One More Thing with Pastor Tim Burchill 10.30.2023

The Quotable John Wesley

 

At the 10:30 service Sunday, I used the following directive created by the founder of Methodism, John Wesley.

 

“Do all the good you can,

by all the means you can,

in all the ways you can,

in all the places you can,

at all the times you can,

to all the people you can,

as long as ever you can.”

 

It’s a mouthful, but it’s a wonderful way to make a point.  The result of a loving relationship with God is the desire to choose what is right over what is wrong, to accept our neighbors and not reject them, to do what is good, kind, and helpful over what is bad, self-centered, and hurtful.

 

I also love the reverend doctor Wesley’s philosophy about wealth. 
He wrote the following rules—as much for himself as for others:

 

  1. Gain all you can, without hurting either yourself or your neighbor, in soul or body, by applying diligence, and with all the understanding which God has given you.
  2. Save all you can, by cutting off every expense which serves only to indulge foolish desire, to gratify either the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, or the pride of life.
  3. Waste nothing, living or dying, on sin or folly, whether for yourself or your children.
  4. And then, Give all you can, or in other words give all you have to God.

Archived Posts

 

What’s Saved Is Often Lost         

Here’s the benediction we didn’t have time for yesterday (Sunday, November 3).  It’s one of my favorite quotations (portions of a newspaper column).  I hope you find it as inspiring as I have

Leftovers Continued…

         It’s not just the fact that God is un-impressed by our leftovers, it actually goes deeper than that.  In a sense, Jesus is passionately and purposely opposed to anything leftover.  To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to work diligently to make sure that in the end nothing at all is left over.

Less Stuff and Fewer Wants

          Here’s a point I left off Sunday’s sermon due to time and length.  In dealing with an Entitled mindset it is very helpful if you can Reduce Materialism and Consumerism.

Entitlement Can Hit You in Ways You Might Never Suspect

          The people of God (Israel) were chosen by God to fulfill a unique calling—to be a light to all the other nations of the nations of the world.  God chose them because of their willingness to be used by Him for His purposes.   But after a while the Israelites began to think that they were chosen--not because with God they could fulfill a special purpose--but because they were a special people, uniquely favored and loved for who they were. 

What Kind of Love Do You Have For God?

          In Sunday’s message about Job, I talked about how important relationship is when it comes to getting answers to our questions about God.  The question that Job is really being tested on is this: can he love God for who God is—or does he only love God for what God can do for him?

The Importance of A Noise Cancelling Lifestyle

          While hiding in a cave on the mountain the word of God asks Elijah, ‘What are you doing here?’  Elijah proceeds to launch into a rather whiney rant along the lines of “No one likes me, Everybody hates me, and all my hard work and sacrifice on your behalf, Lord, has fallen on deaf ears.”

 

         And here’s what most people miss about this story: 

So Is People Pleasing Such a Bad Thing?

         This is a fair question, based on Sunday’s sermon.  Wanting to make others happy isn’t a bad thing in itself.  It’s what it does to the one who is compelled to please—someone with a compulsion to win the approval of others.