Call to Worship - You are invited to light a candle in your home to welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit
Brighter Days - El Dorado
Welcome - Stephen Folds
Fix You - 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.
TOP 5 ANNOUNCEMENTS
VENMO: You can find us here: https://venmo.com/LAFirstUMC
PAYPAL: https://paypal.me/LAFirstUMC
SQUARE:https://checkout.square.site/pay/be673aef7fcb424e98387016d184e57d
LENT SERMON SERIES: SAVED BY GRACE
February 22 - Ash Wednesday - Virtual Service at Noon PT
You are invited to pray the Lord’s Prayer every day at noon throughout Lent
February 26 - Temptation and the Nature of Sin
March 5 - What Does it Mean to Be Saved?
March 12 - Justified by Faith
March 19 - The Grace that Comes Before Our Knowing
March 26 - Is Resurrection Possible?
April 2 - Palm Sunday 🌿 - Jesus Christ Superstar!
April 7 - Good Friday - Virtual Service at Noon PT
April 9 - Easter Sunday - Set Your Minds on Things That Are Above
April 16 - Sabbath Sunday
All who need a meal on Sunday, young and old, are invited to come sit down at the table with us for a hot, catered breakfast to get their day started! Our volunteers will be acting as servers, so that all who come join us have time to sit and enjoy their breakfast
LA First UMC is starting this ministry with the hopes of helping to fill the need for hot meals served on the weekends when most meal-providing services are closed in DTLA.
LA First UMC's Sunday Breakfast Ministry
Sundays 8:30-9:30am Pacific Time
Outside, at the picnic tables, in the parking lot on the South East Corner of Olympic and Flower
Next to Villa Flores located at 1020 S Flower St
Update to Volunteering Process
In order for the hour to run smoothly and efficiently, Debbie has planned to have jobs for 6 volunteers each week. Don't worry there are plenty of Sundays to sign up for the rest of the year. Please reach out to Debbie to get on the volunteering calendar. She can be reached at debbie@lafirstumc.org. Once you are signed up to be one of the 6 volunteers for a given week, Debbie will send out an email the Friday or Saturday before your volunteer shift to confirm your participation.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES:
The LA Art Show, the largest commercial art fair in North America
Our Member, Tom Grode will be curating his “DIVERSEartLA” space again this year. This year’s theme is Climate Change with a focus on Water. Tom says, “My nonprofit partner is Homeless Healthcare LA, a large Citywide nonprofit that does a lot of work in Skid Row. Homeless Health Care is known in Skid Row as the primary nonprofit for the Refresh Spot and founders of the Skid Row Center for Harm Reduction.”
A day pass for the Art Show, which runs this year between February 16-19 at the Downtown Convention Center, is $30. Info at: https://www.laartshow.com/
LA Homeless Services Authority Winter Shelters Are Now Open Through March 31st
Shelters operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 211 for a referral. https://www.lahsa.org/winter-shelter
Covid Testing:
Getting tested is now easier than ever with LA County's Pick-Up Testing Kits program. Visit ow.ly/tfIu50Hsnh5 for a list of locations where you can get a kit at no cost. The program will allow residents to pick up a PCR test kit & return it at designated locations. Results will be available within 24-48 hrs.
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
CALL TO PRAYER: From the Dust - 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.
First Reading: Exodus 24:12-18, NRSV
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’ So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, ‘Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.’
Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 17:1-9, NRSV - The Transfiguration
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’
One: This is the Word of God for us, the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God!
Sermon: The Light in All of Us, Stephen Folds, Preaching
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.
CLOSING SONG: Times Like These - El Dorado
Benediction Remember:
God is with you,
God is for you,
God refuses to be God without you.
And may all of God’s people say: Amen.
LA FIRST UMC LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT - authored by Tom Grode, affirmed by LA First UMC’s Church Council on July 13, 2021
We Acknowledge the Tongva people as original caretakers of this land and their ancient village Yaangna, what we call Downtown Los Angeles.
We Acknowledge the many Native Americans who moved Downtown to Bunker Hill due to the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 as “the 'old' Bunker Hill was effectively scalped by urban renewal in the 1960’s.”
We Acknowledge the work of Skid Row Housing Justice activists in the 1960's and 70's to keep the low income hotel housing in Skid Row from suffering the Urban Renewal fate of Bunker Hill.
We Acknowledge the Native Indigenous peoples of Los Angeles, their special relationship to Mother Earth, and their hospitality, inviting us into that special relationship.
We Acknowledge the patience, kindness, and compassion of Mother Earth.
We Acknowledge our beginnings as a church in 1853 when Methodist leader Adam Bland was sent to evangelize the "rowdy and incorrigible” Southland.
We Acknowledge our relationship with Biddy Mason, one of the Matriarchs of early Los Angeles, and a member of Fort Street Methodist Episcopal Church (the first name our church bore) before she began First African Methodist Episcopal (FAME) out of her home, one of the spiritual pillars in Los Angeles for many decades.
We Acknowledge Biddy Mason as the Patron Saint of Downtown Los Angeles, an enslaved woman who fought for the freedom of all who were enslaved. She utilized her training as a midwife to buy land and used her wealth to help others in need.
We Acknowledge the words of Jesus "to whom much is given much is required" as a blessing for us to live out: the legacy and reality of owning the largest piece of undeveloped property in South Park.
Welcome to Tongvaland, Pamela J. Peters
We Acknowledge the land of Downtown Los Angeles - more than a dozen unique and dynamic neighborhoods - as land the eyes of the world look towards for leadership and solutions to the challenges facing all humanity.
We Acknowledge the mission of the United Methodist Church as founded by John Wesley: to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
