Weekly Roundup: Sunday, January 19, 2024
Leadership isn’t just about having a vision or making decisions—it’s about bringing people together, valuing their unique contributions, and creating an environment where everyone can thrive. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul tackles a problem in the Corinthian church that feels familiar: they were ranking spiritual gifts, creating divisions, and excluding people.
Leadership isn’t just about welcoming people through the doors. It’s about inviting them into the room, giving them a seat at the table, and making space for their gifts, stories, and ideas. This is what Paul’s message is all about. It’s not just about inclusion; it’s about radical hospitality.
Radical hospitality means noticing the quiet person with a gift for details, the newcomer with fresh ideas, or the steady worker who keeps everything organized behind the scenes. It’s about saying, “We need you here. Your presence matters.” That kind of leadership creates a culture where people feel welcomed and wanted.
Here are a few practical ways to lead with this mindset:
Celebrate Every Gift: Recognize and appreciate all contributions. Whether someone is leading a team or stacking chairs, their work matters.
Invite Participation: Create opportunities for everyone to get involved. Ask people to contribute their ideas, talents, and energy.
Practice Radical Hospitality: Go beyond a warm greeting. Make sure people feel like they belong and that their presence makes a difference.
Stay Humble: A great leader doesn’t need all the answers. Be willing to listen, learn, and let others shine.
Every gift matters, and every person matters, and as leaders, it’s our job to ensure that no one feels left out.
Pastor Jamey
(Click Here to Watch the Worship Service from Gainesville First United Methodist Church, Gainesville, Georgia)
Weekend Prayer
Lord, forgive us for the times we’ve fallen into comparison, valuing some gifts over others or overlooking the contributions of those around us. Help us to see people the way You see them—with infinite worth and purpose. Teach us to honor and celebrate every role, whether visible or behind the scenes, knowing that all are vital to the body of Christ. Amen.
Wisdom Nugget: True leadership looks like this: celebrating all gifts, resisting comparison, and practicing radical hospitality. It’s not about status—it’s about service.
A Question to Consider: What gifts or talents do you often overlook in yourself or others, and how can you start affirming their value in your community or team?
Meme of the week
Dad Jokes
Why was the pediatrician constantly losing his temper? She had little patients!
What sounds like a sneeze and is made of leather? A shoe!
Photo Taken By Me
Book I am reading this week
Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical Age by Richard Beck
In Hunting Magic Eels, Richard Beck deeply delves into how the world has shifted from being enchanted—full of God, angels, and sacred moments—to feeling increasingly skeptical and secular. He suggests that the problem isn’t that God has disappeared; we’ve stopped noticing. Our modern age, shaped by science and reason, has dulled our ability to see the divine. But Beck offers hope, showing how we can rediscover a sense of wonder and reconnect with a vibrant, living faith by intentionally tuning our hearts and minds to the sacred, even in a skeptical world.
Found Interesting on Social Media
Podcast Worth Listening to:
Articles that caught my eye
President Jimmy Carter: A Letter From Home
Lane Cake, Southern Hospitality, and Remembering Jimmy Carter
It’s Time for a New Era of Christian Civility
What does it mean to be a Christian in these times?
Jimmy Carter Applied His Faith to the Messiness of Politics. We Should Too
Gainesville lands at No. 1 in U.S. in this economic report
The Army of God Comes Out of the Shadows
Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letter From Birmingham Jail’
Georgia Might Be Getting a New State Flower This Year
Jimmy Carter: A Picture of Persistence
These were the bestselling books of 2024.
Can art really cure us from digital distraction?
In the Kitchen
New Cookies To Make Every Month In 2025
Happening at Gainesville First United Methodist Church, Gainesville, Georgia
March 20 / 10am - 2:30pm
If you are caring for a loved one with dementia, this workshop will provide resources from the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving to help understand the disease, manage behaviors and handle stress. This event is free and includes lunch, but spaces are limited. Contact Mildred Smith at msmith@gfumc.com to register for this event.
Happening in North Georgia
Parade of Planets
In this January 2025 Parade of Planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will be visible at the same time. Uranus and Neptune only visible with a telescope, and details for other planets only observable on closer view. Join us as we utilize our high powered telescope to observe this cosmic phenomenon.
Plan to pay in cash.
Admission: $5
Parking fee: $5
Event Phone: 706-754-7981
Location
Tallulah Gorge State Park
338 Jane Hurt Yarn Drive
P.O. Box 248
Tallulah Falls, GA 30573
Weekly Blessing and/or Quotes
"We all have different gifts, so we all have different ways of saying to the world who we are." – Fred Rogers
"You don’t have to be in the spotlight to make a difference. It’s the small things done with great love that often have the biggest impact." – Mother Teresa
May you go into the world practicing radical hospitality, creating spaces where every story, every voice, and every gift is valued. Amen.
