SPIRIT ABLAZE: A podcast of the Northeast GMC

Day 5 of "27-Day Prayer & Fasting Journey" with Rev. Faith Wilkerson

Greetings in the name of Christ.
My name is Faith Wilkerson and I am the Presiding Elder of the Maryland Central district in the Northeast Conference of the Global Methodist Church. Welcome to Day 5 of 27 Days of Prayer as we prepare for our Annual Conference gathering on May 8-10 in Cortland, NY. 
The five churches of the Maryland Central district are located in the middle of the state of Maryland. What I love about our district is it spans from the top, in the north, on the Pennsylvania border, all the way down to the southernmost part of Maryland. Our churches have a diverse grouping that includes a church that meets in a storefront, a church that meets in a firehouse, and more traditional church locations. Our churches are Community With A Cause, Lighthouse Fellowship, Cedar Grove, Brandenburg, and Fairview. Pray for us today, that we would faithfully live into our shared mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ and to spread scriptural holiness across the globe.
We in the Maryland Central district are eager to see many of you at Annual Conference in May. We encourage you to use these days of preparation to hear God’s Word and pray with us as we prepare to fan the flame that the Holy Spirit has kindled in us all.
Here is today’s focus Scripture passage from Exodus 32:30-32:
30  The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31  So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.  32  But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Today’s Prayer Focus
Moses’ prayer for the sins of his people reveals the depths of his solidarity with them. If they cannot be forgiven, then he, too, wishes to be blotted out of God’s book. Center your prayers this day on those priestly shepherds who, like Moses, are concerned for their people and willing to pray mightily for them. Pray for pastors of the GMC churches in the Northeast Annual Conference, and especially those who will be ordained this year. Pray that they will be persons who will live out their calling with integrity.
Today’s Suggested Prayer (For the Clergy Leadership of the Church, from This Day: A Wesleyan Way of Prayer, by Laurence Hull Stookey. Copyright © 2004 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission. p. 143.)
God of grace:To all clergy who have taken responsibilityfor the care of your church,give a love for the people of Godequal to a love of the Gospel.Let not discouragement or spiritual wearinessovertake themand no temptation be put in their waythat they cannot resist.Enable them to trust youand to serve you with gladnessall the days of their lives,through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
You can find this prayer, and all the other prayers of the 27 Days, on the Conference website, northeastgmc.org.
May the Lord richly bless your faithful prayers. Amen.

Day 4 of "27-Day Prayer & Fasting Journey" with Rev. Rob Townsend

Greetings in the name of Christ.  
My name is Rob Townsend and I am the Presiding Elder of the Maryland North district in the Northeast Conference of the Global Methodist Church.  Welcome to Day 4 of 27 Days of Prayer as we prepare for our Annual Conference gathering on May 8-10 in Cortland, NY.
The 10 churches of the Maryland North district are located in Cecil and Kent Counties in the state of Maryland.  What I love about our district is we are in God’s Country of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Prayer from here is a local call to the Lord. We are very close together and have been doing ministry together for a long time. There is quite a bit of fruit produced from our work together and we are grateful for the trust in each other God has blessed us with.
Our churches are 
▪ Bethel Church North East
▪ Ebenezer Church
▪ Leeds Church
▪ Moores Chapel
▪ Rock Hall Methodist Church
▪ Shelemiah Church
▪ St Johns Lewisville Church
▪ Union Community Church
▪ Wesley Chapel of Rock Hall
▪ Wesley Church of Elkton
Pray for us today, that we would faithfully live into our shared mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ and to spread scriptural holiness across the globe.
We in the Maryland North district are eager to see many of you at Annual Conference in May.  We encourage you to use these days of preparation to hear God’s Word and pray with us as we prepare to fan the flame that the Holy Spirit has kindled in us all.  
Here is today’s focus Scripture passage from Psalm 118:19-29: 
19 Open for me the gates of the righteous;    I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.20 This is the gate of the Lord    through which the righteous may enter.21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;    you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected    has become the cornerstone;23 the Lord has done this,    and it is marvelous in our eyes.24 The Lord has done it this very day;    let us rejoice today and be glad.
25 Lord, save us!    Lord, grant us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.    From the house of the Lord we bless you.27 The Lord is God,    and he has made his light shine on us.With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession    up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you;    you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;    his love endures forever.
This is the Word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.
Today’s Prayer Focus
The word Hosanna comes from the Hebrew word for “save us” in Psalm 118:25. This is what the crowds in Jerusalem shouted when Jesus entered the city on Palm Sunday. Importantly, Jesus did not live in Jerusalem. He was a visitor. In fact, many in the crowd were also visitors to the Holy City, there from faraway places to observe the Passover Feast. Center your prayers this day on the delegates and observers who will be traveling from distant places to Annual Conference in Cortland, New York. Pray also for the worshiping congregation of Grace Christian Fellowship, our gracious hosts for this event. 
Today’s Suggested Prayer 
Lord, you know our going out and our coming in,and you know the journeys we must take to do your will.Guide those who will soon travel to Cortland, New York.Calm any anxieties each may have about the cares of work and homethat for a short while must be left behind.Speed each along the way without undue delay or trouble.Let each be fully present upon arrivalto do the work of this Annual Conference.So, too, bless the labor of Grace Christian Fellowship,that their hospitality to pilgrims in needbe richly rewarded by you,for they saw strangers, and welcomed themand blessed those who come in your name.In that name we pray. Amen.
You can find this prayer, and all the other prayers of the 27 Days, on the Conference website, northeastgmc.org.
May the Lord richly bless your faithful prayers. Amen.

Day 3 of "27-Day Prayer & Fasting Journey" with Rev. Karen Handy

Greetings in the name of Christ. 
My name is Karen Handy and I am the Presiding Elder of the Maryland East district in the Northeast Conference of the Global Methodist Church. Welcome to Day 3 of 27 Days of Prayer as we prepare for our Annual Conference gathering on May 8-10 in Cortland, NY.
The 11 churches of the Maryland East district are located on the Eastern Shore of the state of Maryland. What I love about our district is the hometown love that is shared where neighbors are friends and friends are neighbors. This area is dotted with quaint and historical towns and cities and the landscape is filled with farmland and waterways. You cannot beat the Maryland seafood (crabs, oysters, rockfish found in our area. This is our own piece of heaven. Our churches are Centreville Methodist Church, Kent Island Methodist Church, St. Luke’s Methodist Church, Bethesda Methodist Church of Preston, Tilghman Methodist Church, Grace Methodist Church of Cambridge, Asbury Methodist Church of Sharptown, Mt. Vernon Global Methodist Church, Snethen Church, Christ Methodist Church, Asbury @ Mt. Vernon. Pray for us today, that we would faithfully live into our shared mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ and to spread scriptural holiness across the globe.
We in the Maryland East district are eager to see many of you at Annual Conference in May. We encourage you to use these days of preparation to hear God’s Word and pray with us as we prepare to fan the flame that the Holy Spirit has kindled in us all.
Here is today’s focus Scripture passage from Luke 18:1-8: 
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Today’s Prayer Focus
Jesus told this parable of the Persistent Widow to encourage faithfulness in prayer, even when our requests seem unanswered and our search for justice unrequited. Center your prayers this day on all those around the world who long to align with the Global Methodist Church but are unable to do so because of legal or financial impediments. Pray persistently!
Today’s Suggested Prayer (This Day: A Wesleyan Way of Prayer, by Laurence Hull Stookey. Copyright © 2004 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission. p. 151, alt.)
God, righteous and enduring:Look with pity upon thosewho grow weary and discouraged in their search for justice.When it seems to them that nothing ever changes for the better,that the forces of evil will always prevail,remind them that you, the Almighty, have endurednot years or decades of resistance,but whole centuries and indeed millennia.Yet you promise that your righteousness will triumph,that evil will collapse.Save the tired strivers after freedom and fairnessfrom the doom of Sisyphus:daily hoisting a mighty rock up a high hill,only to have it tumble down again.Assure them that the stones they move,by grace will be assembled into a house of righteousnessupon the highest of the mountains,and that all peoples on earth shall stream to it,that all may walk in the ways of the Lord.Grant this through Jesus, the chief foundation stone. Amen.
You can find this prayer, and all the other prayers of the 27 Days, on the Conference website, northeastgmc.org.
May the Lord richly bless your faithful prayers. Amen.

Day 2 of "27-Day Prayer & Fasting Journey" with Rev. Kari Jones

Greetings in the name of Christ.  
My name is Kari Jones and I am the Presiding Elder of the Delaware district in the Northeast Conference of the Global Methodist Church. Welcome to Day 2 of 27 Days of Prayer as we prepare for our Annual Conference gathering on May 8-10 in Cortland, NY.
The nine churches of the Delaware district are located at the very top to the very bottom of our small but mighty state. Delaware has three counties with Wilmington, our only city, in the northern part of the state. Delaware is sprinkled with lots of towns, both suburban and rural, with farms in between. Let’s not forget our beautiful beaches - Rehoboth, Dewey, Bethany, and Fenwick, where people from all over come for their vacation. What I love about Delaware is that when you talk to someone you don’t know, within a degree or two of separation, we have common friends. And so, the Delaware District comprises the whole state - a driving distance of just over 2 hours from top to bottom. 
Our churches are Atonement Global Methodist Church in Claymont, Christ the Cornerstone - 2 locations in Bear and Elsmere, Connection Community Church in Middletown, Cheswold and Immanual-Union Methodist in Cheswold, Downs Chapel in Clayton, Harbeson Methodist in Harbeson, and Mariner’s Bethel Global Methodist in Ocean View. Pray for us today, that we would faithfully live into our shared mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ and to spread scriptural holiness across the globe.
We in the Delaware district are eager to see many of you at Annual Conference in May. We encourage you to use these days of preparation to hear God’s Word and pray with us as we prepare to fan the flame that the Holy Spirit has kindled in us all.  
Here is today’s focus Scripture passage from Nehemiah 1:4-11: 
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:
“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
I was cupbearer to the king."
This is the Word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.
Today’s Prayer Focus
In seeking the restoration of his people, Nehemiah asked God to hear not only his prayers, but also the prayers “of your servants who delight in revering your name.” We do not pray alone in this holy task. Center your prayers this day on your fellow laborers in the vineyard who are praying and fasting with you this season. Pray for unity of purpose among the people of the Northeast Annual Conference. 
Today’s Suggested Prayer (The Worship Sourcebook, © 2004, Faith Alive Christian  Resources, S.4.4.4, p. 736, alt.)
Lord God,we thank you for calling usinto the company of those who trust in Christand seek to obey his will.You have made us strangers no longerbut pilgrims together on the way to your kingdom.Guide us closer to you and to one anotherin the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace,and strengthen us togetherin mission and service to your world,through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
You can find this prayer, and all the other prayers of the 27 Days, on the Conference website, northeastgmc.org.
May the Lord richly bless your faithful prayers. Amen.

Day 1 of "27-Day Prayer & Fasting Journey with Rev. Adam Snell

Greetings in the name of Christ.
My name is Adam Snell and I am one of the pastors of Cedar Grove Methodist Church in Deale, Maryland. I also serve on the Prayer Team of the Northeast Conference of the Global Methodist Church. Welcome to Day 1 of 27 Days of Prayer as we prepare for our Annual Conference gathering on May 8-10 in Cortland, NY.
What I love about our conference is how this geographic place has been the birthplace of many great spiritual awakenings, a place where, for centuries, people who have yearned to draw closer to God have been drawn. The Puritans, seeking religious freedom, landed on the shores of what would become New England; the First Great Awakening spread throughout the region through people like George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards; Francis Asbury, sent from England by John Wesley, landed at Philadelphia, ministered in Delaware during the Revolutionary War, and gathered the Methodists at the famous Christmas Conference in Baltimore, Maryland in 1784. Cortland, New York, where we will soon be gathering for our Annual Conference, is in the region where Charles Finney, and his prayer warrior, Daniel Nash, brought many to Christ during the Second Great Awakening. God’s Spirit has historically been on the move in the Northeast.
Thank you for your willingness to journey together in prayer. Throughout the pages of Scripture, God has mightily moved when his people faithfully turned to him in prayer. During these next 27 days you will hear from the Presiding Elders who serve God’s people in all the churches of the Northeast Conference. They will name the churches in their districts and share what they love about being part of this new movement of Methodism in this part of God’s Kingdom. A passage of Scripture will also be read, as well as a relevant prayer. Please pray for each of these named churches each day. At the end of our 27 days of prayer, the people of every one of the churches in our conference will have been included in prayer.
I am eager to see many of you at Annual Conference in May. I encourage you to use these days of preparation to hear God’s Word and pray together as we prepare to fan the flame that the Holy Spirit has kindled in us all.
Here is today’s focus Scripture passage from 2 Chronicles 7:13-14:
13  “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,  14  if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Today’s Prayer Focus
Center your prayers this day on the current state of Christ’s church. Reflect on ways that there has been “no rain” in the past. Consider ways in which “locusts” and “plagues” have come upon God’s people. At the beginning of this season of prayer and fasting, today is a day to humble yourself, seek his face, and turn from your own role in the church’s brokenness.
Today’s Suggested Prayer (based on Psalm 130)
1  Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;2      Lord, hear my voice.Let your ears be attentive    to my cry for mercy.3  If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,    Lord, who could stand?4  But with you there is forgiveness,    so that we can, with reverence, serve you.5  I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,    and in his word I put my hope.6  I wait for you, LORD    more than watchmen wait for the morning,    more than watchmen wait for the morning. Amen.
You can find this prayer, and all the other prayers of the 27 Days, on the Conference website, northeastgmc.org.
May the Lord richly bless your faithful prayers. Amen.

Devotional for April 10, 2025 with Rev. Steven Taylor

"He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation." Colossians 1:22
May you enter Holy Week with an eager expectation for the Holy Spirit to give you all you desire for following Jesus more. ~Rev. Steven Taylor

Devotional for April 3, 2025 with Rev. Steven Taylor

Our facial expressions often reveal the condition of our hearts. In our daily encounter with others, are we living as radiant reflections of God's love, grace, and peace? Join Rev. Steven Taylor as he reflects on Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that we may "radiate the glory of God" each and every day.
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."   2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

Devotional for March 27, 2025 with Rev. Steven Taylor

"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."  1 Corinthians 3:11
A structure is only as robust as the foundation on which it's laid. And even the best foundations can weaken over time if they’re not properly maintained. Join Rev. Steven Taylor in today's devotional as he challenges us to test the stability of the foundation we've built our lives upon.

Devotional for March 20, 2025 with Rev. Steven Taylor

"When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." Colossians 3:4
As followers of Jesus, there's one day that transcends all others—that day—the day Jesus returns. So, what does that mean for us now? In this week's devotional, Rev. Steven Taylor shares what it means to live with certainty and hope until that day.

Devotional for March 13, 2025 with Rev. Steven Taylor

What do zombies have to do with spiritual matters?
"As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." James 2:26
Join Rev. Steven Taylor in this week's devotional as he gently reminds us that if our faith is inactive, it risks resembling the lifeless state James warns against—like spiritual zombies, disconnected from the purposes God has called us to fulfill.