Videos and Podcasts

“Who is my neighbor?” It was one of the most insidious questions asked by anyone in the Bible, an attempt to square a world view where doing good could have enough caveats to allow for inaction. Sometimes it can feel like the American church has done the same with refugees from around the world – embracing a restrictionist legal framework to immigration that allows us to close our eyes and ignore a hurting world that we helped create.

Matthew Soerens, US Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief and co-author of “Seeking Refuge,” is challenging Christians in the US and around the world to seriously consider not just how we think but how we act, vote, and lobby for the “least of these” while finding common ground across ideologies to address why supporting refugees can be so difficult.

In this video we get a chance to hear from Matthew about the work he’s doing and ask him important questions about how we can be part of a movement to provide relief to people looking for hope.

# Links
World Relief – https://worldrelief.org/
Evangelical Immigration Table – https://evangelicalimmigrationtable.com/
Welcoming the Stranger – https://worldrelief.org/welcoming-the-stranger/
Seeking Refuge – https://worldrelief.org/seekingrefugebook/

Visit us at https://fmcsc.org

Have you ever wondered why you believe the things you do about God? Have you ever wondered what Christians mean when they ask, “Are you saved?” In this course we’ll ask big questions in an attempt to understand ourselves and God a little better.

# About This Lesson
Methodists reject magical notions of metaphysical action / reaction when we talk about salvation, and instead focus on a relationship with Christ that culminates in a journey worth living. Is that how you describe your own journey with God?

Have you ever wondered why you believe the things you do about God? Have you ever wondered what Christians mean when they ask, “Are you saved?” In this course we’ll ask big questions in an attempt to understand ourselves and God a little better.

# About This Lesson
Theology is the process of asking questions about God. Questions like, “How did the world get started?” and “What happens when I die?” Every person who has asked these questions and considered that there might be more than what they can see has engaged in thinking about theology.

Have you ever wondered why you believe the things you do about God? Have you ever wondered what Christians mean when they ask, “Are you saved?” In this course we’ll ask big questions in an attempt to understand ourselves and God a little better.

# About This Lesson
When we talk about theology, one of the things we tend to avoid talking about is HOW we come to our theology. The Wesleyan Quadrilateral is an honest description of how every Christian uses scripture, tradition, experience, and reason to come to understand God.

“What if there were no Free Methodists?” Have you ever asked that question? Have you ever wondered what makes us unique and different from other church groups? Have you asked yourself “Why should I be part of this movement?”

The Free Methodist Way is an initiative led by the Board of Bishops to answer those questions, clarifying the values that allow the Free Methodist Church to have a voice now:

– Life-Giving Holiness
– Love-Driven Justice
– Christ-Compelled Multiplication
– Cross-Cultural Collaboration
– God-Given Revelation

In understanding what makes us unique, we are then able to live into our distinct culture and have an impact on a world that is looking for Christians who live what they say they believe.

In this webinar the Board of Bishops (Linda Adams, Keith Cowart, and Matthew Whitehead) share their own perspectives and stories about what the Free Methodist Way is and what it means to them.

Dr. Tali Hairston discusses diversity in the Free Methodist Church. Dr. Hairston has been working with the Board of Bishops, the Diversity Task Force of FMCUSA, and the Seattle Presbytery on community organization, advocacy, and development. For 17 years Tali was the founding director of the John M. Perkins Center for Reconciliation, Leadership Training, and Community Development at Seattle Pacific University emphasizing research and development of reconciliation, equity, and diversity. The center also provides service-learning and experiential education opportunities in justice, poverty, ethnicity, and cultural literacy for undergraduate students.

Called to engage the work of reconciliation and community development, the work has taken Tali all over the world, working with ministries and leaders from Cambodia to South Africa. Formed by these global experiences and inspired by his own family history as one of the largest enslaved families in American history, Tali is known for his gift to encourage and equip youth and young adults of all backgrounds to pursue God’s call and purpose to be and become.

We all feel the weight of our current pandemic that leaves us with a lingering sense of uncertainty and anxiety. Our present reality is further darkened by the prognostications that this might be our new normal. How do we pastor in this new reality? How does the Church respond? What do I embrace to move forward?

Join your conference superintendents and our special guest, Mike Chong Perkinson (Lamb’s Fellowship Lake Elsinore and Senior Developer at The Praxis Center for Church Development), Thursday, December 3 as we look to Jesus for simple and profound solutions to these questions. In the midst of a time that was filled with its own challenges, Jesus was able to start a movement that is still alive today by focusing on making disciples and developing leaders that would carry that movement around the world. Jesus is not only our way to the Father, he’s the way for us to pastor in and through whatever is next.

During trying times, we need to remember to keep our eyes on the King – Jesus Christ. As Jim Wallis (in his book “On God’s Side”) says, “As people of faith, our challenge is to rise above political ideology and lead on moral grounds. Don’t go right, don’t go left; go deeper”

For the last three years, God has prepared the congregation of Emmanuel Free Methodist Church (Iglesia Metodista Libre Emmanuel) in National City to rise to meet the needs of their community during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Ministry of Jerusalem project. Before the pandemic, the church had developed an active relationship with the San Diego area government and food assistance programs, providing immediate assistance to their neighbors and people in need of food, clothing, and even home construction. When COVID-19 hit, they were ready.

Hear from Reverend Gerardo Ortiz, pastor at Emmanuel Free Methodist Church, and Joe Mendoza, president of Ministry of Jerusalem as they share how God has continued to provide for the people of their community in the form of a food assistance program that feeds hundreds of families every day. Celebrate with them, and find out how you can pray for people suffering both here and across the border.

Find out more about Emmanuel Free Methodist Church at:
https://www.facebook.com/imlemmanuel/