God is Enough

by Steve | Nov 20, 2024 | Front Page News, Nov-Dec 2024

God is Enough: To the Convening General Conference of GMC –

By Bishop Mark J. Webb – 

November/December 2024 –

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen!

I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God of God, Light from Light, true God from true God!

I believe for us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became truly human!

I believe for our sake he was crucified, suffered death and was buried!

I believe on the third day he rose again, ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father!

I believe he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end!

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified!

I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church! I believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sin!

I believe in and am looking for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

I believe God has a purpose and a plan for those he created!

I believe that God chases after humanity with an unconditional, unimaginable, passionate love!

I believe Jesus is the bread of life, the light of the world, the good shepherd, the door by which all enter, the vine we are called to be connected to. I believe Jesus is the resurrection and the life! I believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the life!

I believe in the principalities and powers of darkness! I believe Jesus defeats the principalities and powers of darkness!

I believe God is enough! God is enough for all that we need, all that we seek and yearn for, and all we desire to be!

This is our faith! This is what we say we believe. This is what we trust! This is what shapes and equips us as a Church! This is the truth we are called to share with the world!

There is one more important thing I believe: I believe God birthed, empowers, and sends the Church to take the name and person of Jesus into a world ruled by the principalities and powers of darkness, so that at least one more person may move from darkness to light – so that one more person may know the mercy of God and be ushered into the kingdom of heaven.

The amazing, unthinkable, irrational plan of God is that through us – you and me – the world will know the truth, love, and life only offered in and through the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus has called us. The Spirit of God has equipped us, and the power of God is within us to accomplish the plan – to fully live out the mission. We have been tasked with offering the Gospel story – the reality of Jesus to the world. We are the ones sent so that the world will know that God is enough!

I love the words we find in Luke 10: The sending of women and men to live out the task of sharing the story of Jesus. “The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name. And He (Jesus) said to them I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning” (verses 17 & 18). I love the urgency – the reality of need. I love the practicality and simplicity of instructions. I love the promise of change, the promise of success. I love the results.

Yes to the Call. In almost every state of the United States and in over 19 countries around the world, disciples of Jesus Christ known as Global Methodists have responded to the call to be the church and to take the name of Jesus to the people of their communities. We have said yes to God’s call to be the church, and God has blessed that, yes, but the call continues, and we must continue to claim the task we have been given. We must continue to decide to be a part of the plan God has for the transformation of the world.

Right now, right here, we get to say yes to being a part of the mission. Right now, right here, we get to say yes to boldly sharing the good news of Jesus in action and in word. Right now, right here, we get to say yes, so that the world will know that God is enough. 

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to be in Berlin, Germany. One evening, I had a conversation with a young clergy couple, serving in a German town about an hour outside Berlin. They were talking about the congregations they served, the struggles they face, and I asked them: “What is your greatest hope for the church?” They looked at me and then one of them responded: “that we would trust God, allow ourselves to be changed by God, and believe that through us the world will know the hope of Jesus.” That’s a good 3-point sermon. That’s a good commentary on what we find in Luke 10.

Our call. In Luke 9, Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority and sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God. Luke 10 shares the account of Jesus increasing the army as he sends out 72 with the same authority and command. These passages are a prelude to the final commission that Jesus gave to his disciples and to all who would follow: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Recently I preached a sermon where I talked about the word GO. It is a huge, little word. It’s a word we use all the time. Think about it – we use the word GO to cheer someone on toward something good. We use the word GO to warn someone to move away from danger. We use the word GO to encourage someone to persevere, to correct someone who is heading in the wrong direction, to instruct someone in the way they should be going. GO is a word we use all the time.

Did you know that the word GO – according to Strong’s Concordance – is found in the Bible 1,485 times. GO is a huge, little word and it’s a word that God uses often. A word that God speaks into my life, your life, and our life together. We are called just as the 72 to GO. And we are given the same instructions for how to live out that call.

We Have to Trust God’s Truth. “I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” You are going to have to trust me! “Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes.” You are going to have to trust me!

Our response to the mission depends upon our response to God’s call upon our lives, and that is a call to trust! Let’s not get confused. Before God calls us to go anywhere for him, he calls us to follow him. Every call story begins with “follow me and I will . . .” Trust me and I will.

If the Church of Jesus Christ is going to be used by God to bring revival to the world, the church must first be willing to be renewed and transformed by the presence and grace of God. That only happens if we are willing to trust. What are we being called to trust?

• Jeremiah 31.3: “The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore, I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”

• Ephesians 2.4-5: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of God’s great love with which God loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”

• Ephesians 2.8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

It is God who loves first! It is God who chooses first! Our first call is to respond to God’s choice toward us. If we are going to be the people God desires us to be, we must settle this issue of trusting who God is. We must go deep in understanding the nature of God toward us. We must accept the grace that meets us right where we are and then molds us and shapes us and moves us to where God wants us to be and to whom God created us to be.

Responding to the call of God in our lives can never be about trying to appease God or please God, or shape God into our image or agenda. Responding to the call of God must always be about responding to who God truly is and who we truly are in relation to God.

As we continue in ministry and mission together, the ability to live out the task is directly related to our ability to trust who God is – to go deeper in our understanding of God’s amazing love for us. I hope you will continue to grow in the gifts God has given you for ministry and mission. I encourage you to become the best leaders, preachers, teachers, worship leaders, mission strategists that you can be. But none of that will allow you to live the task God has called you to if you are not first claiming God’s amazing love for yourself and responding to that love, by falling deeper and deeper in love with God.

Joseph Stowell tells of having dinner with Billy Graham at a dinner for the staff and board of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Billy was eighty at the time, and Dr. Stowell asked him a question: “Of all your experiences in ministry, what have you enjoyed most? Was it you time spent with presidents and heads of state? Or was it….” Before he could finish his next sentence Billy Graham responded: “None of that, by far the greatest joy of my life has been my fellowship with Jesus. Hearing him speak to me, having him guide me, sensing his presence with me. This has been the highest pleasure of my life!”

The hope of the gospel story being shared through the people of God of the Global Methodist Church is found in the people of God of the Global Methodist Church going deep in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.  Don’t neglect your own spiritual formation. Don’t stop trusting who God is in your life and toward your life. Believe that God loves you first, and chooses you first – right where you are, just as you are.

We Must Trust God’s Power. The account in Luke 10 demonstrates the need to trust in God’s power and the results when you do. They were called to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. When they returned, they testified that even the demons were subject to them in the name of Jesus. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

I will confess to you that there are times when I feel like giving up. There are times when I wonder about the purpose of continuing in this task that God has called me to be a part of. But then I am reminded that those times show up in my life when I am trusting more in my power, my abilities, and my strength, rather than the power of God.

As God calls us to the task of sharing the story of Jesus with the world, God provides the power to accomplish that task.

• The same power that parted the red sea,

• The same power that allowed Joshua to cross the Jordan on dry ground,

• The same power that allowed Elijah to call down fire,

• The same power that allowed David to kill Goliath,

• The same power that enabled Esther to speak up,

• The same power that protected Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in a fiery furnace,

• The same power that turned water to wine, caused the blind to see and the lame to walk, the power that rolled away a stone and raised Jesus from a grave is the very power that invades our lives and fuels the task that God has called us to.

“For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

Don’t forget that not even the dust of the world that clings to our feet has power over the message of the Gospel.

Church, it’s time for us to stop trusting our human wisdom and knowledge, our programs and outreach strategies, our abilities, credentials, and degrees. It’s time for us to claim and trust the power of God. The power of God that Jesus proclaimed when he acknowledged the faith of Peter and said: “I will build My church; and the gates of Hell will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

God has not called us to a difficult task – God has called us to an impossible task and God gives us the power to accomplish the impossible.

To those to be consecrated bishops: We are grateful for your leadership. We have seen you pursue Christ. We have seen the gifts of the Holy Spirit in you. We believe God has called you to lead us in this season.

Lead us to our first call – to trust God with everything we have – to more intimately know the nature and truth of the God we worship. Teach us how to grow more deeply in our spiritual disciplines.

Show us how to be servants of Christ. Not elected to prominence but service. Don’t get full of yourself – be filled with the Holy Spirit!

Lead us to understand and trust the power of God in our lives. Show us how you do it! Help us trust the gifts the Holy Spirit has given each of us. Remind us of the faithfulness of God’s power in the past, the reality of God’s power now, and the promise of God’s power in the days ahead.

Lead us in the mission – Proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and teach us how to do it as well. Show us how to reach the least, the last, and the lost through your actions and then your words. Hold us accountable when we make anything more important than going to where God has called us to proclaim the kingdom of God.

Living the Mission. We have been invited to be a part of an amazing task. The task of sharing the story of Jesus – the task of living the mission – and just like those first disciples, we have the hope of returning with joy saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.”

Our success at living the mission – our vitality as people called by God to share the gospel of Jesus Christ – is not just possible, it’s guaranteed, it’s promised when we trust who God is and we trust God’s power.

There’s a story about a missionary who gave a Bible to a man. When it was given to him, the man hugged it close and expressed great appreciation for the precious gift of God’s Word that the missionary had given him. He read it and was transformed by the truths of God that it revealed. He saw the missionary again and thanked him for the gift of the Bible and told him how it had changed his life. He said it was the most precious gift ever given to him and he would treasure it his entire life.

A few months later when the missionary saw him, he noticed, much to his dismay, that the Bible looked like it was already falling apart, and that many of its pages were missing. 

The missionary asked him, “What happened? What did you do to your Bible? When I gave it to you, I thought you considered it to be a treasured possession.”

The man replied. “Indeed, it is a very precious possession. It is the finest gift I have ever received. It is so precious that I knew I had to share it, so I very carefully chose a page and tore it out and gave it to my mother. Then I tore out another page and gave it to my father. And I tore out another page and gave it to my wife. Finally, I gave a page of God’s Word to everybody who lives in my village.”

Let’s be people who are transformed by the the truth of God. Let’s be people who trust the power of God. Let’s be people who believe that the message of the Gospel wipes away the dust of the world. Let’s be people who can do nothing else but Go into the world and give a page of God’s word, proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to everyone we meet and everywhere we go. It’s God’s plan! It’s God’s purpose! We are the ones that God sends . . .

So the world will know there is hope during the hopeless

So the world will know there is joy amid despair

So the world will know the amazing, unconditional, unrelenting love of God

So the world will know the forgiven life, new life, abundant life, the holy life, and the eternal life found in Jesus

So the world will know that God is enough!

Mark J. Webb is a bishop in the Global Methodist Church. Before transitioning to the GMC, Webb was the leader of the United Methodist Church’s Upper New York Episcopal Area.This sermon was delivered at the convening General Conference of the Global Methodist Church in September.

Unleashing Latent DNA

by Steve | Nov 20, 2024 | Front Page News, Nov-Dec 2024

Unleashing Latent DNA –

By Paul Lawler – 

November/December 2024 –

The late Dr. William Abraham passed from this life into glory before seeing the birth of the Global Methodist Church, yet while he walked on this earth, he believed the day would come when a reset of Methodism would come forth. Dr. Abraham once said, “When Methodism relaunches in a new form, a wave of latent DNA will be unleashed, deeply affecting generations to come.” After serving as a delegate to the 2024 GMC General Conference in San José, Costa Rica, I am convinced Dr. Abraham’s observation was prophetic.

We celebrated the election of a diverse group of bishops consisting of two women, an African American and two Africans, as well as one North American white male. We celebrate the enhancement of structures through petitions and legislation, which will provide guidance for our being a movement again. These are great steps worthy of celebration, and yet there is much more that has been unleashed.

Here’s a brief characterization of the unleashing of latent DNA through the Global Methodist Church:

1) The Unleashing of Latent Gifts and Talents. Think about what it would take to launch a worldwide company in 24 to 36 months with more than 4,700 outlets in North America, Africa, the Philippines, and Eastern Europe. This is the challenge of launching a new, global movement. Planning a General Conference is a gargantuan task, and planning a General Conference in another country is a gargantuan task of gargantuan proportions. We’re all deeply appreciative of the work of the Commission on General Conference and its leaders, the GMC staff, and the Bishops who labored to make this historic gathering a reality. But let the record show that there has been a great unleashing of a wave of latent DNA with impressive gifts and talents in a movement that is already larger than the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).

2) The Unleashing of Missional Focus. The Global Methodist Church adopted a new mission statement at the General Conference. It reads, “The Global Methodist Church exists to make disciples and spread scriptural holiness across the globe.” While I’m excited about our new mission statement, I’m even more excited about all it means for local churches, communities, cities, and nations.

Historically, John Wesley understood the essential relationship between reforming the nation and scriptural holiness. Without scriptural holiness, there is no reforming of nations. Wesley knew reform would never be birthed and sustained apart from the transformation of the hearts of people coming to know Jesus Christ and entering deep, formative relationships (community) with one another. This is the way scriptural holiness works.

The new Global Methodist Church mission statement is accurate for a people called Methodist, but its implications for churches, communities, cities, and nations are worthy of prayerful excitement.

3) The Unleashing of Global Waves of Church Planting. Global Methodist Christians in Africa are already involved in planting hundreds of new churches. There are Global Methodist Christians in the Philippines already involved in planting more than half a dozen new churches in their homeland. There are Global Methodist Christians from the Philippines planting new churches in the Middle East. Numerous GMC church planters are currently training through The River Network and Planter’s Field in North America. The seeds of being a movement are being unleashed. This is but one of the reasons the local church I serve joined the Global Methodist Church. We knew we could be a part of disciple-making and church planting on a global scale, which would not be possible if we became independent or joined a small network of churches. Waves of disciple-making and church planting are being unleashed.

4) The Unleashing of Young Clergy and Their Hunger for God. While most General Conference delegates were over 40 years of age, I was impressed by the quality of our young clergy serving on delegations. God continues to build upon an emerging momentum among the young in the GMC. Our young pastors and lay leaders are bright, capable, hungry for God, and longing for God to spread scriptural holiness and awakening across the globe through the Global Methodist movement.

5) The Unleashing of Going After the Manifest Presence of God. I have never been to a denominational meeting and experienced God’s manifest presence the way we did through times of worship at this first General Conference. We chose to posture our lives before God in worship, confession of sin, and repentance. While the conference was a series of 13-hour workdays for most of us, the Holy Spirit breathed new life into us. As God’s presence became palatable, we were captivated, humbled, and found great satisfaction in God. How long has it been since anyone described a denominational meeting this way?

Many of us were reminded of what John Wesley recorded in his journal from a New Year’s Eve all-night prayer meeting on Fetter’s Lane on January 1, 1739:

“Mr. Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutchins, and my brother Charles, were present at our love-feast in Fetter Lane, with about 60 of our brethren. About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of his Majesty, we broke out with one voice, ‘We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.”

And we, too, broke out in one voice in song! Repeatedly.

Many delegates had never been to a General Conference where there had not been deep division and wounding. By contrast, the Global Methodist General Conference was unifying and deeply edifying. There were times when I thought about the people who make up all our local churches, wishing they could be present with us, experiencing the repeated waves of joy and renewal that emanated from God’s presence that would settle upon us through times of worship.

As the Global Methodist Church has been formed, a new wave of Methodism has been reformed and birthed. Waves of latent DNA are being unleashed. Perhaps Billy Abraham is smiling as we live into a new vision for a new day. May the new Global Methodist Vision statement stir us all to rise to new heights for God’s glory:

Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the Global Methodist Church envisions multiplying disciples of Jesus Christ throughout the earth who flourish in scriptural holiness as we worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.

Paul Lawler is the Senior Pastor of Christ Church Memphis, a Global Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. He is a contributing author to two books: She is Safe — Stories of Resilience and Hope from The Wellhouse and Reconstructing Methodism.

Be Full of the Holy Spirit 

by Steve | Nov 20, 2024 | Front Page News, Nov-Dec 2024

Be Full of the Holy Spirit –

By Luther Oconer – 

According to Luke, “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food” (Acts 6:1).

In this text, we encounter the first recorded internal conflict in the early church as recorded in Acts. What was the issue at hand, anyway? Well, here, we see that the early church in Jerusalem was comprised of two distinct groups of disciples.

The first group were the Hebraic Jews. These were native Jews, born and raised in the Province of Judea, who spoke Aramaic.

The second group were the Hellenistic Jews. These were Jews from the diaspora, including Gentile converts to Judaism, coming from various nations around the Mediterranean. Most likely, they were among the pilgrims who had traveled to Jerusalem for the Festival of Weeks. As foreigners, they spoke Greek and have embraced the Graeco-Roman culture of the time.

Remember, in Acts 2, these were the same people who understood the various languages spoken when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the 120 disciples on the day of Pentecost. They were also among the 3,000 individuals who were “cut to the heart” by Peter’s sermon, leading them to repent and be baptized. Following this, in Acts 2:42-47, the new and old disciples alike “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer.” We also know that they shared everything in common, selling property and possessions to meet the needs of the growing community of believers. With more people being added to their number daily, the responsibility to provide for everyone became quite enormous.

However, a conflict arose. The Hellenistic Jews began to complain that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. Beneath the surface, this conflict appears to reflect a growing resentment among the Hellenistic Jews toward the Hebraic Jews. As a minority within the early church, they were subject to the bias of the Hebraic Jews. They were sort of a second-class type of Jews.

So, recognizing the seriousness of the situation, the twelve apostles needed to take decisive action. “So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables’” (6:2).

The apostles called together all the disciples for what could be considered their first-ever general assembly or, should I say, their convening general conference! Luke notes that “all the disciples” were brought together. Based on Acts 4:4, they were over 5,000! During this meeting, the apostles made it clear that their primary responsibility was spiritual leadership, not administrative duties. They may have been involved in managing the food distribution, in the temporal affairs of the young church, but they recognized that their focus needed to shift to their spiritual calling. They advised: “Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word” (6:3-4).

So, the apostles proposed to delegate the responsibility of food distribution to seven deacons, so they [the apostles] could focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word. Importantly, they established a clear criterion for selecting these deacons, as stated in verse 3: “they were to be men known to be ‘full of the Spirit and wisdom.’”

Notably, the apostles did not specify representation from the Hellenistic Jews, which might be our instinct today if faced with a similar issue. Let the Hellenistic Jews have a say in the distribution of food! Surely this would be the most logical thing to do if they were to remain a movement from many nations. Representation was key. However, to the apostles, they approached the issue in quite an unexpected way. They simply believed that this crisis could be addressed by selecting believers “full of the Spirit and wisdom.”

People of the Global Methodist Church, may we learn from this. As we navigate what it truly means to be a global church, a movement from many nations, may we aspire to be a Church of Pentecost first. And I’m saying this as a global south Methodist. Before we even try to figure out what it means to be a global church, let us be a church of Pentecost first. For it is the church of Pentecost that will usher in the church of Revelation, the one that was described in Revelation 7:9-10, composed of people from every tribe tongue, crying out, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

As followers of Jesus, let us prioritize our identity as people of the Holy Spirit before identifying ourselves as North Americans, Europeans, Hispanic, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos, Koreans, Africans, and most especially Texans! [Laughter] Why is this important? Because we are a people born of the Spirit first and foremost. Remember when Jesus explained the new birth to Nicodemus in John 3:8? “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

If you consider yourself born again – by the way, as Methodists it’s okay to call ourselves born again, amen! – you are born of the Spirit. Therefore, as we engage in the business of this conference, let us resist being guided by the color of our skin or the language we speak or even our own personal or group. Instead, let us be purely led by the Spirit. Remember, we are a new creation in Christ.

For the apostles, when they emphasized being “full of the Spirit,” they were in essence outlining for the disciples what normative Christianity looks like – that a true disciple of Jesus is one who is full of the Spirit. For there is a quantitative dynamic to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon the believer. Quantitative because yes, they were all baptized in the Spirit but it didn’t necessarily mean that they were full of the Spirit already. They may have a measure of the Spirit’s infilling, but they are not full of the Spirit. This is why Paul admonishes the believers: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

And by being “full of the Spirit,” wisdom follows. Wisdom is the ability to make wise decisions. Wisdom is needed for the work that the seven deacons will undertake. If you are full of the Spirit, you will have wisdom. Actually, in Isaiah 11:2, wisdom is one of the gifts of the Spirit.

How did this convening General Conference of the first Christians take the proposal of the apostles, anyway? Remarkably: “This proposal pleased the whole group” (6:5a).  Wow, there was no more debate. No one tried make an amendment to the proposal. No one said, Let’s perfect this proposal a little bit. No, they simply trusted the leading of the Spirit through the Apostles who were full of the Spirit. Even the Hellenistic Jews, the minority group who were complaining earlier, agreed to this solution.

We are not told how the whole group did it, but they eventually choose the first seven deacons, and here’s a twist—and it’s an amazing twist. For as Luke continues, “They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them” (6.5b).

So, if you look at all these names, none of these are Jewish or Hebraic names. All of these names are Hellenistic names, hence, the seven were all Hellenistic Jews! Let that sink in for a moment, church. What a twist, isn’t it? This means that even the Hebraic Jews gave up their right for proper representation in the distribution of food. So in a way, what we see here is a change of heart on the part of the more dominant Hebraic Jews. They were willing to entrust their needs to the minority group. They became radically generous. This was repentance. This was revival!

They [including the Hellenistic Jews] were delivered from a what’s in it for me or what’s in it for my group mentality. Church, I do believe that if the Spirit shows up in our proceedings here at the General Conference, we will be of one heart. Why, there will be no more trust issues. We will be more gracious with one another and operate from a place of trust and not out of fear.

And so that’s why what we see in v. 7 is no accident. “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”

Church, do we want the world to know? Then let us be a church that is full of the Spirit. In 1786, John Wesley wrote, “I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power.”

Church, what we have seen here in these past few days is a rebirth of Methodism. And now I see us here legislating, and what we’re really trying to do is we’re trying to revive and update Methodism. It’s like there’s this old collectible car, old precious car. And we realize it doesn’t belong to the museum yet. So, we work on it, we restore, and we even make a few updates here and there. We even update the engine. But let’s not forget it still runs on gas. It ran on gas before, it’s going to run on gas again. We need the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power that enlivened early Methodism during the time of John Wesley and the early American Methodists, we need that same power again.They were full of the Spirit.

Church, it is my prayer today that we truly become a church of Pentecost. A church that is full of the Spirit. And to be full of the Spirit means we will allow the Holy Spirit to fill every space in the life our movement. And when I say every space, I don’t mean for him to just fill the gaps. Or confine him in just one place. We want him to fill everything.

Let him fill our churches, let him fill our programs, let him fill every fiber of our movement. Let us make room, and we’re not just going to give him one room. We will give him access to all the rooms.  And that means we’re making room for him to move even in how we conduct our remaining proceedings in this general conference. In the petitions we will decide on. In the election of new commission members. And most possibly, when we elect new interim bishops. Can we make that commitment today? To let the Holy Spirit fill every space. But before that happens, we need to surrender. And he will give us a new heart.

Luther Oconer is Associate Professor of Global Wesleyan Theology at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentycky. This article is adapted from the sermon he preached at the convening General Conference of the Global Methodist Church in Costa Rica. Dr. Oconer has served on the faculty at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, until 2021. He teaches on the area of Methodist theology and doctrine, the Holiness Movement, Pentecostal/ Charismatic Movement, and church renewal. He is also the conference superintendent of the Mega Manila Annual Conference of the Global Methodist Church.