You are invited to Sunday Worship on May 18 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.
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Sunday, May 18, 2025, 10 am
This Sunday, the UMW (United Methodist Women) will present special recognition pins to Lorrie Rubio and Trisha Kett for their service to the church.
Children’s Time “What Does God’s Kingdom Look Like?” Pastor John
Special Music Echoes in Rain Brandon & Trisha Kett
by Enya, an Irish singer/songwriter.
Dreams Are More Precious
by Enya, an Irish singer/songwriter
[Enya Patricia Brennan is the sixth of nine children raised in Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland, in a musical family. She is 64, lives in a castle outside of Dublin, and is known to be very reclusive.]
Message “Kingdom of God vs Kingdom of Caesar” Rev. John Song
As one American steps onto the world stage as a man of malice, another American answers, leading with love, compassion, and concern for our fellow humankind. Pope Leo the XIV became the first American Pope in 2000 years of the Catholic Church with 1.4 billion Catholics in the world today.
The shift of these two powerful American men, Trump who embodies the Kingdom of Caesar and Pope Leo who represents Kingdom of God, feels like real hope for the Trump-weary and it is coming at exactly the right time. We will examine the clear difference between the Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Caesar, and what this means for Christians who claim to follow Christ.
Mark 1:14-15 ~ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
Luke 17:20-21 ~ Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”
Matthew 6:24 (The Message) ~ “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and wealth both.”
“Evil is a ‘militant ignorance’. Evil actively and militantly refuse consciousness.
Evil attempts to escape and hide from their own conscience through self-deception.”
~ M. Scott Peck, People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil, 1998
“People prefer comforting lie over uncomfortable truth.
People believe in confident lie over tentative truth.
People listen to the loudest voice in the room over a quiet voice of reason.
People prefer to follow a charismatic liar over an integrous leader.
People are susceptible to self-deception.
God, on the other hand, is incapable of self-deception and being deceived.”
~ John Song
