ZACHARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
  • Home
  • About Us
    • The Pastor’s Bio, Our Leadership, & Contact Us
    • Our Mission, Beliefs, and History
    • Preparing for Your First Visit
    • Church Calendar
    • ZUMC Business Directory
  • Weekend Update
    • This Week's Weekend Update
    • Sign Up for the Weekend Update
  • Worship
    • Sunday Morning Worship
    • Mid-Week Devotional Word
    • Schedule a Baptism
    • Become a Member
    • Weddings
    • Funerals & Memorial Services
  • Connect
    • Prayer Requests
    • Spiritual Growth Resources
    • Little School
    • Children's Ministries
    • Preteen Ministries
    • Youth Ministries
    • Adult Small Groups
    • Music Ministries
  • Give
  • Serve
    • I-Serve
    • Missions

January 22, 2014

1/22/2014

0 Comments

 
“…this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies
ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus”
(Philippians 3:13-14). Recently read about a plane crash on take-off, caused in part because it was carrying too much weight (ice on the wings and excess baggage). We can crash and burn if we’re carrying too much baggage. Like the baggage of unrelinquished hurt. If we’ve carried 2013’s
hurts into 2014, we may be surprised to find that we’re headed for a crash. We simply
can’t fly high like God intends if we’re too heavy for takeoff. I get Paul. He’s talking about the future. He says he’s doing one thing: FORGETTING. But he adds something: MOVING ON. Two
separate things? Or intimately related and so we can’t do one without doing the other?


Forgetting is not the same as not remembering. (Yes I forget things – especially

at the grocery store – but that’s not what we’re talking about here.) Here’s what I mean: daughter arrives from college for Christmas break Friday night. I get in my car Saturday morning. I back into her car. A 3 m.p.h. love tap. At the perfect angle to tear both bumper “covers” (no Virginia, there is no such thing as a car bumper any more). Repair cost? I’m not telling. Won’t forget the sting of this for a while. A longggg while. Thank God, the memory of it actually serves a purpose: look before backing up.


Maybe this is what Paul was getting at: forgetting what lies behind means remembering
this was the starting point for a new beginning. We don’t forget that which hurts. Paul is
remembering as he writes about moving forward. We can’t forget our past. We can’t erase our
past. But we can get past our past and move into a better future. We may need to leave
behind hurts others have inflicted on us or we may need to release ourselves from self inflicted
wounds. For Paul it meant moving closer to God through Jesus Christ.


We can remember how others have hurt us, or we can remember them in terms of what the
Christ did for them. It’s our choice. Some hurts just won’t go away, no matter how hard we try. They are scars we will carry to the grave. But we can strain (it takes that much grit) forward to what lies ahead IF we ditch self-pity and grudge-nursing. It’s moving on to “higher ground”.
Get free of old hurts by reframing them in the love of Christ for all people. Otherwise, many
wonderful dreams for 2014 will never take flight.


Pastor Greg
0 Comments

January 8, 2014

1/12/2014

0 Comments

 
Here are some questions for you to ask yourself: Am I really awake, aware, present, to God in
my life now?
What does my daily behavior say about the person I really am?
The responses we have to these questions provide true material for reflection. How
much do you reflect? What are the highs and lows of your day, your week? I thought I’d
share some of mine from the past week with you.

High: ringing in the new year with Cynthia (well, at about 7:30pm)

Most loving: glimpsing a mother holding hands with her young child

Most poignant: witnessing the the tears of a grieving family

Funniest: the expression on the father of the bride’s face at one point

Most challenging: encouraging someone who was down

Loneliest moment: my youngest departing for a trip

Sense of accomplishment: being part of a beautiful wedding

Most humbling: prayer with a terribly injured person

Most appreciative: Carla Murray playing at the last minute

Most inspiring: hearing an old country preacher testify to the faith

Most frustrating: realizing how quickly another year has passed

Most liberating: writing another sermon

Quietest: driving home after a funeral in the rain

Most amazed: seeing people transform the fellowship hall into a gorgeous reception space

Most holy: serving Communion

Most joyous: seeing a family totally thrilled to be in a new home.

That’s in one week. God is with us every moment of our lives. It is truly amazing how
often these moments are holy ones. Do we stop to take notice of everything and marvel at

God’s presence in these things? If nothing else, pay attention to your breathing this week….

In Christ,

Pastor Greg

0 Comments

    Rev. Ricky Willis

    Senior Pastor, ZUMC

    Archives

    July 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Zachary United Methodist Church
4205 Church St.
Zachary, LA 70791
225-654-2389
info@zacharyumc.org
Sunday Mornings:
Traditional Worship at 9:00AM
​Sunday School at 10:00AM
The Pathway Contemporary Worship at 11:00AM
  • Home
  • About Us
    • The Pastor’s Bio, Our Leadership, & Contact Us
    • Our Mission, Beliefs, and History
    • Preparing for Your First Visit
    • Church Calendar
    • ZUMC Business Directory
  • Weekend Update
    • This Week's Weekend Update
    • Sign Up for the Weekend Update
  • Worship
    • Sunday Morning Worship
    • Mid-Week Devotional Word
    • Schedule a Baptism
    • Become a Member
    • Weddings
    • Funerals & Memorial Services
  • Connect
    • Prayer Requests
    • Spiritual Growth Resources
    • Little School
    • Children's Ministries
    • Preteen Ministries
    • Youth Ministries
    • Adult Small Groups
    • Music Ministries
  • Give
  • Serve
    • I-Serve
    • Missions