Sermon Series is an invitation to follow the Way of Jesus Christ that will transform us. We will be exploring together the life and teachings of Jesus as a template for transformation, both personally and as a society. Jesus laid out for us the template for transformation in Mark 8:34-37:
“34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?”
Ash Wednesday is Tomorrow, March 2! From 9:00 am to 5:00 pm outside the Pastor’s Office, you can receive the imposition of Ashes by the pastor or office staff.
Remember “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
~ Genesis 3:19b
Please join us for in-person worship this Sunday, February 27 at 10:00 am! The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE.
Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday
Sunday, February 27, 2022, 10 am
Please join us every Sunday for in-person Worship at 10am wearing masks and social distancing. You can also worship online by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click Facebook or YouTube. It will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.
Children’s Time “The Burning Bush” Pastor John
Exodus 3:1-6
The Burning Bush
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father,the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
For Special Music we will hear two exquisite classical guitar pieces from Irene Berry & Debbie Morton of Cabrillo College. You don’t want to miss their performance that will inspire and warm your hearts.
Special Music
1. Kanon in D by Johann Pachelbel
2. Simple Gifts, traditional
Performed by the Guitar Duo, Irene Berry & Debbie Morton
Message “Uncreated Light” Rev. John Song
On the Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday, Pastor John will share his personal encounter with the “divine light of God” in his senior year in Berkley that led him to attend the seminary. He will investigate the phenomenon of the “divine light of God” that is experienced by biblical characters, saints, mystics, writers and poets throughout the ages. It has other names for it: Original Light, Uncreated Light, Energy of God, Fire of God, Devine Energy, and so on. For those who experienced it, it altered their lives irrevocably.
Matthew 17: 1-3
The Transfiguration of the Lord
1 “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.”