Church guide

Well It's Palm Sunday Church...the beginning of Holy Week! In an article on June 4, 2016 entitled, “The King of the World,” Robert Roberts and Johnny Smith describe the moment Muhammad Ali set foot on African soil. “The king! The king!” the crowd shouted, swarming Muhammad Ali as he sat in an open-top cream-colored convertible. “Who’s the king?” Muhammad Ali called, basking in the sunshine of Accra, Ghana. “You!” the locals assented, celebrating the arrival of the self-proclaimed “king of the world.” From the moment Ali set foot on African soil, Ghanaians treated him like royalty, showering him with praise and gifts. President Kwame Nkrumah, the first national leader to embrace Ali, directed the government’s radio stations and newspapers to promote the American champion as an African hero, “a source of inspiration to the youth of the world.” Similarly, when Jesus approached the gates of Jerusalem, He was followed by those who had been following His ministry and a whole new group of followers who had witnessed the extraordinary miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Incredible, raised Lazarus from the dead after him having been dead for four (4) days! Awaiting Jesus insides the gates of Jerusalem was an entire city that had heard about this event, and others, who were arriving for Passover. All of them would soon be shaken by the commotion and the events that the arrival of the Holy man called Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee would soon bring about. As Jesus entered Jerusalem the scriptures declare that those inside Jerusalem and those who were following Him cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” The word “Hosanna” here is a Hebrew imperative saying, “Save us! “Hosanna to the Son of David”, made a direct recognition of the claims of Jesus to be the Christ...which now after having raised Lazarus from the dead after three days made it more than just a claim! The phrase “Hosanna in the highest” claims that heaven was in full agreement with the earth, that Jesus is the Christ!! Because of all the commotion and as Jesus got deeper into the city, there were many visitors there in Jerusalem who stopped in their tracks saying, "Who is this?" Within just a few days, many of these same people would be voices in the crowd calling for Jesus’ crucifixion. Join Pastor Ken as he teaches and ministers on this Palm Sunday, from the text, “Who Is This?” Text for Palm Sunday, April 14, 2019 at Dale and Lee Haven United Methodist Churches: “Who Is This?” Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11 Announcements: Our prayers continue to cover the Saunders Family as Brother Louis Saunders went home to be with the Lord early Wednesday morning. The Home Going Service will be on April 18 at Simpson UMC. Further details will be forthcoming. Good Friday Service: A Combined Good Friday Service will be at 7pm at Dale UMC. Several of our area MOT Pastors and their congregations will join us. We are looking forward to this unique worship opportunity! Pastor's Bible Study Starts April 24: See your Lay Leader to register for Pastor’s Bible Study starting at 6:30 this Wednesday at Dale UMC. The focus of the six-week study will be a deep dive into the Bible and a portion of the discussion will talk about emerging world events. Refreshments and materials will be available. Resurrection Sunday and Dale Annual Men's Day: Dale’s Annual Men’s Day Service will be held on April 21 at the 11am service, this Resurrection Sunday at Dale UMC at 11am.

Our very own Dr. Devona Williams Anderson will like to extend the invitation to all Dale U.M.C. family members to attend a two hour conference/workshop meeting event "Breaking the Yoke of Addiction" on Saturday April 27, 2019 from 9:00am to 11:00am. Chapel at Wesley College 3 N. Bradford Street Dover, DE 19904 Admission is free but need to pre-register @ [email protected] or [email protected]. All is needed is your email address information.

Praise the Lord Church! Well this is the fifth Sunday of Lent and the last Sunday before “Palm Sunday” and the beginning of Holy Week. Are you ready for Holy Week? Really? If you are, then you will really be READY for “Resurrection Sunday”, and for the “transformed new you,” because of the NEW THING, the Lord is doing in our lives. It’s interesting that about a week before the start of Holy Week, is about the same time Biblically that the Bible relates the story of the woman who was caught in adultery…in the very act. If you remember, her accusers chased her down and were preparing to stone her to death. At the same time, they were trying to get Jesus to say something that would allow them to bring charges against him!! At first, Jesus ignores them, but then He scripples something in the sand, stands up and says, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Of course one by one. the accusers began to drop their stones and leave. Then Jesus addressed the woman by saying, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She replies, "No one, sir." Then Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore." It was as simple as that! What the woman did in the past made no difference to Him. He just told her…commanded her… "go and sin no more." It was as simple as that. Or was it? I don’t think so. The truth is that within two weeks, Jesus would have to pay a price for her sin, not only of that woman, but for you and I and every man, woman, boy or girl that had lived, or would ever live!! That is why these coming weeks are so crucial for us! This Communion Sunday, a week BEFORE the beginning of Holy Week or Palm Sunday, allows us to continue our preparation for Resurrection Sunday! How do we prepare? By continuing to spend more time in prayer, more special time with the Lord, more time meditating, more time drawing closer to God. We prepare by continuing to forgive; forgiving ourselves and others, whether they ever ask forgiveness from us or not! Remember, there is power in forgiveness! So, we have another week to prepare, in order that we would truly be ready for Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday! If we are ready, if we have prepared, we will be ready to truly experience the events and the importance of all that took place the week from the “Hosannas!” of Palm Sunday, to the “Crucify Him!” of Good Friday! If and only if we prepare over the next two weeks, will we really, truly be ready, for the miracle, the glory, of Easter, Resurrection Sunday! Prepare by praying for forgiveness, praying for God’s mercy. Praying for justice and righteousness. Praying for courage. Praying for a new vision that allows us to see our world as God sees it. Just pray! Why? So, on Resurrection Sunday, you will have done the work, and be prepared for the “new you” and that NEW THING that God wants to manifest in your life! Join Pastor Ken Anderson this Communion Sunday as he teaches and preaches from the text, “Preparing for God’s “NEW THING!” See you in church!! Pastor Ken Anderson Text for Dale and Lee Haven on Communion Sunday April 7, 2019: Preparing for God’s “NEW THING!!” Scriptures: Philippians 3: 10-14 Isaiah 43:16-19 Announcements: Pastor Ken will be starting a six-week Bible Study on Wednesday. April 24, 2019 starting at 6:30. Each Wednesday evening class will be for one hour. The combined study will focus on a new study entitled, “What is the Bible?” and of course, a Biblical perspective on all your questions regarding recent world events. Registration is required and refreshments will be served. See your Lay Leader to register. We look forward to our Combined Good Friday service, April 19 at 7:00pm at Dale where members of our congregation will share from one of Jesus last seven words/phrases while on the Cross of Calvary. The service will also be attended by the UMC Pastors and congregations from the MOT area. Dale and Lee Haven look forward to welcoming the President of Delaware State University Wilma McShue and the Delaware State University Board of Trustees and much more at a very special service at our April 28, 2019 11:00am Worship Service. This will be a combined service at Dale Memorial.

Say Amen everybody!! It never ceases to amaze me that those who have been forgiven from much, seem to love much. Those who have experienced God’s mercy, from so much from their life before Christ, are not shy or embarrassed when it comes to giving God the glory! It's just like the woman who brought an alabaster flask of a very expensive fragrance and kneeled at the feet of Jesus weeping, washing Jesus feet with her tears, and then wiping His feet with her hair…and if that wasn’t enough, KISSING His feet!! That is someone who is grateful for having been forgiven of much!! Simon criticized Jesus for allowing this “sinner” to touch Him in this manner. Jesus responded, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for My feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in.” Jesus then explained why: “For her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” This woman had received “reconciliation” back to God. She received the “mercy” of God. There is great power in giving and receiving mercy. Reconciliation always involves coming clean about the harm that has been done, and what led to that harm, with the expectation that such harms and their causes will not be repeated. But here is the key point for us Christians. Even when we show mercy and forgive those who have done us harm, and when we ourselves have been forgiven, it is NOT as if we forgive and forget, BUT rather we forgive and REMEMBER, lest one would continue in those behaviors that led to conflict and harm in the first place! Do you feel me? Join Pastor Ken Anderson as he teaches and ministers from the text, “The Power of Forgiveness.” Text for Dale and Lee Haven United Methodist Church: “The Power of Forgiveness” Scriptures: II Corinthians 5:16-21 Luke 15:1-3;11-24 Announcement: Pastor Ken will be ministering this afternoon, March 31, at 3:30pm at St Paul AME Church in Smyrna, Delaware at the Missionary Day Service. Brother Akeem will be joining Pastor as the guest soloists. All are invited.

Preparing for a powerful message this Sunday. "The Power of Forgiveness!"

Text: "Have You Produced Any Fruit or Are You Barren?" Scripture: Luke 13:1-9 Speaker: Certified Lay Minister Diane Wood ---------------------------------------------------- Annual Women's Day Program at Lee Haven UMC 11am Service Women's Day Celebration Announcements: Congratulations again to Darryln Wilson and KenYiara Ryle of Dale and Judy Manns and Brontae Ray of Lee Haven who were honored this past Monday evening at the Annual Laity Celebration at Cornerstone United Methodist Church. Congrats to all. Congratulations to Brother David Kane who has been selected to receive the 32nd Order of Saint Barnabas. The ceremony will be held at Whatcoat UMC in Dover, Delaware on May 5. Details and ticket information will be forthcoming.

Highlights from Usher Sermon service.

Say amen everybody! As a Christian, we have the reassurance to know that it’s not over, until it’s over. Somebody put it like this, “It’s not over until the Fat Lady sings! Church we serve a God that still performs miracles! We serve a God who can do exceedingly and abundantly above what we could ever ask or think. We serve a God of whom Job declared, “there is nothing too hard for you!” We serve a God that can even bring that which is dead, back to life! Our God restore all that has been lost! Can you say amen? There was a great 20th Century evangelist by the name of Smith Wigglesworth, who had 14 confirmed episodes of raising people from the dead during his ministry. In one story, Reverend Wigglesworth came to a funeral and found his way to the room where the body of the man who had died laid in a casket. He reaches down and with both hands, pulls the dead body out of the coffin, stands the body up against a wall and commands “In the name of Jesus WALK!” After saying this three times, He and the man walked arm in arm to the other part of the house! Lazarus’ illness was serious enough for his sisters to request Jesus’ immediate intervention. Jesus waits two days before He goes to Judea. During that time things go from bad to worse. Lazarus dies! Gets wrapped in grave clothes and is dead for four (4) days which means His body had begun to deteriorate. Then Jesus shows up…. stands in front of the tomb… and cries out…” JESUS COME FORTH!!! Church you may have something dead in your life today. It’s been dead for a long time. So long that it “stinketh by now.” Everyone, including you have given up on it ever being brought to life…. but then, JESUS SHOWS UP! He stands at the door of that thing which is dead in your life and declares “COME FORTH!” Join Pastor Ken on his birthday at this special combined service with Dale and Lee Haven at our special service time of 10:00 am, as he preaches and teaches from the text, “COME FORTH!” In His Love, Pastor Ken Text for Dale and Lee Haven Special Combined Service @10am at Dale: Text: “COME FORTH!” Scriptures: John 11:1-15.29-44

The Hour of Prayer noon day pray session for today has been officially canceled due to bad weather. We will pray from our private residents at noon. We will resume next Monday at noon. Please feel free to contact me if needed. Minister Dave Kane.

Praise the Lord Everybody! If you are a Christian today, do you realize that you have the power of God, the hope of Glory, living, breathing, and residing on the inside of you? All that is required of you in a crisis, during a desperate time of need, is for you to call up that incredible resource that is living on the inside. It’s an ever present and very present help for every child of God! It’s a benefit that comes with the agreement, or the covenant that we have with God and His son Jesus! In the Book of Genesis, Abram entered into a covenant with God. The Hebrew phrase for "making a covenant" is "berith kathav", which literally is interpreted as, "I cut a covenant." Cutting a covenant generally involved the literal "cutting" of one or more animal’s right down the middle. The representatives of both families would pass right through the middle of all that blood, and sinew. The smell of it would pour through the nostrils of everyone involved. It would be something that everyone present would not easily forget….ever! It was important not to forget, because these covenants were designed not ever to be broken. If they WERE BROKEN, blood would have to be shed once again. Something would have to die. A price would have to be paid! For without the shedding of blood, there is no remission or forgiveness for sin(s). I’m so glad that Jesus paid it all for me and for you. I’m so glad that He became the covenant animal for us. I am so glad that He chose to shed His own blood for us, so we would not have to pay the ultimate price for our sins. Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left its crimson stain, and HE washed it white as snow. With His own blood. It created a debt that we will never be able to repay....and all He asked of us, is to serve Him. To live for Him, and to love and serve one another. Just to love or "agape" your neighbor....whether or not they love you. Is that really asking too much for all that He has done...for all that He is doing? When I see Him face to face, will I be found by Him to have been faithful? Just Pastor Ken this Sunday as He preaches and teaches from the text, “Be Found to Be Faithful!” In His Love, Pastor Ken Text for Dale and Lee Haven United Methodist Church for February 10, 2019: - Dale Services @ 11:00am Middletown, DE - Lee Haven Services @9:00am, Townsend, DE “Be Found to Be Faithful” Scriptures: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Announcement: Prayers for Pastor Ken who heads for Camp Pecometh after today's service as he serves with the Board of Ordained

Say Amen Everybody! The church at Corinth was notorious for its conflicts and divisions. That church just couldn’t seem to get it together. They didn’t get along with one another, they were constantly quarrelling, competing for power, competing for control, forming their own little cliques....well, you get the picture. There were some members of that church who were trying to rally others around their individual pet peeves and trying to get support around their own positions. You had different degrees of social status that became a problem in that church. The members with a couple of nickels to rub together were trying to throw their weight around by trying to run everything. Others with unique roles or very public ministry roles in that church were acting a little uppity, as if their roles and gifts made them better than their brother or sister. The church was a little bit of a hot, greasy, fish fry mess! This is what was going on in the Church at Corinth, and is NOT unlike some churches in America today. But the Apostle Paul wasn't having it and he was given a special authority by God to address the issues at Corinth.....and it changed everything! Thank God we don’t have these issues at Dale or Lee Haven!! Do we? Join Pastor Ken as he ministers from the text, “Do You Love Me?” In His Love, Pastor Ken Anderson Text for Sunday, February 3, 2019 at Dale and Lee Haven United Methodist Churches “Do You Love Me?” Scriptures: I Corinthians 13:1-10 Ephesians 4:25-32

The Hour of Prayer Ministry is celebrating their one year anniversary Sunday, February 3rd @ 11am. Please join us for a special presentation during morning worship service.

Praise the Lord Church! What an unbelievable time in which we live! We are living in a historic Government Shut down. We have conflicting signs about how well the economy is doing. We recently found out that 26 billionaires, have as much wealth as 50 percent of the poorest people in the world! As I write this, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Trump are fighting over whether there will be a State of the Union address and where it will be! It's crazy out there!! Across the country, there have been increased incidents of racist or anti-Semitic vandalism and violence, many of which have arguably drawn directly on the rhetoric and policies of President Trump. The Southern Poverty Law Center has counted more than 200 complaints of hate crimes since the Election of our current President. It seems to me that the enemy has taken advantage of this situation, and even among Believers, instead of praying we are panicking. Instead of trusting, we are petrified. Instead of confessing our faith in Christ and fighting, we act as if we are immobilized and there is nothing we can do. Instead of trusting in God’s providence, God’s sovereignty, we are pronouncing doom and gloom! Many of lost their fight, and their faith is on shaky ground. The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Ephesians, and describes the Christian life in military terms, during a time when he was in Rome under and unusual type of arrest. It was an arrest that allowed him to reside in his own house, and to come and go, but required him to be continually chained to a Roman Soldier. For this reason, Paul became very knowledgeable about the armor and implements of warfare belonging to the man to which he was chained. So in Ephesians Paul refers to the whole armor or in the Greek, the pan-op-lee'-ah, and tells us what the armor is to be used for. He tells us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles, the schemes, the plots, the strategies of the devil. God has given the Christian “mighty weapons” that are not of this world. They are supernatural weapons…the only weapons that will bring victory in the spiritual fights that are taking place all around us. Join Pastor Ken Anderson as he ministers and teaches from the text, “Spiritual Weapons for a Spiritual Fight.” In His Love, Pastor Ken Text for Dale and Lee Haven United Methodist Church: “Spiritual Weapons for a Spiritual Fight.” Scriptures: Ephesians 6: 10-19 II Corinthians 10: 4-5

Special thanks to the Johnson family and Todd family for sponsoring our youth for the Youth Rally. They had a blast!

Pastor Ken Anderson "A Thankful Heart" Thanksgiving Eve Service at Bethesda UMC

As we enter into the new year, Reverend Ken Anderson reminds us to continue to trust that God will bring us through yet another year. Hope thou in God, we shall yet praise him!

Pastor Ken Anderson ministering at St Paul AME's Family Day Service

Pastor Anderson, Young adult choir and the Seeds of Faith traveled to St. Paul AME, Harrington, De. for their Friend and Family Day.

August 20, 2017 What can the Church do? Pastor Ken Anderson

Powerful