“…GREETINGS from Jersey?…”

Standing on the Shoulders of Unlikely Giants

July 16th-August 13th

Greetings from Jersey! Not Jersey of the ‘Garden State’ but the one on the other side of the pond. A small kidney shaped island that is neither English nor French. The one where the cows come from. We are so looking forward to sharing time with you folk at Memorial UMC Thomasville. It will be a privilege to get to know you and your community.

On the five Sundays I want to speak about some of my heroes. These are not the Marvel Comic characters- although we love to watch a movie as a family and eat pizza! These heroes are small, almost insignificant. They walk on to the pages of the New Testament for just a few moments and then disappear. Sometimes we have their words. Sometimes it is just their actions that speak loudly.

They have profoundly changed my life and offered a bigger view of faith. They are the backroom men and women that St Paul relied upon, for without them he could not have spread the Gospels of to all the nations. I see the Spirit of God active in their decisions, courage, struggles, arguments and triumphs.

For instance, who delivered St Paul’s letters? In an age before postal services and the cities were hundreds of miles apart, who volunteered to hand deliver them? Well, we know his name. We know the route he took. And I would love to introduce him to you.

Or, who packed St Paul’s sandwiches in the morning? St Paul’s describes a lady as someone ‘who has been as a mother to me’. I guess that means she baked him pecan pies, set him off with a full stomach, could give him a straight talking to and prayed for him every day.
By sharing these stores I will invite you to ‘Stand on the Shoulders of these unlikely Giants’. My prayer is that by so doing we will all know the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

No doubt we will have lots of fun! My accent will sound different and when I say something strange just say ‘Word Exchange’. We can then stop and make sure that we understand our common language. You can show us the things that you love about your community. We need to be initiated to the rules of baseball, and we may even try and introduce cricket to Thomasville! Do you know, a game of cricket can last five days and often ends in a draw? Only a Brit could come with a crazy game like that! But don’t worry there is a shorter version that lasts just a couple of hours.

My congregation in Jersey send their warmest greetings and would love to be exchanging with you! Let’s pray they will be renewed by Ben and Sandy’s words and actions of Grace & Truth.

-Tony, Cathy, Columba and Ronan Morling