Sermons from Annual Conference 2008

 ‘Read the signs,’ Bishop urges 

      Bishop Earnest S. Lyght preached from the Gospel of Matthew during the Service of Worship for Ordination the Sunday after Annual Conference. The specific text was from Chapter Four:

     As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.’”

The Bishop told ordinands that listening to God and their congregation is part of being a good ‘fisher of men.” “The Lord may send you a layperson with something you need to know,” he said.  “Take the time to look people in the eye and really hear what they are saying,”

He also recalled the day he became an elder in the United Methodist Church with some emotion. “I’ll never forget the day of my ordination,” he paused to collect his thoughts.  “When my father laid his hands on me, the same hands that spanked me, it was a very powerful moment.”  The Bishop went on to say that his father, the Rev. William Lemuel Dewey Lyght, was his mentor in ministry and passed along his advice.

“Never step up to the pulpit unprepared,” he said.  “Don’t get too excited about where you are or what you have achieved.  Remember that you are God’s servant. Lead with God. Finally, love all in your congregation, have no favorites.”

Pastors were also urged to stop, look, and listen. “Look around before you act in your ministry, see what is needed before you step in,” he said.  Listening was a recurring theme throughout the bishop’s sermon, who had a HAM radio hobby as a young man. “HAM radio operators sit for hours, trying to hear through the static, to find something to tune into,” he said.

Bishop Lyght also stressed the role of prayer. “If you have a regular prayer life, you will hear God, you will be equipped for ministry,” he said. Living the United Methodist way was the concluding point of the Bishop’s sermon: Do no harm. Do good. Stay in Love with God.

Note:  Bishop Lyght referenced Reuben P. Job’s book :  Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living in his sermon.  It is available at the Cokesbury store in Charleston, and online at www.cokesbury.com.

Walter Kimbrough delivers powerful ‘hallelujah’ sermons

      The 2008 Annual Conference opened with worship and Holy Communion. The Rev. Dr. Walter Kimbrough, preacher for the service, celebrated God’s many blessings with “shouts and praise.”

      He read from the Gospel of John, in which Jesus said, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? …(So) that where I am, there you may be also.”  Dr. Kimbrough said “I feel like I’m at home and I’m glad to be here,” picking up on the theme of Conference, “A Home for All.”

Bishop Ernest Lyght introduced Dr. Walter Kimbrough as a pastor who has a tremendous passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “Because of his ministry and his style of ministry,” the Bishop said, “he has been able to grow his congregations significantly in number.”

Dr. Kimbrough was appointed to Cascade Church, Atlanta, in 1974, and over 30 years grew the congregation of 100 members to more than 7,000.

The preacher said his subject was “Hallelujah.” He said that although Atlanta was his place of birth, Atlanta was not his home.  Dr. Kimbrough said in John’s Gospel, there are three reasons that we should be exclaiming hallelujah.

“The first reason is because we are blessed,” he said. “Jesus said, ‘I am going away to prepare a place for you, for me.’” Dr. Kimbrough said the second word in the Gospel passage is that we are blessed abundantly. “There is always enough to go around,” he said. Jesus’ feeding the multitude symbolizes God’s desire that everyone have all they need. “That’s abundance,” Dr. Kimbrough said.

The preacher pointed out Jesus’ promise, “I’m leaving, but I’m coming back for me, for you. He’s coming back. He’s not going to forget me and he’s not going to forget you. You are somebody. You are special. I challenge you to live like it every day.”

Dr. Kimbrough said John states that we are blessed beyond measure. “When we are blessed abundantly, it is priceless,” he said. “I can be with Jesus, forever and forever. I am blessed abundantly and beyond measure.” “Hallelujah,” he said.

The Friday evening worship service of the Conference was a celebration of stories and music.  Conference members shared their stories about favorite hymns.  Dr. Walter Kimbrough then took the floor, asking congregants to remember that they are someone in God’s eyes.

He preached from the first letter of Peter, Chapter two, which says: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

      Kimbrough reminded his audience to share their salvation as outlined in scripture.  “Don’t be selfish with God. If he has helped you, he will help someone else,” he said.  He also warned churches to move forward, to not box God in. “We are going to miss sharing the story because we are wrapped up in what’s mine, in keeping our little group together,” he said.  “God’s too big for any sanctuary.”

The second point of Dr. Kimbrough’s sermon was to think on how the word ‘but’ is used in spiritual life.  He reminded the congregation of Verse Seven in Chapter Two of Peter’s first letter which says: ^“To you, then, who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner.” 

“Don’t use ‘but’ in the way of the non-believer.”  Maybe you’ve been through some tough times, but you will remain faithful,” he said.  “Focus on how God has brought you out and through in this life, not the temporary troubles that plague us all from time to time.” 

He concluded by urging churches to their purpose: to work together to grow the body of Christ.  “Together, we will grow the church.  Together we are a stronger witness to the world for God,” he said.

Be like the woman at the well

“Evangelism 101” started with the woman at the well, according to Rev. Dr. Walter Kimbrough, in his sermon at the Conference Commissioning Service. He wanted to look at the John scripture from the perspective of the Samaritan woman, who he said became a powerful evangelist.

She was a willing worker. Her job was to draw water. He quoted Robert Schuller: “Find a need and fill it.”  She encountered the Master. It is necessary for evangelism that you experience Jesus first. The woman and Jesus talked theologically about living water. Kimbrough asked what our relationship is to Jesus.

She realized the urgency in the moment; Kimbrough said it is important to have a testimony. He said don’t sit in the back of the church. You can’t be a leader that way. React to the preacher and get excited in church. He told preachers to preach as if it were their last. Don’t keep Jesus to yourself.

She invited others and got results. Tell the story with conviction. Kimbrough said that for years, new members have joined his church every week, even in the parking lot during a mortgage burning.

He invited the clergy to the altar and asked members of their churches to come with the ministers, and commit to praying for them one day a week, a practice he has in his own ministry.

Introductions to Scripture’s Heroines

     Too few people know about the women of the Bible. Marjorie Kimbrough, the Bible Study leader for Conference, hoped to correct that situation. During her first Bible Study during Conference, she reviewed the stories of three women, whose lives are made most vivid in the Hebrew Bible and in the Apocrypha, that section of the Bible not included in most Protestant editions.

Mrs. Kimbrough said the Hebrew women in Egypt, who plotted to save the life of the baby Moses, showed us that the gift of planning is an important attribute. “Those who plan success reach it,” she said.

The women also taught that goals are best reached in the company of others. “You don’t have to do everything yourself,” she said. “Trust somebody else to get things done.”

Thirdly, the women exerted the required effort with energy and enthusiasm. “Be enthusiastic,” Mrs. Kimbrough said. “Nobody wants a dull leader. You gotta expect a miracle. If you don’t expect a miracle, you won’t get one.”

Mrs. Kimbrough reviewed the story of Esther and incorporated details found only in the Apocrypha. She said, “There are no references to God in the Book of Esther. If you read the additions to Esther in the Apocrypha, it talks about prayer, God, fasting, and the prayers she prayed before she went in to see the King.”

“Don’t be afraid to introduce your people to the Apocrypha,” the Bible teacher said. “Who knows that God hasn’t prepared you for such a time as this?” is the lesson all can learn from Esther,” Mrs. Kimbrough said. “Esther was faithful,” she said. “Great was her faithfulness.

Mrs. Kimbrough included the stories of Judith and Susannah and described the lessons obtained from them. “You want your church to grow, by how much and when. Set goals,” she said. “When God sees you working, He’ll help you. Don’t expect God to do all the work.”

During another Bible Study, five more women of the Bible were introduced to Conference by Study leader Kimbrough. She highlighted Leah, from whom, with Jacob, comes the whole line of Judaism. Mrs. Kimbrough said, “Leah was a woman of self-esteem. She wasn’t loved, but she endured.”

     Another of the women, Mrs. Kimbrough described was Abigail, a woman who married the wrong man but persevered. Her story is told in the Book of Samuel.  “She made mistakes,” Mrs. Kimbrough said, “including marrying the wrong man. Her husband was wealthy, but he was foolish and a drunkard.”

She said Abigail’s husband got the family in trouble with David, but she knew how to make things right. She gathered gifts for David to make amends. “How many times have we apologized for someone else? Are you big enough to apologize for someone else?” Mrs. Kimbrough asked.  Leah told David not to let the blood of a fool be on your hands. “You’re God’s servant. Don’t let this mess up who you’re going to be.”

Mrs. Kimbrough then told the story of the widow with inexhaustible oil. This unnamed woman, Mrs. Kimbrough said, was a preacher’s wife. She had two sons and no money. A Holy man asked her what she had. She had a little oil and was told to fill jugs, which her sons went to get. “As long as she kept pouring, the oil kept coming,” Mrs. Kimbrough said. When all the jugs were filled, the oil stopped.

Mrs. Kimbrough said, “As long as we keep expecting the good to happen, it happens.” Once the jugs were full, she went back to the man of God to ask what she needs to do next.  He told her to sell enough to pay your bills and then you and your boys can live on the remainder. “God wants us to come back constantly to be renewed, to be refreshed to find what it is that I’m to do next,” she said.

Mrs. Kimbrough also described the lives and lessons learned by the Shummanite woman and Lydia.