MAY 15, 2012

On a personal note first:
Many of you may be aware that as of the end of June, the NC UMC is reorganizing. We will no longer have a Goldsboro District office. You may also be aware that one of our GC family members, Gina Harr is the Goldsboro District Administrative Assistant. As of that date, Gina will no longer have a job.

Gina is one of the sharpest people I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. She is very efficient in the area of bookkeeping, planning, communications, and many other areas that make her a valuable asset to an organization. I admire her integrity and her spirituality.
If you, or anyone that you know, has a need for Gina’s skills and would like to consider hiring her, please contact her. You may call the Goldsboro District Office or contact me for her personal contact information.

Good morning Church family,
Sunday was a time of celebration for Mother’s Day. The entire weekend was special, from the Saturday brunch to the MYF sponsored Sunday morning breakfast.
I don’t usually like to do much with secular holidays during worship, but this year a verse of Scripture caught my eye. It is from 1 John, chapter 5. John says that if we love God, then we will keep His commandments. In that same verse, John says that God’s commandments are not burdensome.

It reminded me of my mama’s commandments (rules). As a child, I considered them burdensome. But at some point in my life I began to realize that those rules were not just rules. They were good for me. They were valuable lessons that I needed to learn. She gave them to me because she loved me.

John says that God’s rules are like that. We will obey God’s commandments, not because we are forced to, but because we love God and realize that they are not burdensome, but that they are freeing. So I put together a little acrostic to give a testimony of things that I have learned about obeying God’s rules.

M – The more that I mature in Christ, the more that His rules are not burdensome.
O – When I have open communication with Christ, His rules are not burdensome.
T – As I look back, I can see teaching moments that Christ used. Some of these moments were on the mountaintop and some of these moments were in the valleys.
H – When I remember that the rules are His rules, not mine, they are not burdensome.
E – God’s rules are for everyone. God’s grace and forgiveness is also for everyone.
R – The reward that we receive is that we win! John says that we have the victory.
Rules, rules, rules. They are not burdensome. May I show God each day that I love Him.
Lord, let it begin with Jerry.

Coming up:
Wednesday: 6:00 ORANGE and XTREME continues!
Thursday: 6:00 SALT meets at the Double Duece Ranch. (Donald and Debbie Stroud’s Ranch)
Friday and Saturday: Relay for Life at Wayne County Fairgrounds

GC Family Time of the week:
Brad and Sheri Pabst are planning an event in June called “Financial Peace University.” I encourage you to pray and give serious consideration to this event. I have taken this class. It is well worth your time.

In case you missed it:
Thanks to the MYF for a great Mother’s Day breakfast on Sunday!

Funny of the week:
Each evening bird lover Tom stood in his backyard, hooting like an owl - and one night, an owl finally called back to him. For a year, the man and his feathered friend hooted back and forth. He even kept a log of the "conversation." Just as he thought he was on the verge of a breakthrough in interspecies communication, his wife had a chat with her next door neighbor "My husband spends his nights ... calling out to owls," she said "That's odd," the neighbor replied. "So does my husband."

Quote of the week:
There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.
- John Andrew Holmes Jr., American writer and minister

Scripture of the week: Luke 24:45-47
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Numbers:
Attendance:
8:30 – 104; 10:45 - 158 (Total 252)
General Fund: $3117. Weekly Budget: $6415
Building Fund: $675. Weekly Budget: $3428 New Balance on Building Debt: $726,675

On a personal note:
RELAY FOR LIFE is a special time for Wayne County each year. But this year it will have a whole new meaning for me. “Jerry’s Journey” has been, and continues to be something that God is using.
Please make plans to come out to the Wayne County Fairgrounds this weekend, especially on Friday evening to support Relay. There will be great food and fun fellowship, among other things.

Pastor Jerry
It’s all about HIM!