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      • Revised Common Lectionary
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  • Home
  • COVID INFORMATION
  • Streaming Worship
  • About Us
    • Church Staff
    • Contact Us
    • General Property Layout and Entrances
    • Announcements
      • Standing Annoucements
      • Weather-Related Changes
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Worship Services / Times
    • Directions
    • Parking at 1stChurch
    • Introduction
    • Visitor Page
    • Favorite Links
  • Programs/Activities
    • Wednesday Night Fellowship
    • Sunday Night Supper
    • Three Rivers District Events
    • Church Softball Team
    • Loaves and Fishes Leaps and Bounds
    • More Loaves and Fishes
    • Camp Bays Mountain
    • Boy Scouts Troop 36
    • UMCmarket or Amazon Smiles
  • Ministries, Missions, Giving
    • Children's Ministries
      • Early Learning Center
        • ELC Payment and Document Center
    • Youth Ministries
      • Youth Forms
      • Youth Group: UMYF
      • Youth Calendar
      • Sunday School
      • Staff and Servants
    • Adult Ministries
      • UMW
        • UMW INFORMATION
      • Conference Room Class
      • Friendship Sunday School Class
      • Open Door Sunday School Class
      • Pathfinders - Sunday School Class
      • Questors Sunday School Class
      • Scripture Study Sunday School Class
      • Fifth Sunday Breakfast and Program
    • Music Ministries
      • Chancel Choir
      • Children's Choir
    • Prayer Ministries
      • Prayer Requests
    • Missions Near and Far
      • Clare's Closet
      • The Bridge
      • Brother's Keeper
      • Operation Christmas Child
      • Little Free Pantry
      • Kairos Ministry
      • Family Promise (IHN)
      • FUMC Food Pantry
      • Czech Republic
      • Good Samaritan
      • Holston Home for Children
      • Medical Mission to Mexico
      • Melting Pot
      • BABMOC Bear Another's Burdens Ministry of Christ
      • Other Missions
      • Prayer Shawl Ministry
    • Giving
      • Online Giving
      • Endowment Giving
      • The Building Fund
  • Video Recordings and Communications
    • Worship Video Archive
    • Newsletter for FUMC
    • Google Calendar
    • Sunday's Worship Guides
    • Safe Sanctuaries Information
    • Volunteer Rosters
    • 2021 Church Directory
    • Committees Home Page Click Here; Individual Pages at right column
      • Connections/Communications Pillar
      • Spiritual Development Pillar
      • Safety and Security Welcome Group
      • Outreach Pillar
      • Worship Pillar
        • AV Team
      • Leadership Pillar
      • Wednesday Night Fellowship Team
      • Finance Committee
      • SPPRC (Staff, Pastor, Parrish Relations Committee
      • Stewardship Committee
      • Endowment Committee
      • Facilities/Trustees
        • USE OF CHURCH FACILITIES
    • Forms and Information Documents
      • ONLINE FORMS
    • Church-Wide Text Alerts
    • Time and Talent Survey
    • Photo Album
      • Photo Albums
      • PHOTO ALBUM 2016
      • PHOTO ALBUM 2015
      • PHOTO ALBUM 2014
      • PHOTO ALBUM 2013
      • PHOTO ALBUM 2012
      • Featured Summer 2015 High School and College Graduates
      • Picnic at Powell
      • ELC 5K Event
      • Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
      • The Bethlehem Inn
      • Operation Christmas Child
      • Trunk of Treats Photos
      • Food Pantry Photo
      • Faces at First New Pics
  • Church Calendar
    • Calendar
      • Revised Common Lectionary
        • Definition
        • Church Year/Liturgical Colors
        • Weekly Readings
  • Online Giving
First United Methodist Church

About Dr. Tsutserov

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Dr. Alexander Tsutserov whose incredible story going from KGB agent for the communist government of the former Soviet Union to the leader of the Moscow Christian Seminary led worship at FUMC in Johnson City on October 30, 2011.  Here is part of his story. You can also listen to an audio recording of the message using the Sermon Audio Play Tab.


         Testimony of Sasha Tsutserov
               – From KGB Agent to God’s Ambassador
My parents were members of the Communist Party. They never spoke of God or the Bible. However, when I was five years old, my grandmother insisted that I be baptized in the Orthodox Church. This was all done in secret — miles outside of Moscow, inside a dimly lit sanctuary. Although I was young, the Holy Spirit touched a hidden yearning in my heart for spiritual reality.
Russia had lost virtually all traces of Christianity during 70 years of Communist Captivity. Her legacy to me was one of atheism. I became a member of the Communist Party and secured a position in the KGB. I had a beautiful wife Natasha, a precious daughter Julia, good friends, a bright future, and all that I dreamed of as a young man.
Julia befriended an American girl whose father was a missionary in Moscow. Soon after, Natasha was engaged as their private Russian language tutor. As the head of my home and a KGB agent, I felt obligated to investigate these foreigners who had made such an impact on my family. I was awestruck by the humanitarian aid distributed by their church. And I was irresistibly drawn to their joy for life, for each other, and for the Lord. Step by step, I began to realize their generosity and joy stemmed from their love for God. At first, I gave God a 50/50 chance: since no one could prove God’s existence, then no one could deny Him either. I stepped away from my aggressively atheistic realm. Then, while praying at one of the church retreats, I had a vision. I saw God standing on the top of a mountain. I felt I was a jar of clay. God was pouring down pure gold of the Holy Spirit right inside of the jar – me. From that moment on, I needed no evidence for God’s existence, for I knew God in Jesus Christ. I came back home that day. My wife Natasha met me in the door and said, “What’s wrong with you?” I said, “What’s wrong with me, honey?” She said, “You are smiling!” You see, I had never smiled before. But that day Jesus made me smile. Now, my smile gave me away. I did not know any better than to admit that I became a Christian. She, in turn, confessed to me that she had become a Christian even earlier than I did only she was scared to death to talk about it with her husband, a KGB agent! In July 1993, I was baptized and openly proclaimed my faith in Jesus Christ.
I soon realized I could not keep both my faith and my job, so I quit working for the KGB. We – as a part of a team of ten converts – planted a church in Moscow. And I also knew God had called me to ministry in education. But there was no school in Russia offering a degree in Biblical studies because the Communists had prohibited theological training. Therefore, I had to study abroad. In 1997, I graduated from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky with a Master of Divinity degree. In 2004, I earned a Ph.D. in New Testament at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. While studying, I also worked at the Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary by consecutively taking each and every position the school had – from a secretary to the provost.
Nowadays, I am a full-time minister - director and professor of the Moscow Seminary. We are raising a whole new generation of Christian leaders, so from scratch. Under Communism, more than 200,000 Christian leaders were martyred and nearly 40,000 church-owned buildings were destroyed. I now have realized a new dream. Not the dream I sought as a young man; that dream did not include God. But the dream of you and me together training men and women to evangelize the lost and plant churches across Russia and the former Soviet Union is becoming a reality!


Sasha Tsutserov, PHD
Director of the Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary



Picture
Our pastor, Rev. Tim Bracken with Dr. Sasha Tsutserov
First United Methodist Church
900 Spring Street
Johnson City, TN 37604
phone: 423.928.9222
fax: 423.928.9223
Website:  www.1stChurchJC.org
Senior Pastor: Rev. Jodie Ihfe
Email:  jodie.ihfe@1stChurchJC.org
Associate Pastor:  Rev. Gary Ihfe
​Email:  gary.ihfe@1stChurchJC.org

Office Email: office@1stchurchjc.org
Early Learning Center email:  elc1986@1stChurchJC.org
WebTeam Email:
gary.ihfe@1stChurchJC.org
                              karl.kapoor@1stchurchjc.org
                              
Photos of church family and visitors are property of First United Methodist Church Website . You may electronically share pictures but we request acknowledgement of the FUMC website. To print pictures please obtain photographer's permission by contacting website administrator.youth 
  • Home
  • COVID INFORMATION
  • Streaming Worship
  • About Us
    • Church Staff
    • Contact Us
    • General Property Layout and Entrances
    • Announcements
      • Standing Annoucements
      • Weather-Related Changes
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Worship Services / Times
    • Directions
    • Parking at 1stChurch
    • Introduction
    • Visitor Page
    • Favorite Links
  • Programs/Activities
    • Wednesday Night Fellowship
    • Sunday Night Supper
    • Three Rivers District Events
    • Church Softball Team
    • Loaves and Fishes Leaps and Bounds
    • More Loaves and Fishes
    • Camp Bays Mountain
    • Boy Scouts Troop 36
    • UMCmarket or Amazon Smiles
  • Ministries, Missions, Giving
    • Children's Ministries
      • Early Learning Center
        • ELC Payment and Document Center
    • Youth Ministries
      • Youth Forms
      • Youth Group: UMYF
      • Youth Calendar
      • Sunday School
      • Staff and Servants
    • Adult Ministries
      • UMW
        • UMW INFORMATION
      • Conference Room Class
      • Friendship Sunday School Class
      • Open Door Sunday School Class
      • Pathfinders - Sunday School Class
      • Questors Sunday School Class
      • Scripture Study Sunday School Class
      • Fifth Sunday Breakfast and Program
    • Music Ministries
      • Chancel Choir
      • Children's Choir
    • Prayer Ministries
      • Prayer Requests
    • Missions Near and Far
      • Clare's Closet
      • The Bridge
      • Brother's Keeper
      • Operation Christmas Child
      • Little Free Pantry
      • Kairos Ministry
      • Family Promise (IHN)
      • FUMC Food Pantry
      • Czech Republic
      • Good Samaritan
      • Holston Home for Children
      • Medical Mission to Mexico
      • Melting Pot
      • BABMOC Bear Another's Burdens Ministry of Christ
      • Other Missions
      • Prayer Shawl Ministry
    • Giving
      • Online Giving
      • Endowment Giving
      • The Building Fund
  • Video Recordings and Communications
    • Worship Video Archive
    • Newsletter for FUMC
    • Google Calendar
    • Sunday's Worship Guides
    • Safe Sanctuaries Information
    • Volunteer Rosters
    • 2021 Church Directory
    • Committees Home Page Click Here; Individual Pages at right column
      • Connections/Communications Pillar
      • Spiritual Development Pillar
      • Safety and Security Welcome Group
      • Outreach Pillar
      • Worship Pillar
        • AV Team
      • Leadership Pillar
      • Wednesday Night Fellowship Team
      • Finance Committee
      • SPPRC (Staff, Pastor, Parrish Relations Committee
      • Stewardship Committee
      • Endowment Committee
      • Facilities/Trustees
        • USE OF CHURCH FACILITIES
    • Forms and Information Documents
      • ONLINE FORMS
    • Church-Wide Text Alerts
    • Time and Talent Survey
    • Photo Album
      • Photo Albums
      • PHOTO ALBUM 2016
      • PHOTO ALBUM 2015
      • PHOTO ALBUM 2014
      • PHOTO ALBUM 2013
      • PHOTO ALBUM 2012
      • Featured Summer 2015 High School and College Graduates
      • Picnic at Powell
      • ELC 5K Event
      • Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
      • The Bethlehem Inn
      • Operation Christmas Child
      • Trunk of Treats Photos
      • Food Pantry Photo
      • Faces at First New Pics
  • Church Calendar
    • Calendar
      • Revised Common Lectionary
        • Definition
        • Church Year/Liturgical Colors
        • Weekly Readings
  • Online Giving