'MEANS OF GRACE'— CONNECTING WITH GOD

“7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Malachi 3(NKJ)

Jesus—Disciples—Connection to God—New Covenant

Jesus’ Death—Resurrection—Ascension—H.S.—Peter—3,000 added to their numbers

Today’s reading—The Believers Together

What’s next? Jesus was their all in all—Their source of strength, wisdom, direction, help, and hope. How woiuld they now connect with God? With Jesus who was the life-blood of their faith?

(S2) — J.W. posed a similar question in his sermon, “The Means of Grace”

“Are there any ordinances now, since life and immortality were brought to light by the Gospel?”

How do we stay connected with God? What do the scriptures teach about how God makes himself available to us now? What does it mean to connect with God in meaningful ways?

Think about a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP...How do you maintain/strengthen the relationaship? Stay connected?

Truth is, sometimes we fall short in connecting in meaningful ways—Busy—Priorities—Poor communication (Devices). We can miss out on the relationships that matters the most.

Hurricane Harvey—Houston(2017)—UM pastor’s attempt to help someone—Boat—Did not want to leave—Who sent the boat?—U.M. team

The elderly man—”I’m a baptist, I think I’ll wait for a Baptist boat to come by.”

Pastor—”If I were a Methodist in a home that was about to be flooded and a baptist boat came along, I think i’d go ahead and get in it.”

As a believer today, it’s easy to MISS the BOAT when it comes to connecting with God....

“God’s help in the form of GRACE comes to us in practical ways—in much the same way as a boat is a practical means of saving someone form a flood” (S.W.W.Jones)

The good news is, Jesus gave his first followers a way, through the gift of the H.S. Gathered one place, they set the example of how to stay connected with God...

(S3) — Acts 2:42 (NLT)

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

They devoted themselves—Recognized God’s GRACE or presence in four ways

1. In the TEACHING of the apostles—Students of the stories of Jesus

2. Their GATHERED community, or fellowship (koinōnia)

1 John 1:3 “We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

3. SHARED meal—specifically the Lord’s supper—

4. PRAYER

Prayer was not unique to the Israelites of the early biblical period. It differed from those of surrounding ancient Near Eastern cultures. The biblical examples of prayer portray Yahweh as a God who listens, not a deity who is distant. The teachings about and examples of prayer in the N.T. stem from these Jewish roots, yet they contain innovations introduced by Jesus and The most notable developments are prayer in the NAME of JESUS and the introduction of the Lord’s Prayer. Leslie T. Hardin, “Prayer,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

J.W. latter identified these ways of connecting with God as The ‘MEANS OF GRACE’

(S4)— What did he mean by, ‘Means of Grace?’

“The outward signs, words, or actions ordained of God and appointed for this end—to be the ordinary channels whereby He might convey to men preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.” J.W.

P/J/S—Before I met Jesus—When I met Jesus—Jesus working in me

“John Wesley taught that God's grace is unearned and that we were not to be idle waiting to experience grace but we are to ENGAGE in the means of grace—Ways God works invisibly in us, hastening, strengthening; and confirming faith so that God's grace pervades in and through us”

These means or ordinances were, “OUTWARD signs of an INWARD grace”

How do you connect with God? Stories of Jesus—Gathering—Communion—Prayer. What way is most meaningful?

Wesley, as he did often in his sermons, refuted the way theses MEANS in the church of England, had become empty vessels for the purpose bringing glory to man not God.

(S5) — He expressed it this way

“Outward religion is nothing worth without the religion of the heart; ‘that God is a Spirit and they who worship Him in spirit and truth’; therefore, external worship is lost labour without a heart devoted to God; that the outward ordinances of God then profit much when they advance inward holiness...” J.W.

The DEVOTION of the gathering believers in their practice of faith, to connect with God through the means Jesus had taught them., is evident as more than an outward expression of their faith

43 “ A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.”

They were experiencing a deep connection with God in the Spirit. One they had because of Jesus’ own devotion to his father in heaven. This devotion was embedded in the DNA or culture of the first community of believers.

(S6) —

Their close connection with each other was dependent on their deep connection to God.

It’s no wonder they GREW in great NUMBERS!

J.W. said, “that over time some began to pay more attention to the MEANS than to the END.

Going through the motions—Repetition

(S7) — J.W. encounter with Peter Bohler—

“I was clearly convinced of unbelief, of the want of that faith whereby alone we are saved. Immediately it struck into my mind How can you preach to others, who have not faith yourself?” I asked Bohler whether he thought I should leave it off or not. He answered, “By no means.” I asked, “But what can I preach?” He said, “Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.”

The first person to whom he offered salvation by faith alone, was a prisoner under sentence of death. His name was Clifford. Peter Bohler had many times desired me to speak to him before. But I could not prevail on myself so to do; being still, as I had been many years, a zealous asserter of the impossibility of a deathbed repentance.

Jail Visit—Forgotten Man Ministries

It’s OK if we don’t always feel something inside—If were unsure about next steps in our faith. The goal of all Christian practice is a transformed heart—one that loves God fully and loves one’s neighbor as himself.”

For the new body of believers, The RESULTS of their devotion to these Christian practices...

(S8) —

“43…the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity” Acts 2

J. W. preached the importance of these means of grace—“According to the word of these Holy Scriptures, all who desire the grace of God are to…WAIT UPON the LORD in these ways in anticipation of the spirit of God to work inwardly in us

Worship design—Human effort—Make space for the presence of God to open your heart—Our attitude, how we come to worship matters

Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the Kingdom of God...above all else…seek in the means of grace

(S9) —J. W. found the chief of these means is to...

Wait upon the Lord ...in the Way of PRAYER

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

By this he meant both PRIVATE and PUBLIC prayer—Jesus went away to pray—Prayed with his disciples—Prayed to his father in heaven in front of crowds of people

Is PRAYER one of the means you connect in meaningful ways to God?

(S10) —

Wait upon the Lord...in the Searching of SCRIPTURES

Wesley believed that the written word of God—The Bible—”is a primary way in which God communicates God’s word to humanity”

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 Timothy 3:16

Filled with anxiety? Search the scriptures— Facing a difficult decision—Unsure about next steps—Need direction—

Prayer is meaningful, but don’t stop there. Ask, “what do the scriptures say?” and search them for the answer...

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!” John 5:39

What are you facing right now? The answer is here! Jesus is the answer

biblehub.com

Wait upon the Lord... in PRAYER and Searching the SCRIPTURES

“Bless God for the means of grace and hope of glory”

In two world wars, British and American chaplains risked their lives to bring a fleeting sense of peace and glory to soldiers on the battlefield. They carried no weapons, only holy books and rudimentary vestments, a crucifix or a Star of David and sometimes a little Communion kit. But they were towering figures on the battlefield, symbols of something eternally good in a pitiless world of cruelty, horror, and death. In two cataclysmic world wars, American and British military chaplains served everywhere the armies and navies went, bringing peace where there was no peace and security where there was no security. When World War I ended in 1918, a total of 2,363 chaplains had seen yeoman’s service with the United States Army. Father Francis Duffy, senior chaplain to the 42nd Division, drew crowds of soldiers who were waiting for him to hear confessions aboard a transport bound for France. In action, Duffy was always near the heaviest fighting, often going to the forward dressing station of one of the division’s units. He ended the war with both the Distinguished Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal. “Live With the Men, Go Everywhere They Go” The British chaplaincy had been established by royal warrant in 1796. During World War I, some 172 British chaplains were casualties. Thousands of British soldiers remembered Chaplain Studdert Kennedy, a tiny Irishman whom the soldiers called Woodbine Willie for his habit of passing out Woodbine cigarettes in the trenches. Kennedy’s personal philosophy spoke for all the chaplains of that war: “Live with the men, go everywhere they go. Make up your mind you will share all their risks, and more, if you can do any good. The line is the key to the whole business. Work in the very front and they will listen to you. Take a box of fags in your haversack, and a great deal of love in your heart and go up to them; laugh with them, joke with them. You can pray with them sometimes, but pray for them always!” December 2010 By Robert Barr Smith

(S11) —

Wait upon the Lord...in the Partaking of the LORD’S SUPPER

Acts 2:46 “They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—”

How often? As often as you can...

1 Corinthians 10:16 “When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ?”

(S12) — Wesley comes to this conclusion about the Lord's supper

“Is not the eating of that bread, and the drinking of that cup, the outward, visible means whereby God conveys into our souls all that spiritual grace, that righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, which were purchased by the body of Christ once broken and the blood of Christ once shed for us? Let all, therefore, who truly desire the grace of God, eat of that bread and drink of that cup.” J.W.

Why we say…let all who wish to receive the mystery of Christ through this means of grace come…this table is open.

“O the depth of love divine, the unfathomable grace! Who shall say how bread and wine God into us convey! How the bread of his flesh imparts, how the wine transmits His blood, fills us his faithful people’s hearts with all the life of God!” O Depth of Love Divine, C.W.

In the Lord’s supper we are connecting in the life-giving body of Christ?

(S13) —‌‌

Wait upon the Lord...in the FELLOWSHIP of others

Wesley called this means of grace, Christian Conferencing—Worship—Small groups—”whereby peoples faith is strengthened and they GROW in GRACE. When we connect with other believers, we are connecting with God.

Class meetings—A system of discipleship and accountability, which was used by God to bring revival to eighteenth-century England. The heart of Wesley’s method were these small cell groups. These groups met to give an account of their personal spiritual progress to one another.

Class meetings or small groups are vital for a Church’s revival, and for the saving and sanctifying of souls

47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

(S14) —

PRAYER—SCRIPTURES—COMMUNION—FELLOWSHIP

In Bible study, the question proposed by someone who recently had a converting experience...What’s next?

Whats next…for the person exploring faith— just saved—follower of Jesus?

Connect with God by the means of Grace

Be a part of a local church — Faith community

Attend Worship atleast weekly

Recieve Holy communion as ofetn as you can

Read your Bibkle daily

Join a small group

Practice and live out your faith

“It is God alone who is the giver of every good gift, the author of all grace; that the whole power is of Him, whereby through any of these there is any blessing conveyed to the soul.”

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