“Wesley Challenge: Did I Disobey God in Anything?”

In my second year of Duke Divinity School there came an opportunity for me to join a covenant group. This type of group would meet, just like the small groups met at the time of John Wesley, the founder of our denomination, to grow in their faith and discipleship. So I joined one of these groups and was placed with three other young women that I had never met before. Our leader, Christa, now a United Methodist elder in Virginia, told us about the history of Methodism. How John Wesley would meet with his “Holy Club”, a group of individuals who were committed to grow in their faith and discipleship.

Then she shared how they developed these 21 questions in order to go deeper in self-examination and accountability. The purpose of these questions was for each person of the group to go through them each day, then come together and share their triumphs and challenges when it came to different areas of their faith. I found this practice both uplifting and convicting, but it did help me have some of the most honest conversations about my faith.

I am very excited that this Sunday we kick off this new sermon series entitled “The Wesley Challenge” based off the book “The Wesley Challenge” by Chris Folmsbee, a pastor at Resurrection United Methodist Church.  You will find I am a big supporter of John Wesley, the founder of our denomination, and I am thankful for all the ways he has shaped the way we practice our faith.

My hope for us as the Rappahannock Charge, is that we can take the next couple of weeks going through these questions and seeing the areas in our faith we are called to celebrate, and the areas of our faith that we need to work on. On August 29 we will start our small group on this topic and participate in the 21 day Wesley Challenge where we go through one question a day for 21 days. Even if you are unable to attend the study, I will make books available for $10 the Sunday before we begin if you would like to participate on your own.

My prayers is these next nine weeks together that we will take a hard look at our faith, dive deep into Scripture and allow God to strengthen us as we combat the sin in our lives. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Buy “The Wesley Challenge” today!

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