We've got a couple of service opportunities coming up:
- This Friday, May 15 - Come help paint, install new toilets, clean and put the finishing touches in the restrooms at Harmony Grove. 11 am - 4 pm
- Saturday, May 16 - Come help finish up the restrooms. Contact me about times at Harmony Grove
- Sunday, May 17 - We'll be doing some changes to our set-up at the Gwinnett Campus after worship. Stick around and or come out to help move around some things to help the Co-Op get ready for their summer ministry.
Thought for the Week
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20
This week, a fellow United Methodist pastor in the Atlanta-Emory District lost his son to cancer at 23. He battled for four years. It rocks me to my core when a parent loses a child. It is not the order of life. We don't expect it. It's wrong. We are supposed to bury our grand-parents and parents. We are not supposed to bury our children. I can't imagine the pain and loss they are going through. It is another example of the broken nature of our world. Nineteen year-olds are not supposed to get cancer -- but the world is broken. Right before He ascended, Jesus said these words to his disciples and best friends: "I am with you." He did not say, "Now everything's going to be fine." He promised His presence, no matter what brokenness we are going through. The stress of a job that few understand. Depression. Disease. Broken relationships. Struggling with parenting. Family drama. Whatever it is, Jesus promises to be WITH us. To never leave us, to walk along side us. Sometimes, it's the only comfort, but it's the comfort that matters. We are not abandoned. We are called His own, and He is here. It won't fix all your problems. It doesn't take away the pain of loss and suffering. But it is a real promise and one that we can rest in. God is here. Always has been. Always will be.
In Christ,
Carter
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