Pastor's Update

It Begins With Remembering…

It is the Year of the Revolution, a Revolution that starts with you and with me. The Revolution begins when we remember where we have come from. There are many people who want us to believe that we are to forget our past; there are people who want us to believe we ought to ignore our stories. The Hebrew Scripture tells us something different; according to Moses and others we are to remember our stories…we are to remember our past.

What I have found is that when we forget our past and our stories, we often get comfortable. When we get comfortable with our lives, some of us get careless with our faith, we end up just going through the motions. I believe we get a sort of spiritual amnesia. People with amnesia don't know who they are, what they're expected to do, or to whom they're accountable. So we remember our past…we remember our stories.

What is your story? What has God done in your life? What are those events that have shaped you? How has God touched your life? Was it through a car accident, illness, surgery, death of a loved one, bankruptcy, divorce, or recovery from an addiction? We can not experience real transformation without knowing our story. The Revolution Begins With Remembering….

Parkway Super Bowl Party

Looking for a way to spend the Super Bowl with your parkway family, without the hassle of cleaning your house before and afterwards? Looking for a way to see the Super Bowl on a BIG screen? Come join the Parkway family on February 7th and watch the Super Bowl in the student worship area. Cost is $5/person with a $15/family maximum. Cost will cover Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, drinks & activities for the kiddos. Bring your favorite appetizer and your most comfortable tailgating chair and join the fun. Who knows, an appetizer contest may be part of the festivities as well! This is great opportunity to bring your friends and neighbors. Register online. Contact Brian Mullen (832.549.4448) if you have any

HOPE for ONE

We have the opportunity to reach NEW TERRITORY with the message of the Gospel through the gift of music. We are going to professionally record and produce a CD with a mix of Top 40 and Christian songs and mail it out to every residence in New
Territory. There are 4601 homes and 500 apartments. We can reach every home for only $5 per family. What a great and non-threatening way to get into every single family in our immediate area with the message of the Gospel.

We have had some people ask about other areas to reach. Let me assure you, if this is “successful” we will begin to target other ministry areas such as Pecan Grove, Greatwood and River Park. Please help our effort even if you don’t live in New Territory. Everyone can afford to buy for a family, and some of you, maybe a whole neighborhood. Encourage your kids to sponsor a family and make them feel like this is their outreach too. We have designated one of the walls in the worship center as the Wall of Hope. For every family that is sponsored, we will put a card up on the wall that says "Hope for One."

Women’s Retreat

Parkway’s Women’s Ministry is hosting an in house weekend Retreat January 29-30th. Our theme is Tapestry and how friends color the fabric of our lives. “It is our relationships with other women which often bring color and brightness, honesty and security, to our lives.” We will have dinner Friday night followed by a speaker, friends and fellowship. Then on Saturday we will serve breakfast and then a day packed full of topics about Taking Inventory, Prayer and Good Friends, Goal Setting and Silence and Solitude. We hope you will join us. You can register at church on Sundays or register online. If you have any questions contact Debbie Mullen (281-343-7197).

BE There. BE Hope in Haiti!

We are collecting financial donations for the Haiti relief effort. All our monies will go to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). For those of you who do not know about the work of UMCOR, they are an amazing organization. They are often the first boots on the ground in a disaster situation. They do fantastic work BUT what I love most about UMCOR is that 100% of monies collected goes to relief efforts. Other expenses (salary, administrative, etc) are paid through apportionments and other means. What that means is when you give $1 to the victims of the earthquake; the whole dollar is spent in Haiti!! Now that is faithful stewardship! For more information, visit www.umcorhaiti.org. Make checks payable to Parkway and in the memo write “Haiti Relief.” If you have any questions, contact me.

The Revolution Goes to Mexico!

It’s not too late to join the Mexico Mission Revolution!! We will have a meeting after the 10:30 service this Sunday. We will gather in the chapel. If you are interested in going or just want to gather some information, feel free to stop by. If you cannot make the meeting, but want more information, contact Pam Robertson.

PLEASE EMAIL KATHY YOUR BIRTHDAY, YEAR NOT NEEDED!!