In Episode 56 of The United Methodist People Podcast, with Reverend Dr. Brad Miller, the topic is building the new year of 2022 with Spiritual Infrastructure in the Be Encourage segment, Bishop Julius C. Trimble. 

Bishop Trimble outlines entering into the new year of 2022 with a vision of partnership to build a beloved community with spiritual infrastructure.  Spiritual infrastructure is composed of such elements as prayer, accountability, and faith.

Brad and Bishop discuss Jeremiah 29:11 regarding God’s plans for the church moving into 2022. The discussion revolved around God delivering us for our new season and it's going to be a good season.

It was announced that Bishop Trimble will be launching his own podcast in January 2022 “Be Encouraged with Bishop Julius C. Trimble”

The trailer is available now at https://be-encouraged.captivate.fm and the podcast will be available on Apple Podcasts and the other podcast directories.

Rev. Dr. Brad Miller closed the last podcast episode of 2021 with a word of appreciation to the guests and listeners of the United Methodist People Podcast and a quote from John Wesley.

“As for reputation, though it be a glorious instrument of advancing our Master's service, yet there is a better than that: a clean heart, a single eye, and a soul full of God. A fair exchange if, by the loss of reputation, we can purchase the lowest degree of purity of heart.”

John Wesley

Be Encouraged with Bishop Julius C. Trimble is found at https://be-encouraged.captivate.fm

The United Methodist people podcast with

Reverend Dr. Brad Miller, we are setting a vision and goals and

dreams for 2022 on the Be encouraged segment with Bishop

Julius treble, Bishop, welcome to the podcast for 2022.

Thank you, Brent, Happy New Year to

all who have joined us, and those who will be receiving this

blessing of encouragement.

Bishop, I want to give you a scripture and let's

just kind of start from there about casting a vision for the

year 2022 We've come out of, I just think we have to be honest

that the year 2020 and 2021 were kind of rough years for a lot of

folks, and the world and even our United Methodist Church. And

if we're not going to, you know, we're not going to sugarcoat to

2022 will have its challenges, but we can start the year with a

big plan. And Jeremiah 2911 says, For I know the plans I

have for you declares the LORD plans to prosper you and not to

harm you, plans to give you hope, and a future several key

words there a bishop prosper, no harm, hope and a future. Give us

some hope in the future. My friend give us a sense of what's

next.

Let's think about the context of this

idea of the prophet Jeremiah speaking to those who are in

exile in Babylon. Many of us feel like we've been in exile in

this what some have called liminal space, protracted, COVID

season, you know, a restricted travel, restricted worship. So

the Prophet, Jeremiah says, I know that it's been tough. But

God has got good news for all of us, that get what God has

promised for you is not what you are experiencing on your worst

days. So what I would say to people as we journey into 2022,

is that your worst days are never the, the part of the plan

that God has for us, God, what God has for us is abundance, but

God has for us is, is is framed with a foundation of hope. What

God has for us is for us to prosper, and to be productive

and fruitful. So that we can realize that you may have been

we may have been in exile, like the children of the Hebrew

children in Babylon. But right now, God is delivering us for

our new season. In fact, I say to that to the folks I work with

most I say, this is our season, and it's going to be a good

season.

And we a lot of times, that's how we choose to

make it isn't a bishop, it's how we approach it ourselves. And so

I'm going to ask you how you approach a new season a new

year? What are some thinking that you have about either

personal goals? Or maybe goals for the church or, or a vision

moving forward? And what are some of the things you just

think can't happen or could happen or on your heart mind as

we enter this new year? I think,

you know, I make personal goals and you

know, people call them new year's resolutions. I like to

call them write down goals. But I also want to call brand

partnership goals. Yes, I think some of the greatest goals we

can make are things that you and I can agree to. So So for me,

2022 is one of the visions I have the vision I have for 2022

is partnering with others, to build bridges to Beloved

Community. We can't just leap from sorrow to victory. But I

think we can build bridges and and you might say what, Julius

Trimble? I don't know that you've been to school for bridge

construction? Well, I think they just they did pass last year.

What's it called the they act to the add money to build bridges

and roads and

the stimulus program for the economy? And so

yeah, it's it to build bridges

and roads is the infrastructure. Yes,

absolutely. That's that that's a word. So I think we need to

build our spiritual infrastructure. How about that

bread?

I love it. I love it. Let's go to beloved

community,

and whether we start with that. We

start with prayer. Jeremiah started with prayer. Nehemiah

started with prayer. In Second Chronicles, you know, we get the

admonition to pray if my people who are called by my name will

humble themselves and pray it doesn't say humble themselves

and write out a plan says humble themselves and pray so I think

we really ought to invest in and if you join me, Brandon, we can

get folks to join us and building our spiritual

infrastructure. We just came up with that on this project while

you and I might just write a book together on

that, my friends, spiritual infrastructure, I love that

phraseology, because it means this infrastructure means

connecting right in infrastructure in the physical

sense means roads and bridges, and the the surfaces that we

need to live, you can't live without those things, you have

to have those. And that's foundational. That's like a

building has to have a foundation. You can't build a

skyscraper without deep, deep foundation. And so that's what

we're talking about here, this spiritual infrastructure. It is

not only by the way between Christian to Christian, I'm just

taking off here on my own little tangent here, Bishop, you allow

me as long as you in Christian to Christian or church to

church, it's to church to the community is to church, to the

educational system, to the healthcare systems, to the

business community, to the political systems, everything

has to be interconnected. Do you agree and, and maybe that's be

part of these, these dysfunctional partnerships that

you're talking about here?

Yes, everything has to be

interconnected. I think there's an African term, I learned it,

even in a more more demonstrative way, when I

traveled to Africa University. And we stayed in what was called

Ubuntu center. And Unbuntu is an African word I think, in

southern Africa. That literally means that we are I am because

you are, we are all connected together. So part of our part of

our understanding of what we can do together is that you can hold

me accountable for what I say I'm going to do if I say I'm

going to be walking three days a week, and we talk three days a

week, and you say, Julius brother tremble, you haven't

walked at all from what I can tell, then somehow we broken

that accountability. And that partnership goal has not been

achieved. So next week, has to be a better week than the

previous week. I love this, we need to keep our keep our cups

filled with hope. Our cups have been holes have been poked into

our cups. So a lot of our hope and our enthusiasm, as leaked

out are drained out. And so I think in 2022, we really need to

fill our cups and get some new sturdy cups and fill them with

hope.

But it says right there clearly, from the

Scripture, we read, claims to give you hope, and a future and

a future. So just a couple that you're encouraging man what

gives you hope and encouragement as we head into this year, what

are some signs of hope?

For a disciple signs of hope is that

people are consistently saying they feel God's presence and

God's call upon their lives. One of our superintendents last year

was hosting a charge conference on Zoom. And someone responded,

they that they want to answer God's call on their life to the

ministry. So I am inspired by the fact that their folks still

answering God's call on their life for full time Christian

ministry. I am hopeful when I see people being creative in the

ways in which they are continuing to work on things

like dismantling racism. I'm encouraged when I see people

deciding that their great gift can be the gift of generosity,

blessing others with the resources that they have.

Great way for us to start our year of 2022 Bishop

but haven't just given us one kind of I was gonna say closing

thought but let's like term it that way. This give us a

beginning thought for the year, a launch thought, if you will.

And then let's let's pray into the new year. Can you do that

for us?

Absolutely. hear something that I read from

a book entitled trust by Amy Valdes Barker. Jesus cares about

us and Jesus has the authority to deliver on what God has

promised. Oh, how true that is. That's a connection to Jeremiah

2911. Jesus delivers on what God has already promised. A future

filled with hope, a future filled with life a future filled

with abundance and purpose. So I'm trusting that God is

faithful, and I'm trusting God help me through the Holy Spirit.

Be faithful as well.

Awesome. How about a prayer for us to get this year

started?

But God we give you thanks and praise

for a new year. We give you thanks and praise for the

opportunity to brace justice and dignity and solidarity and

partnership as we pursue faithfulness to God. Oh God, we

thank you for being true to your words. You promised never to

leave us nor forsake us. You have plans for us. May we abide

and live into those plans for us? As one pray, prayer was

prayed many years ago. Your Will God nothing more. Nothing less.

Nothing. else in Jesus name. May we be a blessing and 2022

Our guest today on the United Methodist people

podcast on the Be encouraged segment talking today about

spiritual infrastructure for 2022 Bishop, Julius tremble.