Greetings!
Easter Sunday is the most joyful and exciting Sunday of the year. To recognize that, we do things a little differently at New Covenant.
This Easter we will gather for a short worship service at 6:45 a.m. Sunday morning. We will gather in darkness and watch the sunrise as a powerful symbol of Jesus rising to new life from the grave. Our short service will be followed by breakfast and fellowship time.
After this service we will worship at 10:30 a.m. as we always do…in Spirit and Truth.
Hope to see you there,
Jake
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Wesleyan Devotional
The Almost Christian
On July 25, 1741 John Wesley climbed into a pulpit at Oxford University and preached a sermon entitled ‘The Almost Christian.’ The sermon was based on Acts. 26.28 ‘Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.’ In the sermon Wesley compares the almost Christian to the altogether Christian.
The almost Christian is in many ways the ideal Christian. According to Wesley the almost Christian “avoids all actual adultery, fornication, and uncleanness.” They “abstain from wine wherein is excess.” The almost Christian avoids gossip and “does not willingly wrong, hurt, or grieve any man.” In short, the almost Christian does no harm.
But more than this, the almost Christian does good. The almost Christian “reproves the wicked, instructs the ignorant, confirms the wavering, quickens the good and comforts the afflicted.” The almost Christian seeks to do good to all who they encounter and in all things seeks to follow “that plain rule ‘in everything, do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matthew 7.12).
Still more! The almost Christian constantly ‘frequents the house of God” practices private and family prayer and eats at the Lord’s Table often.
At this point you may find yourself like me, wishing that you were half as good as Wesley’s almost Christian. The above is an impressive list, the kind of Christian lifestyle that would transform the lives of most practicing Christians. Indeed the almost Christian seems to be almost a SUPER Christian. And yet Wesley says that all of the above is not enough to make someone altogether Christian.
After listing all the above qualities Wesley answers that for someone to be altogether Christian, they must have three things. First they must have the love of God. Wesley quotes Mark 12.30 ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ Wesley goes on to say “Such a love of God is this as engrosses the whole heart, as takes up all the affections, as fills the entire capacity of the soul….he that thus loves the Lord his God, his spirit continually rejoices in God his savior.” The difference between an almost Christian and an altogether Christian is that the altogether Christian is filled with a genuine, overwhelming love for God.
The second quality of an altogether Christian is love of neighbor. Wesley quotes Mark 12.31 ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ When asked who our neighbors are Wesley replies ‘everyone in the world!’ We cannot truly love God unless we love the things that God loves and believe it or not, God loves us! And so Wesley says the mark of an altogether Christian is that they truly love God and they truly love all people.
Still, according to Wesley one more thing is needed. The third and final mark of an altogether Christian is faith. Wesley explains what he means by faith, saying “the right and true Christian faith is not only to believe the Holy Scripture and the articles of our faith are true, but also to have a sure trust and confidence to be saved from everlasting damnation by Christ.” Wesley here refers to a saving faith, a sure hope in Jesus as one’s savior.
For Wesley then all the good works in the world still amount to an almost Christian if they are not motivated first by a love for God, second by a love for our neighbors and third, by a sure faith in Jesus Christ. We should work to do no harm, to abstain from sin, to do good to others and to be faithful in church attendance. But these actions must be the acts of our faith done in love. Or in Wesley’s words “whosoever has this faith, thus working by love, is not almost only, but altogether Christian.”
For Wesley, these are the marks of an altogether Christian.
1. Love of God.
2. Love of Neighbor.
3. Faith in Jesus Christ.
If you had to name the three things that mark and altogether Christian, what would make your list?
If you would like to read Wesley’s sermon ‘The Almost Christian’ for yourself, follow the link to your left to reach a free online archive of John Wesley’s sermons.
On July 25, 1741 John Wesley climbed into a pulpit at Oxford University and preached a sermon entitled ‘The Almost Christian.’ The sermon was based on Acts. 26.28 ‘Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.’ In the sermon Wesley compares the almost Christian to the altogether Christian.
The almost Christian is in many ways the ideal Christian. According to Wesley the almost Christian “avoids all actual adultery, fornication, and uncleanness.” They “abstain from wine wherein is excess.” The almost Christian avoids gossip and “does not willingly wrong, hurt, or grieve any man.” In short, the almost Christian does no harm.
But more than this, the almost Christian does good. The almost Christian “reproves the wicked, instructs the ignorant, confirms the wavering, quickens the good and comforts the afflicted.” The almost Christian seeks to do good to all who they encounter and in all things seeks to follow “that plain rule ‘in everything, do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matthew 7.12).
Still more! The almost Christian constantly ‘frequents the house of God” practices private and family prayer and eats at the Lord’s Table often.
At this point you may find yourself like me, wishing that you were half as good as Wesley’s almost Christian. The above is an impressive list, the kind of Christian lifestyle that would transform the lives of most practicing Christians. Indeed the almost Christian seems to be almost a SUPER Christian. And yet Wesley says that all of the above is not enough to make someone altogether Christian.
After listing all the above qualities Wesley answers that for someone to be altogether Christian, they must have three things. First they must have the love of God. Wesley quotes Mark 12.30 ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ Wesley goes on to say “Such a love of God is this as engrosses the whole heart, as takes up all the affections, as fills the entire capacity of the soul….he that thus loves the Lord his God, his spirit continually rejoices in God his savior.” The difference between an almost Christian and an altogether Christian is that the altogether Christian is filled with a genuine, overwhelming love for God.
The second quality of an altogether Christian is love of neighbor. Wesley quotes Mark 12.31 ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ When asked who our neighbors are Wesley replies ‘everyone in the world!’ We cannot truly love God unless we love the things that God loves and believe it or not, God loves us! And so Wesley says the mark of an altogether Christian is that they truly love God and they truly love all people.
Still, according to Wesley one more thing is needed. The third and final mark of an altogether Christian is faith. Wesley explains what he means by faith, saying “the right and true Christian faith is not only to believe the Holy Scripture and the articles of our faith are true, but also to have a sure trust and confidence to be saved from everlasting damnation by Christ.” Wesley here refers to a saving faith, a sure hope in Jesus as one’s savior.
For Wesley then all the good works in the world still amount to an almost Christian if they are not motivated first by a love for God, second by a love for our neighbors and third, by a sure faith in Jesus Christ. We should work to do no harm, to abstain from sin, to do good to others and to be faithful in church attendance. But these actions must be the acts of our faith done in love. Or in Wesley’s words “whosoever has this faith, thus working by love, is not almost only, but altogether Christian.”
For Wesley, these are the marks of an altogether Christian.
1. Love of God.
2. Love of Neighbor.
3. Faith in Jesus Christ.
If you had to name the three things that mark and altogether Christian, what would make your list?
If you would like to read Wesley’s sermon ‘The Almost Christian’ for yourself, follow the link to your left to reach a free online archive of John Wesley’s sermons.
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