The seventh sermon “Watching Over One Another in Love” in the “Blueprint for Becoming Disciples” sermon series is now up. You can listen to it on my podcast here.

This sermon discusses the Wesleyan practice of “watching over one another in love” through small group accountability. One of the central arguments of the sermon is that you will either move forward or fall backward in your faith. John Wesley understood this and used small group accountability as a way to help Christians keep their faith in its proper place as the number one priority in their lives. When Christians have gathered together in order to “watch over one another in love” both communities of faith and individual Christians have tended to grow in their love of God and neighbor. Especially for Methodists, when we discontinued this practice we began to decline and lose our zeal.

Have you had any experiences with “watching over one another in love?” How did it help you in your growth as a Christian? What are other thoughts or reactions to this sermon?

The fifth sermon “Rule #3: Practice the Means of Grace” in the “Blueprint for Becoming Disciples” sermon series is now up. You can listen to it on my podcast here.

This sermon discusses the third General Rule “Attend Upon the Ordinances of God.” This sermon discusses those practices that enable us to fulfill the first part of Jesus’ double commandment to love God and neighbor. The sermon looks at the public worship of God, the ministry of the Word, the Supper of the Lord, family and private prayer, searching the Scriptures, and fasting as practices, or means of grace, that enable us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Again, I would love to hear your reactions to this sermon!

The third sermon “Rule #1: Do No Harm” in the “Blueprint for Becoming Disciples” sermon series is now up. You can listen to it on my podcast here.

This sermon discusses the first General Rule, “Do No Harm.” The sermon looks at the idea that in order for Christians to grow in their relationship with God, they first have to stop doing things that cause them to move away from God. In other words, before you can move forward in your faith, you have to stop going backwards. I relate a way that I learned this lesson when first learning how to drive a stick shift and coming to a stop just below the top of a hill. I had to stop going backwards before I could get the car to go forward.

As always, I would love to hear your feedback. What do you think are some particular areas where Methodists are called today to provide a witness in “doing no harm?” Is there anything that you particularly resonate with? Anything that you particularly disagree with?