{"id":687,"date":"2014-02-18T08:59:40","date_gmt":"2014-02-18T12:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=687"},"modified":"2014-04-19T18:30:47","modified_gmt":"2014-04-19T22:30:47","slug":"you-are-not-alone-21614","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=687","title":{"rendered":"You Are Not Alone (2\/16\/14)"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning’s sermon was part 5 of a series of messages based on the book “The Wesleyan\u00a0\u00a0 Way:\u00a0 A Faith that Matters.”\u00a0 The scripture underlying Pastor Larry’s message was Acts 2:1-21 (the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

During this series, we’ve been exploring a journey- how do we get to a point where we truly “love the Lord our God with all our heart,\u00a0 soul, mind and strength?”\u00a0 It all happens through God’s grace, but we need to be aware of some of the “Means of Grace” which God uses to equip us for that journey.\u00a0 Pastor Larry made then analogy during the children’s sermon of a boom box that won’t play unless it’s plugged into an outlet for power.\u00a0 In the same way, the “Means of Grace” empower us to “play”for God- to grow in grace and to Glorify Him.<\/p>\n

The message identified 7 Means of Grace… special moments where God “shows up” in an especially meaningful way:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Baptism.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 Baptism marks us as part of God’s family.\u00a0 We can only be baptized once.\u00a0 God shows up when we commit ourselves to Him.<\/li>\n
  2. Communion.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 The Lord’s Supper is a way of remembering His sacrifice and our entry into His grace through His forgiveness.\u00a0 Many churches call the Lord’s Supper (or “Holy Communion”) the Eucharist.\u00a0 The Greek\u00a0 word “Eucharist” means “thank you”.\u00a0 Celebrating the Lord’s\u00a0 supper is a way of recognizing our sin and His holiness, and thanking Him for the grace that bridges\u00a0 the two.<\/li>\n
  3. Scripture.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 The Bible is God’s inspired Word, and it is a means of God’s grace.\u00a0 Wesleyans do not teach that Scripture is infallible.\u00a0 Instead, we teach that the Bible “contains all things necessary to salvation.”<\/li>\n
  4. Prayer.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 God meets us when we tune out the world and center on Him in prayer.\u00a0 Through praise, confession, and intercession we draw near to\u00a0 God in prayer.<\/li>\n
  5. Worship.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 Going to\u00a0 church on Sunday packages several of the Means of Grace together.\u00a0 But the purpose of the Sunday Morning Worship service is to, well- Worship!\u00a0 The word “worship” comes from an old English word meaning “Worth”.\u00a0 In other words,\u00a0 we gather together on\u00a0 Sunday mornings to proclaim\u00a0 God’s “worth”.\u00a0 By celebrating the sacraments together, praying together, and sharing the scripture together during the sermon, we are celebrating the greatness of God and humbling ourselves before His grace.\u00a0 God “shows up” in a special way when we worship Him.<\/li>\n
  6. Small Groups.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 Getting together with a group of friends is\u00a0 another “means of grace”.\u00a0 When we\u00a0 form\u00a0 relationships in a small group we’re\u00a0 able to hold each\u00a0 other accountable, confess sins, and ask difficult questions.\u00a0 The\u00a0 journey through grace is difficult, and we need each other.\u00a0 Along with the Holy Spirit, “we are not alone.”<\/li>\n
  7. Sacrificial Service and\u00a0 Giving<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 People who visit shut-ins frequently remark, “I came to bless others, but I was blessed myself!”\u00a0 God “shows up” when we take\u00a0 advantage of opportunities to show His love.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To move forward on your journey towards godliness, plug in your “boom box” and practice the means of grace.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This morning’s sermon was part 5 of a series of messages based on the book “The Wesleyan\u00a0\u00a0 Way:\u00a0 A Faith that Matters.”\u00a0 The scripture underlying Pastor Larry’s message was Acts 2:1-21 (the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost). During this series, we’ve been exploring a journey- how do we get to a point where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons","category-worship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=687"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":691,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions\/691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}