Embracing Holy Love: The Wesleyan Journey of Giving

### Summary

Good morning, everyone! Today, we embark on a new sermon series called "Wesleyan Rooted," where we delve into the teachings and principles of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Wesley emphasized that giving is rooted in God's very being, and as we are created in God's image, we too are called to give. This series will explore how we, as Methodists, grow in our faith and community.

We began by tracing the history of the Christian church, from its early days in the Book of Acts to the Great Schism of 1054, and the Protestant Reformation initiated by Martin Luther in 1517. John Wesley, raised in the Anglican Church, started the Holy Club at Oxford University, which eventually led to the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784. Wesley's intention was not to create a new church but to reform the Anglican Church by fostering small groups that focused on spiritual growth and community service.

Wesleyan theology can be summarized by the concept of holy love—love for God and love for neighbor. This love is rooted in God's unbounded love and is transformed by God's universal grace. Our journey of faith is not a single moment but a continuous process of growth and transformation. Salvation is a journey, and we are constantly being made new and reoriented to see the world through the lens of God's holy love.

Wesley believed in the importance of community and small groups for spiritual growth. He left behind communities wherever he preached, emphasizing that worship alone is not enough for spiritual growth. We need to be part of a community where we can be challenged, convicted, prayed for, and held accountable.

As we continue this series, I encourage you to reflect on why you are here and what it means to be a United Methodist. Let us grow together in our faith, support one another, and live out the principles of holy love in our daily lives.

### Key Takeaways

1. **Giving as an Expression of God's Image**: John Wesley taught that giving is rooted in God's very being. As we are created in God's image, we are called to give as an expression of our divine nature. Reflect on how your acts of giving mirror God's generosity and love. [25:25]

2. **Salvation as a Journey**: Salvation is not a single moment but a continuous journey of growth and transformation. Each step in our faith journey, whether exciting or challenging, contributes to our spiritual development. Embrace the journey and trust that each moment is part of God's plan for your growth. [38:55]

3. **Transformation and Renewal**: We are constantly being made new in Christ. This ongoing process of transformation allows us to grow deeper into our identity in Christ. Celebrate the changes God has brought in your life and look forward to the new ways He will continue to transform you. [41:10]

4. **Reorientation through Holy Love**: As we grow in our faith, we start to see the world through the lens of God's holy love. This reorientation can be uncomfortable, but it is essential for our spiritual growth. Embrace the process of being reoriented and trust that God is leading you to a deeper understanding of His love. [42:19]

5. **The Importance of Community**: Wesley emphasized the importance of small groups and community for spiritual growth. Being part of a community where we can be challenged, convicted, prayed for, and held accountable is crucial for our spiritual development. Seek out and engage in communities that support your faith journey. [45:02]

### YouTube Chapters

[0:00] - Welcome
[25:25] - Introduction to Wesleyan Rooted Series
[25:55] - The Concept of Giving in Wesleyan Theology
[27:01] - Opening Prayer
[28:12] - Resources for Study
[29:12] - The History of the Christian Church
[30:13] - The Protestant Reformation
[31:18] - John Wesley and the Holy Club
[32:24] - The Formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church
[35:09] - The Character of a Methodist
[36:44] - Ephesians 3:14-19
[38:20] - Holy Love in Wesleyan Theology
[38:55] - Salvation as a Journey
[41:10] - Transformation and Renewal
[42:19] - Reorientation through Holy Love
[45:02] - The Importance of Community
[49:52] - Closing Prayer and Communion
[01:06:30] - Reflecting on Our Methodist Identity
[01:09:03] - Announcements and Closing Remarks

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. **Ephesians 3:14-19 (NIV)**
> "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

#### Observation Questions
1. According to Ephesians 3:14-19, what does Paul pray for the believers in Ephesus to experience and understand?
2. What historical events led to the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784? ([32:24])
3. How did John Wesley's Holy Club contribute to the spiritual growth of its members? ([31:18])
4. What does the term "holy love" mean in the context of Wesleyan theology? ([38:20])

#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does the concept of being "rooted and established in love" (Ephesians 3:17) relate to John Wesley's emphasis on holy love? ([38:20])
2. Why is the journey of salvation described as a continuous process rather than a single moment? ([38:55])
3. How does being part of a community contribute to one's spiritual growth according to Wesleyan principles? ([45:02])
4. What does it mean to be reoriented through holy love, and why might this process be uncomfortable? ([42:19])

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your own acts of giving. How do they mirror God's generosity and love? What changes can you make to better reflect this aspect of your faith? ([25:25])
2. Think about your personal faith journey. Can you identify moments of transformation and renewal? How can you embrace these changes and look forward to future growth? ([41:10])
3. In what ways can you actively participate in a community that supports your spiritual growth? Are there specific groups or activities you can join or initiate? ([45:02])
4. How do you handle moments of disorientation in your faith? What steps can you take to allow God to reorient you through His holy love? ([42:19])
5. Consider the importance of small groups in Wesleyan theology. How can you contribute to or benefit from such a group in your church? ([45:02])
6. Reflect on the idea that salvation is a journey. How can you stay motivated and trust in God's plan during both the exciting and challenging times of your faith journey? ([38:55])
7. Why are you here in this church and community? How can you live out the principles of holy love in your daily life and interactions with others? ([01:07:20])

Day 1: Giving Reflects God's Generosity

John Wesley taught that giving is deeply rooted in God's very being. As humans created in God's image, we are called to give as an expression of our divine nature. This act of giving is not just about material possessions but also about our time, love, and compassion. Reflecting on how our acts of giving mirror God's generosity and love can help us understand our role in the world better. Wesley emphasized that giving is a way to participate in God's work and to show His love to others. By giving, we become conduits of God's grace and love, making His presence felt in the lives of those around us. [25:25]

2 Corinthians 9:7-8 (ESV): "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

Reflection: Think of a recent opportunity you had to give—whether it was your time, resources, or love. How did this act reflect God's generosity, and how can you continue to embody this divine attribute in your daily life?


Day 2: Salvation as a Continuous Journey

Salvation, according to Wesleyan theology, is not a single moment but a continuous journey of growth and transformation. Each step in our faith journey, whether exciting or challenging, contributes to our spiritual development. This perspective encourages us to embrace the journey and trust that each moment is part of God's plan for our growth. Wesley believed that salvation involves an ongoing process of being made new and reoriented to see the world through the lens of God's holy love. This journey requires patience, perseverance, and a willingness to be transformed by God's grace. [38:55]

Philippians 1:6 (ESV): "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

Reflection: Reflect on a recent challenge in your faith journey. How can you see this challenge as part of God's plan for your growth and transformation? What steps can you take to embrace this journey more fully?


Day 3: Transformation and Renewal in Christ

We are constantly being made new in Christ, an ongoing process of transformation that allows us to grow deeper into our identity in Him. This transformation is not just about changing our behaviors but about renewing our hearts and minds to align with God's will. Wesley emphasized that this renewal is a continuous process, one that requires us to be open to God's work in our lives. Celebrate the changes God has brought in your life and look forward to the new ways He will continue to transform you. [41:10]

Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV): "To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."

Reflection: Think about a specific area in your life where you have experienced transformation through Christ. How has this change impacted your relationship with God and others? What new areas of your life do you feel God is calling you to renew?


Day 4: Reorientation through Holy Love

As we grow in our faith, we start to see the world through the lens of God's holy love. This reorientation can be uncomfortable, but it is essential for our spiritual growth. Wesley taught that holy love involves both love for God and love for our neighbor, and this love is rooted in God's unbounded love and universal grace. Embrace the process of being reoriented and trust that God is leading you to a deeper understanding of His love. This reorientation helps us to act more compassionately and justly in our daily lives, reflecting God's love in all we do. [42:19]

1 John 4:12 (ESV): "No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."

Reflection: Consider a recent situation where you felt challenged to see through the lens of God's holy love. How did you respond, and what can you do to better embrace this reorientation in future situations?


Day 5: The Importance of Community

Wesley emphasized the importance of small groups and community for spiritual growth. Being part of a community where we can be challenged, convicted, prayed for, and held accountable is crucial for our spiritual development. Wesley believed that worship alone is not enough; we need to be part of a community that supports our faith journey. Seek out and engage in communities that support your spiritual growth, and be open to the ways God can work through others to shape and strengthen your faith. [45:02]

Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV): "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

Reflection: Think about your current involvement in your faith community. How can you deepen your engagement and support others in their spiritual growth? What steps can you take to be more active in fostering a supportive and accountable community?

And my friends that are going to join Kids Club can go on back. It's going to be wobbly.

Alright. Good morning. How's everybody today?

Awesome! I love to hear that. So, we are starting our new sermon series called Wesleyan Rooted this morning. And I thought, because we are talking about Wesleyan-isms, I might share with you some things about Wesleyan-ism in response to giving. Because I don't know if you know this, but our founder John Wesley talked about it a lot.

And so, I am going to have each week something about giving from John Wesley. One of the things he said is that we give because it is rooted in our very being. A phrase from Wesley: Giving is rooted in God's being. Therefore, we give because God gave. Kind of an interesting concept.

We are created in the image of God. Therefore, we do the things in our very essence that God did. So, this morning as I get ready to pray and bless not only this time of service but the offering that we receive online and in the room, which is here at the offering plates, I just want to reflect on that concept just a bit. If you haven't thought about it, then maybe you might go home and think about it today.

So, thank you for those who do give and support our ministries and things like that. Like children's and missions, as Eddie said, we have multiple missions going on right now. If you like to give to the children's home, if you do that on paper, you just mark children's home or residing hope on the envelope, you can do that in the church app as well.

Would you go with me now to the Lord in prayer?

Almighty God, thank you for the day you've given us. Thank you for the opportunity to come to worship you, to learn from you, to grow in you. We ask, Father, that you would honor this time as we study your scriptures, as we hope to walk in our journey of faith. We ask your blessings that you and your spirit will speak to us, will speak through me and all of our teachers in the children's space, will speak through your holy words so that we may be drawn closer to you. We pray these things in your holy and powerful name. Amen.

Alright, so if you would like to follow along with quotes or images or scriptures that I'll be using today, you can find those inside the church app for the sermon notes or also on the website by clicking the sermon notes button underneath the messages or the church e-news.

So just a word as we start this new sermon series. I've placed some resources on the back table for those who love to study. Now I know some of you are like me, life is crazy, you do not have time for extra reading. Others of you love to read. You don't have to raise your hand but I know who you are.

So in the back, you have some things. The ones that print out are some sermons of John Wesley. There is one sermon per week. They are in order. And these are things that I'm using in preparation for these. I read many of these sermons in seminary. I'm enjoying going back and reading them. Warning, they are in Old English. Okay? You gotta put that hat on as you read.

So feel free to pick that up. You can also download them online. There's also some books and small group resources and so forth, and just feel free to grab what you would like to take with you. But this message today is for us to think about how we grow as Methodists.

So I want to start by thinking about the idea of who we are in the greater Christian family. Do you all realize the Christian church had a family tree? Anybody? Have you seen it before?

Well, if you open the book of Acts, that book of Acts is the story of the very first Christians, both Jew and Gentile Christians. And the church was one church for the first thousand years. But in 1054 we have what we call the Great Schism. This is when the Eastern and Western Church split. The Eastern Church being the Orthodox Church and the Western Church being the Catholic Church.

It was a big deal because for the first time, Christians didn't agree. And about 500 years later in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door at the Catholic Church. Bringing about one more split which we call, what do we call it?

The Protestant Reformation. Thank you, your teacher should be so proud. The Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther had hoped to reform the Catholic Church. He was not trying to bring about a reformation of a whole different set of churches. And he did eventually reform the Catholic Church. But when he nailed his theses, he started the whole line of Protestant denominations.

Eventually though, in the Anglican Church, which broke off from the Protestant Reformation, which is where John Wesley was raised and he was a priest. Fifty years after, John Wesley started a similar path. See, 200 years after Luther, John Wesley started this thing called a Holy Club. Who wants to join something called a Holy Club? Doesn't sound fun, does it?

John Wesley was a young man, maybe 18, 19 years old. He was a freshman at Oxford University and he started the Holy Club with his brother Charles. Man, they must have been the hot ticket on campus because they had others do it too. And they decided they were going to be the best Anglicans possible and do really good holy things.

And 50 years after that, he ordained Thomas Coke and sent him to America. And in 1784, the Christmas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church happened and we were a denomination. Almost 300 years after the Protestant Reformation. Friends, our history is important because how we got here, why Wesley did these things, it matters today.

See, Wesley did not intend for us to be a church. For many of that 50 years, he had holy clubs everywhere which were small groups. And those small groups, they were still attending the Anglican church. They would go to church and they'd come home and they'd study together and they would go out and serve the community together and they would share the love of God with other people and they would do good holy things. That's why they called themselves the Holy Club. Right? Very creative name.

And all they were trying to do was reform the Anglican church. They wanted to help the Anglicans not be so religious. See, Wesley realized that Anglicans were checking their boxes. They were showing up to service. They were saying their prayers, reading their liturgies, singing their hymns, marking their checkbox that they did it, and going home. And not being transformed by the church.

So Wesley said we gotta do something. So he started these groups. And the groups were bringing great transformation everywhere they went. In both England and eventually America because at the time we were part of England.

And then this amazing thing happened. Y'all remember that little bitty thing called the American Revolution? See, this is what caused us to become our own church. Because Thomas Coke was sent to America first as an Anglican priest and when the revolution started, you know what the Church of England said? We don't have any responsibility anymore for those Americans under the Church of England because they're not English anymore.

And they called all the priests home. And John Wesley said, I'm about to make the church mad. But I can't leave that whole country without priests. And he said to Thomas Coke, you go ordain whoever you need to ordain. And we are going to start our own church.

Now I'm paraphrasing into modern English and modern times, right? This is not, if you read Wesley's journal, one, it would take him lots of pages to get to this and it'd be in old English. Okay. But Wesley had lots of conviction and lots of conflict and prayed and prayed and prayed over the fact that he went against the church, his church. But he could not leave America without people to spiritually care for them.

And we were born. And then we held our Christmas conference. And we had our structure. We still have today.

So Wesley wrote this pamphlet called The Character of a Methodist. And I have some copies if you want to read it. It's a really simple read. You can read it in 30 minutes. And this wonderful man called David wrote it in modern English for you. And took Wesley's words and all he did was put it into, out of old English into modern. You can get it online in old English if you really want to do that. But it's back there and it's this wonderful little book.

And he just described what it means to him to be a Methodist. And in this, Wesley says this: Who is a Methodist? A Methodist is a person who has the love of God shining in his heart by the Holy Spirit. He loves the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength. God is the joy of his heart and the desire of his soul.

That's pretty straightforward, isn't it? If you go through the book, you'll see in the end Wesley says this sounds like any other Christian, doesn't it? His intention was for us to just simply live out the principles of our faith in as basic a way possible.

So I want to read you some words from the book of Ephesians written by the Apostle Paul. Paul says this. Chapter 3, verses 14. This is a prayer that Paul was writing to the people of Ephesus.

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and I pray to the Father, the creator of everything in heaven and earth. I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts. As you trust in him, your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.

And may you have the power to understand as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep is his love. May you experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Friends, it is all about love. You can summarize all of Wesleyan theology with the idea of love. Specifically what we call holy love. Holy love rooted in God's unbounded love, transformed by God's universal grace, restored into God's image, and growing deeper into a love we can never 100% grasp in this life. Love for God and love for neighbor. And every day we get a little bit better understanding of how deep and how long and how wide and how high that love is.

That's the journey. Does it sound complicated? Do we overcomplicate it?

So these are the things I want you to walk away with understanding about what we as Wesleyans understand about the spiritual life.

The first thing, friends, salvation is a journey. It is not single moments. You do not have to say did I get saved on this date? Yes or no? Did I do it right or wrong? There is no right or wrong. There are no perfect words. It is not this moment. It's all the moments.

The moment you start a hike is fantastic. Who gets excited when you start hiking? Have you ever, like, you're excited, right? You're like, oh, I'm going on a hike. Who's excited two miles in?

When I lived in Kentucky, we had this gorgeous trail that went down to the river. And I say down meaning it was only down. Five miles down to the river. I don't know if it was really five miles. It felt like five miles when I went up from the river. I never asked how long it was, but the hike down to the river was fantastic. I hated the return. And every time I came back to my car, I'm like, why did we do this?

When we start our salvation journey, we have excitement. And we have moments where we get slowed down. And that's okay because the journey is the adventure.

And salvation is multiple things, friends. Salvation is both grace, God's grace and the grace we give. The understanding of holiness, which is as we become more like God. A big word called sanctification and justification. If you come on Wednesday, you'll probably talk about some of these big words more and understanding more about love.

The second thing is this. We are transformed and made new. This is an ongoing process as well. You are not just transformed once. You are transformed again and again and again. Because as we grow deeper into our identity in Christ, we continue to be made new. I am so happy that I am not the person I was 10 years ago or 20 years ago. And I hope 20 years from now, I am still being made new. Amen?

God doesn't just leave us at a certain point and say, you've gotten good enough. He keeps taking us a little farther and a little farther. If you were with me last week, we talked about Paul and the people in Corinth and the struggles of that city because it was a struggling city. But in his second letter to them in Corinth, he says this to them: This means that anyone, anyone, anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old is gone and the new life has begun. Growing in Christ means that we are made new.

The third thing is, friends, we become reoriented. That means as we grow, we start to see the world through the lens of God's holy love. This is not always a comfortable thing. There's a process.

And I am so thankful that I heard this amazing thing about orientation from our bishop. But he talks about the process where we may start oriented and we're doing good and feel comfortable in our orientation. And something happens that disorients us. And in disorientation, we want to go back to where we were. We want to go back to where we were comfortable. We want to go back to where everything was familiar and we understood.

But that's not how growth happens. We don't become the new creation that's the next step in our journey by going back. The only way we continue to grow is by becoming reoriented.

If I want to keep becoming the person God wants me to be, I have to work through the disorientation. My understanding of God has developed so much over the years. When I was young, I had a child's view of God. When I was a teenager, I had a teenage view of God. In my 20s, I had a 20-year-old's view of God. When I became a mother, I had a parental view of God. I'm sure when I one day become a grandparent, I will have a new view of God.

But if every time my life shifts, I want to go back to what was comfortable, I will never get the fullness that I could get by being reoriented. We have to be willing to be shifted.

And that goes to individuals, it goes to us in community, to our local church, and friends, even to the greater church. We've talked in the other messages before about the dangers of the institution being unwilling to shift. Not our theology, but our methods. And we'll talk about that in some other messages about what Wesley used to do with his methods.

The next piece of that is friends, God wants you to grow. Wesley preached with a very good friend of his named John Whitfield. Ironically, they disagreed theologically. They traveled and preached together. This teaches us a wonderful lesson about how we can be Christians and disagree. I don't know what else does.

They traveled all of England side by side at the same events and preached. Wesley did something Whitfield didn't. Everywhere Wesley preached he left groups. He left communities established. He didn't just give people this moving message and say, Peace, I'm out. Drop the mic and go on. He said, I'm so glad God has touched your life. Let me give you support to keep growing.

That's the key. That's what the church has to offer today: support to grow in your life. We do that by thinking, by learning, by having conversation. We're going to do that this Wednesday at 6:30. We're going to do it in groups for children, groups for adults, and groups for our teenagers here at the church.

Because when we talk about our questions, we talk about our faith, we take journey together. Our hope is that we may have some people who are ready to take steps in their faith. We have teenagers that have never made a profession of faith on their own. If so, because I'm praying over this. I've been praying for a really long time. I hope some of you have not just heard this for the first time. I've been telling you and sending letters. I hope you got some of my letters.

We are going to have a baptism Sunday on October 13th. I'm planning for it. If it's just me up here, it's going to be really sad. We have students in our church. We want them to understand what it means to be Christian and to stand for themselves and make those professions of faith.

If you have a student, 7th through 12th grade, please bring them on Wednesday. Younger ones, they're going to have their own program on Wednesday. Adults, you're going to have a program on Wednesday. Get the theme? Everybody, same time, on Wednesday.

This is the root of who we are growing together is the foundation of our movement. It's an interesting thing. Wesley had new people come to small groups, not worship. You actually couldn't come to worship if you hadn't had your small group attendance card punched.

That would be interesting today, wouldn't it? Could you see me checking your attendance cards at the door? I can see y'all's faces now if I look at you. I'm like, you did not attend group for the past four weeks. You're going to have to go and wait in the car for a couple hours so we can get another group on. That's on your schedule. Y'all will be going on faith. I'm finding another church.

But that was how serious growing in community was for him because he believed that worship could not be its fullest without individuals growing, but also that we as an institution were not properly equipping those a part of the body of Christ if all we did was give a nugget of growth on Sunday morning.

That living life to where people are being challenged, they're being convicted, they're being prayed for, and being held accountable, that was where the transformation happened. And friends, our movement has birthed some mighty actions in our country, around the world. We reformed the Anglican church. John Wesley is revered as one of the great fathers of the Christian faith.

And we are in a season where we need to be ready to do the work that God has us to do. Amen?

Would you pray with me?

Almighty God, I know that with you all things are possible. And you want us to grow. And you want us to be able to do the things that you have before us. So Lord, I ask that as we prepare to come to the table, I want you to show us everything that we have in this journey.

Because Lord, we don't want to do this on our own power. I hope not. I hope that all my brothers and sisters sitting in this space are hearing from you in this moment, and that we want to be on your power, not ours. Because nothing in this world succeeds if we do it by our own strength.

So as we come before you, tell us what we need to do and how we can confess. Draw us into your presence. Show us how we can grow. And guide us and direct us in your ways. We pray this in your holy, powerful name. Amen.

Friends, this table is your time to respond to God. You can respond to however he might be prompting you, but it's my hope that if I can support you in that journey, whatever you might be sensing, that you will let me know.

You can drop things in the offering plates, the baskets up here. There's response cards in your seats. You can fill it out on the church app. You can send a message over to the church office. But as you come into God's presence in just a few moments as we come forward, don't hold back what you need to give to God.

Now as we go into communion, this morning we'll be using one of our more traditional liturgies. We'll be pulling out of what's called the Word and Table out of our hymnal. And so it will be familiar to some and new to others.

But as we reflect on many of our Methodist brothers and sisters around our annual conferences doing the same sermon series over the next couple months, I wanted to root us in that common table as well.

So would you join me now as we look at these words on the screen? Join me.

Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will. We have broken your law. We have rebelled against your love. We have not loved our neighbor, and we have not heard the cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Friends, hear the good news. Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. That proves God's love towards us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen.

God, holy are you and blessed is your Son, Jesus Christ. Your Spirit anointed him to preach the good news to the poor, to proclaim and release to the captives, and recovering the sight of the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed and to announce of the time you have come that you would save your people.

Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners. By the baptism, suffering in his death and resurrection, you gave birth to your church. Deliver us, God, from slavery to sin and death, and make us with a new covenant, now by water and the Spirit.

When Jesus ascended, he promised to be with us always in the power of God's word and the Holy Spirit. On the night in which he gave himself up, he took the bread and he broke it, and he said, this is my body which has been given for you. Eat this in remembrance of me.

He also took the cup and he said, this is the blood of the new covenant poured out for the sins of all people. Eat as often as you drink in remembrance of me.

And so in these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ's offering for us. As we proclaim the mystery of faith, would you join me?

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and juice, and make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world. And to Christ comes a final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with all the Holy Spirit and Holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. Amen.

As those who are going to join me to help serve communion will go ahead and come forward, and I'll give a word of instruction as they come. This table is open to all people. You have confessed your sins before God, and that is the only requirement of this table.

I will serve my helpers first, and then we'll invite everyone forward. If you're online, please take something so that we may extend our table to you and join us. We'll get you a small piece of bread to dip into the cup, or you can get prepackaged and gluten-free bread here in the center if you'd like no one to have touched your communion.

In just a moment, we'll invite everyone forward. The Lord's table is prepared, and you're all invited to come. We'll start in the back, come up the center, and then out the outsides.

To ask something of you as we go through this sermon series. There's a story. There's a story that our bishop shares. And he met this woman. And I don't know what church it was at, but it was somewhere here in Florida. And it was right after he became our bishop. And he was visiting the churches.

And she walks up and he introduces himself. And she introduces herself. And then she says, Bishop, I am here. And he's like, yeah, yeah, I'm here too. We're both here. And she's like, no, no, no, Bishop, I am here. She said, I could be someplace. I could be somewhere else. But I am here.

And for some of us, we might be new to the United Methodist Church. For others of us, we've been in the United Methodist Church a long time. And in a season like the one we've been in, I want you to join me and all the United Methodist Churches in the Florida Conference who are asking all of us to ask God, why? Why are you? Why are you here?

Bishop has asked every one of us pastors to say it to ourselves and ask us to ask this question to every one of our members. Because, friends, it means something to be United Methodist. And the world needs us to live into it and needs us to love them.

And holy love. Love each other in holy love and to love the world. And we need to know. We're all here. Not just showing up, but that we are here.

So I would love for you to pray over that over the coming weeks. If you've got questions and you're not sure, come talk to me. I have spent years praying over this. Because I just went through ordination two years ago. If y'all don't know, that is the most painstaking process in the United Methodist Church possible. We are the hardest denomination to get ordained in. The hardest. The hardest in all of them.

And I got ordained in the hardest season of the United Methodist Church. And I had to pray to ensure this is what I wanted. So I'd be happy to talk with you.

So join me, please, in praying over this for each and every one of us.

Now, the big announcement of the day. It is the last Sunday to buy pork butts. We turn in the orders tomorrow to the man smoking them. Don't miss the chance. We did the math. It's about eight pounds. About eight pounds of smoked pork that you will go home with. It will feed you for sure.

I bet if you freeze half of it, you get two good times. You could freeze it and like eat all football season off of this pork. I'm telling you, it's fantastic.

This is also the last day to purchase tickets for our barbecue dinner. I've got exciting news, y'all. The barbecue dinner, we are going to have a show for the dinner. Yeah. Yeah. I know. Right? The theater group is going to put on a play for us. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I know. How exciting is that?

It's going to be me up here dancing. You're getting a bona fide play. Alright? And a box for your family, the bigger family, is no more than $40. You can feed the whole family. I mean, you can't go anywhere for that.

So, last day, last Sunday, tomorrow, the orders go in. Go back. Tommy's got the swipe. You can pay right now. Let's get it done. Alright? Don't tomorrow call me upset because you didn't go do it.

Alright. That's it. That's all. That's my pitch. And next week, I won't talk about it again.

Let's pray. The pork's a week on. You've missed your chance.

Let's pray.

Almighty God, I want to thank you. First and foremost, God, I want to thank you for the passion that John Wesley gave of bringing us back to the early fathers. Lord, he didn't have any theology that was new. That's what's so amazing about his movement. He didn't write anything that wasn't already there. He didn't design anything that was a revelation of just his. He just renewed us back to the foundation.

The founding fathers, the early first church, the passion to just simply love you and love others in a way that revolutionizes the world.

So God, help us to see. Help us to grow deep this week. Help us to renew the passion to be good followers of Jesus. God, I pray you bring us all back on Wednesday so we can grow more together. If we can't come together, that we'll find other ways to grow in community.

And Lord, just most important, help us in our discernment as a church. We pray this in your name.

1. "And one of the things he said is that we give because it is rooted in our very being. A phrase from Wesley. Giving is rooted in God's being. Therefore, we give because God gave. Kind of an interesting concept. We are created in the image of God. Therefore, we do the things in our very essence that God did." [25:25] (22 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "Friends, our history is important because how we got here, why Wesley did these things, it matters today. See, Wesley did not intend for us to be a church. For many of that 50 years, he had holy clubs everywhere which were small groups. And those small groups, they were still attending the Anglican church. They would go to church and they'd come home and they'd study together and they would go out and serve the community together and they would share the love of God with other people and they would do good holy things." [32:24] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "Friends, it is all about love. You can summarize all of Wesleyan theology with the idea of love. Specifically what we call holy love. Holy love rooted in God's unbounded love transformed by God's universal grace restored into God's image and growing deeper into a love we can never 100% grasp in this life. Love for God and love for neighbor. And every day we get a little bit better understanding of how deep and how long and how wide and how high that love is." [38:20] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "Salvation is a journey. It is not single moments. You do not have to say did I get saved on this date? Yes or no? Did I do it right or wrong? There is no right or wrong. There are no perfect words. It is not this moment. It's all the moments. The moment you start a hike is fantastic. Who gets excited when you start hiking? Have you ever, like, you're excited, right? You're like, oh, I'm going on a hike. Who's excited two miles in?" [38:55] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "We are transformed and made new. This is an ongoing process as well. You are not just transformed once. You are transformed again and again and again. Because as we grow deeper into our identity in Christ, we continue to be made new. I am so happy that I am not the person I was 10 years ago or 20 years ago. And I hope 20 years from now, I am still being made new. Amen?" [41:10] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




6. "We become reoriented. That means as we grow, we start to see the world through the lens of God's holy love. This is not always a comfortable thing. There's a process. And I am so thankful that I heard this amazing thing about orientation from our bishop. But he talks about the process where we may start oriented and we're doing good and feel comfortable in our orientation. And something happens that disorients us." [42:19] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




7. "Wesley did something Whitfield didn't. Everywhere Wesley preached he left groups. He left communities established. He didn't just give people this moving message and say, Peace, I'm out. Drop the mic and go on. He said, I'm so glad God has touched your life. Let me give you support to keep growing. That's the key. That's what the church has to offer today. Support to grow in your life." [45:02] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




8. "Wesley had new people come to small groups, not worship. You actually couldn't come to worship if you hadn't had your small group attendance card punched. That would be interesting today, wouldn't it? Could you see me checking your attendance cards at the door? I can see y'all's faces now if I look at you. I'm like, you did not attend group for the past four weeks. You're going to have to go and wait in the car for a couple hours so we can get another group on." [47:24] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




9. "That living life to where people are being challenged, they're being convicted, they're being prayed for, and being held accountable, that was where the transformation happened. And friends, our movement has birthed some mighty actions in our country, around the world. We reformed the Anglican church. John Wesley is revered as one of the great fathers of the Christian faith. And we are in a season where we need to be ready to do the work that God has us to do. Amen?" [48:34] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




10. "It means something to be United Methodist. And the world needs us to live into it and needs us to love them. And holy love. Love each other and holy love and to love the world. And we need to know. We're all here. Not just showing up, but that we are here. So I would love for you to pray over that over the coming weeks. If you've got questions and you're not sure, come talk to me." [01:07:20] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)