This sermon was given on March 16, 2019 at a Service of Holy Eucharist as a part of the Charles Wesley Society Annual Meeting, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC. Luke 13.31-35 “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” I have a tendency to critique the lectionary readings chosen for days when I’m supposed to…
Over the past week, I've given a sermon and taught a class on the Way of Salvation in the Wesleyan tradition. I often have this opportunity given my work as a professor of Methodist studies, but this week was different. I found myself preaching repeatedly (even in class, it seemed) about the reality of salvation…
A sermon preached in Oxnam Chapel on the campus of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. Last week I gave a lecture downtown on the detrimental effects of early Methodism and so this week, here in chapel, I’ve decided that I should entitle my sermon, the Genius of Methodism. It only seems fair. And it does…
In just a few days, I fly to England and begin a two-week journey of conferences and "touristing." One of my colleagues at the Seminary recently told me that he'd rather be at the beach on a Caribbean island during his summer break. I'm the opposite. Give me England. The reason that I'm going, however,…
On October 18, 2016, I preached this sermon in Oxnam Chapel on the campus of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC where I serve as a member of the faculty. I was reminded of it recently when a student asked me how to approach the bible with a lens of appreciation rather than a lens of…
"The main intention of Christ herein, was not, the bare Remembrance of his Passion; but over and above, to invite us to his Sacrifice, not as done and gone many Years since, but, as to Grace and Mercy, still lasting, still new, still the same as when it was first offer’d for us." -Wesley’s extract…
In the language of the sacred writings, we may observe the utmost depth, together with the utmost ease. All the elegancies of human composures sink into nothing before it: God speaks not as man, but as God. His thoughts are deep: and thence his words are of inexhaustible virtue.” – John Wesley One of the…
As I begin this adventure in the world of blogging, I figured that my readers might want to know something about the author. I do identify as a High Church Wesleyan, but to be more specific, I am a Wesley scholar and church historian on the faculty at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. You…
