You are invited to the in-person Worship Service on Jan. 28 at 10 am. The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE.
You can worship live on ZOOM by clicking the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9658816441 or Meeting ID: 965 881 6441
You can also watch Sunday services at your convenience by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click YouTube or Facebook. Each Sunday worship will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Sunday, January 28, 2024, 10 am
This Sunday is Sunday School with Joan!
First, children will be in worship. Following the Special Music,
the teacher, Joan Culbertson, will lead our children to the Nursery Room
Children’s Time: “Learning the Sign Language of Love” by Pastor John
Choir Anthem: “Fix Your Eyes on Jesus”
Words & Music by John W. Peterson
Message Holy Disunity: What Separates Us Can Save Us Rev. John Song
Part 3) “Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality”
Many Christians want to remain faithful to God’s Word through the Bible. This has caused Christians who read the Bible without background information or cultural context, to have difficulty accepting homosexuals. Therefore, people who make such arguments should not be condemned as bigots or haters. They are doing the best they can with the theological perspective they have received and learned from their churches.
However, to rely only on the Bible, or on particular interpretations of particular verses, and to dismiss what we know from both science and from personal testimony is both harmful and theologically aberrant. Knowledge does not stop with the last verse of the Book of Revelation. God continues to speak in our time.
If we take seriously the idea that we are all molded in the divine image and likeness, is to determine the touchstone, such as love of neighbor and love of stranger. Anything that prevents such love needs to be seriously questioned. Not all passages are of equal import, and not all actions lead to wholeness. We will examine what is the appropriate way to understand and use the Bible that leads to more love and greater wholeness for people.
“Even the devil can quote scripture for its own purpose.”
~ William Shakespeare from the play The Merchant of Venice
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no evil to the neighbor.
Hence love is the fulfillment of the Law.”
~ Romans 13:8-10
“Learn and know the law very, very well,
so you can break them appropriately in the service of love.”
~ Dalai Lama
