Today I am working on the fifth sermon in the sermon series I have been preaching, “Family Matters.” Sunday’s sermon will address what husbands need from their wives. I have read a lot of books and articles, but I thought it would be great to hear from some real live husbands. So, husbands, this is your chance to make sure that your voice is heard. What do you most need or want from your wife?

A recent post on Andrew Conard’s blog Thoughts of Resurrection discusses worship in the Wesleyan tradition. He asks some great questions. I would encourage you to visit his blog and be a part of this discussion by clicking here.

Here are my two cents:

I think Andrew is on to something when he mentions the means of grace as something that is distinct to the Wesleyan tradition. The main thing that I think comes from thinking about the means of grace as it relates to worship is the Eucharist. In other words, I think if John Wesley walked into your average UM church and sat through worship next Sunday, his first criticism would be, why didn’t you take Communion? (Most UM churches take Communion only on the first Sunday of the month, thought I am aware of their being exceptions to this.)

In his sermon “Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse the Sixth,” Wesley referred to Communion as the grand channel whereby the grace of his Spirit was conveyed to the souls of all the children of God (Bicentennial Ed. of the Works of John Wesley, vol. 1, 585). For Wesley, Communion, was the most obvious way that people could expect to receive God’s grace. Worship that is centered in the Wesleyan tradition, then, would take advantage of every possible opportunity to receive this means of grace.

I am aware that many churches have a sort of separate, optional Communion service. That is probably better than not offering Communion at all, but I still think that is missing the tenor of our tradition.

The second distinctive mark of Wesleyan worship that came to my mind is the love feast. This is a specific service of worship (a description of this service can be found in The United Methodist Book of Worship) that the early Methodists used on occasion to come together in fellowship and to give testimony to how God had been at work in their lives.

The third distinctive mark of Wesleyan worship that I thought of is accountability. This post will get way too long if I go into the Methodist structure (society, class, band) but Methodists were, well – methodical, about holding each other accountable for growing in their faith, for making progress along the way of salvation.

A final mark of Wesleyan worship is singing great hymns. Charles Wesley wrote literally thousands of hymns. His hymns used music that people of the time could relate to, they had profound, solid lyrics that told the story of the salvation that comes through a relationship with Christ. Wesleyan worship today will have hymns that are sung in a way that speaks to the people singing them, and they will have lyrics that make the gospel come to life in people’s souls.

I just uploaded this Sunday’s sermon, the fourth sermon in the “Family Matters” sermon series, “What Wives Need from Their Husbands.” You can subscribe to my podcast or listen to the sermon by either clicking on the link “deeply committed sermons” under “deep links” or you can click here.

You can also listen to the first three sermons from this series:
Week 1: Laying the Foundation for a Healthy Family
Week 2: Sex: God’s Gift for Marriage
Week 3: Divorce: Separating What God Has Joined Together

This sermon will also soon be on the lamontumc.org website, along with the many other sermons that are already published there.

Sunday May 13th, 2007 I had the privilege and blessing of baptizing Treven. I always use the same hymnal (which has the baptism liturgy in it that I use) and I love the way I always get at least a few drops of water on it when I am involved in a baptism. So, now those pages are kind of crinkled and not as smooth. Every time I open my hymnal and notice those pages, I am reminded of the promises that God has made to Treven and all who have put on Christ through the sacrament of baptism.

Being involved in the sacrament of Baptism is my favorite part about being a minister because it is the time when I feel the closest to God’s love and faithfulness. Especially in infant baptism, because it is just so obvious that God is the one whose power is at work. I am not sure there is ever a time in the life of the church where the gracious nature of salvation is more evident than in infant baptism.

No matter what we do, from the time we are baptized on, there is nothing we can do to cause God to let go of his end of the promise. To be sure, this is not a permission to sin without consequence. God expects us to be obedient and faithful to keeping our end of what we have promised. But isn’t it incredible, in a world so full of conditions, that God has shown us his love for us, without condition?

Remember your baptism and be thankful!

Family Matters is a sermon series that atttempts to give positive advice to people seeking to strengthen their families. It also seeks to explain what the Christian Scriptures have to say about some of the most important issues that face 21st century families, like sex and divorce. The first two sermons of this series are already posted on our church’s website: lamontumc.org Please post your thoughts or comments about these sermons here.