WESTMINSTER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Hark! The herald angels sing

Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King;
        Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”
        Joyful, all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies;
        With th’angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
        Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
        
Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord;
        Late in time behold him come, offspring of a virgin’s womb.
        Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail th’incarnate Deity,
        Pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
        Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

        Hail the heavenborn Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
        Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings.
        Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die,
        Born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth.
        Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

​From John Wesley's Sermon - "Awake, Thou that Sleepest"

2. Now, "they that sleep, sleep in the night." The state of nature is a state of utter darkness; a state wherein "darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people." The poor unawakened sinner, how much knowledge soever he may have as to other things, has no knowledge of himself: in this respect "he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." he knows not that he is a fallen spirit, whose only business in the present world, is to recover from his fall, to regain that image of God wherein he was created. he sees no necessity for the one thing needful, even that inward universal change, that "birth from above," figured out by baptism, which is the beginning of that total renovation. that sanctification of spirit, soul, and body, "without which no man shall see the Lord." 

3. Full of all diseases as he is, he fancies himself in perfect health. Fast bound in misery and iron, he dreams that he is at liberty. he says, "Peace! Peace!" while the devil, as "a strong, man armed," is in full possession of his soul. he sleeps on still and takes his rest, though hell is moved from beneath to meet him; though the pit from whence there is no return hath opened its mouth to swallow him up. A fire is kindled around him, yet he knoweth it not; yea, it burns him, yet he lays it not to heart. 

4. By one who sleeps, we are, therefore, to understand (and would to God we might all understand it!) a sinner satisfied in his sins; contented to remain in his fallen state, to live and die without the image of God; one who is ignorant both of his disease, and of the only remedy for it; one who never was warned, or never regarded the warning voice of God, "to flee from the wrath to come;" one that never yet saw he was in danger of hell-fire, or cried out in the earnestness of his soul, "What must I do to be saved?" 
​
5. If this sleeper be not outwardly vicious, his sleep is usually the deepest of all: whether he be of the Laodicean spirit, "neither cold nor hot," but a quiet, rational, inoffensive, good-natured professor of the religion of his fathers; or whether he be zealous and orthodox, and, "after the most straitest sect of our religion," live "a Pharisee;" that is, according to the scriptural account, one that justifies himself; one that labors to establish his own righteousness, as the ground of his acceptance with God.

This Week's Wesley sermon is: Spiritual Worship. 

1) Scripture: 1 John 5:1-5, 20

2) Getting to know God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit unlocks the love that God instilled in us.  Sharing this love with others brings true happiness.
 
3) The pursuit of happiness is deeply embedded in our culture. It begins with the Declaration of Independence and presents itself in the arts, in music, in poetry and every other expression of our world. Check out the top 20 ‘Happy Songs’. Yep, I know you already have one or two going through your head right now. But what is happiness and how does it manifest itself in our lives?

This Sunday, we'll be talking about happiness and how John and Charles Wesley pursued it. I will let you in on a secret – It all begins with God but then I need you to find true happiness. I cannot wait to see you on Sunday 

​UM Hymnal #616 and #339
It took us a while but with this hymn we are entering the realm of 10+ stanza hymns.  In fact, we are looking at 24 stanzas in the original publication. Why so many you ask? Well, it takes time to tell the story.  The hymnal editor for the United Methodist Hymnal, Carlton Young, split up the stanzas and created two hymns because, and I do not have to tell you this, no Methodist church I have ever seen will actually sing a 24 stanza hymn.  But, instead of cutting stanzas, the editor chose some for an invitation to become a disciple of Christ and some to celebrate Christ’s presence and grace in the Lord’s Supper. Please find below the original 24 stanzas. I highlighted them in green to reflect hymn # 339 intended to be an invitation and red for the communion hymn #616. I would encourage you to read the whole poem as it beautifully reflects the struggle of making disciples of Jesus Christ. ​

Come, sinners, to the gospel feast,
Let every soul be Jesu’s guest,
You need not one be left behind,
For God hath bidden all mankind.
 
Sent by my Lord, on you I call,
The invitation is to all,
Come all the world; come, sinner, thou
All things in Christ are ready now.
 
Jesus to you His fullness brings,
A feast of marrow and fat things:
All, all in Christ is freely given,
Pardon, and holiness, and heaven.
 
Do not begin to make excuse,
Ah! Do not you His grace refuse;
Your worldly cares and pleasures leave,
And take what Jesus hath to give.
 
Your grounds forsake, your oxen quit,
Your every earthly thought forget,
Seek not the comforts of this life,
Nor sell your savior for a wife.
 
“Have me excused,” why will ye say?
Why will ye for damnation pray?
Have you excused – from joy and peace!
Have you excused – from happiness:
 
Excused from coming to a feast!
Excused from being Jesus’s guest!
From knowing now your sins forgiven,
From tasting here the joys of heaven!
 
Excused, alas! Why should you be
From health, and life, and liberty,
From entering into glorious rest,
From leaning on your Saviour’s breast!
 
Yet must I, Lord, to Thee complain,
The world hath made thy offers vain;
Too busy, or too happy they,
They will not, Lord, Thy call obey.
 
Go then, my angry Master said,
Since these on all My mercies tread,
Invite the rich and great no more,
But preach My gospel to the poor.
 
Confer not thou with flesh and blood,
Go quickly forth, invite the crowd,
Search every lane, and every street,
And bring in all the souls you meet.
 
Come then, ye souls by sin opprest,
Ye restless wanderers after rest,
Ye poor, and main’d, and halt, and blind,
In Christ a hearty welcome find.
 
Sinners my gracious Lord receives,
Harlots, and publicans, and thieves;
Drunkards, and all ye hellish crew,
I have a message now to you.
 
Come, and partake the gospel feast,
Be saved from sin, in Jesus rest:
O taste the goodness of our God,
And eat his flesh, and drink His blood.
 
‘Tis done: my all-redeeming Lord,
I have gone forth, and preach’d the word,
The sinners to Thy feast are come,
And yet, O Saviour, there is room.
 
Go then, my Lord again enjoin’d
And other wandering sinners find;
Go to the hedges and highways,
And offer all My pardoning grace.
 
The worst unto My supper press,
Monsters of daring wickedness,
Tell them My grace for all is free,
They cannot be too bad for Me.
 
Tell them, their sins are all forgiven,
Tell every creature under heaven
I died to save them from all sin,
And force the vagrants to come in.
 
Ye vagrant souls, on you I call,
(O that my voice could reach you all!)
Ye all are freely justified,
Ye all may live, for Christ hath died.
 
My message as from God receive,
Ye all may come to Christ, and live:
O let His love your hearts constrain,
Nor suffer Him to die in vain.
 
His love is mighty to compel,
His conquering love consent to feel;
Yield to His love’s resistless power,
And fight against your God no more!
 
See Him set forth before your eyes,
Behold the bleeding Sacrifice!
His offer’d love make haste to’ embrace,
And freely now be saved by grace.
 
Ye who believe His record true
Shall sup with Him, and He with you:
Come to the feast; be saved from sin,
For Jesus waits to take you in.
 
This is the time, no more delay,
This is the acceptable day,
Come in, this moment, at His call,
And live for Him who died for all.

From John Wesley's Sermon:  "The Use of Money"

1. In order to see the ground and reason of this, consider, when the Possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being, and placed you in this world, he placed you here not as a proprietor, but a steward: As such he entrusted you, for a season, with goods of various kinds; but the sole property of these still rests in him, nor can be alienated from him. As you yourself are not your own, but his, such is, likewise, all that you enjoy. Such is your soul and your body, not your own, but God's. And so is your substance in particular. And he has told you, in the most clear and express terms, how you are to employ it for him, in such a manner, that it may be all an holy sacrifice, acceptable through Christ Jesus. And this light, easy service, he has promised to reward with an eternal weight of glory.

2. The directions which God has given us, touching the use of our worldly substance, may be comprised in the following particulars. If you desire to be a faithful and a wise steward, out of that portion of your Lord's goods which he has for the present lodged in your hands, but with the right of resuming whenever it pleases him, First, provide things needful for yourself; food to eat, raiment to put on, whatever nature moderately requires for preserving the body in health and strength. Secondly, provide these for your wife, your children, your servants, or any others who pertain to your household. If when this is done there be an overplus left, then "do good to them that are of the household of faith." If there be an overplus still, "as you have opportunity, do good unto all men." In so doing, you give all you can; nay, in a sound sense, all you have: For all that is laid out in this manner is really given to God. You "render unto God the things that are God's," not only by what you give to the poor, but also by that which you expend in providing things needful for yourself and your household.

3. If, then, a doubt should at any time arise in your mind concerning what you are going to expend, either on yourself or any part of your family, you have an easy way to remove it. Calmly and seriously inquire, "(1.) In expending this, am I acting according to my character? Am I acting herein, not as a proprietor, but as a steward of my Lord's goods? (2.) Am I doing this in obedience to his Word? In what Scripture does he require me so to do? (3.) Can I offer up this action, this expense, as a sacrifice to God through Jesus Christ? (4.) Have I reason to believe that for this very work I shall have a reward at the resurrection of the just?" You will seldom need anything more to remove any doubt which arises on this head; but by this four-fold consideration you will receive clear light as to the way wherein you should go.

The hymn this week is:

"Come, Sinners to the Gospel Feast"

Come, sinners, to the gospel feast,
Let every soul be Jesus’ guest.
Ye need not one be left behind,
For God hath bid all humankind.

Do not begin to make excuse;
Ah! Do not you his grace refuse;
Your worldly cares and pleasures leave,
And take what Jesus hath to give.

Come and partake the gospel feast,
Be saved from sin, in Jesus rest;
O taste the goodness of our God,
And eat his flesh and drink his blood.

See him set forth before your eyes;
Behold the bleeding sacrifice;
His offered love make haste to embrace,
And freely now be saved by grace.


Ye who believe his record true
Shall sup with him and he with you;
Come to the feast, be saved from sin,
For Jesus waits to take you in.

The famous quote by John Wesley: