The Three Simple Rules
Life can be complicated at times. We often feel scattered and overwhelmed. We come to church seeking peace and direction. We come hoping to gain perspective and fulfillment. Drawing parallels between Wesley’s time and the world today, the feelings of disenfranchisement, doubt and fear are much the same. But Wesley’s three simple rules transformed women and men and started a Methodist movement that became a denomination and transformed a forming landscape of the United States. What would it look like if you made these rules the center of your living?
The 3 Simple Rules were guides to those who wanted to be intentional about their discipleship rather than trust to chance and circumstance the depth of their relationship with Jesus. They were intended to be signposts for in life to create habits, actions and attitudes to guide us to become more Christ-Centered. Methodism developed by those we wanted to be intentional about life change. Do You
Be Intentional
C. K. Chesterton once said that, “If you walk to the edge of a cliff and keep walking, you will not break the law of gravity, you will prove it!”
Rules don’t take away our freedom, they point us towards the ways in which we live that freedom most fully.
Lewis Smedes reminds us that, “Rules belong to life the way that scales belong to music, and the way grammar belongs to writing.” We cannot live a good life without rules, any more than we can make music without scales or write a story without grammar.
Wesley’s intention was not to create a list of do’s and don’ts, but to serve as a guide. If you want to live a relationship to God, and you want to be faithful to the way of Jesus, this is the way you do it. These are the building blocks of the Christian life.
Wesley believed that unless we put into practice what we confess with our mouths and sing with our lips, it will soon grow cold and indifferent. We must be active Christians or we will so become dead Christians.
Doing Good is Wesley’s call to actions. “I will do all the good I can, in all the places I can for as long as I can.” If you’re heart is telling you to do something about the faith and joy of God in your life, then you, like Wesley and all United Methodists, should heed the call to DO GOOD.
Our Pledge
Any kindness I can show, any good thing I can do, any encouragement I can offer, let me do it now, and not deter or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.
Sermon Notes 07.22.12. Do Good
Audio Files: Do Good 7.22.12E Do Good 7.22.12L
Leave a Reply