From the Pastor

From Pastor Hayley | October 2, 2024

ChurchPastor's Blog

Church Family,

In the spring of 2010, archaeologists unearthed a 3,500-year-old door to the afterlife from the tomb of a high-ranking Egyptian official near Karnak temple in Luxor. This door was meant to take the official from death to the afterworld.

Jack found another door to the afterlife. He taught English literature at Oxford and spent many evenings walking the gardens of Magdalene College. And it was one evening while walking with his friend John that Jack discovered his way.

His door seems to have found a way into his writings as a wardrobe through which his characters could enter Narnia, a kind of medieval version of Paradise. Jack, or C.S. Lewis as we know him today, went on to become one of the great apologists for the Christian faith in the 20th century. He wrote of death in this way: “If we really think that home is elsewhere and that this life is a ‘wandering to find home,’ why should we not look forward to the arrival?

How would you write about that time you take your last breath and the moment right after? Will you look forward to it? Or will it be a terrifying moment for you? And would you want to be able to face your death unafraid?

Jesus enables us to do that, you know. He moves us from a Friday and Saturday of death and disillusionment to a Sunday of victory. Your way into that victory is through a door. Jesus Christ.

Jesus said of himself, “I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture” (John 10:9). And all of the Easter stories tell this.

In another garden, another Magdalene—Mary—was looking for Jesus’ dead body to anoint, but it was missing from the tomb (John 20). Two angels speak to her but she is so upset she misses them. She keeps talking about her “Lord” and that he had been taken away. It took Jesus coming to her and calling her by name before she recognized what had happened.

You’ll have your Fridays and Saturdays. Days that are dark and days that are lost. In those days when you can’t find the door out, do as Mary did. Keep calling Jesus “Lord.” Keep calling and keep looking for him. Because if you keep calling him Lord, he’ll call you by name. And when he does, you will turn and find the door to an eternity of Sundays.

I will be out this Sunday speaking at a Women’s Retreat for Revive Ministries. Chris Krager will be bringing a mighty word!

Who are you inviting to church this week?

Blessings,
Pastor Hayley


I had planned to deliver this message in person during church services this past Sunday but wasn’t able due to being ill. Over half of our Mid-Texas delegation came down sick with the majority having tested positive for COVID. As the old saying goes, “If the good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise” I will be back this coming Sunday so that I can visit with you.

In the meantime, here is a quick recap of the General Conference. Our delegation had four primary goals that we wanted to achieve in Costa Rica.

  1. Have the Holy Spirit present during the entire conference and cover all of us with grace and understanding so that we would do God’s will.
  2. Pass a constitution.
  3. Pass an updated mission statement.
  4. Get Leah Hidde-Gregory elected as bishop.

I am happy to report “mission accomplished” on all four of those goals! The most important of those goals was that the Holy Spirit was there in a way that none of us expected. The repentance and submission by all was something that I cannot describe in words. It was truly a “you had to be there to understand it” experience. We felt the presence of the Holy Spirit each and every day.

Throughout the week, our daily agenda was always behind schedule as our one-hour morning worship services turned into two-plus hours as the Holy Spirit took control. For you who are familiar with John Wesley’s Aldersgate experience and what a profound impact that had on him, and thus the Methodist Movement, what happened at the General Conference was truly the GMC’s “Aldersgate Experience.”

In addition to electing Bishop Gregory (now her official title), the Convening Conference elected five other interim bishops: Bishop Kimba Evariste from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bishop John Paul Auta from Nigeria, Bishop Kenneth Levingston from the Trinity Conference, Bishop Carolyn Moore from the North Georgia Conference, and Bishop Jeff Greenway from the Allegheny West Conference. Given that we currently have 35-plus conferences, the Bishops will be assigned multiple conferences to oversee.

We also removed the word “Transitional” from our Book of Doctrines and Disciplines, met in committees to make improvements to that book, and were blessed to hear great preaching. In 2026, we will have a General Conference In Central Africa to make changes based on input from everyone in our denomination. Thereafter, the General Conference will meet every six years.

Dr. David Watson, who is the Dean at United Theological Seminary, along with being both an Elder in the GMC and a delegate to the General Conference, just published an excellent summary of the conference. I urge you to read over it for a more detailed explanation of the key work that was accomplished there.

A Move of God in Costa Rica: On the Global Methodist Church’s Convening Conference [Firebrand Big Read]

Blessing to each of you and I hope to see you soon!

Jon Lannom