You are invited to the Third Sunday in Lent Worship on March 23 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 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.
Third Sunday in Lent
Sunday, March 23, 2025, 10 am
Today 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 “The Story of Good Samaritan” Pastor John
Duet O How I Love Jesus Elizabeth R. & Ethan A.
Words by Frederick Whitfield, Music: Traditional American Melody
1 John 4:16 Rehearsal Tutorship: Joan Culbertson
Special Music Don’t Laugh At Me Jesse Martinez
by Steve Seskin and recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary
Looking For A Home
by Keith Greeninger
Chorus: I been down once, I been down twice,
I been down so many times in my life
Mister justice of the peace
Won’t you leave me alone
I never hurt nobody
I’m just looking for a home
Message “Jesus’s Response to JD Vance’s Hierarchy of Love” Rev. John Song
Vice President JD Vance said during a Fox News interview on Jan. 29, “There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that.”
Well, Jesus has something to say about that. When Jesus speaks of family, it’s not defined by blood or borders but by kinship in God.
Dear God, please fill our hearts with love and hope so that we may see each other with kindness, lift each other with grace, and never let this light of God fade. Guide us to be healers, unifiers, and bearers of grace, so that we may move forward with faith, courage, and compassion. Amen.
Luke 10:25-37
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Matthew 5:44-47
Love Your Enemies
“But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same?”
Mark 3:31–35
The True Kindred of Jesus
Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
