In this week's episode, Tri-Lakes UMC Associate Pastor Jason Baxter joins Bob to discuss John Wesley's sermon "Original Sin." "Nothing in human history is more original than sin," quipped Methodist theologian Tom Oden. Wesley, in line with other orthodox Christian traditions, sees original sin as the universal diagnosis of the human condition for which the gospel of Christ and the grace of God are the only cure. Naming the disease is the first step toward healing and beginning the process of being renewed in the image of God.

Read Wesley's sermon "Original Sin" here. 

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Wesley's sermon "The Image of God" isn't one of the Standard 44 but it is a key sermon in understanding both the glory and the problem of humanity in relationship to God. It's also a critical sermon in defining the "target" or "the one thing needful" in Methodist theology and practice: renewal in the image of God. In this episode, Bob Kaylor unpacks this sermon and offers some thoughts on how Wesley, in line with the classic Christian doctrine on humanity, speaks to the condition of humanity and the Church today. 

Email your questions and comments to Bob at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @revbkaylor

In this first episode, host Bob Kaylor introduces the sermons of John Wesley and makes the case that reading and understanding them is an essential practice for clergy and laity in the Methodist family as well as for those who want to understand this grace-filled and transformational Christian tradition. 

Each Wednesday we'll be diving deep into one of Wesley's sermons and we invite you to read along. You can order a copy of The Sermons of John Wesley: A Collection for the Christian Journey here, or read sermons online for free through the Wesley Center Online.

Leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform and email us with your questions and comments: [email protected]