General Conference opens with hope
Personal ministry makes disciples
UMC formally admits Ivory Coast
Madam President, Mama President
Church retains stance on human sexuality
Pain and protest: A Good News response
Young people: a church to call home
Doubts arise following cellphone gifts
Sometimes a cellphone is just a cellphone
Deeds, not words, make disciples
Former abortion clinic owner shares story
U.S. Christians don’t feel persecution pain
Moved by the “water and the Spirit”
Church key to fighting AIDS crisis
Episcopal address focuses on hope
General Conference tackles global issues
Points of order, points of grace
CONFERENCE COMMENTARY
United Methodist teambuilding: Acevedo
Looking to the future with hope: Hamilton
Priorities transcend differences: McCurry
The dilemma of 3 Simple Rules: Reisman
COLUMNS
Editorial Reflections on the 2008 General Conference
RENEW Women’s Network Aftermath
Culture in View To Be a Friend of Caspian
Next Generation Responding to Speakaphobia
The Great Commission Brokenness
From the Hear Prison Praise
The church must always be aware of the needs of people and be ready to meet those needs with the “fresh bread” of faith, hope and love, said Bishop Ernest S. Lyght. Preaching on Jesus’ parable of the man who knocks on a neighbor’s door at midnight asking for bread, Lyght said people facing their “midnight hour” are waiting at church doors for a helping hand.
“The United Methodist Church must be prepared to respond,” said Lyght, who presides over the church’s West Virginia Area. “It is not the time of day that matters; what matters is the time of crisis in the life of one of God’s children.” Lyght quoted the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who portrayed the church as having three loaves of bread: “the bread of faith, the bread of hope and the bread of love.” He said the church must instill in people confidence in the future and a hope that “rests on Jesus Christ, the solid rock.”
“Love,” Lyght said, “is at the pinnacle of our God relationship and our human relationships.” The bishop listed some of the world’s problems including war, poverty and disease, and said, “Wake up, church! Get up, church! When men, women and children knock on the doors of the church, they are looking for fresh bread. They want to encounter a vibrant faith. They want to embrace hope for tomorrow. They want to experience extravagant love that includes them.”
Lyght said the church can keep “the bread fresh” by participating in a devout prayer life, regular Bible study, worship, small groups and Christian education.
“We are The United Methodist Church,” he said. “We must respond to the midnight hour in the lives of people and nations.”
Tom Burger is the communicator for the United Methodist West Virginia Annual (regional) Conference.
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