December 2017
Devotional ~ The Word Made Flesh
Damien Spikereit is a preacher whose father died two days before his high school graduation. He didn’t have very strong faith at that point, so he was struggling to hear God speak in his time of need. He wanted to know what God had to say about his situation and how he was going to get through this difficult time. So he started praying and waiting for God to speak.
The funeral came and the church was packed, but Damien doesn’t remember much about that or being greeted by everyone afterward. He continued to wait for God to speak.
Then he saw a classmate from school, Kim O’Quinn. She was his age – they were in the same youth group. When she got to him, she didn’t say a word. With tears in her eyes, she just hugged him and walked off. Suddenly Damien says he heard God speak. It dawned on him that just months before, he had attended another funeral – the funeral for Kim’s father. In that moment, she knew exactly what it meant to be Damien.
The word became flesh and lived among us. The good news of Christmas is that if you want to hear God’s voice in your life, you don’t have to look any further than the one who knows exactly what it’s like to be you.
Graham Singh
Graham is the Rector of St. Jax Montréal and Executive Director of Church Planting Canada. Graham has a passion for radical new expressions of church and will help us discover new ways to reach the world in post-Christian contexts.
Luther Oconor
Luther is Associate Professor of Methodist Studies at United Theological Seminary in the US. A native of the Philippines, Luther is keen for us to discover the dynamic presence of the Holy Spirit on our spiritual journey.
Kelcy Steele
Kelcy is the lead pastor at Varick Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Kelcy will bring his passion for preaching to our worship experiences and help us connect the faith within us to the real world around us.
Save the Date!
Convergence 2018
India Regional Evangelism Seminar
WME will be collaborating with our Institute to provide leadership for a regional evangelism seminar in Dehli, India, January 8-12, 2018. Please be in prayer for leadership in both the US and India as we continue to prepare for this important teaching event.
Order of the Flame 2018
Registration for the 2018 FLAME gathering is now open for existing members of the FLAME community! If you have attended the Order of the FLAME in the past, we’re excited for you to return.
One of our featured speakers is Dr. Joy J. Moore. Dr. Moore is Associate Professor of Homiletics and Christian Ministry at Wesley Seminary in Marion, Indiana. She is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church. Dr. Moore served as the founding Associate Dean of the William E. Pannell Center for African American Church Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, where she also taught preaching. Dr. Moore was Associate Dean for Black Church Studies and Church Relations at Duke University prior to that.
She is a John Wesley Fellow and holds membership in the National Association of United Methodist Evangelists, the Wesleyan Theology Society, the Academy of Homiletics, and the Society for Biblical Literature. She is also president of the Christian Theological Research Fellowship of the American Academy of Religion.
Bear God to the World this Christmas!
Mary’s story isn’t important simply because she gave birth to the baby Jesus (even though that is a very big deal).
Mary’s story is important because she shows us how we are to be God-bearers as well.
Three things stand out about Mary as a God-bearer: she bore God within herself, she bore God to others through her faithful witness in word and deed, and she bore the suffering of others.
And that is exactly what we work to do through World Methodist Evangelism – we work with those around the world who want to be a faithful witness to God through their words and actions.
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