Wesley Word – October 26

Carolyn Lemaster   -   October 26, 2022

To go along with service on: Sunday, October 30, 2022

Experiencing Grace

Exploring Truth

Matthew 5:13-16

Promises: Witness

We are continuing our series based on our membership vows called Promises. When we become members of a local church in the United Methodist Church we promise that we will faithfully participate in the ministries of the church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness.  This week we are discussing the promise of: witness.

What does it mean to be a witness? We usually use this word to describe someone who gives testimony in a court trial. A witness, then, is someone who shares what they know, what they have seen. We are to be witnesses of the Gospel, the Good News, of Jesus Christ in the world.

This can be as simple as inviting other people to church or telling them our story of faith. It does not require special training. We are not lawyers who argue a case; we are witnesses who give our testimony. Research tells us that, by far, the number one reason that people attend a church for the first time is that they are invited by a friend or family member who attends that church.

It is also important that we be credible witnesses, that our lives reflect a joyful Christian life. This is what Jesus, in our text this week, means by, “Letting our light shine.”

Question for Reflection/Discussion:

  1. Who can I share my faith with and invite to church?

 

New Testament in a Year: https://wesleyonline.org/biblereading/

  • October 26    Titus 1:1-16
  • October 27    Titus 2:1-15
  • October 28    Titus 3:1-15
  • October 29    Philemon 1:1-25
  • October 30    Hebrews 1:1-14
  • October 31    Hebrews 2:1-18
  • November 1    Hebrews 3:1-19
  • November 2    Hebrews 4:1-16

 

Expressing Love: Family/Mission Activity

Letting our light shine means many things to many people. Reading on this topic this week many people will immediately think of carving pumpkins for Halloween. However, at my house this time of year, it means putting up our Christmas lights (yes, they are up!)

We, however, are talking about letting our inner light shine, like a lighthouse on a foggy night.  When we let it shine we can find our way in the dark and sometimes confusing times. If we, as God’s children, let it shine the way He wants it to, we can help guide other people around us as well, our family, friends and even strangers (strangers are friends we haven’t made yet, just so you know!). Sometimes like the lighthouses for God we are, we will help guide boats with full believers, boats with people who believe but just are not 100% sure what they believe. Then we may, and probably will, come across people who we invite on to a boat but they refuse to get on. Maybe we will spend our whole lives inviting people onto a boat so we can help guide them, but they refuse to get on. Other people may accept the invite after many attempts to invite them.

The light that guides us is the Holy Spirit as some of you may have guessed. Please use this analogy as a way to let the Holy Spirit guide you and guide you to help those around you, with invitation, love, peace and by showing how the Holy Spirit cares for all.

This week we can demonstrate following the light by using a flashlight. After moving all the tripping hazards from your path, I challenge you to pick a simple task in your home using a flashlight as your only light in order to complete the task you have chosen. When you have finished, think about how much harder this task would have been if you did not have a guiding light to follow.

“I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.”- Ecclesiastes 2:13

 

Announcements

  • WOW (Wesley on Wednesdays) 6:00 pm. Refreshments, devotions, adult classes and programming for youth and children.
  • All Saints Sunday – November 6
  • Annual Charge Conference—Sunday, November 6, 3:00 pm in Fellowship Hall.
  • Youth and Children’s Choir Concert – Sunday, November 13, 4:00 pm.
  • Thanksgiving Service and Meal – November 20, combined service at 10:00 am. Meal will follow at the Wesley Family Life Center.
  • Community Thanksgiving Service at Wesley – Wednesday, November 23, 6:00 pm.