Jamey's Newsletter: Sunday, December 26, 2021
The way our world runs, anything of significance seems to happen front and center.
Center-stage goes to the one with the most money, the loudest voice, or the most power.
And yet, as the British writer G.K. Chesterton wrote, “God came down and slipped in the back door to surprise us from behind.”
God chooses to enter our world wrapped in swaddling cloth, laid in a pile of straw, and surrounded by people that would never be front-and-center stage.
As you prepare for a new year, don’t ignore what God might be doing off-stage. Don’t think that just what happens in front of you is shaping your destiny. God does some of God’s best work behind the scenes.
And as you reflect on your priorities for a new year, I want to encourage you to consider making a commitment to your spiritual growth. Get involved in a local church. Be part of a small group that is studying the bible. Volunteer in the ministries of the church. And serve alongside one another in ministry to the community.
Christmas Festival Concert at Gainesville First United Methodist Church
Weekly Prayer
Gracious God,
We give you thanks for the excitement of celebrating the miracle of the birth of Jesus, for the hope, peace, love, and joy that you bring to our lives.
We ask that you might search our hearts and know those things that weigh us down and that in your wondrous love and infinite wisdom, you might lift our burdens.
As we move into a new year, we look toward the future with hope, knowing that life is full of possibilities because of the birth of the Christ child, who came to redeem us from our sins.
We look outside of ourselves, see hope for the world, see hope for our nation, and see hope for our church.
And then we look back into our hearts, and we see hope for ourselves, that we might love as you have loved us, that we might forgive as we have been forgiven.
And so, in the name of the one who comes to set right all that is wrong in our world, Jesus our newborn king, we pray. Amen.
Christmas Eve Offering supporting Family Promise of Hall County
Go to gfumc.com/give to financially support this wonderful ministry.
Click here to learn more about Family Promise of Hall County.
Photo of the Week (photos taken by me)
Dad Jokes
What kind of photos do elves take for their social media pages? Elfies
For his New Year’s resolution, my friend Joe recently went on the Dolly Parton diet.. It really made Joe lean, Joe lean, Joe lean, Joe leannnnnnn.....
Favorite Meme of the Week
Favorite Video
What I am reading in Jauuary
Business Made Simply by Donald Miller (Leadership)
Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich (Fiction)
The Art of the Commonplace Essays by Wendell Berry (Essays)
Reversed Thunder by Eugene Peterson (Theology)
Revelation by Ben Witherington (Theology)
This Hallelujah Banquet by Eugene Peterson (Theology)
Looking for something to do?
Hike Raven Cliff Creek Falls Trail
Ways to Serve the Community
Drop by Gainesville First UMC and pick up a reusable bag, fill it with pantry items listen on the insert, and return it by Sunday, January 9, to help restock our local Community Food Pantry. Let’s start 2022 off right by helping others. Thank you for your willingness to give!
The bags will be placed outside the front door during the week of December 26th - January 1st.