The Thing About Flying?
Flying fascinates me. Now, to be clear, I can’t fly. I’ve never taken formal flight lessons and I’ve never been
able to think enough ‘happy thoughts’ to take off myself. But still, I’m fascinated with flying. And while the
free wi-fi, salted pretzels, and orange juice with ice is appealing, that’s not the part of flying I’m concerned
with. What I’m interested in is the science behind it. How does a jet that weighs a million pounds (literally)
even get off the ground? And not only that, but how does it stay in the air?
So I’ve been studying a little bit about flying. I’m no physicist, but I do have access to Google, which is
essentially the same thing. So here’s what happens. By gathering enough speed, a jet uses the wind to create
lift under its wings. And when the pressure of lift under its wings exceeds its own weight, the jet can take off
and fly. The catalyst to this whole process is movement. A jet that stands still can never take off. Only by
pushing against the wind can an airplane fly. Ultimately, what it pushes against lifts it up.
I think the same is true for us. What I mean is, I think we can learn a lot from flying.
Sometimes the wind seems like the enemy. And the wind can represent anything in our lives; fear, worry,
anger, circumstances, all of the stuff that pushes against us. Sometimes the wind blows really hard, and all of
our problems overwhelm us, they cripple us.
So we resign to live life on the runway, where we can dodge the wind. But a jet that can’t move can never
take off.
But what if there was a different way to live? What if we could actually fly?
What I know about flying I’m learning to be true about our lives. What we push against is what ultimately lifts
us up. It’s easy to sit on the runway, afraid of the wind, crippled by all the stuff that weighs us down. It’s easy
to begin to believe that even if we could move, we’re just too heavy to fly now. We’ve got too much baggage,
too many mistakes that can’t be corrected. So we sit and watch the other planes, curious about the science of
flying.
I think God created us to fly. I believe His plan for us involves things like movement, and lift. And the cool
thing about God is, He wants to help us off the ground, if we’ll let Him. He can move us from the runway to
the sky. Each day He offers an invitation. It’s a simple invitation, an invitation of movement. Maybe each day
it’s just a step. And then eventually a step turns into a jog, a jog into a run, until we’re sprinting directly into
the wind we were once so afraid of. And as all the stuff we’ve been pushing against begins to lift us up, we
realize we weren’t too heavy, that all of that baggage has been unloaded.
The thing about flying is, it’s pretty simple. All it takes is a little movement, just a step in the right direction.
He didn’t create us to dodge the wind on the runway, He created us to push against it and fly.
And maybe this is also true about giving and serving! We make excuses that we have so many bills to pay and
so many (unnecessary) things to buy, and we have so many pressing needs on our time. But in reality God in
his wisdom has given us enough money to buy what we need and only asks us to give back, what he knows
to can spare. And he has given us enough time to look after our family and some left over to accomplish the
tasks he wants us to serve him in. But do we want to hang on the baggage and let the wind defeat us or are
we willing to start with first step with God’s help and learn to fly.
Minister – Reverend Peter Moorhouse tel. 0161 628 2906
www.eastoldhamchurch.weebly.com
Please pray regularly for
our members, who are
struggling with ill health
and for the Christian
witness of our members
East Oldham Methodist church
Notices august 2012
We welcome everyone to East Oldham Methodist Church in the name
of Jesus Christ our Lord. May you find His blessing as you worship with us.
East Oldham’s Mission Statement is
“To know Jesus Christ and to make Him known”
Sunday 29th
9.30am Morning Prayer
10.45am Family Service led by
Rev. Peter Moorhouse
Coffee Eddie and Tom
Steward Malcolm
Flowers Mrs. Joyce Marshall
Tuesday 31st
2.00pm Bright Hour
August
Saturday 4th
Party in the Park
Sunday 5
9.30pm Morning Prayer – All Welcome
10.45am Morning Service led by
Mr.Peter Marshall
Steward June
Coffee PIN and David
Flowers Mrs. P. Clark
th
Tuesday 7th
2.00pm Bright Hour
Sunday 12th
9.30pm Morning Prayer
10.45am Communion Service led by
Rev. Peter Moorhouse
Steward Tom
Coffee Paul and Doreen
Flowers Mrs. B. Houston
Tuesday 14th
2.00pm Bright Hour
Saturday 18th
9.30am Ladies Prayer Breakfast
Sunday 19th
9.30am Morning Prayer
10.45am Morning Service led by
Mr. Gordon Roscoe
Coffee Doris and Karolyn
Steward Valerie
Flowers Mrs. K. Waddsworth
Tuesday 21st
2.00pm Bright Hour
Sunday 26th
9.30am Morning Prayer
10.45am Family Service led by
Rev. Peter Moorhouse
Coffee Valerie and Gordon
Steward Olive
Flowers Mrs. C. Chadwick
Tuesday 28th
2.00pm Bright Hour
Thursday 30th
8.00pm Wives Group
September
Sunday 2nd
9.30am Morning Prayer
10.45am Morning Service led by
Mr. Geoff Lamb
Coffee June and Brenda
Steward Malcolm
Flowers Mrs. L. Tidswell
Tuesday 4th
2.00pm Bright Hour
Party in the Park Saturday August 4th
Our church is getting involved in a community
afternoon event in Stoneleigh Park. We are thinking
of having a crafts table, if you are good at making
things or you could help, contact Beverley. But
otherwise just be there and have some fun in the
sun.
Walk Through the Bible - Old Testament
We will be having our next “Walk Through The Bible”
day on Saturday October 27th. If you didn’t make it
to the last one, then come to this one. Come and get
an overview of the events in the Old Testament.
Please contact Gordon as soon as possible to book
your place.