Catch Fire in 50 Days: Joining the Movement of God's Mission in the World...

Pastor Emily began last week writing about this booklet in The Messenger. This is a daily devotional resource developed by people, both clergy and laity, in our Annual Conference, for people in our Conference ² as spiritual preparation for the 163rd Annual Conference Session and beyond. As most of us know, our Annual Conference Session, made up of clergy and lay members, meets at the Sacramento Convention Center for Holy Conferencing. This year the five-day session will be Tuesday-Saturday, June 14-18, 2011.

The theme of Annual Conference this year is: BE who you are, SEE what you have, DO what matters to God.

Through Catch Fire in 50 Days, we will immerse ourselves in the story of the Church becoming a movement of grace transforming the world, and consider together what it means for us to do the same.

As we shared in our Small Group Ministry Tuesday evening, note the title again. Catch Fire in 50 Days. I shared that the title does not read, Catch the Fire in 50 Days, but Catch Fire … for each of us to catch on fire that God’s love and grace might set the world on Holy Spirit fire and that we Easter people might have Pentecost experiences often. Catch Fire in 50 Days is an opportunity for us to pray and prepare for that new day when we as a Church become a movement again.

The world needs the churches of the California-Nevada Annual Conference to be vital today, more vital tomorrow, and even more vital the day after. It is not about us. It is about God and the world God so loves.

With those things in mind, let’s participate in Catch Fire in 50 Days as a daily devotional, small group, and worship experience. If you would like a personal copy of Catch Fire in 50 Days, let me know. I still have a limited number on hand, but if the demand exceeeds what we have, we’ll seek and find the number we need.

Let’s catch fire as we open ourselves to God through these daily scriptural readings. Let’s pray that God would make us a movement again. It can start with a single heart igniting through a fresh encounter with Christ. Could that heart be yours?

- Burt Yin