Held By Hope

May 13, 2021

By Jason Duley

When I read the Bible, especially the stories of Jesus, the message that I connect with is hope. In one word, it’s hope. I know there’s judgment in the story as well, but the gospels are more full by far of verses of hope and promise and upbuilding than anything elseIt is this hope that holds me fast to God.

Held by hope, I am inspired to work as hard as I can to share the message of a forgiving and uplifting God. I am so grateful when some of you share positive experiences of God at work at Galilee. One of you said, and I’ll never forget it, “Many churches have a message of heavy guilt that makes me feel down, but Galilee is always lifting me up.” I agree! We are a church that lifts people up! Our message is the message of hope in a God who lifts people up!

Today is Ascension Day, forty days after Easter Sunday, when we mark the literal lifting up of Christ into Heaven. That’s an image and a message that we would have to work at to make sound dire and bleak! What joy to know that our Lord is lifted up! And us with him!

It is this irrepressible hope that cuts through the noisy messages of our conflicted culture. Counterintuitively, we’ve been able to broadcast hope online throughout a pandemic! God’s message has reached more people than ever before. 

One of you recently shared a story about Nancy and her friend. Nancy helps to care for Joann, one of our elderly members who is in a nursing home. Unable to come to church in person, Joann missed the fellowship and the message. Since Joann can’t use a computer, Nancy began to share Galilee‘s worship service over the telephone. Then, once lockdown was lifted, Nancy began to visit Joann in person again, bringing her laptop computer so that the two of them could worship together in the nursing home and share hope.

You can’t keep hope down. As you give to God through Galilee, you make it possible for us to continue the work of sharing God’s message!

We rise by lifting up others.

You can lift up hope!

Ways to Give to Galilee

  • Bill Pay through your bank. Since Galilee pays no fees associated with this method, this is the most beneficial way you can give to your church
  • Use the Galilee App or website to make one-time or recurring gifts. This is becoming more and more popular
  • Text @gumc to 52014.  Save this phone number to make giving quick and easy in the future
  • Amazon Smile – make purchases at Amazon Smile instead of Amazon and designate Galilee United Methodist Church as your beneficiary. It’s free and easy and a portion of all purchases will be donated to Galilee
  • Stock transfer – transfer stocks directly to Galilee. In most cases, you can avoid taxes on the appreciation of the stock. Contact Kathy Butler at 703-430-2203 for instructions
  • IRA Distributions – If you are 70 ½ or older, in most cases you can donate IRA distributions (including required minimum distributions) directly to Galilee and avoid taxes on the distribution
  • Planned Giving – Please consider making Galilee the beneficiary of your bequests or trusts. You move from “success” to “significance” when you make a lasting difference well beyond your lifetime