Luke 15:1-10
“Which One of You…?”
Preached Sunday, September 14, 2025
Which one of you, when you lost a 25 dollar coffee gift card that you got for your birthday, and you’re worried it got thrown out with the birthday cards, would not carefully comb through the trash and recycling bins until it was found? And once it was found, who among you would not buy drinks for everyone who came into the coffee shop that morning to celebrate together?
Which one of you, when your child lost their school binder, would not, together with them, search the whole house for it, looking under the bed, and in the laundry piles, and sort through all the papers on the kitchen table and when you finally find it, would not throw a party to celebrate for their whole grade?
Which one of you, say you owned a small book shop that had 2000 books in it, if you lost one box of paperbacks, would not conduct a thorough search of every nook and cranny of the store until you found them, and then throw a block party with a sale to celebrate?
The answer to this is…uh…probably none of you!
I’d be sad to lose a 25 dollar coffee gift card. God knows I spend too much on Starbucks and at some local coffee places, but to buy coffee for everyone who came in that morning to celebrate? It’s a nice gesture - sure, and my last church did that as an outreach opportunity at a local coffee shop but it was planned generosity. To do it to celebrate finding 25 dollars? I’d be spending a lot more than I found.
A school binder may be important but it can be replaced. Teachers can be talked to. Work can be made up or minor consequences faced. A parent and a child may still deem it important enough to search the whole house for it…but when it’s found? A party for the whole grade? Heck, even a party for the whole class would still be over the top and much more costly and much more work than replacing a binder.
And the last one, well, to my knowledge none of us here today are the owners of a small book shop. As someone who owns a lot of books, if you are, please see me. I want to go and buy more books from you. But I thought it was important to give an example with someone’s livelihood. So if you were to imagine you owned a small bookshop…surely the loss of one small box of merchandise would not outweigh the cost of a party and a sale!
With these modern day examples in mind, let’s hear Jesus’s words anew:
“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’”
“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’”
A person who has 99 sheep is a person of modest means. To put 99 at risk by leaving them to go search for one…well, it is doubtful that many shepherds would do that. And beyond that, by throwing a party once the sheep is found, the cost of the party would have outweighed the cost of a lost sheep.
And a woman with ten coins, she lights a lamp - not as easy as flicking on a light switch - using up the resource of oil - to give a diligent search for the one lost coin. 10 coins, or drachmas, would have been equivalent to ten days wages. She is searching for the equivalent of one day’s labor. She finds it! She then throws a celebration - of which the cost of hosting and feeding her neighbors and friends, would have cost much more than the one coin lost and found.
When Jesus says, “which one of you” or “what woman…” to the crowd - he is not expecting anyone to actually say, “Me! Me! I would do that!” Quite the opposite. They would look at each other and think, “Are you crazy, Jesus?” That’s over the top, extravagant, wasteful… But Jesus is saying, in essence - “None of you may be this kind of person. But I am.”
And that, honestly…probably doesn’t help Jesus’s reputation! In Luke 7 Jesus is called a “drunkard and a glutton” - he’s always at a party. The Gospel of Luke has at least five accounts where he’s at different dinner parties and he uses the examples of parties not just in this parable but in others as well - he even calls heaven a big lavish wedding banquet. What can I say - Jesus went where the people who needed his message were - and that was often at a party. Our God in Jesus is revealed to be a joyful God who knows how to have fun. I am actually going to re-iterate that because we so often lose this image of Jesus: Our God in Jesus is revealed to be a joyful God who knows how to have fun!
And in the telling of this parable, Jesus is inviting those who are throwing accusations at him, to move from grumbling to joy.
Our Gospel lesson started this morning with setting the context and the audience of this parable: “Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” And so Jesus told them the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin…and actually the lost son as well, although our Scripture reading this morning didn’t continue on.
They were grumbling…because Jesus was including those they excluded. Tax collectors were generally reviled and, of course, “sinners” is a blanket term here but not applied to the “good upstanding community” that the Pharisees and the scribes saw themselves as part of.
Jesus in turn tells them what kind of man he is - and what kind of God is revealed in him:
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God is joyful and looks for every and any chance to celebrate.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God welcomes all - and even especially - those on the outskirts of society.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God is the Good Shepherd who cares for each and everyone of his sheep - including and especially the wayward ones.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God is persistent and diligent in caring for and searching for each and every one of us.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God gives no heed to the cost of lavishing love and joy on each of us.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God who finds the lost and celebrates without restraint.
God revealed in Jesus tells us that God is inviting us to move from grumbling to joy. From being concerned with “the right kind of people” to welcoming and including all.
Friends, I know my job as a preacher is to preach the Good News to you - to proclaim the Gospel. But this morning I have a bit of bad news for you…did you know that church people, “the right kind of people”, us here today…do you know that we have a reputation for being grumblers? It’s easy for us to think we would be at the party with Jesus, or with the choirs of angels erupting at the Good News of the lost sinner being found…but if we’re being honest, a good number of us would be grumbling with the scribes and the Pharisees.
We grumble…that that one ministry team is spending money on x, y, or z.
We grumble…that the pastor is spending too much time on that ministry area and not this ministry area.
We grumble…the church is starting to welcome those kinds of people (maybe like tax collectors and sinners..)
We grumble…that things aren’t like they were several decades ago.
We grumble… because we’d rather the church would look more like the church of yesterday than the church of today or the church of the future.
We grumble, we nitpick, we complain. It’s very common in churches - because it’s contagious too. One dose of negativity and complaining can spread like wildfire. The Good News is - Jesus invites us to move from grumbling to joy. And joy is more contagious than grumbling. Joy is also more inviting than grumbling. Grumbling gives the church a bad name - who wants to be part of a community that is filled with negativity? But the Good News - that our God is a God who celebrates you without restraint, who searches for you regardless of cost, who rejoices in you being present in Christian community with one another, who welcomes you - and goes out of the way to be welcoming to you? That is Good News that people need to hear. And it is the Good News we are working together to proclaim as a Christian community!
Jesus is inviting the scribes and the Pharisees and us here today…to look more like Jesus. To move from grumbling to joy. To be more vile in our embrace of all people.
Some history to explain what I mean by “be more vile.”
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, started as an upstanding and well-regarded clergy person. He was a fellow at Oxford. He was a proper Anglican clergyman. And then…he found that his message of adherence to his faith, to preach to those marginalized by society, to care for the last lost and the least, and to spread this message to as many people as possible - even outside the church doors…he found this started to affect his reputation. People started to grumble. And John had to decide - do things the “proper” and “right” way - or become more vile - more base - more common - for the Good News of the Gospel.
When John Wesley made a decision to preach outdoors - again, doesn't sound that radical to us but was considered paramount to a sin, paramount to eating and drinking with tax collectors, he wrote in his journal - "At four in the afternoon, I submitted to be more vile and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation..."
Here is an example of the grumblings that were happening as Wesley sided with those that were considered sinners and outcasts by society - and in one particular case, was supporting a man who was accused of and imprisoned for homesexuality. This complaint about Wesley was printed in the newspaper:
“Wesley and his Oxford friends’ eccentricities might…be tolerated - their excessive religious observance, their closed group intensity, their self-denial and strict code of living reminiscent of some of the wayward Puritan sects of the previous century. Even their lowering themselves to undertake good works in the prisons and workhouse was not beyond the pale. But it seems that when they took up the advocacy of a man accused of homosexual crimes they crossed the boundary between the bizarre but tolerable to the reprehensible.” (Reference: Wesleyan Vile-Tality by Ashley Boggan)
Can you hear the grumbling?
I’d like to take a moment and take the grumbling and change it to joy…
Wesley and the group that formed the first Methodists…they took living out their faith seriously! They prayed and studied the Bible and took Communion regularly with one another! And they humbled themselves to be in solidarity and serve with the last, the lost, and the least - those in prisons and workhouses and even those mistreated and abused for who they are. They used their voices to give voice to the voiceless and they did this all while proclaiming the Good news of Jesus Christ! They took to the streets - standing on the corners and preaching to large crowds - Jesus welcomes you! Jesus rejoices over you when you turn to him! They made themselves more vile for the sake of the Gospel and all of heaven threw a celebration!!
Oh that such things would be said about us here at Boardman United Methodist Church. May we be more vile in sharing the Good News. May we lower ourselves to what was previously unthinkable to welcome all who need the Gospel. May be filled with the joy and celebration that modeling Christ’s radical embrace brings.
Which one of you would…? May we all.
Amen.
Showing posts with label Wesley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wesley. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Hymn Sing for United Methodist Heritage Sunday/Aldersgate Day
The following is a hymn sing designed for Heritage Sunday/Aldersgate Day in the United Methodist Church.
L: As Methodists, we have been called “A Singing People”
P: We love singing praises to God - it warm our hearts,
L: In his Directions for Singing, found in the United Methodist hymnal, John Wesley encourages us to learn the hymns in the hymnal before all other songs.
P: He says that we should all sing together as frequently as we can! That even for those who find it a cross to bear, singing will be a blessing.
L: He says we should sing lustily and with good courage and to beware of singing as if we were half dead or half asleep.
P: We lift up our voices in strength! We strive to unite our voices together to make one clear melodious sound to God.
L: We sing together: hymns that we love, clearly and melodiously, with strength and modesty, in time and in tune - an act of fellowship and worship.
P: But above all we sing spiritually, with an eye to God for every word we sing.
L: Today as we sing and learn, may we worshipfully and continually offer our hearts to God.
P: We sing today and every day until that time when we sing before the throne of God.
All: Let us worship God in song! Amen!
Opening Hymn
O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing, vs. 1, 3, 7, UMH 57
Scripture Lesson
Colossians 3:12-16
Heritage Sunday Explanation & Hearts Strangely Warmed
Today is what The United Methodist Church calls Heritage Sunday. According to The Book of Discipline, "Heritage Sunday shall be observed on Aldersgate Day (May 24), or the Sunday preceding that date. The day provides an opportunity for reflection on heritage, celebration of where the Church has been, how it understands itself as it shapes us today, and the meaning of Christian conferencing. Heritage Sunday calls the Church to remember the past by committing itself to the continuing call of God." And that is what we will do today through hymns from our Wesleyan heritage and small teaching moments about our history, theology, and the United Methodist Church then and today.
Heritage Sunday is held the Sunday preceding Aldersgate Day, May 24th. Aldersgate Day is the anniversary of the day that John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist Movement, had a life-changing and heart warming experience on Aldersgate Street. The son of an Anglican minister who was ordained himself and a fellow at Oxford, Wesley had gone to the colonies to be a missionary. To make a long story short, it did not go well. It’s almost like a sordid soap opera: making a bad first impression among his parishioners by throwing liquor overboard of the ship, a scorned lover, skipping bail, and secretly getting on a ship back to England in the middle of the night. His stint as a missionary only lasted two years. And so in May 1738, Wesley’s spirits were low. He was questioning his faith, his calling, his place in life. And he reluctantly went to a Bible Study on Aldersgate Street. That evening after the study he wrote this in his journal: "while he was describing the change 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."
This “strangely warming” heart experience is what we as Methodists call justification - when we realize that God’s grace is active in our lives and accept it for ourselves, making our relationship with God right or justified.
The hymn “And Can It Be” reflects that heart strangely warmed experience and God’s justifying grace. It was written by Charles Wesley, the brother of John and co-founder of the Methodist movement. Charles himself had a heart strangely warmed and justifying moment just 3 days before John, on May 21st. After his experience Charles wrote in his journal, “I have found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in the hope of loving Christ.”
As we sing the words “Amazing love, how can it be?” let us remember God’s grace and goodness in our lives and allow our hearts to be strangely warmed.
And Can It Be That I Should Gain, vs. 1 & 3, UMH 363
Children’s Moment
(Recommended: Wesleys Take the Web: a Mobile Friendly History of the UMC video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Zx7xVw14I)
A Hymn for Every Season
Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, and co-founder of the Methodist movement was an Anglican minister and above all, a prolific hymn writer. He wrote over 9,000 poems in his lifetime, over 6,000 of which have been hymns. Our hymnal has almost 70 of his hymns and poems in it. His hymns shaped and reflected the theology and life of the Methodist movement. It’s one thing to say that Jesus is the incarnation of God. It’s another to belt out with all your heart and soul, “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail th’ incarnate Deity, pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.” His hymns were sung as part of the early Methodist movement and in our churches today, shaping the life of the church and theology just as much as sermons. Charles remained an Anglican minister his whole life, never agreeing with the Methodist split to become their own denomination when John ordained Methodist ministers to go and serve and offer sacraments to Christians in the revolutionary United States of America as most Anglican ministers fled back to England at the start of the American Revolution. Nevertheless, he was a founding member of the Holy Club, a group of Christians doing their best to live out their faith at Oxford, which became the foundation and launching point for the Methodist movement. He also oversaw Methodist groups throughout England, preaching, writing hymns, and shaping the theology of a movement that continues today.
All the hymns we are singing as a congregation today were written by Charles Wesley. He wrote hymns for every season of the church year. Some of his most popular hymns that we are not singing today are Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, Maker in Whom We Live, Jesus, Lover of my Soul, and A Charge I Have to Keep. We will now sing two of his most favorite hymns, a nod to how Charles Wesley shapes the life and theology of our church. A hymn for Christmas and a hymn for Easter. Let us sing, above all spiritually, as we remember the one who helped shape Methodists into “a singing people.”
Hark the Herald Angels Sing, vs. 1, UMH 240
Christ the Lord is Risen Today, vs. 1, UMH 302
Conferences & Connectionalism
Heritage Sunday is held the Sunday preceding Aldersgate Day, May 24th. Aldersgate Day is the anniversary of the day that John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist Movement, had a life-changing and heart warming experience on Aldersgate Street. The son of an Anglican minister who was ordained himself and a fellow at Oxford, Wesley had gone to the colonies to be a missionary. To make a long story short, it did not go well. It’s almost like a sordid soap opera: making a bad first impression among his parishioners by throwing liquor overboard of the ship, a scorned lover, skipping bail, and secretly getting on a ship back to England in the middle of the night. His stint as a missionary only lasted two years. And so in May 1738, Wesley’s spirits were low. He was questioning his faith, his calling, his place in life. And he reluctantly went to a Bible Study on Aldersgate Street. That evening after the study he wrote this in his journal: "while he was describing the change 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."
This “strangely warming” heart experience is what we as Methodists call justification - when we realize that God’s grace is active in our lives and accept it for ourselves, making our relationship with God right or justified.
The hymn “And Can It Be” reflects that heart strangely warmed experience and God’s justifying grace. It was written by Charles Wesley, the brother of John and co-founder of the Methodist movement. Charles himself had a heart strangely warmed and justifying moment just 3 days before John, on May 21st. After his experience Charles wrote in his journal, “I have found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in the hope of loving Christ.”
As we sing the words “Amazing love, how can it be?” let us remember God’s grace and goodness in our lives and allow our hearts to be strangely warmed.
And Can It Be That I Should Gain, vs. 1 & 3, UMH 363
Children’s Moment
(Recommended: Wesleys Take the Web: a Mobile Friendly History of the UMC video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Zx7xVw14I)
A Hymn for Every Season
Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, and co-founder of the Methodist movement was an Anglican minister and above all, a prolific hymn writer. He wrote over 9,000 poems in his lifetime, over 6,000 of which have been hymns. Our hymnal has almost 70 of his hymns and poems in it. His hymns shaped and reflected the theology and life of the Methodist movement. It’s one thing to say that Jesus is the incarnation of God. It’s another to belt out with all your heart and soul, “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail th’ incarnate Deity, pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.” His hymns were sung as part of the early Methodist movement and in our churches today, shaping the life of the church and theology just as much as sermons. Charles remained an Anglican minister his whole life, never agreeing with the Methodist split to become their own denomination when John ordained Methodist ministers to go and serve and offer sacraments to Christians in the revolutionary United States of America as most Anglican ministers fled back to England at the start of the American Revolution. Nevertheless, he was a founding member of the Holy Club, a group of Christians doing their best to live out their faith at Oxford, which became the foundation and launching point for the Methodist movement. He also oversaw Methodist groups throughout England, preaching, writing hymns, and shaping the theology of a movement that continues today.
All the hymns we are singing as a congregation today were written by Charles Wesley. He wrote hymns for every season of the church year. Some of his most popular hymns that we are not singing today are Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, Maker in Whom We Live, Jesus, Lover of my Soul, and A Charge I Have to Keep. We will now sing two of his most favorite hymns, a nod to how Charles Wesley shapes the life and theology of our church. A hymn for Christmas and a hymn for Easter. Let us sing, above all spiritually, as we remember the one who helped shape Methodists into “a singing people.”
Hark the Herald Angels Sing, vs. 1, UMH 240
Christ the Lord is Risen Today, vs. 1, UMH 302
Conferences & Connectionalism
In 1784, John Wesley ordained Thomas Coke and others to do ministry in America. With the American Revolution brewing, Anglican ministers, who took vows of allegiance to the Church of England and the King, found themselves in sticky situations by staying in the American colonies. Many left to return to England for their own safety. This created a pressing pastoral need. There were not enough ordained ministers in America to perform the sacraments. To offer Communion and baptize. Many of those living in America considered themselves part of the Methodist movement so Wesley made a pastoral decision: if the Church of England wouldn’t send ministers or couldn’t safely send ministers to meet this need, the Methodists would. The only thing is, as an Anglican minister, he did not have the authority to ordain, only Bishops could do this. So this act is the official start of Methodism as its own separate denomination instead of just a movement within the Church of England.
And still, life in much of the colonies and then the early United States, was more spread out and there weren’t enough clergy for every community to have their own and so the circuit rider - or saddlebags preacher - was born. Circuit riders were ministers who rode their horses from community to community, creating a circuit. They would offer the sacraments and preach in a town then get on their horse and travel to the next, ever riding in a circuit. Lay ministers would preach and organize the church until the circuit rider returned. Circuit Riders were so committed to their charges that the phrase “This weather is only fit for crows and Methodist preachers” was coined. This early structure continues to shape the structure of the church today with United Methodist ministers being appointed to charges and being itinerant while the church belongs to and is shaped by the laity.
Francis Asbury was the most famous circuit rider and Bishop in that first Methodist church. He rode over 270,000 miles on horseback traveling to his charges. That’s enough to travel around the globe nearly 11 times.
On Christmas Eve in 1784, Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury gathered with all the known Methodist preachers in America, about 86 at the time. The call had gone out for all of them to ride to Baltimore, Maryland and meet to officially establish The Methodist Episcopal Church, making its own denomination. This first conference was called The Christmas Conference.
Still to this day, Methodists are organized by conferences. General Conference which happens once every four years is composed of half laity and half clergy and they are the only body who can set polity and officially speak for The United Methodist Church. We also have Jurisdictional, Annual, and District conferences for regional conferencing.
Moreover, the United Methodist Church continues as then: as a connectional system. We believe we are stronger together than apart. Our polity, our ministers, and even outreach, mission, and ministry are done at a level beyond the local church. From itinerant ministers and the seminaries that educate them; to the United Methodist Committee on Relief that is often the first to arrive and the last to leave after disaster strikes; to our general boards which address systemic issues in our world and equip and educate our churches to survive and thrive in our modern world; to the relationships and partnerships our clergy and churches can have together. We are a connectional Church and stronger for it.
Shortly after its publication, John Wesley started using the hymn “And Are We Yet Alive” at the start of every Methodist society meeting, a tradition that continues today at Annual Conferences across the world as they meet. The song reminds us of our connectional system, of being stronger together than apart, and how God’s grace has seen us through the last year apart.
And Are We Yet Alive, vs. 1, 3, 4, UMH 553
And still, life in much of the colonies and then the early United States, was more spread out and there weren’t enough clergy for every community to have their own and so the circuit rider - or saddlebags preacher - was born. Circuit riders were ministers who rode their horses from community to community, creating a circuit. They would offer the sacraments and preach in a town then get on their horse and travel to the next, ever riding in a circuit. Lay ministers would preach and organize the church until the circuit rider returned. Circuit Riders were so committed to their charges that the phrase “This weather is only fit for crows and Methodist preachers” was coined. This early structure continues to shape the structure of the church today with United Methodist ministers being appointed to charges and being itinerant while the church belongs to and is shaped by the laity.
Francis Asbury was the most famous circuit rider and Bishop in that first Methodist church. He rode over 270,000 miles on horseback traveling to his charges. That’s enough to travel around the globe nearly 11 times.
On Christmas Eve in 1784, Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury gathered with all the known Methodist preachers in America, about 86 at the time. The call had gone out for all of them to ride to Baltimore, Maryland and meet to officially establish The Methodist Episcopal Church, making its own denomination. This first conference was called The Christmas Conference.
Still to this day, Methodists are organized by conferences. General Conference which happens once every four years is composed of half laity and half clergy and they are the only body who can set polity and officially speak for The United Methodist Church. We also have Jurisdictional, Annual, and District conferences for regional conferencing.
Moreover, the United Methodist Church continues as then: as a connectional system. We believe we are stronger together than apart. Our polity, our ministers, and even outreach, mission, and ministry are done at a level beyond the local church. From itinerant ministers and the seminaries that educate them; to the United Methodist Committee on Relief that is often the first to arrive and the last to leave after disaster strikes; to our general boards which address systemic issues in our world and equip and educate our churches to survive and thrive in our modern world; to the relationships and partnerships our clergy and churches can have together. We are a connectional Church and stronger for it.
Shortly after its publication, John Wesley started using the hymn “And Are We Yet Alive” at the start of every Methodist society meeting, a tradition that continues today at Annual Conferences across the world as they meet. The song reminds us of our connectional system, of being stronger together than apart, and how God’s grace has seen us through the last year apart.
And Are We Yet Alive, vs. 1, 3, 4, UMH 553
A Theology of Love and Grace
It is not just our unique history and polity that defines us as Methodists but also our theology. When people ask what sets Methodists apart, two of the top answers are Love and Grace. While these are prevalent in the whole Christian Church, they play an especially central theme in Wesleyan theology. John Wesley asserted that Love was God’s Reigning Feature. That means that God’s Love is the crown upon the head of God and the throne on which God sits. God’s sovereignty cannot be separated from God’s love. Therefore, Wesley strongly asserted that we as humans have free-will to respond to God’s grace as we choose. The God who is Love, loves us and all creation above all else and therefore does not force Grace upon us. This was in direct contrast to the Calvinist theology of predestination, something which Wesley adamantly preached against.
And while God does not force Grace upon us, God is always always always offering us grace, even before we know there is Grace to be had. As Methodists this is a defining aspect of our theology. We call it prevenient grace. The grace that comes before. When we accept God’s grace that is always offered to us, we call that Justifying Grace - the experience of strangely warmed hearts that we talked about before. And then there is Sanctifying Grace, the grace of God that is ever with us, our whole lives long, helping shape and guide us to more perfect love of God and neighbor.
God’s Love and Grace are always with us and this is the central theology of Methodism. Let us now sing of that love and grace.
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, 1, 2, 4 UMH 384
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
It is not just our unique history and polity that defines us as Methodists but also our theology. When people ask what sets Methodists apart, two of the top answers are Love and Grace. While these are prevalent in the whole Christian Church, they play an especially central theme in Wesleyan theology. John Wesley asserted that Love was God’s Reigning Feature. That means that God’s Love is the crown upon the head of God and the throne on which God sits. God’s sovereignty cannot be separated from God’s love. Therefore, Wesley strongly asserted that we as humans have free-will to respond to God’s grace as we choose. The God who is Love, loves us and all creation above all else and therefore does not force Grace upon us. This was in direct contrast to the Calvinist theology of predestination, something which Wesley adamantly preached against.
And while God does not force Grace upon us, God is always always always offering us grace, even before we know there is Grace to be had. As Methodists this is a defining aspect of our theology. We call it prevenient grace. The grace that comes before. When we accept God’s grace that is always offered to us, we call that Justifying Grace - the experience of strangely warmed hearts that we talked about before. And then there is Sanctifying Grace, the grace of God that is ever with us, our whole lives long, helping shape and guide us to more perfect love of God and neighbor.
God’s Love and Grace are always with us and this is the central theology of Methodism. Let us now sing of that love and grace.
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, 1, 2, 4 UMH 384
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer
Invitation to Generosity
Offertory
The Doxology
The Lord’s Prayer
Invitation to Generosity
Offertory
The Doxology
(If observing Holy Communion, suggested focus on the UMC's Open Table and the hymn "Come Sinners to the Gospel Feast)
The Holy Club & Holiness Today
The Methodist Movement has always been one centered on living out our faith. In their days at Oxford, John and Charles Wesley joined with other friends to form a spiritual support group, if you will. They studied the Bible and prayed together. They shared in Holy Communion at least once a week, They also held each other accountable to living out their faith. They cared for the poor and needy together: visiting the elderly, teaching children, and going to the prison to visit those there weekly. This group had zeal and dedication to their faith and living it out. And other students there didn’t understand it - they gave the group deriding nicknames including Bible-moths, The Holy Club, and Methodists. The last one because of their almost methodical method of living out their faith.
As the movement grew beyond this Holy Club of friends at Oxford, they adopted the name Methodists, proud of the way they encouraged people to fully live out their faith.
In Methodist theology we talk about Means of Grace - the ways we experience God and live out our faith in this world. And it can be divided into four categories. Individual acts of piety: like prayer and reading the Bible. Communal acts of worship: like receiving the sacraments and singing hymns together. Individual acts of charity: like volunteering at the soup kitchen, making a donation, lending a helping hand. And communal acts of justice: like standing up and speaking out for equity and justice in this world. Wesley was a strong anti-slave trade advocate and often got kicked out of churches for speaking against the slave trade. Methodists continue to be advocates for justice today and we are proud that our greater connection includes The Commission on the Status and Role of Women, The General Commission on Religion and Race, and the General Board of Church and Society. Methodists are not silent on issues of injustice.
Indeed, Methodists are encouraged to holistically live out their faith as individuals and in a faith community, to ever strive to more perfect love of God and neighbor. As we sing our closing hymn “Forth in Thy Name I Go” may you be encouraged and embolden to reflect Christ in all you do.
Forth in Thy Name I Go, vs. 1 & 4, UMH 438
Benediction
Today I pray that your hearts were strangely warmed. To sing of God’s love together, to learn of our heritage, to be encouraged to live out our faith. Now go in peace, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Holy Club & Holiness Today
The Methodist Movement has always been one centered on living out our faith. In their days at Oxford, John and Charles Wesley joined with other friends to form a spiritual support group, if you will. They studied the Bible and prayed together. They shared in Holy Communion at least once a week, They also held each other accountable to living out their faith. They cared for the poor and needy together: visiting the elderly, teaching children, and going to the prison to visit those there weekly. This group had zeal and dedication to their faith and living it out. And other students there didn’t understand it - they gave the group deriding nicknames including Bible-moths, The Holy Club, and Methodists. The last one because of their almost methodical method of living out their faith.
As the movement grew beyond this Holy Club of friends at Oxford, they adopted the name Methodists, proud of the way they encouraged people to fully live out their faith.
In Methodist theology we talk about Means of Grace - the ways we experience God and live out our faith in this world. And it can be divided into four categories. Individual acts of piety: like prayer and reading the Bible. Communal acts of worship: like receiving the sacraments and singing hymns together. Individual acts of charity: like volunteering at the soup kitchen, making a donation, lending a helping hand. And communal acts of justice: like standing up and speaking out for equity and justice in this world. Wesley was a strong anti-slave trade advocate and often got kicked out of churches for speaking against the slave trade. Methodists continue to be advocates for justice today and we are proud that our greater connection includes The Commission on the Status and Role of Women, The General Commission on Religion and Race, and the General Board of Church and Society. Methodists are not silent on issues of injustice.
Indeed, Methodists are encouraged to holistically live out their faith as individuals and in a faith community, to ever strive to more perfect love of God and neighbor. As we sing our closing hymn “Forth in Thy Name I Go” may you be encouraged and embolden to reflect Christ in all you do.
Forth in Thy Name I Go, vs. 1 & 4, UMH 438
Benediction
Today I pray that your hearts were strangely warmed. To sing of God’s love together, to learn of our heritage, to be encouraged to live out our faith. Now go in peace, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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