Being a Methodist -- Move IT or Lose IT!

What is 'IT'? Well, for United Methodists "IT" first refers to the center of our faith and belief system, Jesus Christ. HE is IT! In the early days of the Methodist Movement in England, (1700's) brothers John and Charles Wesley realized that Jesus Christ must be the center of life for anyone who professes the Christian faith. They were members of the Anglican church, and began gathering with likeminded spiritual seeks, only in an effort to revitalize the Church as they knew it. They gathered in groups of 12 or so, and the first thing they asked each other was not "How are you?" but rather, "How is IT with your soul?" In other words, "how are you doing with Jesus these days?" From these small groups, they developed a way or "method" of prayer, discernment, holy living, and outreach based on the life and teachings of Christ. They began, for instance, to preach and teach not to the landed and the wealth of the Church, but on the highways and byways, in the coal mines and with the poor. Their "method" spread not because it was something new, but because it was something genuine -- real discipleship. This "methodist" movement grew and spread first in England, then to the colonies, then in a free United States, then around the world. This "movement" owes not only its origins, but its source to the one thing that matters: HIM. One of the challenges for our denomination today is to figure out how we can reclaim our status as a "movement" -- that is, people of faith seeking to live out the way of discipleship with all of its challenges, and for all of its calling: to self-examination and repentance, to mutual support and accountability, to the poor, the sick, the dispossessed, those in need in body, mind and Spirit. These weeks in between Epiphany and Lent we are examining "IT" -- in light of our heritage and Mark's Gospel. Come, and see if you are "moved".
Pastor a.