It’s been a hectic few weeks for many Methodists in many different places. Many more votes have been taken, and a number of announcements have been made regarding the churches that are now disaffiliating from the UMC and are now going through a process to examine membership in the GMC or as an independent Methodist fellowship or affiliating with another like-minded group.
It’s an appropriate and an important time to pause and reflect, on what our motivations are; for all of the work going on across nations over all of the various issues connected with this. All of us know the reasons why we find ourselves here of course with the Liberal / Unitarian Universalist takeover of the United Methodist Church. Yet we find ourselves now moving past that and encouraging the others amongst us that are still going through the process, and that in itself is a great thing, but it isn’t the goal of why we are here.
As John the Baptist entered his ministry, he announced that the coming of the Messiah and the coming of the Kingdom of God were linked together. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ brought the coming of the Kingdom of God as an event on earth where the spiritual broke through to the physical. Jesus gave us an example of how to pray and encouraged us to pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done”.
The reason the GMC exists is to be a part of and build the Kingdom of God on earth until Jesus returns. All the struggle of these recent weeks is for that reason. God’s kingdom is coming and no one can stop it, no earthly force, no spiritual entity, no weapon formed against it will prosper.
Our charge is to go out into the highways and the byways and to bring people in, to the Father’s table. No more shutting people out. No more politics over Christianity and Christian faith. No more compromise, no more exchanging Evangelical Christianity for Unitarian Universalism. just pure faith in Christ, because He is all we have got and all we need.
Its time friends to go forth and put our hand to the plough and work to build the kingdom of God. As you go into your formation committee meetings and make the decisions about getting a leadership team together and what your new church is going to look like, keep in mind our responsibility together to see the kingdom of God come and to see peoples lives turned around by it and transformed for eternity.
God bless you my friends for your work, may you hear the words “well done my good and faithful servants”.
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