Our Mission:
To create a community where people from all walks of faith are becoming deeply commited to Christ
For more information on our Adult Ministries, contact Amy Machen at (870) 862-1341 or
Three General Rules
Wesley outlines these practices in the “General Rules” and offered them as his way of helping Christians live disciplined, grace filled lives. I understand that anything that has the word rule in it, does not always a positive connotation! Most people don’t want to have rules. They think life can be just fine by using their own moral judgement calls!
1. Do No Harm.
2. Do Good.
3. Stay in love with God.
Gal. 5.13-18
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
So, let's get started shall we?
1. Do no harm
These are like the rules we learned when we’re we’re children, right? Share with one another, don't take someone else's things, and don't interrupt. What about for adults, is it completely different? Let's take a look at what it can look like for adults to "do no harm". Permanent harm can come from words and/or silence, actions and attitudes that disrespect or damage another person’s spirit. Harm can be done by commission and omission, and often we are completely unaware of the harm we are causing. It takes just as much energy to complain as it does to offer to help
make a situation better.
1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me
James 3:9
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.
(Speak words of life not death)
2. Do Good
In a Journal entry from 1738 John Wesley wrote:
“There is scare any possible way of doing good for which there is not daily occasion. Here are poor families to be relieved; here are children to be educated; here are workhouses, wherein both young and old gladly receive the word of God, here are prisons, and therein a complication of all human wants.” (Job, 35)
There are opportunities to do good, At home on your couch, in the store, in a line, in your car, at the sports complex, You can even do something good for a grouch!! If you have a hard time thinking of good things you can do in these places call me... I can give you a list a mile long!
-And of course we have the command of Jesus from Luke: “Love your
enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you.”
(Luke 6:27-28)
(Do unto others as you would have them do unto you...)
3. Stay close to God
On our own, most of us would be pretty self-centered and selfish. But the guiding and loving presence of God can bring the peace we so desperately need. That's why we need to remember to stay in love with God.To regularly nurture our relationship with God through worship, Holy communion, prayer, devotional reading, acts of mercy, and time spent in nature and silence. All relationships require attention and work, including this most primary and essential one. In the musical Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye asks his wife, Golde:“Do you love me?” “Do I what?” she replies. “Do you love me?” he asks. In exasperation she says: “For 25 years I have washed your clothes ,cooked your meals, cleaned the house, given you children, milked your cow. And now you're asking if I love you?” In the end they affirm
their love for each other, as Tevye says, “Even after 25 years, it is nice to know.”
It is nice for God to know that we love Him, that we have not forgotten the one who created us, the one who loves us and never lets us go. Jesus modeled this throughout his ministry, knowing that he could only fulfill his mission in life by staying close to God. He knew there was a supernatural power available to him, if he regularly sought it. He stayed connected to God, and that gave him strength, courage and peace. A living relationship with God will do the same for us.
These three simple rules;
Do No Harm,
Do Good,
Stay Close To God,
are the heart of what it means to be a Christian and to be infused with the Holy Spirit. As Paul wrote in the letter to the Galatians: “What happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives…things like affection for others, exuberance for life, serenity. We develop a sense of compassion, we see holiness in all things and all people.”
May it be so for us as we seek to do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God.
Amy Machen
Adult Ministry Director
Adult
Men's Fraternity
Each Tuesday at 6:30 am in Fellowship Hall, 8:30 in Education Building Library
Men's Retreat
Choir - temporarily suspended
Practice held each Wednesday evening
Fellowship of the Sent
Third Tuesday of each month
Meals prepared and delivered by church members
Home Repair Committee
Members build wheelchair ramps for community residents
Hospice Volunteer
Prepare meals each Thursday for LifeTouch Hospice
Interfaith Help Services volunteer
Assist in distributing food and help paying utility bills
Prayer Committee
Gather once a week to pray and send cards to those in the community requesting prayer
First Church offers numerous ministry opportunities. Contact the church today to find out how you can become involved.