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Month: July 2025

Devotion: From Black and White to Color

Posted on by Rachel Shaw

This Sunday is our last week of the Follow the Yellow Brick Road sermon series. So I thought I’d reflect on The Wizard of Oz in this devotional.

In the movie, Dorothy’s world begins in black and white. Her life is small, familiar, and focused mostly on herself, her struggles, her fears, and her desire to escape. But when the storm lifts her into Oz, everything shifts into vivid color. It’s as if a new dimension of life is revealed. And even more curiously, the people she already knew, the farmhands, appear in new forms as the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. They were always there, but it took a journey beyond herself to see them more fully.

Isn’t that true in our spiritual life too?

There’s a story in Luke 24 where two disciples are walking on the road to Emmaus. They’re talking about Jesus’ death and their dashed hopes. They’re so wrapped up in their grief and confusion that they don’t recognize the person walking with them is Jesus himself. He listens. He walks with them. He even opens Scripture to them. Still, they don’t see clearly. Not until they pause, sit down, and break bread with him. Then their eyes are opened. Then they see Jesus fully for who he is.

How often do we walk past people without really seeing them? Maybe they’re coworkers, neighbors, church friends, or even family. We see them in black and white, like flat characters in the background of our own story. We may know their hobbies, their political views, or how they take their coffee. We may know their favorite sports team or what pew they sit in on Sundays. But do we really know them? Do we know what keeps them up at night? What brings them joy? What wounds they carry that are still healing? But when we slow down, listen, ask questions, and share life, the vivid moments of life come through. They become who they truly are, complex, beautiful, beloved children of God.

The path of following Jesus is like Dorothy’s journey. It reveals the vivid depth in others. We begin to see people not just as characters in our story, but as companions on the road. The Spirit helps us pay attention, turn our focus outward, and take time to share life with those we might have overlooked.

Reflection Questions:

  • Who in your life have you only seen in black and white? What would it take to see them more fully?
  • Are you open to the idea that someone you already know could be more courageous, loving, or wise than you realized?
  • How might Jesus be walking alongside you today in the disguise of someone you’ve overlooked?

Prayer:
Jesus, open my eyes. Help me to see people not through the lens of distraction or assumption, but through your eyes of love. Turn my black and white world into a full color story where I can recognize the beauty, depth, and divine image in each person I meet. Amen.

What’s Next? Visioning Event Reflection from Pastor Rachel

Posted on by FUMCWP Admin

On Sunday night, 120 of us gathered in the Mathias Family Life Center Gym for an Interactive Visioning Session. We gathered to pray, eat, fellowship, and cast vision for the future. Before I even begin telling you all the ways I saw God at work this evening, I want to thank the team that put it all together. Not only is there a Steering Team that is the engine behind this, but there were many helpers who made the tables, food, atmosphere, and swag possible. I am always blown away by the people in this church who love to serve and help bring people together, and many hands were needed. Thank you to those who came early and stayed late so that this event was possible and a time of unity and dreaming together.

After arriving on Sunday night, we were seated at different tables that were diverse and well mixed. The hope was that you could get to know someone new and hear a different story. At each table, there was a name tag, like at a wedding reception, and a centerpiece filled with Publix subs, fruit, and cookies, as well as a swag bag with items that will help us pray and center ourselves on our next steps as a church. Where I really saw God that evening was at our tables, where honest stories and memories were shared. As we sat at our table, eating and getting to know each other on a deeper level, I heard stories about why this is the church that one person has been coming to since he was a child, or another person is attending because it reminds her of her church back home, or how the defining moment for another individual was the care they received after the passing of a parent. As we listened, shared, celebrated, and laughed, I heard the Spirit saying, “What’s Next?” What is next is indeed the question for this season. As we celebrate 140 years of mission and ministry in the Winter Park community, what might God be calling us toward next?

You might recall that last year, we hosted Home Meetings and heard about the challenges and joys we have faced as the First United Methodist Church of Winter Park. And then, the Strategy Team met on a monthly, if not bi-weekly, basis to dream about our next strategy that will move us forward, naming that we have already moved through a pandemic and denominational division. I hope by now you have heard that the Strategy Team came up with three focus areas:

  • Neighbor Well to Share Christ

  • Deepen Connections to Build Disciples

  • Steward Our Resources for God’s Kingdom

And after months of a sermon series, marketing and devotional materials, and realignment of budget, we are now at the beginning of the Capital Campaign journey. While it won’t launch officially until August, Sunday night was all about prioritizing what our focus should be and what our “WHY” will be as we raise funds over and above our operating budget for the next two years.

While talking about money isn’t always a favorite topic of mine, we need to steward our gifts and resources for God’s Kingdom to continue to grow and be lived out incarnationally through each of us here at First United Methodist Church of Winter Park.

In the coming months, there will be more opportunities to engage in this priority conversation, and we hope you will consider joining us. On Sunday, August 17, at 5:30 p.m., we will gather for a Stakeholders Event, and we would love your help and your attendance. In the meantime, be in prayer for us—your pastors and lay leadership teams—that we will clearly hear what God is calling us to do next. Pray that God’s Spirit gives us the conviction and courage to prioritize people over preferences and to know that God is with us every step of the way. Below you will see a document compiled from the robust conversations from the various groups on Sunday night.

– Pastor Rachel

Questions & Responses from the Event

End of Week Reflection: Student Ministry DC Trip!

Posted on by FUMCWP Admin

Did you miss our mid-week update? Catch up here.

Wednesday dawned early with a nutritious breakfast at Chick-fil-a. (lol) Muchas gracias to the NaviJAYtor for leading us again on the metro trains to Union Station. Students wanted to arrive early to rehearse their scripts for our congressional meetings on Wednesday afternoon. Aimee was surprised that we were there early and impressed that students made the decision to take the time for extra rehearsal. Aimee listened to each student as they practiced and offered encouragement and feedback.

After a quick lunch, we paused for prayer in the hallway of the Russell Senate Office Building before proceeding to Senator Ashley Moody’s office. Students were on point with their professionalism, kindness and clarity of message in their meeting with Gianmarco Herrera, Legislative Correspondent for the Senator. To the students – Jay, Stella, Owen, Curran, Caleb and Jacqueline – to say the adults in the room felt proud of you is a tremendous understatement. You killed it.

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Because of the heat, we requested an escort through the tunnels over to the House of Representatives side of the Capitol. (If you are reading this, please, someone ask Keaton Wood how he liked the train under the Capitol.) We met with Representative Maxwell Frost, and the students, again, nailed it with their demeanor and clarity. After this eventful day, we spent time together in fellowship, celebration and scripture that evening.

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Thursday, we spent time having fun together and supporting one another through multiple roller coaster rides at Six Flags just outside of DC. Some of us were excited to ride anything and everything and others were not too sure. Throughout the day students encouraged each other to try a new coaster and understood without judgment when someone said no.

Our last day in DC, we started with a walk to the White House and then over to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. We spent a full morning there, contemplating our country’s history of slavery and learning about black Americans’ significant contributions to art, music, sports, military and more. The conversation continued over a late lunch and then some time to relax together that evening.

For our last devotional time, Keaton shared an affirmation practice. One by one, we affirmed one another, ranging from affirmations about great sourdough and creative nicknames to thankfulness for sharing genuine prayers and abilities to ask the hard questions. After this beautiful hour, Pastor Jared prepared communion for the group. We served one another in a circle, ending where we began.

(Click to make the images larger.)

Our group was 10 strong. Four adults and six students. Some might say we didn’t really need that many adults. That’s probably true. This ratio, though, made deeper connections possible between adults and students. One theme throughout the week was the students’ gratefulness for the investment we made in them. We were able to hold one on one conversation, to notice when someone might be feeling upset or frustrated and to listen without distraction when a student needed to share. It was quite a wonderful trip.

From the adults, Jared, Victoria, Keaton and Seiche…Thank you, church, for your prayers and encouragement. Thank you, Marcy Trust, for granting financial support. Thank you, parents, for trusting us with your precious children. This journey was discipleship in action. And all the youth respond…Bet.

Devotion: People of Hope

Posted on by FUMCWP Admin

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when we look around at the world today. conflicts in culture and even the church can often feel like battlegrounds: loud, divisive, exhausting. Fear seems to be the default tone. Anger spreads faster than understanding. Discouragement feels like the safest emotion to settle into.

But as followers of Jesus, we are not called to mirror the tone of the world. We are called to bear witness to something deeper, something eternal. Not optimism or wishful thinking, but hope. Real, rooted hope in the One who is making all things new.

The early Christians in Rome had every reason to be afraid. They were a small, misunderstood community living in the shadow of a massive empire. Rome demanded loyalty, celebrated power, and tolerated no rival kings. The culture around them glorified status, conquest, power, and control, everything the gospel of Jesus seemed to turn upside down. To proclaim Jesus as Lord in that environment wasn’t just countercultural, it was dangerous. It meant aligning with a kingdom not built by violence, but by mercy. Not rooted in fear, but in love.

And yet, to that community, Paul wrote these words:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 (NRSVUE)

This hope isn’t manufactured, it’s a gift of the Spirit. And it’s not meant to be hidden. It’s meant to shape how we talk, how we listen, how we love, and how we show up in every space, including the complicated and wearying world we live in.

Reflection Question:

Where can we be people of hope in a world of fear, anger, and discouragement?

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