Jamey's Newsletter: Sunday, January 29, 2023
A college along the east coast has found a unique way of treating students who reach out in need of emotional support. Those with mild symptoms and having a difficult time are encouraged to get involved in volunteer service.
Studies show that doing something good for someone helps alleviate an individual's anxiety and worry. When we do something nice for someone else, our heart rate lowers, and our blood pressure drops.
Doing good is good for the heart.
The Bible says, "The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped (Proverbs 11:25)."
Don't be afraid to help someone; in doing so, don't be surprised if you feel calmer, more grounded, and more connected to your own well-being.
Where and who can you serve today?
Jamey
God Will Never Give You More Than You Can Handle (click here to watch and share)
(Pre-recorded online worship from Gainesville First UMC, Gainesville, Georgia)
God doesn’t wound us with empty statements - Abby Burle
It’s not that God will not give you more than you can handle, but that God will help you handle all you have been given.
Weekly Prayer
O God, we are grateful for how you walk with us in every moment. In our moments of self-sufficiency, we want to believe we can do it alone, but we can’t. Thank you, Lord, for helping us carry burdens too heavy to bear alone. Thank you to the people who see us in our time of distress and decide to walk alongside us. May we have eyes to see those around us in need of your help and be faithful in choosing to come alongside them. Because you are our refuge and strength, we will not fear when our world seems to fall apart. Amen.
It is an honor to have Abby Burle join me in this second part of the God Said What? Series.
Click here to read more about and discover how you can be part of Abby’s mission to ensure that “Everyone deserves to belong!”
Meme of the Week
Dad Jokes
Today I started an argument with my wife while riding in an elevator. I was wrong on so many levels.
Sylvester Stallone said he wanted to make a movie about classical music. He says, “I will be Beethoven.” Arnold Schwarzenegger says, “I’ll be Bach.”
I Have Been Thinking……………
Persistence. In a world of instant gratification, we lack persistence. If something isn’t going our way, the task becomes too difficult, or the relationship is too challenging, we walk away.
Persistence keeps our hands on the plow and our eyes set on the goal before us. Persistence is keeping faith. It is staying strong. Persistence shows courage. It demonstrates faithfulness.
Many things need to be finished in our lives: relationships that need healing; tasks that need completion; projects that need attention; goals that need accomplishing; struggles that need overcoming; hurts that need healing.
The key to completing what we start is persistence.
Joshua 1:6-7 reminds us: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
Don’t give up!
Photo of the Week (Photos taken by me)
Book I am Reading This Week
Novel Preaching: Tips from Top Writers on Crafting Creative Sermons by Alyce M. McKenzie
INTERESTING ARTICLES, PODCASTS, OR VIDEOS FROM THE WEEK
Amazon Prime: Vengeance (2022): From director B. J. Novak, Vengeance is a darkly comic thriller about a podcaster who travels from New York City to West Texas to investigate the death of a girl.
This 22-year-old is trying to save us from ChatGPT before it changes writing forever
Scientists Have Reached a Key Milestone in Learning How to Reverse Aging
How an Alabama Farmer’s Secret Act of Charity Turned Contagious
Youtube: Livin’ on a Prayer Singing in a Park
Top Ten (This is a little brain exercise I do - since I don’t do Wordle). I have a notebook where I make a list of ten things that serve as sort of a brain dump for me. It is random but fun. I plan on sharing it with you in 2023.
If I was a vending machine and could dispense anything, what would I dispense?
A dad joke a week (in an office lobby)
Children’s books
Conversation starters (outside of restaurants - encourage people to put down their phones)
Recipes for desserts to be made at home
Different and fun styles of sunglasses (at beaches and/or outdoor gathering places)
Fortune-type cookies but with positive affirmations in them
Dog treats
Socks with funny sayings, pictures, and/or designs
Scavenger hunt ideas for in-town ideas for kids/families
Fresh flowers
What about you? If you were a vending machine, what would you dispense?
Happening at Gainesville First United Methodist Church in Gainesville, Georgia
Wednesday, February 22 / 12pm Chapel & 6pm Sanctuary & livestreaming
Join us on Ash Wednesday to mark the beginning of this Lenten journey through scripture, prayer, and song. You will have an opportunity to receive the imposition of ashes as a reminder of our mortality and the hope for new life.
Marked by the ashes of repentance, we start Lent with a renewed focus on Jesus and on being intentional about faithfully living as Christ would have us live.
Ash Wednesday service times:
12pm in the Chapel
6pm in the Sanctuary & livestreaming
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Good News at Noon in Gainesville, Georgia
Currently, Good News at Noon is in need of additional Front Desk volunteers. As a front desk volunteer, you serve as the face of the ministry, greeting neighbors as they come through the door, answering and redirecting phone calls, and, most importantly, getting to know our neighbors.
Weekly Blessing and/or Quotes
“It is the business of the artist to uncover the strangeness of truth” - Flannery O'Connor.
If you enjoy this newsletter, please consider sharing it with others. It will help me tremendously in getting the word out.
