Call to Worship - You are invited to light a candle in your home to welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit
Laughing With - El Dorado
Passing of the Peace: Through the act of passing the peace of Christ, we offer our sincere desire to love our neighbor.
You are invited to greet one another in the live stream chat on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.
Announcements:
Stewardship Campaign: Our goal is to raise $20,000/month for payroll, so that we can continue to employ all the people who are working tirelessly to bring the Good News to all who need to hear it. My prayer is that we can raise enough money to cover our church’s payroll over the next three months. This allows the congregation to use any money we have on hand to directly support our ministries.
We have converted our parsonage into a co-housing community, which now has 6 residents living safely and affordably together. We have been able to support people who might not have been able to find sustainable housing in the current market, and we can ensure that they will stay housed during the pandemic. It would be an additional hope to raise $3,000/month to support the utilities and expenses of the co-housing community.
Jubilee Fund: This fund is designated to helping reduce the burden of debt in our community. As we make our way through the pandemic, the economic pressures are going to be challenging. If you feel led, you can now donate through Venmo!
VENMO: You can find us here: https://venmo.com/LAFirstUMC
PAYPAL: https://paypal.me/LAFirstUMC
SQUARE: https://checkout.square.site/pay/be673aef7fcb424e98387016d184e57d
LUKE-ACTS
September 27: Chapter 18 - Our Savior Has Come
September 27: Chapter 18 - Our Savior Has Come
Day 1: Luke 1:1-25, 57-80 - Birth of John
Day 2: Luke 3:1-26; 7:18-35 - John’s Ministry and Question to Jesus
Matthew 14:1-12; Luke 9:7-9 - John’s Death
Day 3: Luke 1:26-56 - Annunciation and Magnificat; Luke 2:1-20 - Birth of Jesus
Day 4: Luke 2:21-52 - Jesus in the Temple, as a baby, at 12 years old
Day 5: Luke 3:21-38 - Baptism of Jesus; Luke 4:1-13 - Temptation in the Wilderness
Day 6: Study Manual, p. 136-143
October 4: Chapter 19 - Teach Us to Pray
October 11: Chapter 20 - Despising His Goodness
October 18: Chapter 21 - Teach Us How to Live
October 25: Chapter 22 - Signs of God’s Rule
November 1: Chapter 23 - Learning to Follow
November 8: Chapter 24 - Sent as Witnesses
November 15: Chapter 25 - Acts of the Holy Spirit
November 22: No Class
November 29: Chapter 26 - Community in Jerusalem
December 6: Chapter 27 - Missionary Zeal
December 13: Chapter 28 - Count It Joy
December 20: Chapter 29 - Fellowship of Courage
December 27: No Class
January 3: No Class
January 10: Chapter 30 - Temples, Politics, and Business
January 17: No Class
January 24: Chapter 31 - Boldness for the Gospel
January 31: Chapter 32 - Ordering Our Lives
Sermon Series: September 12-November 21
Listening to the stories of Biblical characters to learn about their journey of faith
We have a NEW new mailing address!
When we are able to meet in person, we will still be congregating in our tents under the blue California sky on the corner of Flower & Olympic in the heart of DTLA, but if you need to send anything to the church via snail mail, here is the address you can reach us at:
Los Angeles First United Methodist Church
P.O. Box 173, South Pasadena CA 91031
CHURCH COUNCIL MEETING: Tuesday, October 12 at 6:30 PM via Zoom
Haiti Assistance
If you are wondering how you can help, one way is to donate to the United Methodist Committee on Relief:
https://umcmission.org/umcor/
Also Abby Walters Blackmon, a friend of the church, recommends www.harvestfieldhaiti.org/donate-now. Harvestfield Ministry is the ministry she and Greg are involved with. A hundred percent of the donations to Harvestfield goes to support the community of Les Anglais, the community they serve. Abby and Greg have gone to Haiti several times a year on alternating tours for several years. Both are doctors and go to offer medical help.
Invitation to Mentor High School Seniors at Kid City!
Kid City is starting to recruit mentors for its high school senior scholars program. Anne would love to welcome more LA First church members in as mentors as a way of learning more about Kid City, the amazing young people we work with, and the larger community that is affiliated with LA First. The commitment is 1-2 hours a week for the academic year. Please feel free to contact Anne at annehawthorne@urbanfoundation.org if you have questions. Kid City would also love to invite you tofill out this survey and learn more directly from Kid City staff. And thank you for supporting Kid City!
The LA Libros Fest is a bilingual book festival for the whole family! Offering two days of live programming via Facebook and YouTube with storytellers, local and international authors, art workshops, concerts, the festival has something for everyone. lapl.org/libros-fest
Join the conversation about LA Redistricting and Fair Maps and let the LACCRC2021 know what is important to YOU. YOUR Voice is YOUR Power!
Visit https://laccrc2021.org/ for more information about redistricting.
Mobility Investment Plan Survey
LADOT’s Transportation Planning and Policy Division has initiated the Downtown Los Angeles Mobility Investment Plan (DTLA MIP). To participate in the DTLA MIP survey and help LADOT better understand how DTLA stakeholders get around, click here.
LA Small Business Academy
The City of Los Angeles is inviting interested entrepreneurs and small business owners in the professional/personal services sector to apply to the LA Small Business Academy. A series of five virtual classes will be held in Oct-Dec. For more information and to apply, click here.
South Park Business Improvement District is hiring!
SPBID is currently hiring a Program Manager to oversee economic development programs and maintain relationships with the business and real estate community. For more details, email our Executive Director Ellen Riotto at ellen@southpark.la.
LA City in partnership with Mastercard has launched the Angeleno Connect Program, which provides access to:-Free, contactless banking-City services & economic relief programs-Digital resources & more-low- or no-cost home internet service and devices, including free internet for K-12 studentshttps://www.lacity.org/AngelenoConnect
Lauren Korczakowski wanted us to share an exciting opportunity she learned about in a meeting with Rep. Napolitano:
Get Paid to Learn with the LA Department of Mental Health
Watch a 15 min video about free mental health and wellbeing services offered through the DMH. Complete a survey and receive a $45 e-gift card- all accessible through your cell phone. For questions or more details, call 213-738-3700 or send an email to pio@dhm.lacounty.gov with Mini Survey in the subject line.
Free, live one-on-one help with school work is available through the LA Public Library every day 11am-11pm for K-12 students and adult learners in 40+ subjects. To learn more, visit https://lapl.org/studentsuccess
Qualifying renters and landlords are now eligible for 100% of rent and utilities owed. City of LA renters and landlords can NOW apply!
Visit https://housing.ca.gov/ or call 833-430-2122 for more info.
Church World Service is hiring a Faith Community Organizer.
Join a team of organizers as we work to ensure that every refugee and newcomer resettled through CWS receives community sponsorship, a warm welcome, and support towards integration! https://bit.ly/3n38ed1
Small Business Grants
With funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, LA City will distribute $37M in grants to small businesses impacted by COVID-19 to provide rental assistance and support their recovery. https://ewddlacity.com/index.php/local-business/businesssource-centers
September is National Preparedness Month & a reminder to all Angelenos to ensure that your family & neighbors are prepared for every emergency.
Ready Your LA Neighborhood (RYLAN) provides access to free emergency training, resources, & more. More info: https://www.readyla.org/
Mask Mandate for Los Angeles
As the Covid cases increase, please remember we are required to wear masks indoors to keep ourselves and others safe.
Covid Testing:
LA City is now offering free testing, without appointments at City-run sites.
Find a site near you: Coronavirus.LACity.org/Testing
For additional COVID-19 resources: Coronavirus.LACity.org/Resources
Vaccines:
California residents can now request in-home vaccinations and/or transit assistance to get vaccinated by registering at MyTurn.ca.gov or by calling the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) COVID-19 Call Center at 1-833-422-4255.
Everyone 12 years and older in LA County is now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Children 12-17 are only eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine—to find a location near you, visit bit.ly/PfizerSites. Learn more about the vaccines at vaccinatelacounty.com.
Need a ride? Uber and Lyft are providing free rides to and from vaccination sites. Don't have the apps? Call 833-540-0473 to book your ride.
There are several vaccine sites set up by Carbon Health that you can check: https://carbonhealth.com/
LA County: http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/vaccine/index.htm
Orange County residents and workers: Register for a vaccination appointment at https://othena.com
CALL TO PRAYER: Be Not Afraid - El Dorado
Joys and Concerns: We believe that the best way to bear our burdens is to share them with one another. You are invited to share your joys and concerns so that our community can hold these things in our hearts as we lift them to God together.
You are invited to share your prayers in the Facebook Live Chat, or on the YouTube Live chat.
Scripture: Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22 NRSV Narrated by Savannah Southern-Smith and Malik Walker
So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, ‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.’ Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have won your favour, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.’ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, ‘Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?’ Esther said, ‘A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!’ Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, ‘Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.’ And the king said, ‘Hang him on that.’ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated.
Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.
One: This is the Word of God for us, the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God!
Sermon: Who Do You Say That I Am? The Integrity of Vashti and Esther- Rev. Mandy McDow
HOLY COMMUNION
Invitation to the Table: As we understand the Body of Christ to be inclusive, we understand God’s table of grace and fellowship can extend into our homes. As you’re able, bring your own elements to this time. Bread, Juice, Coffee, Muffins… the Body of Christ is comprised of wonder and mystery. Today, we celebrate that God can reach us where we are, even if we are not together.
The Great Mystery of our Faith
All: Christ has died
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.