Wednesdays with Wesley

“Consider this well--that to preach Christ is to preach all things that Christ hath spoken; all his promises; all his threatenings and commands; all that is written in his book; and then you will know how to preach Christ, without making void the law.” Bringing law and grace, law and faith, into balance is one of the strengths of Wesleyan theology, paying attention to the critical role that both play in the Bible and in the life of the disciple of Jesus. Law without grace is legalism, while grace without law is antinomianism. In this first of two Discourses, John Wesley explores the ways that Christians tend to "void" the law by faith, rather than seeing obedience to the moral law as an essential outcome of faith and the path to holiness. Host Bob Kaylor takes a deep dive into this sermon and explains why it's an essential teaching for Christians in a culture of expressive individualism. 

Read The Law Established Through Faith, Discourse I

Read Kevin Watson's helpful outline and summary

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"The devices whereby the subtle 'god of this world' labors to destroy the children of God, or at least torment whom he cannot destroy, to perplex and hinder them in running the race which is set before them, are numberless as the stars of heaven or the sand upon the seashore." In this sermon, John Wesley looks at some of the particular devices of Satan that would hinder Christians from "going on to perfection." It's a helpful reminder that when it comes to the spiritual life we should focus more on what God has given us than on what we still lack. 

Read Satan's Devices

Send your questions and comments to host Bob Kaylor at [email protected]. Follow Bob on Twitter @revbkaylor.

John Wesley's understanding of prevenient grace allowed him to acknowledge the good that God can accomplish through a variety of people, even those outside of the church. In this sermon he cautions against the kind of spiritual pride that would limit the power of God to only working within our own tribe or even our own religion. When sinners turn to God in repentance, no matter how or through whom it happens, it's something to be celebrated. Host Bob Kaylor takes a look at this important sermon which speaks to the ways that contemporary Christians, and especially Methodists in the midst of deep disagreements, ought to acknowledge God's power working through others in ways we might not expect. 

Read A Caution Against Bigotry

Read Kevin Watson's helpful summary

Email your questions and comments to [email protected] and follow Bob Kaylor on Twitter @revbkaylor. We encourage you to write a positive review on your favorite podcast platform and share the podcast with others. 

In this episode, host Bob Kaylor looks at one of John Wesley's most misquoted sermons, "Catholic Spirit." Rather than a sermon about theological pluralism, as many have perceived it, Wesley is making the case that Christians who are united around a core of "the faith once delivered to the saints" can hold different opinions while still loving one another. It's an important sermon to read and understand in context, especially in a time in which Methodism itself is in conflict over doctrinal and practical issues. 

Read Catholic Spirit

Read Kevin Watson's summary of the sermon

Send your questions and comments to [email protected] and follow Bob Kaylor on Twitter @revbkaylor

"The 'denying' ourselves and the 'taking up our cross,' in the fullness of the expression, is not a thing of small concern. It is not expedient only, as are some of the circumstantials of religion; but it is absolutely, indispensably necessary, either to our becoming or continuing his disciples." In this sermon, John Wesley takes up these commands of Jesus and expresses the truth that whenever a person is not living fully as a disciple of Jesus it is always due to a lack of following these commands of Jesus. Host Bob Kaylor takes a deep dive into this important sermon and offers some thoughts on how it counters the expressive individualism that characterizes Western culture and, in many ways, the culture of the Church itself. 

Read Self-Denial (Sermon 48)

Bob quotes from Christopher Watkin's book Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture. 

Send your comments, questions, and suggestions to Bob Kaylor at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @revbkaylor. Leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. 

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Wednesdays with Wesley is back from hiatus with an episode on the Wesley Covenant Service, which some Methodist churches use on the first Sunday of the New Year. Host Bob Kaylor offers a brief history of the service and then takes a look at the elements of the liturgy that renew our covenant with God and counter our culture's rugged individualism with a promise of surrender to God's will. 

You can access the United Methodist version of the Wesley Covenant Service here for your church or for your own use. 

Email the show at [email protected] and follow Bob on Twitter @revbkaylor. 

As we near Holy Week and Easter, this sermon from John Wesley gives us a solid foundation not only for understanding the resurrection of Jesus but also for leaning into the promise of our own resurrection. Using Paul's treatise on the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 and borrowing from an earlier work by Benjamin Calamy, Wesley addresses the question that Paul raises: "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" (1 Corinthians 15:35 NRSV). Understanding the resurrection from a biblical perspective challenges the Platonist and disembodied ways in which many Christians have perceived it and invites us to live out the implications of a new embodied life in the present as well as the future. 

Read Sermon 137: On the Resurrection of the Dead

Get a copy of N.T. Wright's book Surprised by Hope

Send your questions and comments to Bob Kaylor at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @revbkaylor

As the United Methodist Church goes through a painful separation, John Wesley's sermon "On Schism" is instructive. Bob Kaylor looks at Wesley's definition of schism, what the criteria for separation should be, and how to avoid the "evil tempers" that always accompany divisions in the body of Christ. 

Read On Schism

Email your questions and comments to [email protected]. Follow Bob on Twitter @revbkaylor and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. 

In 1786, near the end of his life, John Wesley wrote "Thoughts Upon Methodism" as both a historic look back at the origins of the Methodist movement and a cautionary look ahead to its future. This short piece, which appeared in The Arminian Magazine in 1787, is best known for its opening quote: 

"I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out."

But what did Wesley mean by "doctrine, spirit, and discipline?" What was the biggest obstacle to the movement's goal of cultivating "holiness of heart and life" in its people? In this episode, host Bob Kaylor breaks down Wesley's views and offers some of his own on how a "mainline" Methodism needs to recapture its roots in order to be viable for the present and future. 

Read Thoughts Upon Methodism (beginning at page 134 of the pdf)

Send your questions and comments to [email protected] and follow Bob Kaylor on Twitter @revbkaylor. 

In this special episode, Bob chats with Madeline Henners about her essay on the role of the Holy Spirit in Wesleyan Christianity in the new book The Next Methodism: Theological, Social, and Missional Foundations for Global Methodism. Madeline suggests that while most Methodists see Wesley's Aldersgate experience as the catalyst of the movement, the real "Methodist Pentecost" happened on January 1, 1739, at Fetter Lane. Madeline discusses the reasons why mainline Methodism seems to have neglected the power of the Holy Spirit and offers some suggestions about how we might reengage the Spirit's power. 

Get your copy of The Next Methodism. 

Contact Madeline at [email protected]

Contact the show at [email protected] and follow Bob on Twitter @revbkaylor.