John Wesley

Sermon – May 22 2011 – Aldersgate Sunday – Romans 1:8-17, Matthew 25:31-46

Charles Allen writes, “The United Methodist Church began with John Wesley. He was born in Epworth England June 17, 1703. He died in London, March 2, 1791. Those 85 years contained a most remarkable life.

Wesley’s first 10 years were spent in the parsonage in Epworth, where his father, the Reverend Samuel Wesley, a minister in the Church of England, was rector. Perhaps no experience affected Wesley’s life more than the one that occurred on February 9, 1709. The family home was on fire. It was thought that all the family were safely out of the house. Then it was discovered that John was trapped in an upstairs room. He was rescued, and his mother dedicated the child to God anew, saying, “a brand plucked out of the burning.”

John Wesley was no self-made man. He attended Charterhouse and Oxford University. His acute mind and sensitive soul were greatly influenced by a formal education. He gained a reputation for scholarships and became an intellectually outstanding man.

For nine year Wesley served as a fellow of Lincoln College, with a brief interim as his father’s assistant. Later he came to Savannah Georgia, as a missionary; and it was at this time we began to see the breakdown of Wesley’s high-church religion. His ministry in Georgia was not successful. He wrote in his journal, “Why, that I, who went to America to convert others, was never myself converted to God?”

In Savannah, Wesley came to know a Moravian pastor by the name of August Spangenberg. On the ship going back to England, Wesley found himself bringing with fear in the midst of a storm, while watching the Moravians face the peril with perfect poise.

Then on Wednesday evening May 24, 1738, John wrote this, “In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change in which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. I began to pray with all my might for those who had in a more especial manner despitefully used and persecuted me. I then testified openly to all there what I now first felt in my heart.”

During the year after this conversion, Wesley made four momentous decisions. First, he approved field preaching. He found himself shut out of churches because of the content of his preaching, so he took to the open fields. He was an evangelist. Going to the people.

Second, he approved of lay preaching. IT was insane to think about finding enough ordained ministers to carry this new movement. People were being converted and needed biblical teaching. To permit the unordained to preach was scandalous to high-church officials, but John Wesley stood by his decision.

Third, he decided to organize converts, give them supervision, he became a practical churchman.

Fourth, Wesley decided to house his societies. The world’s first Methodist chapel was a Bristol, May 12, 1739. This was the beginning of the housing of Methodism.

John Wesley met the needs of his day and generation, with it masses of people who were defeated. HE declared the availability of God’s grace to all people – that every person is a child of God. To churches he proclaimed a salvation that would make a religion a power instead of a burden, that would lift religion from drudgery to joyful fellowship with God. He was also concerned with the society in which he lived. Not only could you feel God, but you must act upon that feeling.

There was only one condition required of those who desired membership in the Society, a desire to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins. Those who desired to continue in the Society, however, were expected to evidence their desire for salvation:

First, by doing no harm, avoiding evil in every kind, especially that which is most generally practiced. Second, by doing good of every possible sort, and, as far as possible, to all people. Third, be attending upon all the ordinances of God, to stay in love with God through: worship, public and private prayer, study, fasting, and partaking in Holy Communion.

Another major part of United Methodist is our doctrine of grace. Wesley felt that God’s grace was available to all people. That God loves you even before you know it, his grace is there before you are born and at the minute of your first breath. His grace sustains us and carries us all through our lives. Grace.

So, now that I have shared with you about John Wesley and early Methodism, I ask you this morning, are you a Methodist? Are you a Methodist with your heart strangely warmed? Do you feel the Spirit of God within you?

If you answer no, don’t give up. God loves you and his grace is upon you. We all have to be renewed to feel the strange warmth in our hearts many times in our lives. IF you answer yes, don’t give up. It’s something that has to be continually worked on and strengthened.

Earlier this year, we discussed the “Three Simple Rules” of Methodism. Did you recognize them when I read them? They are rules that we should know like the back of our hand. To do no harm, to do good, and stay in love with God. If you follow these rules, you will find your heard strangely warmed as Wesley did.

Now, how? I believe following the rules is both a private and a public demonstration. You have to believe the rules, you have to have faith that God loves you, God believes in you, God’s grace is for you. You have to want to be saved from the sin of this world. After that, you have to be willing and ready for God to use you. You have to be willing to listen, willing to wait, willing to act. Listen and act through the simple rules, through prayer, through study, through discipline, through, Holy Communion, through fellowship, through worship.

Often times I think our problem, our sin, our downfall, is that we forget. We take God for granted. We figure church attendance every now and then, is ok because we are good people. We remember to pray in church, but forget to talk to God the rest of the week. We may open our Bibles when we need something, but forget that the Bible is our roadmap for life, we wander lost when we have the answers right in front of us. We might put a dollar in the offering plate to thank God for a blessings, but our checkbook often shows thanking God as the last thing. We forget. We take God for granted.

My prayer on this Aldersgate Sunday is that we all be open to having our hearts strangely warmed by God. We strive to be a better Christian, a better United Methodist. That we go and follow the rules Wesley gave us 250 years ago, and find that place on peace and contentment in live and in death as Wesley did. AMEN

Sermon - May 15 2011

Sermon – May 15, 2011 – Acts 2:42-47

Who would have ever thought that going to church would be dangerous? But it has become exactly that in some places. Simon Loh, a pastor at Faith Assembly of God in Singapore, visited a hospital to pray with a church member who had contracted SARS. Soon thereafter, Loh discovered that he, too, had the disease and on March 26, Loh, 39, died. As news of his death spread, many people stayed away from church. Those who came wore surgical masks and declined to shake hands, fearing they would catch the sometimes fatal malady.

The church in an area affected by SARS can be a dangerous place. Unfortunately, in most churches, people don’t have to worry about catching anything at church because there’s nothing that’s being spread. That wasn’t the case in the church of the New Testament.

In our text this morning we find a church that is highly contagious and in fact very dangerous. A church which is so contagious that it affects the community around it and in fact turns its community upside down for Jesus. We find a group of people who are so passionate about their love for Jesus that they are contagious. A group of people so on fire for God that their lives threaten others. A group of people so in touch with God and each other that the Holy Spirit works through them in miraculous ways.

This isn’t Pentecost Sunday yet, but I want to share a little about Pentecost so we can understand where the disciples were in this text. Pentecost for the Jews was the feast when they celebrated the giving of the Law to Moses at Mt. Sinai. It was on Pentecost then that the disciples were all together in the upper room. The same upper room where we left them last week. You’ll recall that they had been told by Jesus to wait in Jerusalem for the gift that the Father would send them. So there they are waiting. And suddenly the room is filled with the sound of a wind. Imagine what that would be like. They couldn’t tell where it was coming from they could only hear it. As they’re sitting there wondering what’s going on, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks and they started speaking in a number of different languages. They couldn’t understand each other but as this commotion continued we’re told that those who were staying in Jerusalem for the feast heard them speaking in their own native tongues and came running. They were amazed! Here, there standing listening to men speaking about the mighty works of God in their own languages. Some supposed they were drunk but Peter quickly put an end to that line of thinking with a powerful speech which he made. He clearly explains the Gospel to these people and boldly declares the good news about Jesus Christ. The people accept his message and that day some three thousand persons were saved. 3,000 people in one day! Can you imagine? It’s amazing what God can do when we are ready to be used

These apostles, who previously had not had the courage to even stand up with Jesus when he was being persecuted were suddenly changing the world. Peter who had denied that he had even known Jesus was now preaching to the multitudes. What happened? What caused such a significant change? And how can we experience that same kind of life-giving, life-inspiring change in our own lives?

There are at least three elements which are important in the life of a person who is dangerously Christian. These are characteristics which are present in a person who is poised to impact their world significantly:

First, a person who is dangerously Christian is Ready to be Used. Where were the disciples when the Holy Spirit came upon them? They were exactly where Jesus told them to be, waiting. They were anticipating something great. They were watching and believing that something was going to happen. They were ready to be used.

Are you ready to be used? God wants to move in this community through this church in unbelievable ways but it won’t happen until we’re ready for it to happen. Prepare your hearts. Prepare your lives and then wait to see what God will do in and through you.

Secondly, a person who is dangerously Christian is able to Communicate in other languages. I’m not talking literally about other languages here, but what I mean is that you and I need to learn to speak the language of others. We need to understand what the language of the people who aren’t in church is. We live in a culture which speaks a language different than our own. Just look at our bulletins. How many people on the streets know what an “Invocation” or “Psalter” or “Doxology” are?

We have our own language, and until we learn to speak the language of those around us we will not be able to reach them. Very seldom will they learn our language. We need to be learning theirs. We can change the medium without changing the message, and that’s what we need to be doing.

Thirdly, a dangerously Christian person is one who Boldly Declares Their Faith. Have you ever met a salesperson that was successful that wasn’t bold? Keith Manry states, “A few weeks ago I was out front watering my plants when a young boy rode by the front of my house and circled around. I said, “Hello” and started making small talk with him attempting to see what he was doing. Finally, I noticed he had an order blank in his hand and I asked him what he was selling. He was selling pretzels and I asked him what it was for and then I asked to look at the order blank. He was the furthest thing from a bold salesman that I’ve ever seen.”

As Christians, you need to be bold. You and I need to be unafraid of boldly sharing Jesus with those around us. That’s what you see in today’s story. Peter boldly shares his faith and as a result thousands of people make a decision to follow Christ.

As a result of individuals who were dangerously Christian Acts 2 gives us a picture of what a dangerously Christian Church might look like. What is your vision for our church? What would you like to see here in the future? Do you dream of a day which includes verses 44? “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day be day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

From that passage we find five marks of a dangerously Christian Church: Maybe we should study these and work towards becoming the church God desires for us.

1. A Dangerously Christian Church is characterized by UNITY…

2. A Dangerously Christian Church MEETS NEEDS…

3. A Dangerously Christian Church VALUES WORSHIP…

4. A Dangerously Christian Church VALUES FELLOWSHIP…

5. A Dangerously Christian Church GROWS…

Let us not be afraid of the work the Holy Spirit will do in our midst, let us be dangerous for the gospel of Jesus Christ. AMEN

Is Revenge sweet? Is Justice for us to decide?

These are questions that have been flooding my thoughts this morning as I hear over and over again, Osama Bin Laden is dead. I can honestly say, I’m not excited. Maybe relieved, but not happy or excited.

I’m not going to play politics, or believe to even comprehend all the worldwide issues, but I’m not celebrating the death of a human being today. Today, I’m thinking of how lives have been changed from this one man leading his whole regime in a thought process of evil.

I’m saddened for all the innocent civilians that have fallen to Osama’s during his regime. I’m saddened for the people affected by the bombing of the USS Cole. I’m saddened for the people affected by the 9-11 tragedy. I’m saddened for all the loss of life of our soldiers since 9-11. I’m saddened for not only all the deaths, but the injuries and live altering losses of soldiers and of civilians. Many lives lost, changed forever, for nothing more than power and money.

I was just reminded on the radio to remember that just because one evil person is gone does not mean that evil is. There will be others that step up. Hopefully we as a world, as a nation are better prepared for such evil, but it is still in our midst. We just celebrated Easter, and we need to remember that only one death truly affects us all for eternity, and that was the death of Christ on the cross. Jesus died for all.

Revenge to me isn’t sweet. Revenge is an emotion that can eat you up on the inside. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in consequences and response to actions. I support our troops and what they are going through, but revenge doesn’t change, doesn’t end the evil in the world.

It’s a fine line, but don’t forget the words of Jesus when he told us to forgive 70x7 times, he is the judge of all, the Lord of all. There is legal justice in our world, but we will all be held accountable to a “bigger” judge in the end.

My prayer today is for the people of the world. Hopefully there won’t be retaliation for the death of Osama; it seems like revenge just sets off a whole domino effect on human beings. I pray for the continued safety of our troops and the innocent people of the world. Osama masterminded a horrible thing. But let us not just get caught up in the violence and the celebration of someone dying; let us continue to pray for peace in our world and in our hearts.