Stay in Love With God

Focus Statement

Being in love with God isn’t about getting what we want;

it’s all about relationship.

Point of Relation

I have always experienced the grace of God most during worship!

There is just something about praying, singing, hearing Scripture read, hearing or preaching the sermon, Holy Communion...

All of those things are just so life-filling for me...

I have told you this before…but there was this time when I was in India...

[Recount that story]

But my experiencing God’s grace is not limited to exotic excurions in far away places.

I feel God’s grace every time I worship here.

I feel the Holy Spirit filling me in the JOY Fellowship Service...

And that fuels me over here at this SERVICE...

I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in you and through you...

through you and my interactions with you.

The reason I am attuned to those things is that I have disciplined myself to be.

I read Scripture regularly…

thank God, right? What else would I preach on?!?!?! Yikes!

I pray regularly

I receive Holy Communion every week…and sometimes multiple times a week.

I sing hymns, not just while in church, but also at home...

In fact, I have this resource arranged by Julie and Timothy Tennent called: A Metrical Psalter: The Book of Psalms Set to Meter for Singing

For instance … (ODE TO JOY)

Bless-ed is the one who does not walk within the wicked way,

Nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit where the scoffers stay.

But he takes delight in foll’wing what the LORD’s law says is right,

On that law he meditates both in the day and in the night.

He will be just like a tree that’s planted by the streams that flow;

Yielding fruit within its season, leaves that ever healthy grow.

In all things he does, he prospers; but the wicked are not so--

They are like the useless chaff that’s cast away by winds that blow.

Thus, the wicked will not stand when comes the final judgment day;

Nor will sinners join the gath’ring of the righteous in the Way.

For the LORD knows well and watches o’er the way the righteous own;

But the way the wicked choose will perish and be overthrown.

(That was Psalm 1 Set to the tune of ODE TO JOY)

The truth be told,

anyone who practices their Spiritual Disciplines regularly knows that the more disciplined they are Spiritually,

the closer to God they become!

The power and presence of God is NOT as secret to those who KNOW God.

Things to Consider

Now, let me pause here to have you consider a few things...

There are times when we all need support from others.

That support can be a sharing of God’s love with us.

And there are also things we can do to cultivate our spiritual lives and support others.

Think about some of the church practices (or non-church practices) that help you connect to God.

For me, worship has been a huge part of my life.

All forms of it. I LOVE WORSHIP

I also desire Scripture and the Sacraments…those things really connect me to God.

Also…serving others. I find that to be so rewarding.

I also love taking hikes, reading books, watching movies, writing poetry and music...

So much of that connects me to God.

What Scripture Says

It’s important to name the difficulty that this passage raises.

It can be and has been interpreted to mean that it is our prayers and faith that heal and save people,

the implication being that if someone is not healed or saved

that there has not been enough faith or praying.

That is not the case.

Does Jesus’ unanswered prayer in the garden go unanswered because his faith wasn’t strong enough or he wasn’t praying hard enough?

Doing these things does not guarantee that things will always go the way we want them to,

but rather we can find a peace with whatever happens because we have brought all our concerns to God.

When we live a life of genuine faith, rooted in grace and shaped by Wesley’s General Rules,

we can begin to see and understand that even when things don’t happen the way we want them to,

God is with us. IMMANUEL.

Our prayers are that,

“thy will be done,” not “my will be done”.

Again, even Jesus struggled with this (in the prayer of Gethsemane),

but he ultimately bowed to God’s will.

Our faith is not contingent on God answering prayers the way we want!

Staying in love with God,

or keeping the ordinances of God (as John Wesley put it),

is not something we do with the goal of getting what we want,

but rather grounds us in a faith relationship with God

that can help us endure whatever life brings.

The passage lists several concrete practices the church was doing in the first century:

praying,

anointing with oil

(visible sign of invisible grace),

confessing sins and forgiving,

singing praises

PARTAKING IN THE SACRAMENTS OF Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.

These types of actions are concrete ways that they and we can “stay in love with God.”

That is why Wesley stressed those things so much...

That is what he meant with this third rule of attendingto the ordinances of God…or more modernly put…staying in love with God...

For Wesley that meant reglular worship, regular prayer, regular Holy Communion, regular hymn singing and praising, regular visiting with and caring for the sick and dying and imprisoned.

This list is obviously not exhaustive,

but it gives us examples of what Christians can do together that,

over time, shape a way of life.

We do not do these things to be “religious” and tick off boxes,

but to enter into grace through means that God has provided for us.

The passage suggests that no matter what our circumstances, we can bring them to God in both worship and prayer.

This is not just abstract but made concrete in the life of the church.

The church does not exist only for our own personal/individual religion

but as a place to care for one another with the love of God and accompany one another in Christian faith.

This is a key aspect of Wesleyan faith:

In ¶ 102 of the United Methodist Book of Discipline, it reads,

“Finally, we emphasize the nurturing and serving function of Christian fellowship in the Church. The personal experience of faith nourished by the worshiping community.

For Wesley there is no religion but social religion, no holiness but social holiness. The communal forms of faith in the Wesleyan tradition not only promotes personal growth; they also equip and mobilize us for mission and service to the world.

The outreach of the church springs from the working of the Holy Spirit. As United Methodists, we respond to that working through a connectional polity based upon mutual responsiveness and accountability. Connectional ties bind us together in faith and service in our global witness, enabling faith to become active in love and intensifying our desire for peace and justice in the world.”

This is METHODIST CHRISTIANITY 101.

Another aspect of this passage, in verses 19-20,

talks about those who have strayed from their faith and are brought back.

It illustrates the concern of the early church to care for one another’s souls,

encourage one another,

and be the grace of God to others.

Given that the whole letter ends on this note,

it shows the importance of God’s love always extending to each and every one of us,

no matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done.

What this means for you

Think of one practice that helps them to feel grounded.

How can you work on that practice for one month?

Perhaps you could

pray every day, go to church every Sunday this month

listen to one sermon podcast a week

You could check out Life-Giving Water Messages, which is my podcast...

or there’s a host to choose from out there.

Perhaps you could step out in faith and up your giving...

Or you could be more generous with your time and serve at our Treasures of Hope Thrift Shoppe.

Do any of you feel that you once had a vibrant faith

and have wandered from it?

Perhaps you need some encouragement and a non-judgmental ear.

Or do you know of anyone feeling that way?

Are there ways we can lovingly and non- judgmentally reach out to them

and invite them back into relationship,

remembering God’s grace always abounds?

What this means for us

What does it look like for our community to be deeply grounded in our pursuit of sanctification?

How are we taking Jesus seriously,

not only in our personal lives but in what we do for each other and the world?

Christ’s hope and Wesley’s hope for us is that our faith,

lived out...

our journey of sanctification...

would become a lifestyle.

Our mission is to

“Make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

There is always a connection between personal and social holiness. ALWAYS

You as individuals form our congregation together...

And our congregation is shaped by the practices of the church

in such a way as to bring the world closer to God.

Let us continue to build up on that and work toward truly TRANSFORMING the community and the world around us. Amen? Amen!