Our Methodist heritage starts with John Wesley. However, our heritage also starts with something else. It also starts with an acknowledgment that we aren't always going to be very good at something, no matter how hard we try at it.
For Wesley, his challenge came with his faith. He was brought up in a very religious family, and he had a deep faith, but that didn't translate into a deep assurance of what that meant. Wesley would try for a long time to try and figure things out.
While this was his challenge, it was also his strongest trait. He was never afraid to try, and if one thing didn't work, then he would try something else. For the first part of his life, he tried to learn it all through books. Books would always be an important part of his education, but he came to find out the limitation of them.
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| https://quotefancy.com/quote/1464510/John-Wesley-Read-the-most-useful-books-and-that-regularly-and-constantly |
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| https://www.pinterest.com/pin/107593878571676266/ |
He knew that he needed something more than just what could be learned from books. Almost by accident he began to meet with a small group of men. They had, at the center of what they did, a desire to
- Learn from One Another
- Grow in Faith
- Build a Relationship with God
They would try many different ways of doing this. This group, because of what they were doing, would often be scoffed at, and made fun of by others. Their small group would be called many names over time. My favorite is the “SupererogationMen." The first major name that stuck to this group was the "Holy Club."
They were called this because they were devout in their work, and were more earnest in it than others that were around them. Later, as they were working on finding the right "method" for their work, some would start calling them "Methodists." This would be the name that John Wesley would adopt, and it would be a name that would transform the religious life of England, and the colonies (later nation) in the new world.
Wesley and the Holy Club were not the only ones to ever have done this. Our scripture reading from Sunday came from Acts 2:42-47. The first part of Acts 2 describes the events of Pentecost, and the second part of acts describes what life was like in the early church.
This is a great statement on what the early church looked like. One of the things that we forget, is that Acts was written as history of the early church. When that happened, they could give an account of what the church would ultimately look like without going into a lot of details on how they got there. The letters of the New Testament tell the story of how they got there. The early believers didn't really know what they were doing. What they had were Jesus' teachings, what the Apostles were saying, and a few letters that were being circulated. They were having to figure this out on their own.
In that moment, though, we find the key. They were finding it out. They were a group of folks. Individually, they would have struggled to figure it out, but as a group they were getting there. They could do it, because they could
- Learn from One Another
- Grow in Faith
- Build a Relationship with God
This is the same lesson that John Wesley would learn. When he would try to do things on his own, he would fail. For an example of that, look at what happened when he was in Georgia. His story there makes Soap Operas believable. but it was when he returned home, he again began to gather with others, and they would begin to share the Gospel.
They would form first societies, then band meetings, then class meetings, and other forms of small groups. These would prove to be the way that thousands were transformed and brought to faith. Because they were doing this together, it gave them power that they couldn't have alone. What God was doing in them was shared with those that wouldn't have heard it otherwise.
This was what was also happening in the early church. The small groups would gather, and lives were changed.
Over the years we have gone through many different names for these groups. Now, we have settled on a very generic name of "small groups" because there is such a large variety of them. What we have learned is that it helps us with our faith to be a part of a small group. And that is my challenge to you.
We need leaders for our small groups. You don't need to have a clear idea of what you want to do, nor do you have to have all the answers. What we need in a leader is a desire to lead and help your group figure it out as you go. The rest of it we can work on and figure out.
We also need members. I think everyone should find a way of being a part of a small group. To make that task easier, we aren't going to expect you to make a lifetime commitment to these groups, but first asking that you make a short term commitment starting the first Sunday of October and continuing until Thanksgiving. We'll pick back up again after the new year.
This is a great chance for you to see what it's like. And, it's also a great time to invite a friend to come join you. This is a great way to connect others to faith and to the church.
As we look to starting these groups, watch for more info to come out, and most importantly, spend some time in prayer asking God to lead you to be a leader, or a member of one of these groups. Amen.
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