Jamey's Newsletter: Sunday, May 6, 2023
As a kid in the 1980s, I watched the Challenger Spaceshuttle from my classroom, and on the night of the explosion, President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation. In his speech, he said, “The future doesn’t belong to the faint-hearted; it belongs to the brave.” And he continued, “The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we will continue to follow them.”
One of the safest places to live is in the past. When living in the past, there is nothing new under the sun. And yet, to experience life as intended, we must let God pull us into the future. Speaking to an exiled people, through Isaiah, God says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43: 19).
Where in your life do you need to trust that the Lord is making a way in the wilderness? Where is God compelling you to move into a new reality?
Jamey
Let's Talk About Jesus and the Man on the Roof
(Pre-recorded online worship from Gainesville First UMC, Gainesville, Georgia)
Weekly Prayer
Lord,
Like many others, I have known your love. I have experienced your care and provision. And I have heard your call to extend the same care to others. And yet, I don't. Instead, I make excuses for my neglect. I rationalize my ability to ignore the hurt around me. Forgive me, O Lord.
I pray for those who do not have enough food to eat, shelter to keep warm, or employment to pay the pills. I pray for those who have more than enough and live without purpose and meaning.
Your grace reaches out to all of us. And all of us need grace today. Amen.
Meme of the Week
Dad Jokes
Today’s jokes are brought to you by Sandy Mooney. Do you have a funny joke to share? If so, send it to me!
What kind of shoes do Pandas like? None, they go “Bearfoot”!
If you dress like a cowboy……are you “ranch dressing?”
Articles worth reading, videos worth watching, and/or podcasts worth listening to
‘Attention Is the Beginning of Devotion’
How to Pray With Our Eyes Open
Georgia may be turning purple. It’s definitely turning green.
Our Favorite Mother's Day Menu Ideas Of All Time
Yellowstone Will End With Season 5 as Kevin Costner Exits the Series
Christianity is, finally, a story in which communication prevails over violence.
I’m trying to live as Haruki Murakami writes: with questions but not an end in mind.
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
Ten Things I Loved About the Summer Growing Up:
Catching lighting bugs in a glass jar. Do you call them fireflies or lighting bugs?
Homemade peach ice cream
Night fishing for catfish in the pond
Evening boat rides on lake lanier
Riding in the back of the pickup truck (can’t do this anymore….will get arrested)
Long random walks in the woods behind my house
Eating watermelon on the back porch
Overnight sleepovers with my cousins
Playing in the tree house and sandbox until being called into the house
Riding my bicycle and playing basketball around Clermont Park
What did you love about the summer growing up?
Photo Taken by Me
Dirk and Path Mitchell preparing to place prayers in the Western Wall.
The Western Wall, Hebrew Ha-Kotel Ha-Maʿaravi, also called the Wailing Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem, is a place of prayer and pilgrimage sacred to the Jewish people. It is the only remains of the retaining wall surrounding the Temple Mount, the site of the First and Second Temples of Jerusalem, held uniquely holy by the ancient Jews.
The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587–586 BCE, and the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.
The Western Wall is made of 45 courses of stone, of which 28 are above ground, and 17 rows are still underground under the Western Wall Plaza. The top half of the Western Wall’s stone courses that rise up above the Prayer Plaza are from Muslim restoration. The others are mostly original stones from the Second Temple period. The entire height of the section of the Western Wall seen at the Plaza is estimated to be 32 meters from the bedrock to its highest point.
Click the link to learn more at The Western Wall Heritage Foundation
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
August 5-12 / Guiamaca, Honduras
Gainesville First United Methodist will take a team to Guiamaca, Honduras, from Saturday, August 5 - Saturday, August 12. The cost of this trip is around $700 a person plus airfare. The trip will offer two options once we are in Honduras. One group will spend the week at Orphanage Emmanuel, ministering to the children and tackling various projects around the campus. Another group will spend the week in the surrounding community of Guiamaca, working on building a feeding center and single-family homes within that community. We will begin purchasing tickets at the end of March.
If you would like to join us for this incredible opportunity to build bridges to Jesus, please contact Rev. Joshua Hudson at jhudson@gfumc.com.
Happening at Gainesville First United Methodist Church (Gainesville, Georgia)
VBS / June 5-9
Ages: Rising Pre-K - Completed 5th grade
(Child must be 4 years old by September 1, 2023)
Launch into a cosmic quest where we will have a blast shining Jesus’ light to the world. Stellar rockets us on an out-of-this-world adventure that’s light years of faith-building fun.
We can’t wait to see you in outer space!
Weekly Blessing and/or Quotes
“We have all known the long loneliness, and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.” Dorothy Day in The Long Loneliness
If you find encouragement in this newsletter, I would love for you to take the opportunity to share it with others. Thank you for reading.