Why Should Someone Choose Methodist Over Other Denominations?

why should someone choose to be a Methodist rather than one of the other Christian denominations Methodists have never been one who believed that our denomination is superior to any other and so we've never been a community that has believed that our church is the best and only way and I think that is a strength of our church anyone is welcome at the Lord's table in our church you'll hear me say you do not need to be a Methodist or even a member if you seek relationship with Jesus Christ you're welcome because this table is not ours it's his so we try I think and do a pretty good job of understanding we are part of the community of faith but that's all we are it's just a part and there are lots of other great people on the Christian Block and personally I think Jesus needs them all why should I choose to be a Methodist though I think there are some strengths to us in the sense that I think when you talk about especially a concept like grace and you combine grace with a powerful social mission to really change the world and to make a difference in it I think the United Methodist Church is absolutely fantastic I think John Wesley the founder of the United Methodist Church is one of the greatest Christian leaders that Jesus has ever had and his capacity to translate his passionate faith into a movement was extraordinary and so I think our heritage our understanding of grace we've also been a church that's crossed social boundaries and and just all sorts of diversity in every way we are a global church you may not know that believe it or not the the place the United Methodist Church is growing the strongest right now is in Africa and to see how United Methodism has been able to cross all sorts of lines is just amazing you see that downtown I think today and that you know we have a sunday-school class for the homeless here at First Methodist Houston we have about 20 to 30 Bill Allen does great job and so whether it is it's it's people who are socially economically the least of these are whether it is somebody who is successful and lives in a great neighborhood everybody is here the United Methodist Church I think has done a great job of creating that atmosphere where literally anyone can walk through the door and literally anyone can worship we're also a big tent and that will think about certain issues from a variety of perspectives and and our phrase is in our essentials we want unity but in the rest we can have diversity and that is one of the things I like about the United Methodist Church our essentials are really small if you look at the doctrine of the United Methodist Church it's in our book called the United Methodist discipline which if you suffer from insomnia there are certain sections of that that will cure you but at the very beginning of that book is our doctoring and it's just a few pages and it's about things like Jesus being the Son of God the triune nature of God Father Son and Holy Spirit the nature of the scriptures old a New Testament and how valuable they are to us and so you know if you think about people ask me sometimes what do I have to believe to be a United Methodist it's very simple and it's honestly doctrine that we share with just almost every other variety of the Christian Church so you know our ability to be a big tents our emphasis on holiness admissions our ability to transcend all sorts of cultural forces that tend to divide us I think is amazing and all of those things I would also say are uniquely true about First Methodist Houston the the largest service that First Methodist Houston had on Good Friday was our altar emotion service English speaking African it was at Stansbury Hall in the West Campus and after the Good Friday service over out west I went over to join the the worship service in Stansbury an altar emoji of course these are English speaking Africans so when Deborah and I walked in it was very obvious we were visitors you just kind of obvious to the room but they they were dancing they were singing they were some of them were screaming hallelujah at the top of their lungs and there's about three to four hundred people in the space and it was awesome so we said hello worship with him for a little while and Deborah and I were walking out and I said well what did you think of that and she said I don't want to tell Jesus how he ought to arrange heaven but like when I'm walking up if that band could be playing and they could all be worshiping like that that would be great and it really was I saw one of the pastors after her after her pastor Sylvia and she came up to me and she said pastor Andy what did you think and I said well I said I said pastor Sylvia this is gonna sound terrible I don't mean it to but after after being with you guys I learned that the other kind of communities and First Methodist we can't sing as well we can't dance as well and we don't worship quite as well so we need you all to come like do a six-week tutorials so that we can kind of get some of what you have and and that's what I hope you would seize upon in kind of serious way is that's all a part of us at First Methodist and it's really awesome and sometimes I fear I've not I've not done a good job of articulating and showing just how vibrant the Holy Spirit is here and and and the only way I know to kind of correct for my flaws is that you know when we talk about these places you ought to go to an altar emotional worship service sometime in the next year you ought to go see what what are it's going on you ought to go maybe leave your Sunday School class one week and go see what our youth and kids are doing or hang out with Bill Allen in the basement and listen to him preach the gospel or bring the gospel to his Sunday School class for the homeless there is so much that the Holy Spirit is doing in this place it's extraordinary and sometimes I think the greatest sin that we've committed is we've kept it such a secret from ourselves and others so that maybe a little bit is of a rambling answer why should I choose to be a Methodist because I do I think the Methodist Church has laid onto some great theological truths of Jesus I think we've embodied them reasonably well we are not a perfect Church and if five-minute conversation with me will bring that truth right out but but we're a good one and we're faithful and so I'm grateful to be parted yeah I am and it's not for everybody but for those that it is they can grow and live remarkable discipleship in the name of Jesus Christ in the United Methodist Church and I will believe that for a very long time

Channel: First Methodist Houston

Views: 22,863

Keywords: First, methodist, Houston, ask, me, anything, sermon, series, questions, answers, Choose, other, denominations

Id: 4X8Tr3JajDE

Length: 7min 18sec (438 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 30 2019