MAY 21 & 28 SERMON YOUTUBE LINKS

(Sermon LINKS are available after 6 PM on Sunday, the Date of the Sermon)
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MAY 21 - FINAL WORDS FROM OUR RISEN CHRIST Sermon Series - Sermon 3 - "I AM SENDING YOU," Make Disciples, I Am With You, Wait, Receive, Witness"

"KEEPERS OF THE FLAME"

May 21, 2023 at 11:00 AM

 Jesus to the Disciples
John 20:19-22, Matt 28:18-20, Acts 1:1-14

ALDERSGATE SUNDAY
Celebrated on MAY 21

Aldersgate Sunday
Methodists traditionally commemorate Aldersgate Sunday on 24 May or the Sunday nearest to it, which was a day of significant change for John Wesley. Throughout his life, John Wesley captured his experiences in his journal:  “In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans.  About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.  I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” It was 24 May 1738.  Wesley was almost 35 years old and had been ordained for nearly 10 years. The ‘society’ he attended was a Moravian meeting in London.  Wesley first encountered the Moravian Church during a difficult two-year mission to Georgia in North America, from which he had returned just six months earlier.  During the journey, their ship had been struck by a severe storm, and shipwreck and death seemed inevitable to most aboard.  What Wesley noticed was the calm assurance of the Moravians:  confident in God’s love and their salvation, they did not appear to fear death.  Wesley did not have that assurance.  He was struggling at this point in his life when it was far from certain that the beginnings of a religious revival would take hold and flourish.  John Wesley’s experience at the Aldersgate meeting transformed his belief and preaching, ultimately leading to the formation of the Methodist Church.  Without Aldersgate, Methodism, as we know it today, may not have happened.  But Aldersgate is not just about the past, or just about John Wesley.  His experience, so memorably and vividly expressed in his journal, demonstrates the difference it makes in knowing God for ourselves.  When one least expects it, even when things haven’t turned out the way we hoped or when we feel we’ve heard it all before, there can be change.  Change happens when we share the story.  Wesley experienced this when someone else read him Martin Luther’s Preface to Romans.  Just as John Wesley felt his heart ‘strangely warmed’, we too can be refreshed and inspired by sharing our faith stories with each other.

(Sermon LINKS are available after 6 PM on Sunday, the Date of the Sermon)
(CLICK the Sermon Title. It has the embedded LINK to go to the VIDEO)

MAY 28 - FINAL WORDS FROM OUR RISEN CHRIST Sermon Series - Sermon 4 - "Stop Doubting and Believe" Don't Be Locked Out by Doubt; Ask Questions

May 28, 2023 at 11:00 AM

Jesus to Thomas - John 20:24-31
Pentecost – Acts Chapter 2 / Greatest Love – John 15:13

      Series Text - Acts 1:3 

PENTECOST SUNDAY
MEMORIAL WEEKEND SUNDAY   

PENTECOST

One of the principal days of the Christian year is celebrated on the fiftieth day after Easter.  The Greek word Pentecost means "fiftieth day." Pentecost is the day on which the Christian church commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and others assembled in Jerusalem.  It marks the beginning of the Christian church and the proclamation of its message throughout the world and is often referred to as the birthday of the church.  The liturgical color for Pentecost is red.  Traditionally, Pentecost has been a day for baptisms. Because it was the custom in the early church for persons being baptized to wear white robes or clothing, the day also became known as Whitsunday, a contraction of White Sunday.